Feature AMD B450 vs. Intel B360 Chipset: Mid-Range Platforms Square Off

[abryant]

Which mid-range chipset is better for a mainstream build, Intel’s B360 or AMD’s B450? We take a look at the features and weigh the considerations to find out. Read more here.

JOE SHIELDS
Joe Shields is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US specializing in motherboards.

 

[Arkane-BLUE]

Best pricing goes to Intel? Is this a joke?

 

[littleleo]

Interesting article, It looked like there were some stretches to give a category to Intel.

I still don't care how the comment sections are handled now. Articles I want to comment on I can't if there isn't the link at the bottom now.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

The lowest priced AMD B450 board listed on PCPartPicker costs less than the lowest priced B360 or B365 boards listed. Where do the $40 and $44 minimum prices come from in the article, manufacturer suggestions or an actual retailer selling actual boards? I would love to pay $44 for a new B450 motherboard. Seems like Intel only won this category on paper.

I'm not sure I understand the I/O interface tech win either. The AMD platform is listed as having two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and six USB 3.0 ports, which according to Tom's equates to the same thing, plus the author didn't mention that AMD still includes 6 USB 2.0 ports to Intel's 0, which is nice for those rare times when you just don't have USB 3.0 support baked in. I get the impression "six USB 3.0 ports" should have read "six USB 2.0 ports" in the article. Shouldn't RAID support also count in AMD's favor?

If we're making up categories, why not a category for power draw? AMD's B450 only has a TDP of 4.8 watts to Intel's TDP of 6 watts. AMD can claim a sensational 20% lower TDP. Imagine the headlines that might generate?

 

[LORD_ORION]

please do a raid0 nvme benchmark of a b450 with pcie 3.0 4x ssds (Maybe Crucial p1) with a high-end video card benchmark vs. a board with more pcie lanes.

I am wondering if performance can be hurt.... Or if the B450 is the greatest thing to come along in awhile.

 

[jimmysmitty]

The lowest priced AMD B450 board listed on PCPartPicker costs less than the lowest priced B360 or B365 boards listed. Where do the $40 and $44 minimum prices come from in the article, manufacturer suggestions or an actual retailer selling actual boards? I would love to pay $44 for a new B450 motherboard. Seems like Intel only won this category on paper.

I'm not sure I understand the I/O interface tech win either. The AMD platform is listed as having two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and six USB 3.0 ports, which according to Tom's equates to the same thing, plus the author didn't mention that AMD still includes 6 USB 2.0 ports to Intel's 0, which is nice for those rare times when you just don't have USB 3.0 support baked in. I get the impression "six USB 3.0 ports" should have read "six USB 2.0 ports" in the article. Shouldn't RAID support also count in AMD's favor?

If we're making up categories, why not a category for power draw? AMD's B450 only has a TDP of 4.8 watts to Intel's TDP of 6 watts. AMD can claim a sensational 20% lower TDP. Imagine the headlines that might generate?

RAID is a mostly useless feature outside of workstations and servers. Its pointless especially on SSDs (It has even been shown to hurt some SSDs performance) especially in light of NVMe SSDs.

The other side is that outside of the CPU a AMD 400 series is all running on PCIe 2 links while Intel is all PCIe 3.0.

That all said, I think these articles are stupid as each have features and benefits that people need to consider when buying a new system. Its why I say platform is a very important part and not just the CPU itself. If the CPU is great but the platform is sub-par then whats the point.

 

[LordConrad]

"two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and six USB 3.0 ports"

I thought these were the same thing, am I wrong?

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

RAID is a mostly useless feature outside of workstations and servers. Its pointless especially on SSDs (It has even been shown to hurt some SSDs performance) especially in light of NVMe SSDs.

I agree in most situations, RAID isn't a suitable solution, but I also consider the lack of RAID due to a market segregation contrivance even more useless.

The other side is that outside of the CPU a AMD 400 series is all running on PCIe 2 links while Intel is all PCIe 3.0.

Not sure I see this as an issue any more than AMD when choosing to use PCIe 2.0 links. In my opinion, anybody needing performance that will incur serious, measurable, and consistent degradation due to the B450 chipset only implementing PCIe 2.0, is looking at the wrong platform. Neither consumer tiered motherboard brand is very suitable to high performance configurations, as they all use 4 link lanes or less. Intel's less than 4 GB/s of bandwidth isn't going to service a whole lot more than a single M.2 drive at full speed, regardless of how fast your attached devices can throw data at the PCH.

That all said, I think these articles are stupid as each have features and benefits that people need to consider when buying a new system. Its why I say platform is a very important part and not just the CPU itself. If the CPU is great but the platform is sub-par then whats the point.

Completely agree.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I agree in most situations, RAID isn't a suitable solution, but I also consider the lack of RAID due to a market segregation contrivance even more useless.
Not sure I see this as an issue any more than AMD when choosing to use PCIe 2.0 links. In my opinion, anybody needing performance that will incur serious, measurable, and consistent degradation due to the B450 chipset only implementing PCIe 2.0, is looking at the wrong platform. Neither consumer tiered motherboard brand is very suitable to high performance configurations, as they all use 4 link lanes or less. Intel's less than 4 GB/s of bandwidth isn't going to service a whole lot more than a single M.2 drive at full speed, regardless of how fast your attached devices can throw data at the PCH.
Completely agree.

I wont argue on the RAID. I will only say that most people buying mid level chipsets don't tend to go RAID.

As for the PCIe 2.0 the only downside to that I can see is platform longevity. PCIe 2.0 will become a bottleneck first making the overall platform not last as long.

That said Ryzen 3 is supposed to have PCIe 4.0 for the CPU but I have not seen what the PCH will be. I would hope at least PCIe 3.0