Smaller & Better

I developed the itch to upgrade and rebuild my Intel-based desktop pc (even though socket 1700 is now obsolete / discontinued). My main motivation is that my old Gigabyte motherboard was really weak in supporting ddr5 frequencies. Forget any kind of overclocking - I couldn't even achieve stability at stock XMP profile speeds. I had no choice but to run the dd5 modules significantly underclocked for some time.

I realized that this ddr5 frequency problem is probably common among lower and mid range motherboards. As a result, I started looking at motherboards that are mid to high tier in terms of overclocking capability. Eventually my search for a good product at a good price led me to find an interesting product, an Asus Strix z790 itx motherboard on clearance at my local Microcenter. It was a great price - which gave me new motivation for my build. Not only was my desktop going to be better. It was also going to be smaller.