[SOLVED] Motherboard component quality

[JakubPavlat]

How do you pick a motherboard if you have very little requirements in terms of features (I dont feel like I want much other than a PCI-E 4 for the gpu)? I am kind of assuming it might not be the best idea to go for the lowest price - but then again I have no idea how to tell whether or not this particular model was "made with high quality components" type thing. Do you just go by brand? Or do you assume that the lowest priced are unlikely to be "high quality" or whatever?

In my case I was looking at a cheap motherboard for 5600X and I feel like it had what I need. Then obviously you start reading about how the heat sinks are no good and voltage regulation is not reliable and I dont know what else. I dont mind going for pricier ones, just wondering if there is a good way to compare stuff like that (since most of the tech specs on the manufacturers' sites focus on other stuff).

tl;dr how do you compare "overall quality" of a motherboard and not just its features.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Find reviews of the motherboards that do some amount of extensive testing.

Or just get a cheap motherboard and do what you can to make it not run as hard. Like don't pair a $50 board with a Ryzen 7 or 9.

 

[Lafong]

tl;dr how do you compare "overall quality" of a motherboard and not just its features.

Not a whole lot you can do other than read reviews once you know the features are what you need.

You need to cross your fingers REAL HARD because none of them have the reliability of your average refrigerator, let alone a pocket knife.

So, I'd pay attention to return privileges and customer support....how many hoops would you have to jump through if it fails withing the first month or within the warranty period? Vendor hoops and manufacturer hoops. You can find horror stories by the hundreds.

You can make all the inferences you care to about the relationship between price and reliability.

I'm not aware of any serious controlled study of motherboard brand reliability. There are such things for hard drives and I'd like to see one for motherboards. Without that, all you've got is a bunch of anecdotes, which are of very limited value.

 

[Eximo]

Usually motherboard round-up reviews you can find. However, for the most part you avoid motherboards that don't have heatsinks around the CPU, look for configs with more than a 4+1 phase design. If you only want basic features, look for B550 boards in the $120-150 range. Post here for feedback if you are still concerned.

 

[JakubPavlat]

I appreciate the responses!

Find reviews of the motherboards that do some amount of extensive testing.

Not too much of those around, but I did find some..

You need to cross your fingers REAL HARD because none of them have the reliability of your average refrigerator, let alone a pocket knife.

Was hoping for something better than luck but I get it

Usually motherboard round-up reviews you can find. However, for the most part you avoid motherboards that don't have heatsinks around the CPU, look for configs with more than a 4+1 phase design. If you only want basic features, look for B550 boards in the $120-150 range. Post here for feedback if you are still concerned.

Hmmm.. interesting point about the heatsinks - thing is nowdays I cannot even distinguish between a proper heatsink and those plastic cover things..

Basically I am trying to figure out why not just go for something super cheap and simple like

MSI B550M PRO-VDH - ultra cheap but temps under load are actually good, VRM - 4+2+1, so fairly decent?? and a tom's hardware test shows it doesn't throttle a 3900X which is way more than I am planning

And apologies for turning this into "pick-a-motherboard-for-me" but to be sure (since I am guessing you might be able to find a reason why it might not be the best choice), what about

ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS
GIGABYTE B550M DS3H (they call it ultra durable.. dunno if that actually means its better or worse)
GIGABYTE B550M AORUS ELITE

Also found this interesting comparison table...

 

[Nighthawk117]

ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS get's my vote.

 

[ocer9999]

Usually motherboard round-up reviews you can find. However, for the most part you avoid motherboards that don't have heatsinks around the CPU, look for configs with more than a 4+1 phase design. If you only want basic features, look for B550 boards in the $120-150 range. Post here for feedback if you are still concerned.

The B550 M Pro4 from Asrock is pretty good, has good size VRM heatsink and you can find it easily under 120$, that would be my best pick for a good budget B550.

 

[DimkaTsv]

Peronally use B550M Aorus Elite.
VRM temps under 88W 120A load are 54-55C, hadn't yet seen more
I guess i can try to put my 5600X to 120W? ish load without problem...
So normal B550 Aorus Elite should be more than enough for sure, as load on inductors will be twice as low
But i cannot just recommend something because of that, only say that 100-120$ motherboard will be more than enough for 5600X for sure
In terms of VRM true 5+1 is enough (or 10+1 with doublers).
Question is overclock/undervolt abilities, but if you don't intersted in them, then ... well look at ports, PCI-E slots etc.

UPD 105W 120A+ Linpack stress showed that VRM temp sensor was 56-58C at max... So iam pretty sure about not being able to overheat it with 5600X