WE TACKLE TOUGH READER QUESTIONS ON...

> 7600X Motherboar

> Blueprint Ide

> Water Cooling Difficulties

Motherboard Meeting

I’m planning on buying an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X because of its excellent price-to-performance ratio. It’s faster out of the box than most AMD 7000 chips. Which motherboard do you recommend in the B650 class? I’m not a gamer, but I do like photography. I will likely use the on-board video port. I want a PCIe 5.0 slot in case I need it down the road. The GIGABYTE B650 AORUS Elite AX is the mobo I have in mind, which has 2.5G ethernet, PCIe 5.0, and HDMI.

I’m sad there will be no more tactile version of Maximum PC, but will always be a subscriber. Thanks for your help on this issue.

–S. Sherk

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GUY COCKER, RESPONDS: I’ve used the Gigabyte Z790 GAMING X AX on a personal build, and have nothing but good things to say about it. It’s a different chipset to the one you’re looking at, as it’s for Intel CPUs, but your suggested Aorus should do you well.

The other option is to look at the one Sam recommends in his in his mid-range Blueprint (page 97), which is the ASRock B650M PG RIPTIDE WIFI Micro ATX AM5. Yes, it’s a Micro ATX form factor, so may not be totally suited to your needs, but it’s a good board at a great price. Good luck on the build!

Entry Level vs Mid Range

I like your magazine a lot. Even though I’m not skilled enough to build my own PC, I’ve learned a lot about computers, and I’m able to pick out components for a custom build. Your work is appreciated.