I just did a Z790 upgrade, and I started with a Z790 Maximus (Around $500) which I had to RMA, threw in a cheaper Z790 Plus-Wifi (Around $200).

The major differences in the more expensive board were

- Substantially better io (more nvme, way more ports on the back, higher speed ports)

- Way cooler RGB (if that’s your think)

- Board niceties, I.e. Q Code display, Start/Launch button on the motherboard.

Is it worth $300 more? Probably not to most. I find the IO useful myself. Having things like the Q-Code display were useful when diagnosing the need for a RMA.

Windows 11 runs really well on Arm nowadays, especially at running x86 software. Most people don’t realize how good it is.

Someone should probably let him know that things have changed a lot in the last 10 years.