Where have all the Post code LED displays gone (and why are the few out there married to WIFI boards)

GP40X

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
176
I have been looking to upgrade my motherboard and CPU and plan on going Ryzen this time around. While most motherboards are currently out of stock right now, it looks like there will be a big influx of stock the last half of May (according to Amazon's website in stock dates and Fry's website showing a lot of their motherboards as "coming soon"). The bigger problem I am running into is it seems that, for the most part, the manufacturers are not putting Post/Q code LED displays on their boards any more and the few oboards that do have the displays are all WIFI boards. My last few system builds have all had boards that included a Post code LED display and having that display has saved my bacon on more than one occasion when I have done something stupid or had a component fail. I wonder how much added board cost is due to the WIFI that is not needed. Sure I can just disable it but why should I have to buy it in the first place. Plus if you are a hard core gamer you will usually go wired anyway but I see a ton of Gaming Boards (both with and without a post code display) with WIFI added to the board. Most of the WIFI-Post/Qcode boards are all aroung $300.00 or more (in some cases much more like the Captain Whiz-bang $600.00 + boards) so how is a budget gamer/overclocker going to get a decent board with a Post Code Display? Thanks for listening to my little rant.
 
tsk tsk ;)
got any older cases kicking round, any pre-builts? to rob one from.
Nope, other than some keepsake motherboards with Athlon processors MELTED into the sockets, all that stuff was lost in a storage room flood or just chunked during various spring cleanings years ago .
 
The B550 motherboards are around the corner and should be a tadd more affordable, maybe you will find what you look for among those.
 
WiFi doesn’t add much to board cost. Gigabyte usually has a few models where there’s a WiFi and non WiFi version, the cost difference is usually like $20.

I think manufacturers just decided it was too useful so it needed to be a premium feature.
 
The B550 motherboards are around the corner and should be a tadd more affordable, maybe you will find what you look for among those.
I looked into B550 mohterboards but they will not be out until mid June and all of the informaition on the chipset I have seen shows to only be PCIe 3.0 for graphics and I am kind of wanting to futureproof my system a little bit by having PCIe 4.0 for graphics. I have even thought about getting a better board right now with a Ryzen 3 3300X then seeing what Zen 3 brings since both the X570 & B550 chipset boards are supposed to support Zen 3 4000 series CPUs. I just don't want to sepnd a fortune on things I don't need like WIFI and a bunch of RBG goodies. Looks like I may have to though.
 
I looked into B550 mohterboards but they will not be out until mid June and all of the informaition on the chipset I have seen shows to only be PCIe 3.0 for graphics and I am kind of wanting to futureproof my system a little bit by having PCIe 4.0 for graphics. I have even thought about getting a better board right now with a Ryzen 3 3300X then seeing what Zen 3 brings since both the X570 & B550 chipset boards are supposed to support Zen 3 4000 series CPUs. I just don't want to sepnd a fortune on things I don't need like WIFI and a bunch of RBG goodies. Looks like I may have to though.

B550 has PCIE 4.0 for graphics and 1 M.2 slot and PCIE3 for everything else.

X570 has PCIE 4.0 for everything

all other AM4 boards have PCIE 3.0 for graphics and 1 M.2 slot and PCIE2 for everything else.

My above post oversimplifies everything and assumes you have a CPU ready for PCIE4 anyway.
 
asus boards sometimes come with the little goofy speaker as an accessory. you can probably get one on ebay for a dollar

and i know you want ryzen but EVGA motherboards all still come with the postcode speaker. i actually really like it. i overclock as a hobby and the beep will snap me outta a daydream and remind me to catch the bios if im not paying attention
 
WiFi doesn’t add much to board cost. Gigabyte usually has a few models where there’s a WiFi and non WiFi version, the cost difference is usually like $20.

I think manufacturers just decided it was too useful so it needed to be a premium feature.

I just checked all the board sites and the only 570 board I found with a post code display and on and reset buttons without WIFI was a Biostar X570GT8 that appears to already be out of production. So looks like I will be getting a board with WIFI.

B550 has PCIE 4.0 for graphics and 1 M.2 slot and PCIE3 for everything else.

X570 has PCIE 4.0 for everything

all other AM4 boards have PCIE 3.0 for graphics and 1 M.2 slot and PCIE2 for everything else.

My above post oversimplifies everything and assumes you have a CPU ready for PCIE4 anyway.

I have narrowed it down to either a 3700X or get a 3300X and see what Zen 3 brings. I thought the whole B550 board was PCIe 3.0. Still not sure if I want to wait until Mid July to update my system though.

asus boards sometimes come with the little goofy speaker as an accessory. you can probably get one on ebay for a dollar

and i know you want ryzen but EVGA motherboards all still come with the postcode speaker. i actually really like it. i overclock as a hobby and the beep will snap me outta a daydream and remind me to catch the bios if im not paying attention

Believe me, if EVGA offered a X570 board I would be buying it. I do too many other things now to go Intel. AMD just has a better bang for the buck of you are doing anything else but gaming. So it looks like I will be getting a board with WIFI and disabling it.

Dang, I just realized I have a small system speaker attached to my current system. It came with an old Gigabyte from about 10 years ago.
 
I just checked all the board sites and the only 570 board I found with a post code display and on and reset buttons without WIFI was a Biostar X570GT8 that appears to already be out of production. So looks like I will be getting a board with WIFI.



I have narrowed it down to either a 3700X or get a 3300X and see what Zen 3 brings. I thought the whole B550 board was PCIe 3.0. Still not sure if I want to wait until Mid July to update my system though.



Believe me, if EVGA offered a X570 board I would be buying it. I do too many other things now to go Intel. AMD just has a better bang for the buck of you are doing anything else but gaming. So it looks like I will be getting a board with WIFI and disabling it.

Dang, I just realized I have a small system speaker attached to my current system. It came with an old Gigabyte from about 10 years ago.

MSI X570 Unify has a LED Post Code display, as does the Ace.
 
So does the CH8 Hero -- and that board comes with a variant without wifi
 
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MSI X570 Unify has a LED Post Code display, as does the Ace.

Yes but it has WIFI

So does the CH8 Hero -- and that board comes with a variant without wifi

I did find that on on the ASUS site this morning but it is the exact same price as the Crossfire VIII Hero with WIFI

I think I am going with an ASUS Strix E board or the MIS MEG X570 Unity board if I can find them in stock somewhere.
 
Yes but it has WIFI



I did find that on on the ASUS site this morning but it is the exact same price as the Crossfire VIII Hero with WIFI

I think I am going with an ASUS Strix E board or the MIS MEG X570 Unity board if I can find them in stock somewhere.
you should check out buildzoids x570 board recommendations. he is really big on bang for the buck value and features. post code is one one the most important things he emphasizes. ill grab the video right quick



i mean for all i know youve seen it already but ill throw it out anyway
 
That seems to be the way motherboards are going, wifi on-board. Some have POST LEDs some don't. They seem to fall off on the mid-range and below. You can get tiny little PC speakers and that's what I use. Here's an example: Motherboard Speaker. Just hang it right off the motherboard front panel header. You can shop around and find them for a like a buck. It works just fine for me and I can hear the POST beep clearly.
 
Well I decided not to wait for B550. Micro Center got some boards in stock today and I picked up a Gigabyte Aorus Pro WIFI X570 board Not quite what I wanted, no post code LED display and it has WIFI, but it has the 4 boot LEDS and can run dual cards @ 8X and has enough features that I can make it work and should be happy with it. I mainly wanted a board that could do dual 8X video cards to run two cards in the system (not running SLI, using the second card to boost the CUDA core count for rendering). I also went with a Ryzen 7 3700X and will sell it if Zen 3 is that big of a performance jump over Zen 2. Since this box will be more than a gaming `puter, I also picked up 32 GB of G.Skill Trident Z Neo Series CL16 memory. Will be moving the rest of my signature over to the new system. Picked up a cheap Zalman Z9 case from Fry's to move it to. I consider anything under $100.00 cheap and I wanted an optical drive bay as I watch rented movies on this thing and most of my siftware is still on disc. It seems well built and not to bad for a budget case.
 
Well I decided not to wait for B550. Micro Center got some boards in stock today and I picked up a Gigabyte Aorus Pro WIFI X570 board Not quite what I wanted, no post code LED display and it has WIFI, but it has the 4 boot LEDS and can run dual cards @ 8X and has enough features that I can make it work and should be happy with it. I mainly wanted a board that could do dual 8X video cards to run two cards in the system (not running SLI, using the second card to boost the CUDA core count for rendering). I also went with a Ryzen 7 3700X and will sell it if Zen 3 is that big of a performance jump over Zen 2. Since this box will be more than a gaming `puter, I also picked up 32 GB of G.Skill Trident Z Neo Series CL16 memory. Will be moving the rest of my signature over to the new system. Picked up a cheap Zalman Z9 case from Fry's to move it to. I consider anything under $100.00 cheap and I wanted an optical drive bay as I watch rented movies on this thing and most of my siftware is still on disc. It seems well built and not to bad for a budget case.

Good luck with your build! I think my brother still has his Zalman Z9 case. Not bad for what it is.
 
I just don't want to sepnd a fortune on things I don't need like WIFI and a bunch of RBG goodies.
The reason these are ubiquitous are:
  • they are broadly desired features
  • they cost the manufacturer next to nothing to implement
  • they can upcharge for them, thus padding margins
  • if they don't include them, they will lose sales!
So I'll say this: RGB done tastefully can look quite sharp, should the innards be visible. WiFi, even if used only once, is damn useful in a pinch, and the AX200/AX201 Intel modules being included these days are actually top-notch, you won't get better for a desktop.
 
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