[SOLVED] 400 euro budget for upgrade help choose the motherboard and check compatibility

[darkking791]

Hello guys i will upgrade a friends pc in the next days and i have 400 euro budget, in that price range im gonna go for intel because from what i see is budget king right now (how times change)
cpu Intel Core i3-12100F 105 euro
psu Corsair CX CX550F RGB 550W 65 euro
ram Kingston Fury Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 70 euro
motherboard MSI MAG B660M Bazooka DDR4 or msi pro b660mA (im leaning more for the bazooka even though is 10 euro more expensive because im afraid of out of the box bios support for intel i3 of the msi b660ma pro)
and we gonna keep the rest parts of the previous pc : gigabyte 1050ti 4gb gpu (6 months old) , an old 120gb sata ssd and the old case(3 120cm fans) plus an 500gb hard drive.
Pc usage gonna be casual gaming , youtube,discord internet browsing.
Now my main question is , are two msi the motherboards the same?
My main fear is that i buy the motherboard (b660mA pro) and the bios doesnt support the intel i3 12100f in that case i dont have an alternative cpu to upgrade the bios and i will have to send the mobo back for bios update.... Thats why i was looking the bazooka mobo which i found that support i3 12100f from bios update from December... and in comparison the The b660ma pro have bios for i31200f support only from late march and after
Also is my research correct ? that the bazooka motherboard and b660ma pro almost same motherboards vrm wise , and they just have different heatsinks and some diferrences at bios and ports or im wrong?.
Furthermore i want to add that i know that the msi b600 bazooka and the b600ma pro is more than enough for i3 12100f but i believe its better to pay a little more for motherboard. moreover the i3 12100f is more than enough for the 1050ti of my friend (i think the 12100f is good enough even for rtx 3060) and in the future he can pick a second hand 12600 or something better and call it a day (in a few years)

any tip? should i buy a cheap board cheap psu and cheap ram and buy better cpu? i dont think thats wise..... any thoughts? any wrong with my parts compatibility?.
edit typos.

 

[logainofhades]

It does appear that the Bazooka has the same VRM. I typically use PCPP's Germany selection, for Euro, so this may differ from what you have available. Within budget, and you get a better PSU.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i3-12100F 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor (€106.90 @ Galaxus)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€159.44 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€58.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Super Flower Legion GX Pro 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (€68.50 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €393.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-19 15:16 CEST+0200

 

[kizo]

Hello guys i will upgrade a friends pc in the next days and i have 400 euro budget, in that price range im gonna go for intel because from what i see is budget king right now (how times change)
cpu Intel Core i3-12100F 105 euro
psu Corsair CX CX550F RGB 550W 65 euro
ram Kingston Fury Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 70 euro
motherboard MSI MAG B660M Bazooka DDR4 or msi pro b660mA (im leaning more for the bazooka even though is 10 euro more expensive because im afraid of out of the box bios support for intel i3 of the msi b660ma pro)
and we gonna keep the rest parts of the previous pc : gigabyte 1050ti 4gb gpu (6 months old) , an old 120gb sata ssd and the old case(3 120cm fans) plus an 500gb hard drive.
Pc usage gonna be casual gaming , youtube,discord internet browsing.
Now my main question is , are two msi the motherboards the same?
My main fear is that i buy the motherboard (b660mA pro) and the bios doesnt support the intel i3 12100f in that case i dont have an alternative cpu to upgrade the bios and i will have to send the mobo back for bios update.... Thats why i was looking the bazooka mobo which i found that support i3 12100f from bios update from December... and in comparison the The b660ma pro have bios for i31200f support only from late march and after
Also is my research correct ? that the bazooka motherboard and b660ma pro almost same motherboards vrm wise , and they just have different heatsinks and some diferrences at bios and ports or im wrong?.
Furthermore i want to add that i know that the msi b600 bazooka and the b600ma pro is more than enough for i3 12100f but i believe its better to pay a little more for motherboard. moreover the i3 12100f is more than enough for the 1050ti of my friend (i think the 12100f is good enough even for rtx 3060) and in the future he can pick a second hand 12600 or something better and call it a day (in a few years)

any tip? should i buy a cheap board cheap psu and cheap ram and buy better cpu? i dont think thats wise..... any thoughts? any wrong with my parts compatibility?.
edit typos.

Country?

 

[darkking791]

there is no superflower psu in my country (greece) and and i choose the Kingston Fury Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 because they where in the motherboards ram list (i prefer to choose rams from there to be safe)

 

[darkking791]

Country?

Greece

 

[logainofhades]

Is there a particular site you are ordering from?

 

[Why_Me]

Skroutz.gr: Σύγκριση τιμών σε 6060+ καταστήματα!

Σύγκρινε τιμές σε πάνω από 6060 καταστήματα ή αγόρασε απευθείας από το Skroutz. Βρες ευκαιρίες, δες απόψεις χρηστών και χαρακτηριστικά προϊόντων!

www.skroutz.gr

 

[darkking791]

Is there a particular site you are ordering from?

Skroutz

 

[kizo]

Greece

Have you considered to order him everything from some local physical store from whatever city he is?
Using warranty that way is most practical , though some would disagree.
Perhaps they have Internet pages on English.

I am not well versed in Intel boards yet , but others here are.

Naturally if it's some small town in the middle of nowhere with no proper PC shops, just ignore my suggestion.

 

[darkking791]

Have you considered to order him everything from some local physical store from whatever city he is?
Using warranty that way is most practical , though some would disagree.
Perhaps they have Internet pages on English.

I am not well versed in Intel boards yet , but others here are.

Naturally if it's some small town in the middle of nowhere with no proper PC shops, just ignore my suggestion.

Well we are love in a small population town so we dont have any good pc shops with the latest generation parts at least

 

[darkking791]

I would like to ask one more thing guys the corsair cpu it says pcie/ cpu on on a port. So from my understanding one slot its for gpu and the other one is for the cpu cable?in my case because the 1050ti doesnt need cable im gonna install the cpu cable, the motherboard cable and 2 sata cables for example. Also the motherboard cable have a split does it matter if the split installed in the motherboard or in the psu port? (I mean the mobo cable is 24 pin but think in the photo it seems like 24 pin from the one front and at the other it seems like 16+8 or something) it that case does it matter which one i connect to psu and which one to mobo?

 

[kizo]

Well we are love in a small population town so we dont have any good pc shops with the latest generation parts at least

That's a shame.
Well I don't have much experience with Internet shopping , so I can't say if there are advantages of ordering from some potentially distant part of Greece instead of some other EU country .

 

[darkking791]

That's a shame.
Well I don't have much experience with Internet shopping , so I can't say if there are advantages of ordering from some potentially distant part of Greece instead of some other EU country .

I have made a lot orders from skroutz its site the only downside its that if you are unlucky with a part it takes a while for replacement because u have to send it away. Also if possible can u help me with the above question about the psu ports and cable. I havent install modular cable for few years and im rusty.

 

[kizo]

I have made a lot orders from skroutz its site the only downside its that if you are unlucky with a part it takes a while for replacement because u have to send it away. Also if possible can u help me with the above question about the psu ports and cable. I havent install modular cable for few years and im rusty.

No sorry.
Whenever I need something to change regarding my PC I bring it to physical store.
Or I suffer at home for not purchasing everything from the same one.

 

[logainofhades]

From best I can find, on that website, your choices are the best for that budget.

 

[darkking791]

From best I can find, on that website, your choices are the best for that budget.

thanks for your help , but do u think that perhaps should i try to fit the Corsair CX650F psu ( 11euro difference) maybe in the future my friend gonna need more psu horsepower at least from what i see the psu requirements have gone up in the last years...
though even the 550w is overkill for the his build right now and my friend doesnt upgrade often ....

Edit i just saw that the msi bazooka have 8pin + 4pin cpu headers and the 550w psu have only 1 (4+4) pin so in gonna try for the 650w psu.

 

[logainofhades]

The 650w is a good idea. That extra 4 pin really shouldn't be on that board. That normally is only needed for extreme overclocking, which that board isn't capable of.

 

[darkking791]

The 650w is a good idea. That extra 4 pin really shouldn't be on that board. That normally is only needed for extreme overclocking, which that board isn't capable of.

Yea but if i connect it shouldnt be a problem right?,

 

[logainofhades]

Connecting to it isn't a problem. You just don't need to, if your PSU doesn't have that extra 4 pin.