Best GPU 600-700$ range?

[iParanormalx]

Any particular reason? just a feeling/sense? I used to get those feelings about certain brands when I worked in retail.. so much exposure to everything left me with a taste for each brand that I just couldn't shake. I advised people to trust that taste - That taste was based on what I saw out of the products performance, lemon rates, end-user support, and general impression of professionalism.

Do any of those factors/concepts play in your perception of them not being "high-end"?

Sidebar:

Imo: "High-end" is more about the scale of models within a product line for example Vizio may make a 240hz, 4k, 3D, smart TV that is their high-end model... Samsung makes the exact same thing but because of the taste mentioned above Samsung will win hands-down. Ya feel?​

 

[PP Mguire]

In retrospect, I consider Vizio a high end maker but we've yet to see what they will pump out under new ownership. I consider them in my choices over a Sony TV.

MSI to me over the years has always been a "me too" gesture. Like the Carbon Godlike boards are a copy of the Rampage stuff and ASRock's Extreme 11. I currently run an MSI board and everything about it feels....only ok. Every high end model I've gotten from them since like 09 just only feels "ok". The 790fx-GD70 I got from them back then was an awesome board, then Asus sent me their 790fx Deluxe board and I'm like well, that was short lived. In the PC world I have honestly never liked Asus, but there's always been a respect for their boundaries they are pushing.

Another way of putting it is back in the day it was if you can't afford Asus go with ASRock. These days it's if you can't afford Asus or ASRock you can't go wrong with MSI and to me it's always been that way. Never a first choice lineup.

 

[luke127]

^^ +1 to ASRock. I'm running an ASRock board and have not had any issues whatsoever.

 

[iParanormalx]

That MSI board actually has pretty pathetic reviews. I'm checking the Asus you suggested to make sure everything lines up, it looks pretty slick too.

I hate buying a motherboard for parts. I picked the motherboard first because that's much easier imo but then found the 7700k over the 6600k. Didn't even bat an eye to think about the 6xxx / 7xxx being generation numbers.

Kinda frustrating how the motherboards have chipsets named z170/z270 that indicate support 6th gen/Sky or 7th gen/Kaby. Then its about what version bios they have to determine if they support the newer generation..... so much jargon. I would hope by now they had became more vernacular friendly by unifying terminology, but i digress.

Also i'm extremely impressed at how many eyes saw my build (370 views on the first post, 170 views on this post, 500 views on my twitch) and no one raised a red flag with a z170 chipset and a Kaby. Shows that even though a lot of people saw it - we're all still human and make mistakes. And these manufactureres need to unify a naming convention for f*cks sakes.

 

[PP Mguire]

Except Z170 boards support 7th gen processors. There were articles all over the net about it, specifically for MSI too.

MSI releases BIOS updates for 7th Gen Intel “Kaby Lake” processors

 

[iParanormalx]

They do but they don't.

I reviewed the exact site you shared before. It shows BIOS versions that support Kaby. Those BIOS versions are updates to the versions they were flashed with in the factory back when they were boxed and shipped to retailers and resellers. The BIOS didn't magically update while the board was in the box.

Unless you meet the BIOS version criteria running a z170 board with a Kaby it wouldn't even POST. You're up sh!t creek with no damn paddle.

You'd literally have to buy a cheap Skylake, install it, run the BIOS update, then uninstall the Skylake and install the Kaby. -___________-

 

[PP Mguire]

They've been available for 4 months now. Double check the part number to make sure you're getting a newer board and it should be fine. If not, buy a Skylake Celeron to flash then return. Saying they don't support Kaby is false and others that might be reading this could queue up on that and take it as fact when it's not. Shipping with an older bios doesn't mean the board can't support Kaby, it just means it requires a bios update. We've been down this road with Intel quite a few times already because it's the same tactic they play to get more money. Since they're stuck basically with 14nm for who knows how long it'd be wise for people to clue up on it. That's also why so many people viewed the list and didn't say anything.

 

[iParanormalx]

You're not reading what I'm saying because we're both literally making the exact same point.

Unless you meet the BIOS version criteria running a z170 board with a Kaby it wouldn't even POST. You're up sh!t creek with no damn paddle.

You'd literally have to buy a cheap Skylake, install it, run the BIOS update, then uninstall the Skylake and install the Kaby. -___________-

I think we only disagree on the best method around it.

Its absurd to buy ANOTHER PROCESSOR for 30-50$ to update bios only to uninstall the processor to then resell/return it. Many retailers wont accept returns on used electronics anyway. Literally sh!t creek.

 

[PP Mguire]

I've done it 4 times through Amazon. Hell, I did a Prime Now on a G900 and the box was open and had a G9x in it. Sent that **** back, got a refund, then got a new G900.

Course, could always stick with a 6700k too, both are the same processor with a minor bump in clock to the Kaby. Platform difference is PCH lanes.

My post was about this:

Also i'm extremely impressed at how many eyes saw my build (370 views on the first post, 170 views on this post, 500 views on my twitch) and no one raised a red flag with a z170 chipset and a Kaby. Shows that even though a lot of people saw it - we're all still human and make mistakes. And these manufactureres need to unify a naming convention for f*cks sakes.

There's no mistake, nobody said anything because in the end the board supports 7th gen processors. Reread what YOU said then read what I said in coherence to other readers not as tech savvy. I said what I said for a reason, not necessarily because we were saying the same thing but for clarity. People could read your post and discern that Z170 boards don't support 7th gen, and because it's not clear they could think that they don't support 7th gen at all. This in in relation to for whatever reason somebody might want to upgrade from 6th to 7th and retain a Z170 board.

 

[iParanormalx]

I'm glad I did the return and ended up getting the Asus you suggested. And somehow I agree, the black looks a lot better than the silver and I'm excited to get this thing in and installed. Thank for all you help, PP.

For anyone searching the web and finding this thread in reference to a new generation processor and old generation chipsets on motherboards.. Still to me it was a mistake to buy the older chipset which is why I returned it (still sealed) and bought a newer model motherboard.

Heres why:

• Without doing research it is a gamble whether or not the motherboard with an old chipset left the factory flashed with the bios update that supports the new generation of processors. Search online before buying and you may find a list that shows which motherboard part numbers would have left the factory flashed with the bios version that supports new generation processors.
• If it wasn't flashed to the new version of the bios (or you already bought it) then you need to buy another processor just to update the bios.
• If you plan on buying a cheap processor (like a Celeron for ~30-50$), performing the update, then returning the processor - Its a gamble that the seller accepts returns on electronics at all. (Be sure you're buying from Amazon and not a seller ON Amazon because some sellers have much higher scrutiny on returns)
• If you bought a good heatsink or cooler that shipped with factory-applied thermal paste - that perfect thermal spread is wasted on the processor you used to update the bios and you better pay close attention when applying paste for your good processor because it is very important to get a good even spread or your processor will suffer from hot-spots and possibly cause major problems down the road.

Got overnight shipping on the motherboard for 3$! Damn Prime is awesome!

I'll update you on how the machine runs.. I expect to be impressed xD