Which z690 D5 motherboard?

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Soon to do a build for gaming and overclocking as I am starting to learn how to OC. But stuck trying to pick the best z690 DDR5 board.


The motherboard I had in mind currently are:

- ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-F
- MSI Z690 CARBON OR FORCE

Which would be the better board for overall overclocking performance, full memory overclocking options and has a good bios?

Would I need any of these features below? Would it be a deal breaker if it didn’t have these features? Or can I still overclock to full potential without them?

- Post code display
- Clear CMOS button
 
I would first make sure you can get DDR5 b4 going this route, unless you don't mind waiting for your memory.
 
I have the MSI Z690 Force and it's a stable board. BIOS is pretty straight forward and has lots of options for overclocking. I also like the looks in my white case.
 
I'm pretty sure just about any Z690 board you can buy has plenty of overclocking options.
 
Pretty much all motherboards have the same overclocking options. The main difference comes down to the hardware and how granular the adjustments can be. Higher end boards with better VRM's and voltage controllers can adjust in finer increments than others, but this is rarely an issue. The difference between a lower end and higher end motherboard rarely impacts overclocking when using ambient cooling options like air or water cooling. There are benefits to higher end motherboards, but rarely do they matter with overclocking with conventional cooling methods. The bigger impact is to memory clocking which is still primarily limited to the modules you are using.

Some boards, like the ASUS ROG motherboards (non-STRIX models), tend to have specific overclocking profiles for certain memory IC's. These are tested profiles that bring out additional performance, but it's not magic. You won't get a massive increase with these sorts of things. These are really for hardcore enthusiasts and rarely benefit the average users who buy whatever RAM is prettiest or buys whatever is on sale.

But the biggest difference in higher end motherboards versus lower end isn't overclocking at all or even performance. It's features. Things like higher end audio CODEC implementations and network controllers drive the price up. Other things like more granular control of fans require special IC's which drive the price up. Onboard controls, additional PCIe lane switches and what not all drive the price up. Fancy M.2 heatsinks, OLED displays, etc. all drive the costs up. The only thing that doesn't are RGB's which are so cheap, they are practically free on PC hardware. In other words, while some boards will offer slightly more overclocking options, they aren't options that matter to the vast majority of users or even overclockers. That said, between those two, I prefer the BIOS on ASUS motherboards. I think they have a better interface than MSI or anyone else has for that matter. However, it's a minor issue. I've used MSI and GIGABYTE boards in my own systems without issue and I work with all three a lot. So this preference isn't a major factor in my decision to use one or the other.

And for your final questions: POST code displays are nice. They are much easier to troubleshoot issues with than the plain blinky lights or audio tones. Lastly, a clear CMOS button is nice, but again not required. You can still clear your CMOS without one.
 
Dan_D said:
Pretty much all motherboards have the same overclocking options. The main difference comes down to the hardware and how granular the adjustments can be. Higher end boards with better VRM's and voltage controllers can adjust in finer increments than others, but this is rarely an issue. The difference between a lower end and higher end motherboard rarely impacts overclocking when using ambient cooling options like air or water cooling. There are benefits to higher end motherboards, but rarely do they matter with overclocking with conventional cooling methods. The bigger impact is to memory clocking which is still primarily limited to the modules you are using.

Some boards, like the ASUS ROG motherboards (non-STRIX models), tend to have specific overclocking profiles for certain memory IC's. These are tested profiles that bring out additional performance, but it's not magic. You won't get a massive increase with these sorts of things. These are really for hardcore enthusiasts and rarely benefit the average users who buy whatever RAM is prettiest or buys whatever is on sale.

But the biggest difference in higher end motherboards versus lower end isn't overclocking at all or even performance. It's features. Things like higher end audio CODEC implementations and network controllers drive the price up. Other things like more granular control of fans require special IC's which drive the price up. Onboard controls, additional PCIe lane switches and what not all drive the price up. Fancy M.2 heatsinks, OLED displays, etc. all drive the costs up. The only thing that doesn't are RGB's which are so cheap, they are practically free on PC hardware. In other words, while some boards will offer slightly more overclocking options, they aren't options that matter to the vast majority of users or even overclockers. That said, between those two, I prefer the BIOS on ASUS motherboards. I think they have a better interface than MSI or anyone else has for that matter. However, it's a minor issue. I've used MSI and GIGABYTE boards in my own systems without issue and I work with all three a lot. So this preference isn't a major factor in my decision to use one or the other.

And for your final questions: POST code displays are nice. They are much easier to troubleshoot issues with than the plain blinky lights or audio tones. Lastly, a clear CMOS button is nice, but again not required. You can still clear your CMOS without one.
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Thank you for the very detailed response.

I plan to go with an Asus motherboard. Maybe the Rog Strix Z690-F but I hope it can future proof when faster DDR5 dimms come out. As of right now this motherboard only supports speeds of 6200-6400mhz.

If new ddr5 dimms of 7500mhz ever do get released. Do you think this board will be able to support and use it?
Would totally suck if it didn’t. Do not want to have to buy a new board again just to be able to use later versions of DDR5.
 
There is absolutely no way to know what a board can do through memory overclocking when the memory in question does not exist yet. I have a Maximus Z690 Extreme, and even it might not reach speeds over 6400MHz with later generation DIMMs. I've got DDR5 6000MHz modules right now, but I'm still waiting on a couple things to finish the build.
 
localhost said:
Thank you for the very detailed response.

I plan to go with an Asus motherboard. Maybe the Rog Strix Z690-F but I hope it can future proof when faster DDR5 dimms come out. As of right now this motherboard only supports speeds of 6200-6400mhz.

If new ddr5 dimms of 7500mhz ever do get released. Do you think this board will be able to support and use it?
Would totally suck if it didn’t. Do not want to have to buy a new board again just to be able to use later versions of DDR5.
Click to expand...
Your motherboard is not the only deciding factor for memory speeds, the memory controller on the CPU also need to be able to run the memory.
 
Denpepe said:
Your motherboard is not the only deciding factor for memory speeds, the memory controller on the CPU also need to be able to run the memory.
Click to expand...
Right, and if you're worried about future memory compatibility you need to just wait a bit and see. Riding the hope and pray train isn't worth it.
 
garikdfox said:
I say get the Force. Never get a ASUS
Click to expand...
On what do you base this? I've used hundreds of them without issue. Meanwhile, MSI is the company that created the MPG X570-A, which had VRM's that were insufficient for 12 and 16 core CPU's and were the laughing stock of the industry. Both companies have good models and not so great models.
 
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