I am wanting to build a pc wit 7950x and 7900xtx. I was wondering if the msi x670e gaming wifi is a good choice?
Yes any X670e chipset motherboard is fine.
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You probably want to with one that has Intel NICs and preferably a 8 layer PCB (the MSI board is only 6 layer from what I can tell).
Yeah, Intel NICs are best. ASRock X670E Taichi has 'em. Asus probably makes one too, but I’d avoid them until they get their RMA department fixed.
I have a 7950X / 7900 XTX, in the ASUS TUF X670E mobo. Works fine. I imagine the MSI will too.
Why is 8 layer better than 6 layer?
Same reason gold plated cables are better than non-gold plated cables. 
In theory, it helps with electronic interference. In practice, unless you are looking to push this PC so far back, it almost breaks… It doesn’t really matter. Maybe for some niche usecases, but for 99.9999% of people that just want their shit to work? Nah.
Same with Intel NIC - it’s nice, but if you have to pay $50-$100 extra just to get an Intel NIC, then nah.
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Intel was historically best, but the i225-v was infamously buggy. Have they finally gotten all that worked around without serious comprimize or fixed in revisions?
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Gold actually conducts better than many other metals and does have a few advantages over lets say copper depending on application. Since OP is referring to a workstation it’s not unlikely that 64Gb+ memory will be used which PCB routing may affect performance and/or compatibility for example. Other onboard components may also benefit and (analogue) audio is usually better too. Anymore more you’ll try to comment on?
Intel NICs have superior support, just because you don’t recognize a difference doesn’t mean there isn’t one. 
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B3 works fine which pretty much everything uses these days, there’s also the slightly newer i226.
Oh, yes, definitely. Thing is… It is gold plated cables. The cables themselves? Copper.
Not disagreeing with you. How much extra are you willing to spend on that though? $50? $100? $200? $1k?
$25 is absolutely worth to think about, $100 more is not IMO. Between that is a gray zone.
If I have to spend $150 more on a $350 board instead of $200 board, then yeaaaaah… Maybe I’ll take my chances with the $200 board, all else being equal.
Just a thought. Every NIC (wired or wireless) I use is an intel card and everyone one of them is under $100 with most being under $75.
@Teamtux
Agreed, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a consumer/workstation motherboard there they’ve just replaced the NIC. There are some server boards however that’s usually 1 vs 10Gbit or such.
@wertigon
Do you have a real world example of your claim (without finding sellers with extreme pricing)?
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Yes and I exclude the on-bord NICs I use from that equation. I mean I really see no reason to replace the on-board 10G NIC on my TRX50 MB or the 2.5GB on my X670E MB. But on the NAS I built and my router I had to install additional network connectivity and I’ve had to install some wireless NICs on various machines. Each has been sub $100 and has an intel chipset.
I assume that’s MSI’s X670E Gaming Plus Wifi. MSI and ASRock are likely preferable to Gigabyte and Asus for AM5 and, based on AM4 build experience and pricing, I’d default to ASRock over MSI for AM5. As you don’t mention why you’ve picked X670 or the Gaming Plus out of MSI’s lineup there’s not a lot to go on here.
For ASRock, X670E PG Lightning and Pro RS pricing I can get is under the Gaming Plus and the Steel Legend’s a bit over. The slot, M.2, port, and wifi configurations are all a bit different, so it’s likely whichever looks best for the intended use. Steel Legend’s the only dual NIC but, as it’s 2.5+1, that may not be so interesting (though a 2.5+1 Tomahawk I built is set up with 2x1 and that’s useful).
Yeah, same. Most of what I’ve built lately’s been 2.5 Gb Realtek. It all just works. So I can’t identify a reason to specifically seek an Intel NIC, to pay more for one, or to take 1 Gb Intel over 2.5 Gb Realtek. Which is convenient as 90+% of the boards I look at are 2.5 Gb Realtek.
Also the most attractive upgrade path from a 2.5 Gb desktop mobo is usually 10 Gb on 4.0 x1, which mainly means AQC113. Realtek doesn’t (currently) do 10 Gb and E810s are awkward even where an x8 card is physically compatible with an x1 slot.
I could dig up a couple examples, but it’s basically pointless since we are discussing motherboards, not PCIe expansion cards.
A motherboard has many features, I think I looked at an Asus board + ASRock board + Gigabyte board when I picked together my AM4 system back in 2019, IIRC I had to spend $75 extra for the one with an Intel NIC, other than that the boards were similar in terms of chipset, back panel ports et cetera. Since I was going for integrated graphics at the time, 3 display ports ultimately sealed the deal. It was five years ago now though, so my memory is foggy on details. I think it was a $50 difference between the three.
Bottom line is that I consider Intel on board NIC is a nice to have, not essential for a motherboard. As you mention, you can always insert a NIC PCIe card later. A dual 10G + m.2 card is awesome
This is exactly why I point out the sweeping statments, “I had to spend $75 extra for the one with an Intel NIC, other than that the boards were similar” which isn’t the same as …“I’ll take my chances with the $200 board, all else being equal”.
I honestly doubt that being the case even back then and support is much better, again, you might not value it but that doesn’t mean it’s the same for anyone else.
This can completely differ between chipset types, socket types and MB sizes though, which makes the question very hard and complex to answer. My general advice is that Intel NIC is nice to have but not essential on a motherboard.
Here is a concrete example. Let’s say I want to buy Intel and something more budget friendly, with a 2.5x network port, let’s say an Entry level gaming PC with $900 budget. Here are my options:
| Part | Chipset | Shape | NIC | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asus PRIME B760-PLUS | B760 | ATX | 2.5 GbE RealTek | $119.99 |
| MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI | Z690 | ATX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $177.99 |
| Gigabyte B760I Aorus Pro | B760 | mITX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $194.99 |
| Asus ROG STRIX B760-A GAMING WIFI | B760 | ATX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $229.99 |
We are talking between a $58-$110 difference depending on what other features you want. I could build an entry level gaming PC for ~$900, maybe $800 if I really push it - With that budget $60 is at least 6.5% of the money.
As for AM5, the situation is even worse. Here is the same PC build but AM5 as reference, and the cheapest mITX, ATX and X670 boards with Intel:
| Part | Chipset | Shape | NIC | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock B650 LiveMixer | B650 | ATX | 2.5 GbE Realtek | $149.99 |
| Gigabyte B650 AERO G | B650 | ATX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $229.99 |
| Gigabyte B650I AORUS ULTRA | B650 | mITX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $249.99 |
| Gigabyte X670E AORUS PRO X | X670E | ATX | 2.5 GbE Intel | $279.99 |
$80 difference for B650, same-ish between a decent X670 board and the cheapest Intel NIC board with the same chipset. Yeah, sorry, I believe my point is proven quite well here. However, this is not a complete Apples-to-apples comparison as these boards differ in features quite a bit.
This just proves my point, you’re just taking some board without any consideration(s) and compare one specific parameter.
I am showing that Intel NIC is a premium feature on a motherboard, one that could potentially save you $50 or more if you are willing to take a small gamble.
Now there are hundreds of parameters to choose from with regards to one specific motherboard, but if, say, the $209.99 ASRock X670E PG Lightning has all the features you need over the $279.99 Gigabyte X670E AORUS PRO X, should you then do that?
The Gigabyte card costs $70 more, but you do get this extra for the money:
- Intel NIC
- WiFi (and 7, no less)
- Slightly better VRM / Power delivery (A+ tier instead of A)
- Higher potential RAM OC
- 2 extra fan headers
- A better PCIe lane config (slightly better for PCIe, much better for m.2)
- 2 USB-A ports are faster
So… Is it worth it to pay $70 extra for the WiFi and Intel NIC? That’s up to you to decide, in this specific use case. Maybe you need a $500 board, maybe not, but this is why I am saying only looking at the Intel NIC can cost you $70 or so. Or it can be the difference of $10. Or it could potentially even be cheaper.
This should be in your posts from the start or at least highlight pros and cons and you’re also forgetting about PCIe 4 vs PCIe 5 which also might be of interest.