Why not buy premium, expensive motherboard?

[Kryogen]

I go midrange because I don't need the other things on more expensive motherboards.
A pci express soundcard will follow your builds. You will need to buy it every time if it's on the mobo.

 

[Kryogen]

I personally went with the ROG maximus IX hero. It's the entry level into the maximus series, it has everything I need for a good price.

 

[rgMekanic]

I would just really like to know, with so many of the functions getting moved to the CPU, why motherboards seem to be getting more and more expensive. Is it the chipset costs? Maybe Dan_D could fill me in on that one

 

[Dan_D]

I would just really like to know, with so many of the functions getting moved to the CPU, why motherboards seem to be getting more and more expensive. Is it the chipset costs? Maybe Dan_D could fill me in on that one

There are lots of reasons why motherboard costs keep going up. Cost of materials and inflation are a big part of it. The circuitry and chipsets continue to gain complexity despite so much going into the CPU. Mostly though, it's the features people demand. There are specialized IC's that give you PWM and DC fan control on those 4-pin headers. The way we've got SATA Express ports switching with M.2 and U.2 ports requires a ton of switch IC's onboard too. The onboard audio subsystem now features PCB isolation, cleaner power, dedicated audio capacitors, and OP-AMPs. There is a specialized IC that is just used for flashing the BIOS without a CPU or RAM installed. Little features like that all add cost. Costs that mount as more and more features get added.

 

[J-Will]

You're trying to understand why everyone doesnt just buy a Lamborghini simply because price limits its market share, making it a rarity. When you break it down to what you actually need, and will use; you'll end up with a Chevy.

Then there is also the thought that if you pile everything into the motherboard, and something breaks- you're either out a motherboard with a dead computer, or buying the part you didnt want to buy (wifi card, sound card, etc).

From a more pessimistic point of view- unless you need all that extra stuff immediately, lets face it; you're PC is going to be outdated and you'll want to move on from it. "Room to grow" comes at a cost, and I'd bet is not recognized. You're paying a premium now for stuff that will be outdated by the time you need it.

Personally speaking- paying extra for audio is simply ridiculous since games really dont take advantage of high quality audio and features. This is an unfortunate reality. I also have to question your dedication to 'going all out' with a top of the line everything... then paying a premium for a built in component, and relying on Wi-Fi.

 

[Dan_D]

I disagree with you on the audio. I've tested plenty of Realtek ALC889's, ALC892's, ALC1150's, ALC1220's, CSS CODECs, Sound Blaster 3D's, etc. and even a USB DAC or two. Solutions without an amplifier of some sort do not sound as good through headphones or speakers. Period. If you are going with an optical connection to a receiver, then no it doesn't matter. Short of that, it still does. Your correct in that games don't leverage positional audio the way they used to and that's unfortunate, but to say that high quality audio isn't worth a little extra just isn't a sentiment or statement I can agree with.

 

[geok1ng]

This high vs low end mobo discussion gained a new light with Ryzen: we get to choose not only price and features, but also CPU brand.
I will say: get what you will use, so know your usage scenario beforehand.

I once payed premium for a 'Digital Home" mobo, in time were operating a PC to watch movies using a remote was quite elegant. I used that feature a lot.
But the again, i payed premium for a mobo with dual NICs and link aggregation, a feature that never worked properly. Went the Tri and quad SLI/Crossfire mobos too many times to consider myself smart.

Of all the signatures [H]ere, i am probably running one of the oldest and most expensive mobos; a cost that i justified at the time because it actually offered performance and features unavailable elsewhere.

Some lessons i learned the [H]ard way:

-there is no such thing as too many USB 3.0 or too many harddrive connections.
- you probably need half the RAM slots you thing you need.
-a clear CMOS button will save you a lot of time.
- forget about changing CPUs or adding a second VGA later: build to last and when you start, do not bring old and slow stuff inside your new build.
-choose a mobo that will fit with comfort inside your case. easier to build, easier to maintain.

 

[ZLoth]

Some lessons i learned the [H]ard way:

-there is no such thing as too many USB 3.0 or too many harddrive connections.

Maybe I could understand the hard drive connection part back when we used physical drives, and some folks used multiple hard drives in a RAID configuration to speed up transfer. However, when SSDs now around, why bother with such as configuration.

I have a 960GB SSD main drive and a 256GB SSD scratch drive in my system, plus an old Plextor PX-880SA DVD writer. I also have a SATA drive dock that comes in handy every 2-3 months. So, that's four SATA ports right there. Anything that requires slow storage, like backups, goes to my FreeNAS box named Vaultron.

- you probably need half the RAM slots you thing you need.

Depends. 8GB is practically a minimum nowadays, and 16GB is probably a nice sweet spot. Of course 32GB is probably overkill too.

- forget about changing CPUs or adding a second VGA later: build to last and when you start, do not bring old and slow stuff inside your new build.

I disagree with you here on some points. True, the motherboard and CPU are essentially the heart of the machine, and I've had some.... bad experiences.... upgrading the CPU. So, yes, get a good CPU with your motherboard. But, as for the other components... it's what your budget and needs allow. For example:

• DVD-Writer - Hardly any software comes exclusively on physical media nowadays, and when does anyone "burn" a CD, DVD, or BluRay? Might as well recycle that component.
• Video card - When I built my Uberboxen in August, 2014, the nVidia 980 was just about to be announced, and when it became available, it was perpetually out of stock for two months. I ended up using my old nVidia 460 card (with replaced thermal paste) until I was finally able to purchase the 980 in mid-November, 2014.
• Hard Drive/SSD - SSDs are the way to go, but if the budget is right, recycle an older hard drive. You can then use drive cloning software to duplicate the drive over to a SSD later.

 

[geok1ng]

feel free to replace harddrive connections with storage connections: one can never have too many of them.
RAM size matters, RAM slots do not.
i meant old and slow stuff inside a new build. DVD writers are not slow stuff, since if you need one, getting a new model is not much faster than your old one. Now bringing your 5y old 2TB harddrive to your new build is only going to make it slow and failure prone.

i tried to understand price and features on the AM4 offers and gave up:

- when will i need to use both front and rear audio amps at the same time?
-where will i found cheap 5Gbs stufff to connect to my 5Gbs NIC?

 

[ZLoth]

- when will i need to use both front and rear audio amps at the same time?

Dunno. It's been my impression that the rear amps were for speakers, while front amps were for headphones.

 

[almalino]

Because you do not need all these on a gaming machine? My motherboard was like 100 Euros 5 years ago and it is still going strong.

 

[Dan_D]

Motherboards with multiple audio amplifiers use them for different things. You often have one for the front panel header and another for the jacks on the I/O panel.

 

[Elory Besus]

I think that most people prefer cheaper motherboards because they just don't need the features that are present in the more premium ones. Yes, the motherboard is a very important computer component, but as the saying goes, "different strokes for different folks".

I bought the most inexpensive Z170 motherboard from MSI and although it is not as robust as its more premium model, I am happy with the features that came with it.

I guess that buying a motherboard is more of a "futureproofing" more than anything. But I am positive that most people would rather spend their money on the processor or the GPU for more performance.