Question Mobo Recommendations for Ryzen 5800X (X570 or X570S)

[Jayce98]

Hi there,

So I just bought this CPU because it was on a great sale, but I'm still having issues finding a reasonably priced X570 board that either has no fan, or has a silent one. I would really like any one of the X570S boards for the passively cooled chipset because I really hate the chipset fans, but I can't justify dropping minimum $400 CAD on one of those. I can't seem to find any X570S boards that aren't super expensive even at the entry level.

Are there any X570 boards on the market that has a quiet chipset fan? I honestly really don't want to go there, but the price for the X570S boards feels much too high.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

If you're not going for a multi GPU setup, you could look into the B550 chipset instead. Do you need more M.2 storage options on the board? If not, and multi GPU's aren't your necessity, B550 is what you could opt for. As for your preferred site for purchase, should we rely on what's found on PCPartPicker?

 

[Jayce98]

If you're not going for a multi GPU setup, you could look into the B550 chipset instead. Do you need more M.2 storage options on the board? If not, and multi GPU's aren't your necessity, B550 is what you could opt for. As for your preferred site for purchase, should we rely on what's found on PCPartPicker?

I won't be doing multi-GPU, but I would like to have at least 2x M.2 slots both capable of the full PCIe Gen4 speeds.

In regards to the chipset, someone had suggested that I avoid the budget B550 boards for various reasons. To be honest, I don't upgrade my PC or build a new one often (many years since my latest build), so I try to avoid going for budget options, or extreme high end options, but I do prefer to be somewhere in the higher end of things.

 

[Jayce98]

How are MSI X570 boards? I've researched a little, and don't see any major complaints about their boards, in general.

I found the MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk WiFi Max WIFI at a price that I can get on board with, but I have never personally owned or tested any MSI hardware previously.

 

[drea.drechsler]

How are MSI X570 boards? ...

X570 is a waste of money...but MSI has some that are among the worst. Outside of a couple really good ones...X570 Tomahawk, X570 Unify to name a couple. But then there's MSI's X570 Prestige Creation. That one embodies the notion that anyone insisting on X570 might as well go large...or go home.

And whoever told you B550 should be avoided should be more specific. Whatever they don't like about them you'll quite likely find in X570 if you pick the wrong ones, and MSI has quite a few of those too.

 

[Jayce98]

X570 is a waste of money...but MSI has some that are among the worst. Outside of a couple really good ones...X570 Tomahawk, X570 Unify to name a couple. But then there's MSI's X570 Prestige Creation. That one embodies the notion that anyone insisting on X570 might as well go large...or go home.

And whoever told you B550 should be avoided should be more specific. Whatever they don't like about them you'll quite likely find in X570 if you pick the wrong MSI boards.

So the X570 Tomahawk and Unify are really good? What makes them really good and the rest of the lineup among the worst?

As for the B550 series, it was a frequent poster on these forums that stated that. On the same note, in your opinion, what B550 boards are among the 'best' and why?

 

[drivinfast247]

If it's any help my MSI X570 Unify has been flawless since release.

 

[drea.drechsler]

So the X570 Tomahawk and Unify are really good? What makes them really good and the rest of the lineup among the worst?
....

Good strong VRM's. Solid and cool running it makes them very desireable for extreme LN2 overclocking of 5950X CPU's that will draw very high current during benchmark record attempt runs. They also have on-board facilities to help in that, like troubleshooting code displays, power switch, CMOS reset buttons, a few other tidbits that escape me since I don't LN2 OC. Otherwise, not much else.

Most of the rest of MSI's X570 lineup...especially the low-to-mid tiers in that lineup...have really rather poor VRM's. I wouldn't want to run my 1700 OC'd to 3.9Ghz on many of them.

Luckily, MSI's B550 lineup brings the bacon with very capable boards...like the B550 tomahawk, B550 Gaming Plus, even B550m Mortar for mATX...with solid VRM's that run cool and quiet even with 5950X's.

Don't get excited about PCIe gen 4 NVME's as Windows does not use storage right to take full advantage of the bandwidth. With Windows it's random access that matters and any decent SSD will give you that goodness in spades. Only disk throughput benchmarks will tell whether you have PCIe gen 4....or an SSD...when you have both in your system.

 

[Jayce98]

Good strong VRM's. Solid and cool running it makes them very desireable for extreme LN2 overclocking of 5950X CPU's that will draw very high current during benchmark record attempt runs. They also have on-board facilities to help in that, like troubleshooting code displays, power switch, CMOS reset buttons, a few other tidbits that escape me since I don't LN2 OC. Otherwise, not much else.

Is there an easy way to check if the updated, X570S version of the Tomahawk is just as solid, cool, etc?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Is there an easy way to check if the updated, X570S version of the Tomahawk is just as solid, cool, etc?

Reviewed here:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/msi-x570s-tomahawk-review

Quoting the author:
"...you get a 14-phase VRM with 60A MOSFETs ..."

So MOSFET's instead of DrMOS power stages but that's still overkill in most respects considering how efficient Ryzen 5000 CPU's are. The best thing about it IMO is it uses the X570S chipset...that doesn't need a fan itself to keep cooled.

 

[logainofhades]

I never hear the fan on my Gigabyte X570 I Aorus pro wifi, and it is pretty tiny. If you get a quality board, it shouldn't be an issue. Do you absolutely need PCI-E gen4, on all your PCI-E and M.2 slots? If not, and you are that worried about fan, just go with a B550 board.

 

[Jayce98]

Then what B550 boards would you consider currently "best of the best"?

It's a hard choice because 50% give reasons for going X570, and the other 50% give reasons for going B550 =/

 

[drea.drechsler]

Then what B550 boards would you consider currently "best of the best"?

It's a hard choice because 50% give reasons for going X570, and the other 50% give reasons for going B550 =/

In truth, there's really only two good reasons NOT to go X570 as a class. One is if the cost is higher than you want to pay. Two is if you don't like the idea of a chipset fan...for which there are X570S chipset motherboards that don't have that problem.

But the only good reason to look at X570 exclusively is because you have need of extra PCIe gen 4 lanes for add-in peripherals. Otherwise, B550 are just as good an option.

There is one bad reason to look at X570 exclusively: it's the prestige upper class of AM4 desktop boards, marketed and frequently priced as such by manufacturers. So if you want to impress your friends it's the one to get.

What to you is going to be "best of the best"? There are many B550 boards with VRM designs that are simply overkill...way more power handling than needed even for 5950X CPU's. You might want multiple LAN chipsets/ports. You might insist on an Intel LAN port, WiFi 6. Upscale audio. Those are things to make clear so that someone can steer you to a board that satisfies.

If you want a clean, modern look in an upscale board design go check out Gigabyte B550 Vision D.

 

[Jayce98]

In truth, there's really only two good reasons NOT to go X570 as a class. One is if the cost is higher than you want to pay. Two is if you don't like the idea of a chipset fan...for which there are X570S chipset motherboards that don't have that problem.

But the only good reason to look at X570 exclusively is because you have need of extra PCIe gen 4 lanes for add-in peripherals. Otherwise, B550 are just as good an option.

There is one bad reason to look at X570 exclusively: it's the prestige upper class of AM4 desktop boards, marketed and frequently priced as such by manufacturers. So if you want to impress your friends it's the one to get.

What to you is going to be "best of the best"? There are many B550 boards with VRM designs that are simply overkill...way more power handling than needed even for 5950X CPU's. You might want multiple LAN chipsets/ports. You might insist on an Intel LAN port, WiFi 6. Upscale audio. Those are things to make clear so that someone can steer you to a board that satisfies.

If you want a clean, modern look in an upscale board design go check out Gigabyte B550 Vision D.

I really do strongly dislike the chipset fan, and honestly, sure the price of the X570S or newer X570 boards does bother me a bit like the ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming WIFI 2 that has passive cooling on the chipset now, but my last PC upgrade was in 2008 when I built the 1st Gen i7-920. I think in that over a decade of time, I certainly got my money's worth, and the only money I spent on the PC in that time was for a new SSD, so I may feel like I have some justification for splurging a little to get some higher end stuff. I'm not one of those people who builds a brand new PC every 1-2 years when a new generation of CPUs or other technology comes out on the market - I build a machine to last for many years.

 

[drea.drechsler]

... I may feel like I have some justification for splurging a little to get some higher end stuff ...

I have no problem with that...just be sure you're getting value for money. Many people buy feature rich boards but never put the features to good use. I have a 2.5Gb LAN hooked to a 300Mb fiber network...what value is that?

I think most people upgrade every 2 or 3 years because they view their old tech stuff as 'outmoded fashion'. The Apple effect...a new iPhone every other year at least to keep up with their friends or they'll be the next meme that gets passed around and laughed at when not talking to each other at the next party. When you consider their RGB glitzed 'battle station' is become the living room center piece, or featured in it's own 'battle room' like some do a home theater, you can see what I mean.

 

[Jayce98]

I have no problem with that...just be sure you're getting value for money. Many people buy feature rich boards but never put the features to good use. I have a 2.5Gb LAN hooked to a 300Mb fiber network...what value is that?

I think most people upgrade every 2 or 3 years because they view their old tech stuff as 'outmoded fashion'. The Apple effect...a new iPhone every other year at least to keep up with their friends or they'll be the next meme that gets passed around and laughed at when not talking to each other at the next party. When you consider their RGB glitzed 'battle station' is become the living room center piece, or featured in it's own 'battle room' like some do a home theater, you can see what I mean.

I totally get what you're saying.

Yeah, this is something that I will definitely have for many, many years, with perhaps upgrades like the GPU or something, but nothing else major. I was even able to get Noctua to send me a free mounting kit for the AM4 socket from an old Noctua double fan tower cooler I bought back in the day, so I saved a good $100-150 right there. I don't care about RGB (in fact, I really dislike it), but what I really do look for is durability, reliability, and overall quality. The extra features is nice to have just in case I end up buying something that requires it or takes full advantage of it.

In your opinion, what are some high-end gaming boards with solid power and features in the B550 flavour? And if I decide to go X570 or X570, what brand / models are the ones to look at?

 

[drea.drechsler]

I totally get what you're saying.

Yeah, this is something that I will definitely have for many, many years, with perhaps upgrades like the GPU or something, but nothing else major. I was even able to get Noctua to send me a free mounting kit for the AM4 socket from an old Noctua double fan tower cooler I bought back in the day, so I saved a good $100-150 right there. I don't care about RGB (in fact, I really dislike it), but what I really do look for is durability, reliability, and overall quality. The extra features is nice to have just in case I end up buying something that requires it or takes full advantage of it.

In your opinion, what are some high-end gaming boards with solid power and features in the B550 flavour? And if I decide to go X570 or X570, what brand / models are the ones to look at?

My favorite choices:

For mATX only the Asus TUF B550m Gaming Plus and MSI B550m Mortar is worth considering in my opinion.
For ATX many:
MSI B550 Vision D
MSI B550 Tomahawk
MSI B550 Gaming Plus

Asus B550 Strix-F and Strix-E. The -E has some PCIe switch arrangement to get more than 1 Gen 4 NVME, although it steals lanes from the GPU socket to do so. That's no big deal if you consider that 8 lanes of Gen 4 has the same bandwidth as 16 lanes of Gen 3 and nobody has shown a performance difference for GPU gaming on Gen 4. It does add to the cost, though, so if you don't need it it's wasted.

Asus TUF B550 Gaming.

All these boards have very capable VRM's...even the TUF B550's which are 'down market' by comparison. I'm pretty sure they all have variants with or without WiFi. The main differences otherwise are USB ports, with a lot of variability there. Some have a front panel USB-C header, some don't. You have to decide which is important to you based on your useage. I prefer more rear panel USB ports and USB -C is basically un-useful IMO.

I've a preference for MSI and Asus. I feel they're better made and Asus has a really good BIOS. My beef with Asus is they cheap out on silly things; like no VRM temp monitor on the B550 TUF line. Not that it needs it as it runs cool, but it's nice to have and FREE to expose for monitoring.

 

[Jayce98]

My favorite choices:

For mATX only the Asus TUF B550m Gaming Plus and MSI B550m Mortar is worth considering in my opinion.
For ATX many:
MSI B550 Vision D
MSI B550 Tomahawk
MSI B550 Gaming Plus

Asus B550 Strix-F and Strix-E. The -E has some PCIe switch arrangement to get more than 1 Gen 4 NVME, although it steals lanes from the GPU socket to do so. That's no big deal if you consider that 8 lanes of Gen 4 has the same bandwidth as 16 lanes of Gen 3 and nobody has shown a performance difference for GPU gaming on Gen 4. It does add to the cost, though, so if you don't need it it's wasted.

Asus TUF B550 Gaming.

All these boards have very capable VRM's...even the TUF B550's which are 'down market' by comparison. I'm pretty sure they all have variants with or without WiFi. The main differences otherwise are USB ports, with a lot of variability there. Some have a front panel USB-C header, some don't. You have to decide which is important to you based on your useage. I prefer more rear panel USB ports and USB -C is basically un-useful IMO.

I've a preference for MSI and Asus. I feel they're better made and Asus has a really good BIOS. My beef with Asus is they cheap out on silly things; like no VRM temp monitor on the B550 TUF line. Not that it needs it as it runs cool, but it's nice to have and FREE to expose for monitoring.

Awesome, I'll take a look. You have any others worth mentioning?

I forgot to ask - what about high end on-board audio? I know a lot cheap out on this, while others have pretty nice audio chips.