expiredhexise posted May 31, 2024 05:20 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expiredhexise posted May 31, 2024 05:20 PM
Micro Center: Intel Core i9-12900K + ASUS Z790-V Prime AX + 32GB G.Skill DDR5 RAM $379.99
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Information about the motherboard in this bundle (copied over and slightly modified from my comment in a previous iteration of this bundle):
The motherboard in this bundle is a cut down version of the asus z790-p prime board (though slightly upgraded over the non-ax version of the -v prime), and a lower-midrange board overall. At least compared to the non-ax version included in the previous microcenter bundles it isn't quite as awful. It's a full size atx z790 chipset lga 1700 motherboard. This board has: the high end current gen z790 chipset, a 14(50A)+1(60A)+1 vrm, four pcie x16 slots (1x gen5 x16 primary slot, 3x gen4 x4) one pcie x1 gen3 slot, three m.2 slots (3x gen4 x4), four sata ports, Realtek 1Gb Lan, Wifi 6 + Bluetooth 5.3 (depending on the module you get), an acceptable assortment of usb, and a cheap realtek audio chip. It doesn't appear to have debug leds or a bios flashback button, though it can flash the power led to indicate certain issues and has an asus usb recovery function (obviously not as good as having actual bios flashback). This board has a great deal of compromises overall: poor connectivity options (gb lan and wifi 6 should not be on a current gen board over $120), no bios flashback, no displayport output for the igpu, only 3 m.2 and 4 sata ports, a cheap audio chip, no gen5 m.2 slot, etc. While this board should definitely be sufficient for most users, and the vrm should be able to handle the 12900k without issue, it's a disappointment overall. I wish they'd left out the gen 5 x16 slot which will be useless for a few years at least, and instead had focused on improving the board's base functionality with features more relevant to the average user.
Here's the motherboard's specs page: https://www.asus.com/motherboards.../techspec/
And here's the manual: https://dlcdnets.asus.c
For comparison, here's some information on the MSI Z790-P Pro WiFi (ddr5) motherboard you can get in this same bundle for $20 more (copied from the comment I made on my deal):
The motherboard in this bundle is solidly midrange, and uses the current gen high-end z790 chipset. It has a 14(55A)+1+1 vrm configuration, so it can handle a 14900k, let alone the far less power hungry 12900k in this bundle. This board has: 4 ram slots (supporting ddr5 7000+ 1DPC 1R), 3x PCI-E x16 slots (1x gen5 x16 primary, 1x gen 4 x4, 1x gen3 x1), 1x PCI-E x1 slot (gen3 x1), 4x m.2 2280 slots (all gen4 x4), 6 sata ports, intel 2.5gb lan, intel wifi 6e + bt 5.3, the low end realtek alc897 audio chip, a competent assortment of usb ports, debug leds, and bios flashback. Please refer to the specs sheet and manual I linked above for more detailed specs. As you can see, while it doesn't have all the absolute top end features that would be nice to have (such as a gen5 m.2 slot, higher end audio chip, 8-layer pcb, etc.), it is solidly midrange and should be far more than sufficient for basically anyone looking at a bundle in this price range.
The motherboard's specs page can be found here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/P...cification
And the manual can be found here: https://download.msi.co
As you can see, the difference in quality is quite stark. Compared to the asus board, the msi board: supports an additional m.2 gen4 drive (3 vs. 4), supports 2 additional sata drives (4 vs. 6), has wifi 6e, has 2.5gb lan, supports bios flashback (which allows you to update or overwrite the bios without the cpu and memory installed, and is generally better for rescuing a corrupted bios), has debug leds, has both hdmi and displayport outputs for the igpu (as opposed to only a single hdmi port), has more and better usb ports, has better internal i/o (eg. additional fan and rgb headers), etc.
Additionally, the reputation of asus's customer support is currently in the pits right now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMrssI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3DwhTc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYdtpU8
Overall, in my personal opinion, the vast majority of people considering this bundle would be much better off spending the extra $20 and getting the better motherboard. On the other hand, for those who truly believe that they wouldn't benefit at all from the better motherboard, this iteration of the 12900k bundle is simply a $20 cheaper version of what was already a decent deal, making it a good deal.
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