Linux Gaming @lemmy.world xylogx @lemmy.world 6 mo. ago

Motherboard upgrade

Considering upgrading my gaming rig with the following bundle ->

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006709/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-asus-b650-e-tuf-gaming,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-bundle

I have a GeForce RTX 3070 which I will keep and I am running Linux Mint 21.2. Any thoughts on compatibility? Any one running one of these ASUS B650-E TUF Gaming motherboards under Linux? Mint?

Edit: Thanks for all the great advice. It seems like I should spend just a few more dollars to get the Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX v2:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5006645/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2,-gskill-flare-x5-series-32gb-ddr5-6000-kit,-computer-build-bundle

18 comments

That looks like a pretty good deal. At least on paper. ASUS is having a bit of a consumer care meltdown at the moment, so you may wanna check that situation out before you decide. (Search “gamers nexus asus”)
Should work fine, especially as this mainboard has Realtek ethernet (ASUS sets up Intel I225 ethernet in a way that can cause issues, see this post on Reddit).
- not just asus, i think its something about this chip.
  
  i have the same issue on another brand.
  
  The I225 has several issues in all of its revisions, that's true. There's still better and worse implementations, and ASUS seems to have gotten it "more" wrong.
  
  Anyway, the Reddit post I linked to includes a workaround, you might want to try it since you have the same issue.
- That's not good, I actively try to avoid realtek cards since they are unreliable in linux. I have an asus board with an Intel nic but I haven't had these issues.
  
  On the other hand, I haven't really had issues with Realtek. Probably because their gigabit chipsets have been out for long enough to be stable.
  
  YMMV of course, but I had this happen mostly after hours of using the computer (4+ hours). I think it's mostly random when it happens though. The network adapter just fully disappears.
  
  This probably doesn't affect all ASUS mainboards, but I'd assume it affects all ASUS AM5 mainboards in a similar way.
  
  My mainboard is an ASUS ROG Strix B650E-E by the way.
Linux handles a 7800X3D in the ASUS TUF Gaming B650-Plus just fine, and since the motherboard in your bundle is almost the same, I would expect that to work well, too.

Some of the early BIOS versions on AM5 boards caused hardware damage if EXPO was enabled, and Asus was one of the affected brands. Updated BIOS versions with sensible VSoC limits have been available for quite a while now. I suggest updating the BIOS soon after you have your system running, just in case you get old stock. Rest assured that just booting up with default settings won't fry it, even if it has an old BIOS.

Asus boards are among the few that officially support ECC RAM, which is nice if that's important to you.

Asus warranty support for their video cards and ROG Ally have been particularly bad lately. I don't know if their motherboard support has the same problems. (I've never had to RMA a motherboard.)

I have a GeForce RTX 3070 which I will keep and I am running Linux Mint 21.2. Any thoughts on compatibility?

AMD GPUs are better supported and better integrated with linux, so you might consider one next time you upgrade, but the GeForce card you already have ought to work fine for gaming and basic desktop stuff (once you install Nvidia's proprietary drivers).
I have a Gigabyte B650 skew and I'm happy with it, I think the X670's are overpriced for general use tbh and the 7800X3D was my first choice but it was way too expensive where I live so I got the 7900x. I'm not sure if its still a thing but when I was buying last year, it was recommended to go with 6000 or lower speeds for AMD CPUs for better stability so that should be fine for you.

I'm in Europe so I can't comment on value because its completely different over here and also Microcenter is auto blocking me anyway lol

There was an issue with Over Current Protection on AM5 motherboards when EXPO is enabled that can cause the CPU (especially X3D) to die.

GamersNexus has a few videos on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTngvvD5dI&t=0

So I would defintely recommend checking Asus's website to see what firmware version they recommend using and upgrading to that before anything else.
- Thanks that is super-helpful! There is also a Gigabyte option that is only moderately more expensive. I will check it out!
  
  TBH I usually wouldn't recommend one vendor over another when it comes to motherboards because realistically nobody spends much time in the BIOS anyway, I'd just suggest the one that has the features you actually want but as the other comment pointed out Asus has been pretty crappy with customer repairs and warranty stuff so it might be worth spending a little bit more in case you do have an issue down the line but that's completely up to you, I have no idea if Gigabyte is better to deal with than Asus, but I do remember they had issues with exploding PSUs before lol
  
  Asus Warranty and Repair Issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMrssIrKcY&t=0
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3DwhTc7Z4o&t=0
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYdtpU8FKO8&t=0
  
  Asus issues related to AM5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbGfc-JBxlY&t=0
  
  Gigabyte's Exploding PSUs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aACtT_rzToI&t=0
Are you aware AMD just announced the release of new cpus?
Just making sure, since some people will prefer to wait.
Honestly I could never recommend an Asus board. They've done some really shitty things as a company recently, but besides that, I've had like 3 of their boards to go bad in weird ways. I'll never buy one again.

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