[SOLVED] best Coolest VRM Msi B450 Pro carbon or Motar or asrock Gaming K4

Oct 26, 2020
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I am building new PC Build for video editing video rendering content creation.... Ryzen. 7 2700x or 3700x ( later upgrade to 3950x or 5950x) I have selected following Motherboards for features (( windows 7 2 M.2 Usb 3.2 PCIE slots) but could not decide which one will be coolest in VRM temperatures and can handle overclocking 2700x or 3700x.

1. MSI B450 Mortar Max
( VRM 4 phase HS FET 2x SM4337.
LS FET 2x SM4503 no doubler)

2. MSI B450 Carbon Pro
( VRM 4 phase HS FET 2x 4C029N
LS FET 2x 4C024N no doubler)

3. Asrock B450 GAMING K4
(VRM 4 Phase )

after googling and seeing youtube videos found that the following boards have good heatsinks on VRM for budgeted b450 boards and found Good cooling but don't know technically the quality of VRM MOSFETs Chips these boards have 4+2 phase vrm will 4+2 phase sufficient for Ryzen 7 2700x over clocking? And will it work fine in video rendering or editing?

I Have full wheel full atx coller master cabinet with 4 fans ( top front rear bottom) any more fan recommended for CPU or GPU or VRM for good airflow .

which one in your opinion you recommend best coolest VRM and good in performance budgeted economical motherboard from these three or any other which supports windows 7 in b450 x470 chipset (2m2, DVI HDMI USB 3.1 gen 2 4DIMM slots)
 
Solution
you can check this VRM tier list. built last year, but you're interested into B450 so that's good for you.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...TJFqqVxdCR9daIVNyMatydkpFA/edit#gid=611478281
source : www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/c7qj5e/am4_vcore_vrm_ratings_to_help_you_decide_on_a/

Generally, the B450 tomahawk MAX is considered the best AM4 motherboard in terms of features and price. it can run everything.
Also, the "MAX" means it has a bigger memory for storing the bios. meaning that support for ryzen 5000 will very probably be available with a bios update early 2021. so that's an upgrade path for you, while still keeping the B450 chipset and compatibility with win7

bear in mind that win7 don't have...

neojack

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Apr 4, 2019
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you can check this VRM tier list. built last year, but you're interested into B450 so that's good for you.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...TJFqqVxdCR9daIVNyMatydkpFA/edit#gid=611478281
source : www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/c7qj5e/am4_vcore_vrm_ratings_to_help_you_decide_on_a/

Generally, the B450 tomahawk MAX is considered the best AM4 motherboard in terms of features and price. it can run everything.
Also, the "MAX" means it has a bigger memory for storing the bios. meaning that support for ryzen 5000 will very probably be available with a bios update early 2021. so that's an upgrade path for you, while still keeping the B450 chipset and compatibility with win7

bear in mind that win7 don't have all the performance improvement added to windows 10 (improved core management, managing the CCXs properly, etc)

but still, you'll have the most powerfull win7 PC possible

PS : you listed DVI and HDMI in your specs list, but they are disabled when you're not using an APU. you have to plug your monitor into the graphics card port.

as for the fans, just populate all the slots and monitor the speed through the motherboard.
the bundle of 5x Artic NFP12 is the best price/perfs/reliability ratio
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Arctic-F12-Ventilateur-Refroidisseur-Configuration/dp/B00NTUJRHK

splitters in case you lack fan headers on the mobo :
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Matters-câbles-répartiteurs-ventilateur-broches/dp/B07PXLHNZ6

with PWM and splitter added to the cable (try to limit a daisy chain to 2 fans)
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Arctic-F12-PWM-PST-Value/dp/B00NTUJTAK
 
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Karadjgne

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It's all well and good to worry about VRM's and heat management, but you'll also need to decide which is going to be more useful overall. For things like external drives, I'd definitely want a mobo with 3.2 capable ports, not the more standard 3.0(3.1) ports found on most B450's. If you have a need for Usb-C, that'll be a native port on many of the B550, but is non-existent on the B450 as they pre-date that. (my x570-i doesn't have the usb-c, but the B550-i does).

Productivity often means large file transfers, the B550 is faster since it uses (can use) 3.0 lanes instead of the 2.0 lanes on the B450 boards.

Currently, the B450 bios updates for Zen3 are in their infancy, and it's going to be upto the vendors themselves as to how much they want to put into it. They may or may not support the better Zen3 cpus, stopping short at the 5600x, for example.

Which can change everything. For B450, the MAX Tomahawk is as good as it gets for the price, but going to B550, Msi dropped the ball and the Asus Tuf or Gigabyte Auros are quite superior for the VRM's especially, $180 boards with the same VRM's as the $300+ boards.

So I'd start with figuring out exactly where you are going, 3 or 5 series. Then work backwards figuring chance and possibilities and weighing that into what else you'll need/want on the mobo.

Then worry about price. No point buying a cheaper mobo to fit a budget, if you'll then have to turn around and buy another mobo to fit the cpu requirements.
 

Karadjgne

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Well the 550/570 don't fully support Win7, but technically neither does the B450, you'll still need an optical drive as Win7 has no native usb support on the installer, only after it's installed. Win7 kinda predates usb installation. And 7 is out of support fully now, so while still a viable OS, you'll not get any upgrades, security updates, chipset fixes etc.

I personally preferred 7, it was considerably easier to navigate and tailor to my wants, 10 has too much Auto on/off etc.

Not sure why the sticky requirement, things are only going to get worse as new software/updates make any older 7 programs an issue.
 

Karadjgne

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Nah, that was 7 also. Wasn't until later MS made the usb/dvd tool for conversion, but you still needed the iso from a dvd or download the DVD iso from MS. By now I'm sure the grey-market has 7 on usb options.

You can make a USB installer if you already have a working pc, or access to one, the B450 is usb ready, but otherwise 7 was dvd media only, not digital/portable media.

Op's issue is valid, 7 doesn't have the chipset drivers, controllers etc for some of the components on the 550/570 series mobo's, they differ from the 450. So there's no guarantee the install will work, windows boot and allow for driver updates to add to the install. There's also the issue that the 550/570 is primarily x64, it's not a fan of 32bit functions and will argue blindly with many of the 16bit drivers 7 still uses. And there's no longer support for driver fixes to update those for compatibility.

The B450 Tomahawk Max is a solid choice, I'd not go with ASR at all unless you really have a use for thunderbolt tech
 
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Oct 26, 2020
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Neojack thank you and greatful for your precious time reading replying and giving your precious advice and opinion thank you a lotz.

Generally, the B450 tomahawk MAX is considered the best AM4 motherboard in terms of features and price. it can run everything.
Also, the "MAX" means it has a bigger memory for storing the bios. meaning that support for ryzen 5000 will very probably be available with a bios update early 2021. so that's an upgrade path for you, while still keeping the B450 chipset and compatibility

Neojack, yes Tomhawak is most popular and nice VRM board in B450 but it lacks in one feature that is it has only one M.2 slot and I need at least two M.2 for disk cloning imaging raid mirroring.

Whereas MSI B450 Carbon pro wifi have Two M2 slots and AS IN TOMHAWK have two heatsinks on VRM and SOC VRM. Pro carbon have same VRM chips designs numbers as in tomhawk B450 and all MSI x470 Boards has same VRM chips as per VRM tier Google sheet (VRM 4 phase HS FET 2x 4C029N. LS FET 2x 4C024N) and as per Google tier sheet Tomhawak and Carbon needs Major Airflow on Vcore current 200A and minor anirflow on 150A. I could not find any real time video or bechmark article link on VRM temprature test for Msi b450 carbon pro to confirm its practical exact result for VRM quality and temperature.

Whereas MSI B450 Motar Max also have Two M2 slots and but AS IN TOMHAWK it dont have two it have one heatsinks on core VRM and there is no heatsink on SOC VRM. Mortar have different VRM chips designs numbers as in tomhawk B450 as per VRM tier Google sheet ( VRM 4 phase HS FET 2x SM4337.LS FET 2x SM4503 no doubler ) and as per Google tier sheet Tomhawak and Mortar both needs Major Airflow on Vcore current 200A and minor anirflow on 150A. I could not find any real time video or bechmark article link on VRM temprature test for Msi b450 Motar to confirm its practical exact VRM quality and temperatures found videos but to technical and unvelar to understand

View: https://youtu.be/6qZW3-xZEHg


View: https://youtu.be/zSqhVlpgw3U


As for As rock b450 gaming k4 in a video real time test it have given lowest temp as compared to MSI tomahawk but in Vrm Tier google sheet it shows many variants of boards with 3 phase and 4 phases Vrms and Asrock have less service centers don't know much about the quality and product but giving the link of video

View: https://youtu.be/EqQcgwz1hYA



now my question was

Which of Motherboard MSI b450 Carbon pro or MSI B450 MOTAR MAX will be able to handle Better in performance of CONTENT CREATION video rendering and CPU and vrm chip quality and managable temperature for RYZEN 7 2700X 8 CORE 12 THREAD CPU (pinnacle ridge core) and good for future upgrade to ryzen 7 3700x or 3800x or ryzen 9 3950x or even 5950x.

  1. GOOD QUALITY CHIP OF VRM
  2. Good quaulity of VRM heatsink to absorb heat
  3. Good temperature for overclocking and load
  4. Not overheat CPU vrm capacitors chips GPU on 1 or 2 hour of video rendering on full load on CPU GPU
  5. GIve a stable and good performance
6 Have good bios options for over clocking have heard MSI bios don't have options offset temperature setting for over clocking
7 any real time benchmark temperature teat link of video or article for MSI pro carbon b450
 
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neojack

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M2 slots are a non issue :
https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Carte-adaptateur-dissipateur-thermique-aluminium/dp/B07RSYRFW9
juste check the motherboard manual to know whichs slots to populate a which condition (ex on some mobos, one PCIe slot is shared with some sata ports etc)

Note : don't buy a PCIe card with multiple m2 slots, the chipset has to support a technology called "PCIe bifurcation" for that, and it's only for certain models of X470.


Last winter i put together a new pc for my wife. a ryzen 2700 with a MSI tomahawk max.
case is a Lian-Li lancool 2, with all fan slots populated

since i use the stock heatsink, no OC, but XMP is active (3000mhz ram)
i benched prime 95 for 24hours to test stability, no problem. i don't remember VRM temp values but nothing alarming.

For heavy Multi threading, i would advise you to use a good cooler (like the noctua NH-D15, can't go wrong)
and populate all fan slots on a good airflow-oriented case (like the lianli lancool 2 / lancool 2 mesh)
then you can set a fixed oc on the CPU. set the voltage to 1.3v, and set it to 4.1 ghz. fast and easy OC, very good for heavy multi threading loads.

if you use this computer for producing your work, you should buy 2 mobos. a spare is the best warranty ever.


both of the motherboards you cited (motar and carbon pro) have worse VRM than the tomahawk. for an OC'd 2700x + possible upgrade to 3000-5000 series, just get a tomahawk.
if you need more than 2x M2 drives, you will have to get a X470 motherboard. preferably one supporting bifurcation
 
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The msi carbon is the best board vrm wise but the issue with it is if you install 2 x nvme m2 drives you lose the use of every pci express slot on the board apart from the primary 16x slot.

Thats not a compromise I'd be willing to make personally when both the mortar and the asrock board only lose the use of a single pci express slot if populating with 2 x nvme drives.
 
Oct 26, 2020
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Neojack again thank you and greatful for your precious time reading in detail understanding and replying and giving your precious advice and opinion thank you a lotz.

PS : you listed DVI and HDMI in your specs list, but they are disabled when you're not using an APU. you have to plug your monitor into the graphics card port.

as for the fans, just populate all the slots and monitor the speed through the motherboard.
the bundle of 5x Artic NFP12 is the best price/perfs/reliability ratio
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Arctic-F12-Ventilateur-Refroidisseur-Configuration/dp/B00NTUJRHK

splitters in case you lack fan headers on the mobo :
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Matters-câbles-répartiteurs-ventilateur-broches/dp/B07PXLHNZ6

with PWM and splitter added to the cable (try to limit a daisy chain to 2 fans)
https://www.amazon.com/-/fr/Arctic-F12-PWM-PST-Value/dp/B00NTUJTAK

Neojack thank you again for in depth answer if my question specially the fan dvi part. Now let me reply 2nd part of your for first answer

Neojack yes i know hdmi dvi display work only if ÀPU IGPU used. I am finding HDMI DVI display port for testing repairing its good tonhave display port.

Secondly if in future Ryzen have good APU which with good IGPU .New Ryzen 7 4750G is not available in india and Ryzen 5 4650G are sane price of 3600x 2700x in india I am waiting if its prices reduces. 4750g and 4650g are more stronger than Ryzen 5 2400G or Ryzen 5 3400G but many said not good for video rendering content creation so I opted for ryzen 7 2700x.

I dont know why MSI boards have Max 2 GB shared graphics memory BIOS support from APU as Gigabyte and ASROCK have Max 16GB sharing support don't know technically 2gb 16GB shared VRAM effects

I have planned currently to purchase for new build DGPU MSI GTX 1650 DDR6 4GB or 6GB but worried that will GPU work as In MSI if both M2 is used then how will PCIE GPU will be used.

Neojack thanx for fans cooller opinion I will try to see it MSI pro carbon b450 have 6 system fan headers and tomhawk motar have 4 system fan headers and fan controller app also I think it will not require splitters.
 
Oct 26, 2020
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Neojack again thank you and greatful for your precious time reading in detail understanding and replying and giving your precious advice and opinion thank bifurcation


M2 slots are a non issue :
https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Carte-adaptateur-dissipateur-thermique-aluminium/dp/B07RSYRFW9
juste check the motherboard manual to know whichs slots to populate a which condition (ex on some mobos, one PCIe slot is shared with some sata ports etc)

Note : don't buy a PCIe card with multiple m2 slots, the chipset has to support a technology called "PCIe bifurcation" for that, and it's only for certain models of X470.

Neojack thanx for recommending an PCIE M2 adaptor card . But in msi tomahawk have 2 pcie 1 m2 slot. 1 pcie i have to use GPU and if I use 1 m2 it will disable the use of another pcie slot then where will I use

Can we put one nvme card in motherboard slot and another on adapter slot will it work for raid or imaging cloning. Secondly does this nvme adaptors have 2 nvme m2 slots and can we put them in raid mirroring.

Does these adpaters give same bandwidth read and write speed of nvme drives as slots in motherboard. Does it give any latency or can create problem in NVME drive

In MSI Tomahawk is there problem that if 1m2 used then all PCIEX16 slots will be disbled


Will B450 tomahawk + adptor m2 NVME will cost same as x470 boards.

both of the motherboards you cited (motar and carbon pro) have worse VRM than the tomahawk. for an OC'd 2700x + possible upgrade to 3000-5000 series, just get a tomahawk.
if you need more than 2x M2 drives, you will have to get a X470 motherboard. preferably one supporting bifurcation

Neojack the VRM tier google sheet you shared in first answer shows that MSI tomhawk max and max II and MSI b450 Carbon pro and x470 gaming plus max and x470 Gaming pro Carbon have same CHIPS number of VRM and same phases if VRM and same result of airflow requirement in vcore current of 200A 150A and same mosefts. Heatsinks are also same. I cant undestand If the VRM components parts chips are same then howcome it technically works good in Tomahawk and wrong in Carbon pro 450. I don't have any real time benchmark testing vrm temp result to satify the logic. May be you are right.

If you say x470 is good then x470 more expensive then b550 or x570 boards. But as I need windows 7 and b550 will not support ryzen 2700x I have to find some x 470 boards.

In x470 budgeted one is Asrock x 470 taichi ultimate or MSI x470 gaming pro carbon which one is good.... Msi X470 gaming m7 or gigabyte x470 Arius gaming 7 or Asus dog stix x470 gaming 6 will be good in your opinion...should I Go for x570. Or b550 my budget will crops limits.
 
Oct 26, 2020
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The msi carbon is the best board vrm wise but the issue with it is if you install 2 x nvme m2 drives you lose the use of every pci express slot on the board apart from the primary 16x slot.

Thats not a compromise I'd be willing to make personally when both the mortar and the asrock board only lose the use of a single pci express slot if populating with 2 x nvme drives.

madmatt30 thanx for telling the problem with carbon board.

As you says its VRM is good do u have any article benchmark video link who tested b450 carbon pro vrm temp test then kindly share the link

madmatt30 as you told problem with carbon is that on using both m2 it locks all pcie slots then how we can use the graphics card.

madmatt30 as you told that in carbon it locks all pcie does it locks pcie x16 or
pcie x1 slots. As his pro lem is in b450 carbon or x470 carbon also. Does mortar tomahawk or all other MSI board have same problems
 

Karadjgne

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No motherboard locks out the primary x16 slot. Those are cpu lanes. The secondary x16 is what uses the chipset pcie lanes. That can get locked out when NVMe populates the slot as the drive slot shares the chipset lanes. The cpu has enough pcie lanes that it doesn't need to share, so the primary NVMe and primary x16 are dedicated slots, not shared slots.

In X470, Msi = 3rd place, no matter what board. It's VRM's are barely an improvement over the B450 series, if any improvement at all. They use a split phase, high-low VRM which is very effective, but can be limited by amperage . Asus, ASR, Gigabyte use single phase VRM's and for the better boards bump up the amperage rating to a better VRM. You have to go to the top tier Asus ROG boards to beat the Gigabyte Auros.

ASR was a bunch of engineers, techs, etc whom used to work for Asus, so they have a very similar background in experience in mobo design, they took the best of what Asus offered and made it cheaper as they didn't rely on Asus brand name for price. So the lower tier boards are very good for what they are, but even their top tier, like the Taichi, aren't quite as robust as the top tier Asus since those boards are designed for extremists, not everyday users. ASR = lower grade Asus ROG like the F, Hero, K etc.

In the B450, MSI has the better VRM, in X470 Asus has the best, but by far the highest price with top tier boards like ROG Extreme. For best mainstream boards, the Gigabyte Auros.
 
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Oct 26, 2020
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@Karadigine thanx for your reply as precious advice nice link article shared of b450 and b550 difference


It's all well and good to worry about VRM's and heat management, but you'll also need to decide which is going to be more useful overall. For things like external drives, I'd definitely want a mobo with 3.2 capable ports, not the more standard 3.0(3.1) ports found on most B450's. If you have a need for Usb-C, that'll be a native port on many of the B550, but is non-existent on the B450 as they pre-date that. (my x570-i doesn't have the usb-c, but the B550-i does).

Productivity often means large file transfers, the B550 is faster since it uses (can use) 3.0 lanes instead of the 2.0 lanes on the B450 boards.

Currently, the B450 bios updates for Zen3 are in their infancy, and it's going to be upto the vendors themselves as to how much they want to put into it. They may or may not support the better Zen3 cpus, stopping short at the 5600x, for example.

Which can change everything. For B450, the MAX Tomahawk is as good as it gets for the price, but going to B550, Msi dropped the ball and the Asus Tuf or Gigabyte Auros are quite superior for the VRM's especially, $180 boards with the same VRM's as the $300+ boards.

So I'd start with figuring out exactly where you are going, 3 or 5 series. Then work backwards figuring chance and possibilities and weighing that into what else you'll need/want on the mobo.

Then worry about price. No point buying a cheaper mobo to fit a budget, if you'll then have to turn around and buy another mobo to fit the cpu requirements.

Karagdine thanx again, yes b550 chipset is better than b450 I am going for new build not upgrade. The reasons for selecting b450 then b550 that it don't support old 1000 2000 series CPU and even 3000 series APU only it supports 3rd gen 4000 5000 and few selected 3000 series CPU and APU.

As many b550 boards is economical than x470 and nearby b450 and have better VRM then b450 but it does not support Ryzen 2700x

As after studying many benchmark articles for video editing rendering of Hnadbrake Blender adobe premier test I found Ryzen 2700x outperformed Ryzen 5 3600x and even litlle 10-20 points diff with ryzen 5 5600x. I have asked a question in tomshardwre forums and other forums for content creation CPU processor and I got answer that video rendering content creation need heavy CPU atleast 8 cores 16 thread and 2700x is good value



On above MSI GIGABYTE ASUS all are providing windows 7 64 bit drivers for windows 7 but have mentioned that it will support pinnacle ridge summit ridge cored processors CPU only ie. 1st and 2nd gen in which Ryzen 2700x is also pinnacle ridge core

MSI b450 Tomahawk Mortar And pro carbon have USB 3.2 the main difference of the b450 chipset uplink lanes is pcie gen 3 x570 lanes is pcie gen 4 and b550 is pcie gen 4 and pcie gen 3 mix which effects on bandwidth transfer rate and latency of motherboard speed. Ibhave seen a benchmark test video shared link beliwbin which the Ryzen 3700x 3800x 3950x tested in b350 b450 b550. Board with same result... As board changes does not effect the performance or we can say its not reflected in benchmark result

I think ryzen 7 2700x is also of pcie gen2 lanes


View: https://youtu.be/oRaZ2Txv13M


I have asked previusly question previously for chipset link general purpose link and lanes


So it changed to why to invest on board pcie 3 to pcie4 lanes have not much effect on speed as pcie4 ready nvme drives and graphics card is expensive
 
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Neojack, yes Tomhawak is most popular and nice VRM board in B450 but it lacks in one feature that is it has only one M.2 slot and I need at least two M.2 for disk cloning imaging raid mirroring.
...
Wow...lots of stuff not sure what many of your concerns are...but keep in mind that on any B450 board the 2nd M.2 socket will be in some way compromised performance-wise compared to the first M.2 socket capabilities. On a B450m Mortar (I have one) it's limited to PCIe gen 2, x4 while the first one is PCIe gen 3 x4. So I'm not sure you'll get the performance you expect from a RAID setup with that.

You've seen the videos by BZ on the B450 Mortar; IIRC he's good with it for Zen2 CPU's all the way up to 3950's except if overclocking the 12 or 16 core CPU's. My board is great with my 3700x in PBO (temp around 65C...very cool considering FET Tjmax is 125C) but if I try overclocking manually the VRM gets a bit toasty (temps in the 90's, still well under Tjmax though) with the voltage I have to use for my early production CPU.

I'd suggest looking at B550 models if VRM temperature and sheer over-design is your priority. The B550m Mortar is a beast that will run cool with anything. You also get two M.2's...one's gen 4 but the other's gen 3 at least. There are some B550's that manage to do 3 M.2 NVME's.

Also: I'm not sure what RAID software you'll use but the AMD RAID drivers use only the SATA ports fed from the chipset in the array if I'm not mistaken.
 
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Karadjgne

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Pcie is not just bandwidth speed but size. Pcie2 is double the size of pcie, pcie4 is double the size of pcie3. So if you need 2000MBps for an nvme, you'd use 2 pcie4.0 lanes, or 4 pcie3.0 lanes etc. Speeds don't change much at all, but lane usage does. X570 is all pcie4, so no need to share nvme with any other port, Pcie2 does, limited by lane access amounts.

So with a B450 and 2x NVMe, you loose x1, x4, 2x Sata ports, x16 secondary. With x470 you loose x16 or x1/x4 and or 1-2 Sata, with B550 you loose x1/x4 and/or 1-2 Sata, with x570 you loose nothing. Depending on how the manufacturer sets up the lane dependencies.

That's assuming the mobo can actually port 2x NVMe, many only support 1x NVMe and 1 Sata3 in the m.2 slots.
 
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