Question Motherboard For Ryzen 3xxx

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DefinitelyNotTom

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ok, I am no way going to get a motherboard with a whining fan, so the x570 is out.

I thought well no problem I'll just use an x470 or b450 (I have a b450 bought and can still return it).

Well.... if I am reading correctly, to use a b450 or x470 for ryzen 3xxx, you must ALREADY HAVE a previous ryzen cpu set up with it in order to update the BIOS???

I am strongly considering backing out of selling my 2700x and just going ahead and building and forgetting that I am missing out on 3xxx.

I am already so tired of waiting for them to release the new cpus and it now confirmed none will be out before July... I sure don't want to wait even LONGER for b450 and x470 mobos on the market to have the latest firmware. Even the 2700x was already going to be overkill for my usage. Maybe I should cancel the sale and pretend 3700x won't exist?

Note: If I do build with 3700x, I'd almost surely be out close to $200 extra, as well. So deal with the hassle and pay $200 just to know I got the better hardware or keep what I have, save the money, still have more than I need.
 
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DefinitelyNotTom

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So I assume that fan comes on when it's above a certain temp maybe? Or when the transfer rate is above x? If so, my transfer would be exactly the same as what a x470 could handle EXCEPT the second ssd at 3.0x4 instead of 2.0x4. Kind of doubt that would heat it up enough extra to need that fan, but who knows.
 
So I assume that fan comes on when it's above a certain temp maybe? Or when the transfer rate is above x? If so, my transfer would be exactly the same as what a x470 could handle EXCEPT the second ssd at 3.0x4 instead of 2.0x4. Kind of doubt that would heat it up enough extra to need that fan, but who knows.
The hints I've been able to gather suggest the fans are either silent or off usually. The useage that brings them into play needed something like an NVME raid card with four x4, gen4 NVME's in a RAID array in an x16 gen 4 slot.

We will learn, of course, in a few weeks as the independent reviewers start taking apart the new chipset, CPU, Navi GPU and PCIe gen 4 in general.

BTW... the application for PCIe gen 4 that seemed most compelling to me was to assign 2 gen 4 lanes (x2) to feed two gen 4 NVME's off Zen 2 CPU. Each will still have the same bandwidth of one x4 gen 3 NVME, which is anything but shabby and probably not going to be something an average user could detect. All this without an X570 chipset and us unwashed masses get to set up an NVME RAID 1 array on the low latency lanes of the CPU easily.
 
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DefinitelyNotTom

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The hints I've been able to gather suggest the fans are either silent or off usually. The useage that brings them into play needed something like an NVME raid card with four x4, gen4 NVME's in a RAID array in an x16 gen 4 slot.

We will learn, of course, in a few weeks as the independent reviewers start taking apart the new chipset, CPU, Navi GPU and PCIe gen 4 in general.

BTW... the application for PCIe gen 4 that seemed most compelling to me was to assign 2 gen 4 lanes (x2) to feed two gen 4 NVME's off Zen 2 CPU. Each will still have the same bandwidth of one x4 gen 3 NVME, which is anything but shabby and probably not going to be something an average user could detect. All this without an X570 chipset and us unwashed masses get to set up an NVME RAID 1 array on the low latency lanes of the CPU easily.
oh so you're basically saying that way you'd be using the 4 non-gpu lanes straight to/from the cpu to be able to run 2 ssds at the 3.0x4 speeds, ie not needing to use the chipset lanes at all for ssds? of course, you'd have to buy gen 4 ones, whereas if you tried that with gen 3 ones, I guess both would run at 3.0x2?

I first thought you were saying there was a way to do it without even getting an x570 mobo. lol. Although, even there.... there's a chance, because some claimed x470 and b450 boards would get gen 4 support. But what I heard lately is it would be only for the gpu lanes I think?

I wish someone would just come right out and officially say if the chipset fan will often come on. If I wait too long, it may be impossible to get the pro carbon b450. it already goes out of stock places often even before these new ryzens were announced. I'd get a ~$200 x570 if I knew the chipset fan wouldn't come on.
 
oh so you're basically saying that way you'd be using the 4 non-gpu lanes straight to/from the cpu to be able to run 2 ssds at the 3.0x4 speeds, ie not needing to use the chipset lanes at all for ssds? of course, you'd have to buy gen 4 ones, whereas if you tried that with gen 3 ones, I guess both would run at 3.0x2?

I first thought you were saying there was a way to do it without even getting an x570 mobo. lol. Although, even there.... there's a chance, because some claimed x470 and b450 boards would get gen 4 support. But what I heard lately is it would be only for the gpu lanes I think?

I wish someone would just come right out and officially say if the chipset fan will often come on. If I wait too long, it may be impossible to get the pro carbon b450. it already goes out of stock places often even before these new ryzens were announced. I'd get a ~$200 x570 if I knew the chipset fan wouldn't come on.
I think B550 would be where that kind of flexibility would be nice. Rumors are B550 chipset will offer PCIe gen 3 (allowing for cheaper mobo manufacturing) while the (Ryzen 3000) CPU offers the only gen 4 lanes for the board.

We can only hope AMD will relent and allow gen 4 support on B450/X470 boards. But even then only those with close and high-quality trace paths to GPU and M.2 sockets would be able to.

People are under NDA or are getting leaks from those who are, so nobody can speak plainly about things like this. So you have to 'read between the lines' and judge the way they dance around the issues right now. In a few weeks, we'll know for sure.
 
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DefinitelyNotTom

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I think B550 would be where that kind of flexibility would be nice. Rumors are B550 chipset will offer PCIe gen 3 (allowing for cheaper mobo manufacturing) while the (Ryzen 3000) CPU offers the only gen 4 lanes for the board.

We can only hope AMD will relent and allow gen 4 support on B450/X470 boards. But even then only those with close and high-quality trace paths to GPU and M.2 sockets would be able to.

People are under NDA or are getting leaks from those who are, so nobody can speak plainly about things like this. So you have to 'read between the lines' and judge the way they dance around the issues right now. In a few weeks, we'll know for sure.
MSI had released info about those chipset fans, though, saying theyw er eeneded, etc... Unless that was a leak, too, but I assumed they went on record saying it.

It's also not a good sign that they'd even make them agree to a NDA. Makes me assume performance is going to be well below AMD's claims. They've already announced the products, so there should be nothing to hide at this point, if performance is how it should be. We're only 2 weeks from launch.
 

seagatedoge

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Another perspective on future proofing. If you don't need PCIe4 presto, it may be wiser to get an X470. By the time more devices than NVME drives actually need PCIe4, you can upgrade to either a PCIe5 board which (I think) will be out by then or a matured (possibly non-fan) X570 with years of reviews available to read. This is considering the worst case scenario where the motherboard fan will break before you cease to use the computer (for me the span is about 8 years).
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Another perspective on future proofing. If you don't need PCIe4 presto, it may be wiser to get an X470. By the time more devices than NVME drives actually need PCIe4, you can upgrade to either a PCIe5 board which (I think) will be out by then or a matured (possibly non-fan) X570 with years of reviews available to read. This is considering the worst case scenario where the motherboard fan will break before you cease to use the computer (for me the span is about 8 years).
I haven't built before and am always nervous about electricity having flowed through it, so changing out parts is something i'd rather not do, whereas building in the beginning I'd be putting it together before electricity flowed through it. Some articles claim after you unplug a pc, it can still have electricity in there for weeks or months. So it kind of scares me.

My current pc was not even midrange when I bought it. It was a budget pc that was under $500 I think. And somehow I have made it last for.... I think 6 or 7 years now. So highly unlikely I'd care to even change out parts on the new one, anyway. I doubt I'd need pcie 4, itself. Just wishing I could run both ssds at 3.0x4 and gpu at x16, though.

Speaking of that... someone said people have been getting b450s from amazon that already have the ryzen 3xxx compatible firmware. I wish it would be easy to know which oens would already have it done at particular stores. I'd be tempted to buy back the asus if I knew it were updated.

Also, such a shame no b450 matx boards have 2 m2 pcies. :( That's another negative is I can't build matx or itx if I get that msi b450.
 
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Also, such a shame no b450 matx boards have 2 m2 pcies. :( That's another negative is I can't build matx or itx if I get that msi b450.

Easily the best AM4 mATX board... B450M Mortar. Not only two PCIe M.2 (the second is gen 2 x4, however) but one of the strongest VRM's on any B450 board. Too bad MSI doesn't sell them in USA anymore, but you can still find one on E-Bay...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...Xb450m+mortar.TRS0&_nkw=b450m+mortar&_sacat=0
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Easily the best AM4 mATX board... B450M Mortar. Not only two PCIe M.2 (the second is gen 2 x4, however) but one of the strongest VRM's on any B450 board. Too bad MSI doesn't sell them in USA anymore, but you can still find one on E-Bay...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...Xb450m+mortar.TRS0&_nkw=b450m+mortar&_sacat=0
Thanks, but the reason I didn't know it is because nobody reputable has it. I see Amazon UK does, but then I guess I'd be in trouble if it has issues under warranty, sicne I'm in the US? Ridiculous that they'd just stop making it...
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Also the mortar has the wors lan (Realtek), which I only know is worse because of accidentally coming across reddit posts mentioning how superior that intel from the pro carbon is. Other than that the mortar seems to be a nice choice, though. Would sure be nice to build a matx… Like I said before, only 2 inches in height and 1 pound weight difference,t hoguh, between my potential matx/atx cases.
 
Also the mortar has the wors lan (Realtek), which I only know is worse because of accidentally coming across reddit posts mentioning how superior that intel from the pro carbon is. Other than that the mortar seems to be a nice choice, though. Would sure be nice to build a matx… Like I said before, only 2 inches in height and 1 pound weight difference,t hoguh, between my potential matx/atx cases.
LAN and Audio are two things i absolutely do not make an important consideration when selecting a motherboard. Firstly: even if it is the worst at what they do the margin is only detectable with synthetic measurement methods and undetectable to the average user (which describes me) in 95% of cases.

Secondly, and much more important: I'd much rather invest in the rather small expense of an add-in card, whether LAN or audio. That allows me to get something truly capable (if I needed it) and then transport it to the next system while while staying focused on the important core functions of a motherboard.
 
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TJ Hooker

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I wasn't meaning the 12 core. I was meaning in general, since they didn't up the core count for the mainstream, ie r5 and r7 ones. So they're going to cost more, with motherboard, than intel ones of the same level now, as the intel ones are constantly on sale.
They only cost more if you want a PCIe 4.0 motherboard (which isn't even an option with Intel) and/or you compare non-SMT Intel CPUs against Ryzen CPUs that have the same core count but with SMT.
Also, he was saying we don't know if the 12 core will be better than the 2700x. If it weren't better than the 2700x, then having 12 cores would be irrelevant and it would have to still be compared to the intel 8 core cpus.
The 12 core will undoubtedly be significantly better than a 2700X in loads that can take advantage of the extra cores. Given higher boost clocks and improved IPC, it will be better in lightly threaded loads as well, just not by as much.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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Either way, I don't get why they stopped making it in the US.

Btw, I read where someone showed the msi custom settings for the chipset fan, but I don't know anything about normal mobo temps. If I understand properly, the fan only comes on at 75+ degrees if in silent mode. Is it common for the chip to get that warm?

At this point I am figuring it won't come on MUCH, if at all, but whether it's "not much" or "not at all" matters big time, as one of those two still leaves the chance of it failing.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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If leaks are true, not looking good for the new cpus… 3800x less than 10% faster than 9900k in multithreading and more than 10% slower in single core performance. So tyhey still didn't catch intel in single core and it's reported that intel is going to lower their cpu prices by 10-15%.

So I am actually still considering intel, but leaning amd still, since it's just mroe trouble with intel due to needing a cooler and those stupid security exploits needing patching makes it all up ion the air what their real benches are.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-38...ntels-i9-9900k-in-multi-threaded-performance/
If those are the leaked benchmarks you're referring to, something to keep in mind is they're comparing a 9900k/9700k with 4x8GB of 2666 MHz RAM vs a 3800X running 16GB of 2133 MHz RAM.
They may be using 4266 RAM, though, since sometimes speed will be listed as half and I'd find it hard to believe they'd be comparing apples to oranges when their wording makes it clear they are amd fanboys.

That all being said.... that's the same site that has been wrong on a hilariously big number of supposed leaks. But IF it's all true, why buy the amd that is mighty close to even with the 9900k for $399 and an expensive new mobo, when intel is going to knock the 9900k down below that, apparently, and there will be constant sales on that older tech. There are sales on z390 boards every day.

I don't need even above the 2700x, but now that I waited so long to build this, I am about tempted to go with 3900x if I get amd where I know I am gaining something... but even then the fact will still remain that intel will have the better single core, of course. I wonder if that 12 core cpu will push the b450 too much. I don't see why, really, since it has same TDP as the 3800x, though.
 

TJ Hooker

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They may be using 4266 RAM, though, since sometimes speed will be listed as half and I'd find it hard to believe they'd be comparing apples to oranges when their wording makes it clear they are amd fanboys.
The memory clock is listed as 1065 MHz, meaning a DDR rate of 2133 MHz. https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13567135

I agree that WCCFTech is hardly a reliable source, but they aren't actually the source of the benchmark. It's just some result that popped up on Geekbench that a bunch of tech sites are reporting on and comparing to various other results.

What are you planning on using this PC for?
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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The memory clock is listed as 1065 MHz, meaning a DDR rate of 2133 MHz. https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/13567135

I agree that WCCFTech is hardly a reliable source, but they aren't actually the source of the benchmark. It's just some result that popped up on Geekbench that a bunch of tech sites are reporting on and comparing to various other results.

What are you planning on using this PC for?
Mostly nothing requiring even remotely close to any of that. Like I've said before, most of the time my old cpu with 4gb ddr3 RAM is good enough. But 1. I may occasionally 4k video edit or play a game and 2. I don't want to underdo it and then be tempted to upgrade soon.

What I probably "should" have done is use a 1600 and some old mobo and save hudnreds and hundreds. But I just can't bring myself to go on the lower end, since I want it capable of a lot, even if I don't often use it for a lot. Some people even claimed a gen 7 i3 would have been enough for me...
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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I agree, I'm skeptical that 2133 vs 2666 MHz would be enough to account for the entire difference between the single core results. On the other hand, when TH compared the 3800X result with a 9900K result they found that used 2133 MHz RAM, the single core results are nearly identical. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-7-3800x-vs-intel-i9-9900k-geekbench,39691.html
that's just based on another geekbench result, though.

I hate seeing the specs when they keep listing 3xxx as 3200 speed.... sicne now my RAM is going to be nothing special at all, right at only the listed speed of the cpu. lol. And the only inexpensive 3600 RAM is Hynix.
 

DefinitelyNotTom

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So far, leaks of 3700x and 3800x aren't exactly thrilling me. Even the 3800x is about even with the 9900k, not above it, and still below it in single core.

If the 3900x leak is correct, I'd probably gon ahead and spend the extra $100 for it, as it looked to me to be 25% faster in multithread than 9900k. I still don't get how it could possibly not have a slowdown somewhere, though, to be the same TDP as the 3800x is listed at... It can't magically add 4 cores and be close to as fast per core and not use more energy...
 
So far, leaks of 3700x and 3800x aren't exactly thrilling me. Even the 3800x is about even with the 9900k, not above it, and still below it in single core.

If the 3900x leak is correct, I'd probably gon ahead and spend the extra $100 for it, as it looked to me to be 25% faster in multithread than 9900k. I still don't get how it could possibly not have a slowdown somewhere, though, to be the same TDP as the 3800x is listed at... It can't magically add 4 cores and be close to as fast per core and not use more energy...

If 8 core results didn't thrill you then the six core 3600 should... it pretty well trounced the i7-9700k and even gave the 8 core/16 thread i9-9900k a good run. And keep in mind this is the low-end, 6-core/12 thread cheap-o processor embarrasing Intel's best at a fraction of the installed cost.

But if your useage demands execution threads, nothing beats cores: so naturally 12 cores will do it better.

And again, some leaked geek bench numbers so we don't know all the testing conditions of course. You can make up any number of possible test conditions (like memory speed/overclocked??) to no avail. I'll just wait for independent reviews to come out in a few days time, now.