ASUS Prime X470-Pro vs ASRock X470 Taichi for futute Ryzen Upgrade

[MStone]

Hi. I am planning to buy a cheaper Ryzen 5 2600 now and pair it with either an ASUS Prime or an ASRock Taichi. I am not too interested in overclocking, but I may try to mess around with that a little bit if I decide to later on. But the bigger question for me is is that I am planning to upgrade the CPU next year when Ryzen 3 comes out. Maybe to a Ryzen 7 3700x (or whatever it's called).

Would either of these boards be fine for that? I don't have the a strong preference for one or the other, but I know the ASRock has much better reviews. The ASUS I heard has weak VRMs or weak heatsink I think? (sorry I'm not an expert at all with motherboards). How much would that matter if I were getting a 3700x down the line?

Which motherboard would you pick? Or is there no wrong choice here and should I just got for the cheaper option? ASUS was $159 and ASRock is $185 but down to $160 with a rebate which is slightly more annoying. Although with the ASUS, it was part of a combo deal with the CPU which drove down the price by $20 so it's a bigger swing toward ASUS price-wise.

 

[madmatt30]

Out of those the asrock.

The Asus is still a decent board but simply put the taichi is better in every respect.

I know you're primarily looking at x470 board but the B450 Pro carbon is absolutely worth a look.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/t797YJ/msi-b450-gaming-pro-carbon-ac-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-gaming-pro-carbon-ac

Vrm setup & over clocking wise it's probably on a par with anything but the very best x470 boards, it's cheaper, has great memory compatibility & should have no issues with future ryzen chips imo.

I was never a big msi fan, they made some dire am3+ boards in the past but since am4 they've been pretty much on the ball with board quality & bios updates.
The only shortcoming with the B450 board is a cut down of available storage options.

6 drives max on Sata, reduced to 4 X Sata if you use an nvme or Sata based m2 drive.

Should not be an issue for most users though.

 

[MStone]

Thank you so much for the detailed answer. That MSI board does look really good although unfortunately it is out of stock everywhere and B&H says it would be ready in 7-10 business days which is just a little too long for my specific situation. I could wait if I absolutely had to, but I would rather I build it this week at the latest. I have the ASRock board in hand already so would you think that would be the best option? The ASUS (which I also have in hand) wouldn't be the way to go? I don't mind paying the extra if it would be very worth it for the future just so I didn't have to touch the motherboard at all until the end of AM4. And also is the ASRock a good alternative to the MSI you posted?

Thanks.

 

[MStone]

Out of those the asrock.

The Asus is still a decent board but simply put the taichi is better in every respect.

I know you're primarily looking at x470 board but the B450 Pro carbon is absolutely worth a look.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/t797YJ/msi-b450-gaming-pro-carbon-ac-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-gaming-pro-carbon-ac

Vrm setup & over clocking wise it's probably on a par with anything but the very best x470 boards, it's cheaper, has great memory compatibility & should have no issues with future ryzen chips imo.

I was never a big msi fan, they made some dire am3+ boards in the past but since am4 they've been pretty much on the ball with board quality & bios updates.
The only shortcoming with the B450 board is a cut down of available storage options.

6 drives max on Sata, reduced to 4 X Sata if you use an nvme or Sata based m2 drive.

Should not be an issue for most users though.

Sorry forgot to quote

 

[madmatt30]

Well the taichi is top 5 in component quality & vrm setup so In all honesty if you're happy spending $20 extra the answer is yes.

Its the board I'd go for out of those 2.
Asrock are just smashing it on the quality front with am4 chipset boards.