Upgrade advice re: core ultra or Gen 14 Raptor Lake?

[Louise]

Hi guys

I'm in the UK and just looking for some wisdom to help me decide. I need to upgrade one of my desktops - currently a Z370 /i7-8700. I realise we're at the tail end of Gen 14 systems and on the cusp of the core ultra series. On the one hand I can see the performance gain of Gen 14, on the other, they will soon be kinda obsolete but the core ultra is not yet really widely tested in the field so is a bit of an unknown. I'm a bit cynical re the inclusion of 'AI' and not convinced I need it for anything or will benefit from it. I'm not generally a gamer but do run DCS World combat flight simulator.  I'm thinking of one of the ROG Strix series Mobos and an i7 processor. It's just a case of Z790 or Z890. Any thoughts, suggestions welcome. Oh, I'm sticking to Intel - just because.

Thanks for any input

Lou

[Nate152]

Hello Louise

If building a new pc, it would be good to go for the new Z890 chipset. - ROG STRIX Z890-E GAMING WIFI | Gaming motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global (asus.com)

Core ultra 7 265k - Intel Core Ultra 7 265K - Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) Arrow Lake 20-Core (8P+12E) LGA 1851 125W Intel Gr...

[Louise]

Hi Nate

Thanks for the reply. Well I'm talking about an upgrade from the Z370-A Prime, i7-8000 to a newer setup. So not a completely new system - just mobo, processor, memory and CPU cooler. I was hoping to get some pros and cons between the  'old' 14th Gen and 'new' (not available yet) Core Ultra options. I've read the core ultra can consume a massive 250W tho I presume that would be unusual in most normal use. I suspect the Gen 15 setup will be a lot more expensive too. The core ultra is a bit of an unknown so concerned there might be some hidden problems/instabilities/bricking as there have been with some 13th/14th gen processors.

Thanks

[Louise]

I also note there are hardly any pcie expansion slots anymore... I need at least 3 in total - RTX4080 graphics card, a slot for a tv card (pcie x1)and another x 16 slot for an accessible M2 drive.  Does that mean I have to stay with Z790,  Gen 14?

[Nate152]

With 12th,13th and 14th Gen cpu's, you have 20 pcie 4.0 lanes. You could install your ssd in the M.2_1 slot and have your RTX 4080 in the first pcie x16 slot. If you have more drives, these can be installed in the other motherboard M.2 slots and run off the chipset lanes.

If you're looking to save some cash, the ROG Strix Z790-H Gaming Wifi may have all you need. It has a clear cmos button and supports bios flashback. Two important features in my opinion.

The pcie x1 slot is pcie 3.0.

Amazon.com: ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-H Gaming (WiFi 6E)LGA1700(Intel14th,13&12th Gen)ATX gaming motherboa...

i7-14700K - Amazon.com: Intel® Core™ i7-14700K New Gaming Desktop Processor 20 cores (8 P-cores + 12 E-cores) wi...

DDR5 memory, is 32GB enough? - Kingston Fury Beast RGB 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MT/s DDR5 CL36 Desktop Memory Kit of 2 | Infrared Sync Tec...

Cpu cooler - Do you want an AIO liquid cooler or air cooler? Your pc case will determine the size of the radiator if going for an AIO liquid cooler.

[Louise]

Hi again

You misunderstand - I really need at least 3 pcie slots. The onboard m.2 slots aren't an issue. I need to have an m.2 slot on a pcie expansion card and a slot for a tv card as well as either a RTX Aorus 2070 Super (pcie 3) else a RTX 4080 (pcie 4). I've not decided which one will go where yet. But, in any case, it seems the ASUS ROG Strix core ultra motherboards don't provide enough pcie expansion slots. I'll have to think about the best course of action.

Thanks anyway

[Nate152]

You have three expansion slots with the ROG Strix Z790-H Gaming Wifi. If you want to use an expansion card for an M.2 ssd, you could put it in the bottom slot and would run off the chipset lanes.

Red - GPU

Yellow - TV Tuner card

Blue - Expansion card for ssd's

[Louise]

Um, we were talking 15th Gen 890 chipsets?! Obviously, if I were to stick to 14th Gen then there is plenty of choice of motherboards with sufficient pcie slots. Having said that, I've not seen any comprehensive real world performance 14th to 15th gen comparisons yet. It's not clear when 15th gen products will be generally available in the UK. Some say 24th October for first shipments but I wouldn't buy a first shipment anyway! I guess I'll either have to wait a number of months to get a decent selection of meaningful 15th gen reviews else get a 14th gen before they become unavailable! I wish Intel hadn't jumped on the AI bandwagon. I'm especially sceptical of a first generation of 'AI chips' ... They will use the buyers as test beds!

[Nate152]

There are four Strix Z890 motherboards, they all have just two pcie slots.

There are two TUF and three Prime Z890 motherboards that would suit your needs, the Maximus Z890 Hero also has three pcie slots.

On paper, 14th and 15th Gen cpu's look similar in specs with 15th Gen having a little more cpu cache. What 15th Gen has going for it is the new architecture and may have better stability.

[Louise · Accepted solution]

It also has to run Windows 10, for the moment. The Maximus is ridiculously expensive. As I said, I need to see meaningful comparisons to decide on whether 15th Gen is worth it.  'On paper' specs are meaningless. I'll probably wait until spring or until there is a clear advantage in 15th gen. If I went for 14th Gen now, it would still give me a big performance increase on my current i7-8700. I believe all the reported 13th/14th gen stability issues have been fixed.