ASUS B350-F STRIX vs ASROCK AB350 PRO4

[limbu_forever_san]

My budget build:



AMD Ryzen 5 1500X - £125 ✅
Samsung EVO850 250gb(Brand new) - £55 ✅
Corsair Vengeance DDR4 8GB (New) - £40 ✅
Sapphire Nitro RX 480 - £175 ✅
Seasonic S12II-520W PSU- £50
Phanteks P400S Case - £60 ✅
Cryorig H7 Cooler - £35
Viewsonic 75Hz FreeSync Monitor - £99

Which motherboard should I get?
Is the B350-F worth the extra money?

 

[raisonjohn]

My budget build:

AMD Ryzen 5 1500X - £125 ✅
Samsung EVO850 250gb(Brand new) - £55 ✅
Corsair Vengeance DDR4 8GB (New) - £40 ✅
Sapphire Nitro RX 480 - £175 ✅
Seasonic S12II-520W PSU- £50
Phanteks P400S Case - £60 ✅
Cryorig H7 Cooler - £35
Viewsonic 75Hz FreeSync Monitor - £99

Which motherboard should I get?
Is the B350-F worth the extra money?

Both are decent-quality motherboards (with the Asus Strix B350-F in line with "high-end" while the Asrock B350 Pro4 at "mid-range/mainstream", when compared to other models of the same brand).

As to which motherboard to get, depends entirely on your needs, wants, and priorities for your rig. The main differences (and similarities) between the two boards are these:
[pre]
+---------------+-----------+-+---+----------+---+----------------------+----+----+--------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+---------------+
| | |D| S | M2 SLOTS | | PCIE x16 SLOTS |PCIE| | | |J|TOTAL|USB|USB|U|USB HEADERS| FAN/ |4-PIN| |SATA3|SHROUDS/REINFORCEMENT| EPS/ | FORM | THEME | |
| BRAND / MODEL |POWER PHASE|I| A | (maximum |CF/| Version & Mode | x1 |WiFi| LAN | AUDIO |A| USB |3.1|3.0|S|(MID-BOARD)| PUMP | RGB |DEBUG|PORTS|---------------------|ATX12V|FACTOR/| PCB + ACCENT | BRAND / MODEL |
| |(CPU + SoC)|M| T | speeds |SLI| (* or ^ means shared |SLOT| BT | | CODEC |C|PORTS|-+-|-+-|B|USB|USB|USB|HEADER| LED | LED |IN 90| I/O |AUDIO|PCIE|DIMM|SOCKET| SIZE | COLORS AND | |
| | |M| A |supported)| |bandwidth with others)|v2.0| | | |K|@REAR|C|A|C|A|2|3.1|3.0|2.0| |STRIP| |DEGS.|ARMOR|ARMOR|SLOT|SLOT|REQ'T.| (mm) | AMBIENT LEDS | |
+---------------+-----------+-+---+----------+---+----------------------+----+----+--------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+---------------+
|Asus ROG Strixhttps://www.asus.com/ph/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-STRIX-B350-F-GAMING/ | 8 |4| 6 |1 PCIe3 x4|CF |3x: 2 PCIe3 + 1 PCIe2*| 3x*|None| i211AT |Supr.FX|5| 8x |0|2|0|4|2| 0 | 1 | 2 |2x PWM| 2x | NO | 6/6 | NO | NO | 2x | NO |1 8pin| ATX | Gray + Black |Asus ROG Strix |
|B350-F Gaming | [4]+[2+2] | | | | |[x16//x4*],[x8/x4/x4*]| | | |S1220A | | | | | | | | | | |4x DC | | | | | | | | |305x244| RGB LED |B350-F Gaming |
+---------------+-----------+-+---+----------+---+----------------------+----+----+--------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+---------------+
|Asrock | 9 |4| 6 |1 PCIe3x4*|CF |2x: 2 PCIe3* | 4x |None|RTL8111G|ALC892 |3| 8x |0|0|1|5|2| 0 | 1 | 2 | 4x | 2x | NO | 4/6 | NO | NO | 0x | NO |1 8pin| "ATX" | Black +White |Asrock |
|AB350 Pro4 | [3x2]+[3] | | |1 SATA III| |[x16/x4*] | | | R | | | | | | | | | | | |PWM/DC| | | | | | | | |305x224| No LED |AB350 Pro4 |
+---------------+-----------+-+---+----------+---+----------------------+----+----+--------+-------+-+-----+-+-+-+-+-+---+---+---+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+------+-------+--------------+---------------+
[/pre]
Generally, you are paying the extra bucks on the Asus B350-F for better LAN, better Audio, USB3.1 Gen2 ports, more fan headers, slightly better ports layout and build, and the subjective looks (if you prefer neutral black+gray+gun metal) and RGB lighting.

If none of the above features matter to you, the Asrock AB350 Pro4 is also a good choice. Personally, in terms of aesthetics, I don't like the large "PRO" text written conspicuously on the middle of the board (though it may be hidden after installing a large GPU).

 

[feelinfroggy777]

My budget build:



AMD Ryzen 5 1500X - £125 ✅
Samsung EVO850 250gb(Brand new) - £55 ✅
Corsair Vengeance DDR4 8GB (New) - £40 ✅
Sapphire Nitro RX 480 - £175 ✅
Seasonic S12II-520W PSU- £50
Phanteks P400S Case - £60 ✅
Cryorig H7 Cooler - £35
Viewsonic 75Hz FreeSync Monitor - £99

Which motherboard should I get?
Is the B350-F worth the extra money?

No, the B350-F is not worth the extra money. What is worth the extra money is the 1600 over the 1500x. They will both overclock the same and the 1600 has 2 more cores and 4 more threads than the 1500x. Get the Pro4 and with the money you save get the 1600. You will be much happier in the long run.

Also, you don't need the Cryorig H7 with the 1600. The 1600 comes with a good stock cooler that will give you a decent overclock right out of the box. Again, use the money you save with the Cryorig H7 and put it towards the 1600.

 

[limbu_forever_san]

The thing is I manage to pick up a Ryzen 5 1500X for £125! However it doesn’t come with the stock cooler hence I’m stuck trying to buy one. I’m on a tight budget so I can’t really afford the 1600 at RRP. That’s why initially, I was planning to get the R3 1300X although I knew the 1600 was a far better choice. I only picked up the R5 1500X because I thought I picked up a fantastic deal.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

The thing is I manage to pick up a Ryzen 5 1500X for £125! However it doesn’t come with the stock cooler hence I’m stuck trying to buy one. I’m on a tight budget so I can’t really afford the 1600 at RRP. That’s why initially, I was planning to get the R3 1300X although I knew the 1600 was a far better choice. I only picked up the R5 1500X because I thought I picked up a fantastic deal.

Gotcha. I thought the 125 price for the 1500x looked low, but I am in the states, so I was not sure if that was just the difference between dollars and euros.

I would still get the ASROCK mobo. You have a mid-range build and you may never notice a difference between the two boards. If you were a hardcore overclocker, then I would probably so go for the better board. But I were you, I'd just buy the cheaper board and use the money saved on a new game. I have built some systems with the Pro4 lineup, and never had any problems with it. It wont win any overclocking competitions, but the Ryzen chips are not great overclockers anyway. So it probably wont matter at all.

 

[limbu_forever_san]

Yeah, buying the Strix mobo would have been expensive as they retail over £100 here in the UK. I just don’t know if I made the right call buying the R5 1500X. They normally retail at £160. I know the strix is a better motherboard but for my build I think the ASRock will suffice. Only reason I’m still debating which one to get is because of the looks and the led on the board.