[SOLVED] Best Cheap Motherboard for Overclocking?

[kubaaqr]

Hi guys. I'm looking to upgrade my PC to a Ryzen 5 5600x with an rtx 3070. I'm planning to overclock the CPU and GPU and I'm trying to find a good fairly cheap motherboard that will let me do that. Could you please help me out? Thanks!

Ps. I've got the cooling sorted already

 

[Ralston18]

What are your computing requirements: gaming, video editing, bit-mining, school work.....?

"Cheap" is subjective. What is your budget?

You are also likely limited/constrained regarding motherboard choices by the components that you have already have.

Motherboard spec's list the supported components. So your immediate need is a motherboard that supports the Ryzen 5 5600x and the RTX 3070.

And you must indeed visit the websites for all components for updated information regarding support and installation.

Motherboard's manufacturer's provide an QVL (Qualified Vendor's List) that usually requires close attention to details. Both what is said and what is not said.

Start here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-motherboards,3984.html

Often overlooked: case, cooling requirements/space, PSU.

 

[dorsai]

Hi guys. I'm looking to upgrade my PC to a Ryzen 5 5600x with an rtx 3070. I'm planning to overclock the CPU and GPU and I'm trying to find a good fairly cheap motherboard that will let me do that. Could you please help me out? Thanks!

Ps. I've got the cooling sorted already

I'd look at a B550 board in the 125-150 range...you'll get a solid VRM setup capable of handling any Ryzen 5000 chips without issue. Look at the hardwareunboxed channel on youtube as they've tested a lot of AMD boards over the last couple of years so you'll know what to avoid.

As far as manually overclocking the 5600x there's really no need as AMD has invested heavily in optimizing performance out of the box. To get max performance simply buy a really good CPU cooler, enable PBO (technically overclocking), and let the chip do it's thing...essentially all you have to do is manage heat and the CPU will manage voltage and clock speed for you.

Pairing the 5600x with fast 3600 or faster memory with tight timings like cas14 will really let the CPU run at its best and it will push the 3070 as high as it can go.

 

[BlackWhite24]

If you want to build a long-lasting gaming machine, nothing will beat a top motherboard for overclocking. Gaming motherboards with a higher build quality will last longer and look better. They'll let your hardware perform at its best. You can also overclock your processor to get the most performance. Although choosing a motherboard may not sound as glamorous, it is definitely more difficult than choosing a graphics or processor.

 

[drea.drechsler]

As @dorsai says: overclocking Ryzen 5000 is pretty much pointless. When paired with really good cooling these CPU's frequently boost above rated specs, sometimes well above rated specs. Don't forget case ventilation/case fans, especially if using an air cooler.

Once set up one thing to explore, though, is PBO2 using Curve Optimizer, especially with slight undervolting.

For this CPU especially just about any B550 motherboard will suffice. Look for sales to find best value.

 

[kubaaqr]

I'd look at a B550 board in the 125-150 range...you'll get a solid VRM setup capable of handling any Ryzen 5000 chips without issue. Look at the hardwareunboxed channel on youtube as they've tested a lot of AMD boards over the last couple of years so you'll know what to avoid.

As far as manually overclocking the 5600x there's really no need as AMD has invested heavily in optimizing performance out of the box. To get max performance simply buy a really good CPU cooler, enable PBO (technically overclocking), and let the chip do it's thing...essentially all you have to do is manage heat and the CPU will manage voltage and clock speed for you.

Pairing the 5600x with fast 3600 or faster memory with tight timings like cas14 will really let the CPU run at its best and it will push the 3070 as high as it can go.

Thank you, I have one more question - If I Enable PBO etc, will it boost the cpu to its max GHz?

 

[madmatt30]

Thank you, I have one more question - If I Enable PBO etc, will it boost the cpu to its max GHz?

Yes absolutely.

The days are gone when manual overclocking is even worthwhile let alone necessary.

Ryzen 1 was worth overclocking if you got a decent binned cpu, ryzen 2 was barely worth overclocking apart from a hobbyist aspect, ryzen 3 is absolutely not worth manually overclocking at all in any respect.

 

[dorsai]

Thank you, I have one more question - If I Enable PBO etc, will it boost the cpu to its max GHz?

The CPU will boost to it's rated 4.6ghz max clocks without PBO as long as you have a good cooler.

If you enable PBO, which is overclocking the chip, you may actually boost beyond the rated speeds depending entirely on your CPU cooler choice. In some cases such as light single core workloads you may stay above the rated boost clock for the entire workload. When using curve optimizer and PBO together I've seen up to 4.8ghz boost clocks. Even in some short runs on multi-core workloads my chip consistently stays at or above the rated boost clock of 4.6ghz...but my office is kept cold and I bought the best air cooler available at the time of purchase ( Noctua NH D15 SE AM4) so the thermal mass available to absorb heat is quite large for an air cooler.

For example below is linked a screen grab I took this morning most of the way through a Cinebench R11 run in single core mode. With other apps running in the background the 5600x still maintained 4.75ghz during the entire single core run with a temp of around 50c @ 1.27v. https://ibb.co/n1303HV