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   Mikoto BSD (mikoto@akko.wtf)'s status on Wednesday, 19-Mar-2025 11:27:32 JST Mikoto BSD

   Narrowed down my motherboard choices to these three models:

   • ASUS ROG Strix X670E-A Wifi
   • GIGABYTE X870E AORUS Elite WIFI7
   • MSI MAX X870E Tomahawk Wifi

   Gonna make a post for each board detailing the pros/cons from my perspective.

   • Embed this notice
     Mikoto BSD (mikoto@akko.wtf)'s status on Wednesday, 19-Mar-2025 11:27:30 JST Mikoto BSD

     in reply to
     Finally the MSI
     
     Pros:
     - No lane sharing with the x16 PCIE slot
     - New MSI BIOS looks pretty nice
     - Has three USB C ports (2x USB4, and 1x 10 gbps)
     - Wifi 7 is apparently a bit better than Gigabyte's; not that I would be able to take advantage of that
     - Has 5 Gbps LAN (RTL8126) vs the Gigabyte (2.5G RTL8125B) or the Asus (2.5G i225)
     - Uses a Nuvoton SuperIO that is well supported in Linux
     
     Cons:
     - Lane sharing with USB4 ports and one of the m.2 slots
     - Green accents are a bit weird, coming from the grey X570 board I'm currently using
     - Most expensive ($460 CAD)
     - Some sporadic reports of instability with the X870 version of this board, unsure if this also extends to the X870E and to what extent
     - Has the least USB-A ports available on top of having the same 4 USB 2.0 ports as the Gigabyte
     Doughnut Lollipop 【記録係】:blobfoxgooglymlem: likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mikoto BSD (mikoto@akko.wtf)'s status on Wednesday, 19-Mar-2025 11:27:31 JST Mikoto BSD

     in reply to
     Next the Gigabyte.
     
     Pros:
     - Cheaper than the MSI
     - Has a post code display
     - Not hearing about as many customer support complains as with ASUS
     - Seems to have the most stable BIOS based on reports
     - Has USB4 ports with 4 lanes allocated to them at all times
     - Has WiFi 7
     - Aorus styling is probably the best of the three IMO
     
     Cons:
     - Two of the M.2s share lanes with the main x16 slot, so using all of them will result in the GPU only having 8 lanes
     - Less USB ports than the ASUS; with 4 being 2.0 only. I don't mind 2 ports being 2.0 for the mouse and KB, but 4 is a bit excessive
     - ITE SuperIO chip might not be as well supported with lm-sensors in Linux (though it seems the it87 driver does support the specific chip this board uses so it might not be that bad)
     - A bit more pricey than the ASUS ($425 CAD atm)
   • Embed this notice
     Mikoto BSD (mikoto@akko.wtf)'s status on Wednesday, 19-Mar-2025 11:27:32 JST Mikoto BSD

     in reply to
     Starting with the ASUS.
     
     Pros:
     - Cheapest board of the three ATM ($370 CAD)
     - Has the most USB-A ports, and most are 10 Gbps
     - No lane sharing between M.2 and PCIe slots, GPU will have 16 lanes no matter what
     
     Cons:
     - No USB4
     - Uses debug LEDs instead of a post code display
     - Wifi 6E only (but to be fair I don't have a WiFi 7 network, plus I use Ethernet, speaking of which...)
     - Uses the Intel i225 ethernet chipset, which has a history of stability issues. Not really clear if those have been fixed or not.
     - ASUS warranty is also not the best from what I've heard so I'm probably on my own if this breaks it seems.