B450 Micro ATX Motherboard Suggestion

[May2ko]

I am currently planning on upgrading from my FX-6300 based build to a Ryzen 5 2600 and want to buy a B450 Micro ATX board as I will be getting a micro ATX case in the future.

I was wondering which B450 Micro ATX is the best bang for buck - preferably something with a high VRM count since I might do some mild overclocks in the future (and more VRMs can't do no harm, right?)

 

[drea.drechsler]

I am currently planning on upgrading from my FX-6300 based build to a Ryzen 5 2600 and want to buy a B450 Micro ATX board as I will be getting a micro ATX case in the future.

I was wondering which B450 Micro ATX is the best bang for buck - preferably something with a high VRM count since I might do some mild overclocks in the future (and more VRMs can't do no harm, right?)

Highest phase count you'll find on a B450 mATX is 4 phases, do not be fooled by the 'fake phase' boards out there.

Some of the better ones are MSI B450M Mortar (Titanium) and Asrock's B450M Pro4. The Mortar has a very strong 4 phase VRM, with two lo and two hi-side FET's on each phase. The Pro4 has a strong 3 phase, two lo/ two hi but two inductors also (which leads some people to mistakenly call it a 6 phase). Both have respectable VCore heat sinks, something sorely lacking in the B350 boards. Unless you're running an APU there's no need to be concerned about VSOC heatsinks.

Getting past the VRM's, look at features that are important to you. Things like the USB ports, speeds, types and location, audio, LAN and M.2 slots. One thing I really like about the Mortar is it has a 'flash-back' feature that lets you update BIOS from a USB stick without anything but power on the board.

 

[May2ko]

I am currently planning on upgrading from my FX-6300 based build to a Ryzen 5 2600 and want to buy a B450 Micro ATX board as I will be getting a micro ATX case in the future.

I was wondering which B450 Micro ATX is the best bang for buck - preferably something with a high VRM count since I might do some mild overclocks in the future (and more VRMs can't do no harm, right?)

Highest phase count you'll find on a B450 mATX is 4 phases, do not be fooled by the 'fake phase' boards out there.

Some of the better ones are MSI B450M Mortar (Titanium) and Asrock's B450M Pro4. The Mortar has a very strong 4 phase VRM, with two lo and two hi-side FET's on each phase. The Pro4 has a strong 3 phase, two lo/ two hi but two inductors also (which leads some people to mistakenly call it a 6 phase). Both have respectable VCore heat sinks, something sorely lacking in the B350 boards. Unless you're running an APU there's no need to be concerned about VSOC heatsinks.

Getting past the VRM's, look at features that are important to you. Things like the USB ports, speeds, types and location, audio, LAN and M.2 slots. One thing I really like about the Mortar is it has a 'flash-back' feature that lets you update BIOS from a USB stick without anything but power on the board.

Thanks for the in depth answer, just what I was looking for. After I posted this thread last night, I decided to do a little research and found the B450M Mortar to be the best option for me. Thanks for the extra information about the VRMs though!

One more question, is there a difference between the Mortar and the Mortar Titanium boards?

 

[drea.drechsler]

I am currently planning on upgrading from my FX-6300 based build to a Ryzen 5 2600 and want to buy a B450 Micro ATX board as I will be getting a micro ATX case in the future.

I was wondering which B450 Micro ATX is the best bang for buck - preferably something with a high VRM count since I might do some mild overclocks in the future (and more VRMs can't do no harm, right?)

Highest phase count you'll find on a B450 mATX is 4 phases, do not be fooled by the 'fake phase' boards out there.

Some of the better ones are MSI B450M Mortar (Titanium) and Asrock's B450M Pro4. The Mortar has a very strong 4 phase VRM, with two lo and two hi-side FET's on each phase. The Pro4 has a strong 3 phase, two lo/ two hi but two inductors also (which leads some people to mistakenly call it a 6 phase). Both have respectable VCore heat sinks, something sorely lacking in the B350 boards. Unless you're running an APU there's no need to be concerned about VSOC heatsinks.

Getting past the VRM's, look at features that are important to you. Things like the USB ports, speeds, types and location, audio, LAN and M.2 slots. One thing I really like about the Mortar is it has a 'flash-back' feature that lets you update BIOS from a USB stick without anything but power on the board.

Thanks for the in depth answer, just what I was looking for. After I posted this thread last night, I decided to do a little research and found the B450M Mortar to be the best option for me. Thanks for the extra information about the VRMs though!

One more question, is there a difference between the Mortar and the Mortar Titanium boards?

The only difference is appearance.

One clarification: In case you wondered I am talking VCore VRM phase counts in my post above. There are 2 or 3 more phases for VSoC on almost every board. But for a 2600, which isn't an APU, it is largely immaterial. The SoC on a Ryzen CPU has low power draw even heavily overclocked, that's also why heat sinks on the VSoC FET's aren't really critical when running a CPU.