Costlier Z790 mobo with DDR5 vs. a cheaper Z690 mobo with DDR4

Discussion in 'Motherboard General Discussion' started by philmar, Feb 19, 2023.

  1. philmar

    philmar

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    Considering a new build for a photo editing only ATX.

    My 11 year old i7 3700K build was masterful and while overkill at the time it still serves me well. I spent the time to understand the needs of a photo editing rig and the components that were available then but things have changed. I only process one raw photo at a time, no large event photography batches, no video and no gaming. For years I have been using the ASUS bios auto-overclock feature in my ASUS P8Z77 mobo and that has helped me get more performance from the build. I was even able to survive with only the onboard graphics until I purchased a second 1440p monitor. However I am noticing that it is now slowing me down in Lightroom when I make use of the newer adjustment mask features...and also when I occasionally use Topaz Suite. I have recently retired so I have plenty of free time now to monetizing my hobby. I post on Facebook neighborhood groups and get weekly requests for prints from neighbors. I am going to buy a printer soon and also create photo books so I think the whole experience will be better on a snappier machine. My budget will be up to US$2250 though I could get a Z760 set up much cheaper ....I have to purchase my components in inflated CDN dollars though.

    I definitely will go with a i7 13700K though a i5 is probably the sweet spot. I have the funds to buy a better CPU and if this rig can last a decade like the last one it will be wise to go with the more powerful one. I have been agonizing for weeks over a costlier Z790 mobo with DDR5 vs. a cheaper Z690 mobo with DDR4. Seems like the builds would have no perceptible difference in performance (according to my usage) so why throw money away for nothing with a Z790 set up? However I think that a Z790 might be a good choice as it would be more future proof. Who knows what improvements there will be to DDR5 RAM? I will buy a K version of the i713700 as I will overclock but only conservatively using the mobo autoclock software.

    Most of the online mobo reviews seem to be from a gamer's perspective where mobos are valued on their overclockability (VRM and heatsink arrays). The few mobo reviews that I read from the perspective of image editing judge mobos based on ability to edit massive video files, or networking features or i/o connectivity to upload massive batches of wedding photos/videos. I don't want to pay for Thunderbolt, 10gb ethernet or even WIFI.

    I plan to use two new SSDs and a new 8-12GB HDD spinner as well as include HDD data drives from my current build: My Cdrive which is a Samsung 840 pro SATA 600, a Samsung 850 pro SATA 600 drive that I use as Lightroom catalogue/scratch drive and also 2 SATA HDD spinners with data. So my mobo will need to support ALL of those.

    Any thoughts and advice?

    And if it only drives two 1440p monitors do I really need a GPU for my usage (no video processing, gaming)? If so, is my Radeon RX 460 of any value?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 20, 2023
    philmar, Feb 19, 2023
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  2. philmar

    philmar

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    But I have narrowed the selection down to 3 lower tier Gigabyte boards:
    A) GIGABYTE Z790 UD AC
    B)GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX
    C) GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS Elite
    I can't really tell what differences they bring. I assume since I won't be OC'ing the i7 13700 that the VRMs while different are all sufficient.
    WHY would people purchase the Elite over the UD AC. Is the Elite going to give better performance or logevity. Does the Elite have thicker board, better copper wiring, better capacitors/diodes or memory regulators?
    I believe all three satisfy my i/o and M.2/SATA requirements
    I plan to purchase two new NVMe SSDs and a new 8-12GB SATA HDD spinner as well as include 4 drives from my current build: My C:drive which is a Samsung 840 pro SATA 600, a Samsung 850 pro SATA 600 drive that I use as Lightroom catalogue/scratch drive and also 2 SATA HDD spinners with data.
    I am happy to even spend the money to get a ASUS Strix-F if I felt it gave me better performance than these Gigatbyte borads but for my usage I don't think it will. Any insight from big brained techie people would be appreciated.
     
    philmar, Mar 16, 2023
    #2
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