What motherboard should I actually pair with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D if I want something reliable but dont feel like throwing away cash on features I wont use? Im putting together a new gaming rig in Chicago by next month and I need this thing to be rock solid since its my main workstation too.
I keep looking at the MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk because people online seem to love it for the price, but then I see a bunch of random comments on Reddit about coil whine and long boot times which makes me nervous. Ive also looked at the ASUS ROG Strix B650E-F, but its quite a bit pricier and I cant really figure out if the extra E-series features like PCIe 5.0 actually matter for gaming or if its just marketing fluff. My budget for the board is around 200 to 250 bucks max. Is there anything else that just works without me having to fiddle with BIOS settings for three weeks? I just want to install the chip, get the XMP/EXPO stuff running, and actually play games instead of troubleshooting hardware, so any advice from someone who has already built with this CPU would be great.
Honestly, the MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi is solid enough, but check out the Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX V2 instead. It manages boot times way better and saves you cash.