Motherboard Pricing: I watched a video last night about the pricing of motherboards. It seems that $1,000 isn't unusual, and $250 is at the low end. I haven't bought a motherboard...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I watched a video last night about the pricing of motherboards. It seems that $1,000 isn't unusual, and $250 is at the low end. I haven't bought a motherboard since 2018, and that was an MSI Z270 for $117. He said that the differences between motherboards are very slight and difficult to understand. In many cases, you must pay extra for Wi-Fi. I have a bunch of computer components that I have to assemble someday.

With motherboards and graphics cards being so expensive, building your own is going to be the expensive way to get a new computer.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Yea, ages ago I used to do that..

I just get OTS units now.......
Hopefully a tower (now) with an extra HD bay. But I don't really need that anymore either.
I just need room for all the USB devices now.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Longshadow wrote:

Yea, ages ago I used to do that..

I just get OTS units now.......
Hopefully a tower (now) with an extra HD bay. But I don't really need that anymore either.
I just need room for all the USB devices now.

👍

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Longshadow wrote:

I just need room for all the USB devices now.

Yes! Hubs and extension cords are a nuisance. I've never had a USB extension cord that worked reliably. I have to keep unplugging and re-plugging.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I had to replace the motherboard on an HP computer years ago. I was lucky enough to find an exact replacement for it on eBay for about $75. I took a number of photos while removing the old MB so I could get the new one in place. After getting the board out and new one installed and all the wires connected I was surprised that the computer fired up and worked fine.

OwlHarbor Loc: Pacific North West USA

My tower has extra external front-facing ports but find this device great on my desk. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0797NWDCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I don't have to worry about plugging it in and out and keeps active even when my computer is in sleep because it is separately powered.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

OwlHarbor wrote:

My tower has extra external front-facing ports but find this device great on my desk. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0797NWDCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I don't have to worry about plugging it in and out and keeps active even when my computer is in sleep because it is separately powered.

I have a short cord 3-port expander in the back of the computer for "permanent" stuff, like mouse, printer, etc., and a 4-port powered one on the desk for temporary stuff like memory fobs, slide/neg scanner, Tom-Tom, phone, HD drive dock, etc.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

jerryc41 wrote:

... With motherboards and graphics cards being so expensive, building your own is going to be the expensive way to get a new computer.

You have to pay for them regardless of who installs them.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I have used Asus motherboards for many years with never an issue. The make boards from $120 to $600 (and perhaps higher, but you should be able to find one with the features you need in the $200-300 range. Cost drivers are the number of PCI slots (and the number of lanes), m.2 NVME sockets, USB3 ports, memory slots as and whether you want/need BT and WIFI and what processor it supports. Since most new MBs are DDR5 memory, you won’t be able to use your old DDR4 (or 3), so new memory will drive up the cost. Never the less, I just built a new I-7 64GB all NVME machine for well less than the cost of a ready built machine, but I was able to use my SSDs and PS plus case from my old machine.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Jerry:
I could never get what I wanted in a box built by someone else. So I still build my own.
My last build was in 2014, but winblows started to crap out, and I had to update.
My latest build (1/2023) uses an MSI Z690 MoBo, Intel Core i9-12900K Desktop Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unlocked, with a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB SSD system drive, Samsung 980 1TB swap drive, and a 3x12 TB WD NAS certified (24TB accessible) RAID5 data drive. I still have files from the 1980's.
I've given up on having multiple video cards connected by SLI - seems that technology is dead.
So I just got a GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming OC 12G (REV2.0) Graphics Card, which while NOT the top end, does more than I'll ever need.
Oh - I also installed a 1200 watt power supply - overkill - probably. But so is all the above.
All this stuff required a full sized case - Phanteks Enthoo Pro Full Tower Chassis with Window Cases PH-ES614P - and just for grins I connected a set of multi-colored LEDs to the MoBo port, showing through the case window, that would make any gamer (which I'm not) proud.
I don't overclock - so didn't water cool, but I did add 3 x 140mm fans to help move cooling air.
I am hoping this lasts for at least another 8-10 years. Probably dependent on when the microsnot OS craps out again.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Merlin1300 wrote:

Jerry: br I could never get what I wanted in a box... (show quote)

You reminded me that choosing the correct chipset on the board is important (for MSI and Asus, it’s part of the P/N). Here’s a link to the list of current available Intel chipsets: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/chipsets/desktop-chipsets/products.html

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Merlin1300 wrote:

Jerry: br I could never get what I wanted in a box... (show quote)

Nice. Put some RAM in it and it might even work.

Merlin1300 Loc: New England, But Now & Forever SoTX

Desert Gecko wrote:

Nice. Put some RAM in it and it might even work.

Ohh Heck - - I fergot about that - -
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan DDR5 Ram 32GB Kit (2x16GB) 5200MHz (PC5-41600)
And sure - there's also a blue-ray writer and a USB 3.2 card & USB interface.
All of the fans run off of the MoBo PWM controller - fans are very quiet, as most of the components, other than the stupid 690 chipset (apparently happy at 160 F) run pretty cool.
-
Software includes Macrium Reflect 8.X (free - get it on filehippo or other before 1/1/2024 when free license becomes unavailable), EaseUS Todo Backup Home Lifetime, EaseUS Partition Master Pro Lifetime, microsnot office Pro LTSC, Adobe CS6, and decades of older stuff. Including 200 GB of legacy games.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Longshadow wrote:

I have a short cord 3-port expander in the back of the computer for "permanent" stuff, like mouse, printer, etc., and a 4-port powered one on the desk for temporary stuff like memory fobs, slide/neg scanner, Tom-Tom, phone, HD drive dock, etc.

That's a good place to put a hub.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

TriX wrote:

You reminded me that choosing the correct chipset on the board is important (for MSI and Asus, it’s part of the P/N). Here’s a link to the list of current available Intel chipsets: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/details/chipsets/desktop-chipsets/products.html

Right! There's a website - https://pcpartpicker.com/ - that tells you if your components are compatible. Also - https://pc-builder.net/build/