Question MSI b450m Bazooka Plus vs Gaming Plus

[Rhaemond]

Hi so I'm looking for a b450m motherboard. I only have these 2 options as of now, but I'll also be on the lookout for good deals on the mortar. But in any case, what would you guys recommend I'd buy? Bazooka plus or Gaming plus?
I have a Ryzen 3 2200g and would plan on OCing it a bit. Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

They both are the same board. Except for the extra VRM on the top, above the CPU socket, for the Gaming Plus. If you're interested in better audio, then the Bazooka Plus is the path to choose. I'm curious, why is it that you're options are limited to these two? Where are you located and what is your budget?

 

[Metal Messiah.]

I think the GAMING PLUS mobo, might be a better option, though both the boards are almost the same..

 

[Rhaemond]

They both are the same board. Except for the extra VRM on the top, above the CPU socket, for the Gaming Plus. If you're interested in better audio, then the Bazooka Plus is the path to choose. I'm curious, why is it that you're options are limited to these two? Where are you located and what is your budget?

Philippines. Not in Manila. I live in a region of the Philippines where they only sell A320 boards and some shops monopolize gaming parts, making them expensive. It's hard to get good parts here. My budget isn't that high but it's good enough to buy a b450m mortar, sadly, it isn't in stock at the moment in any shop here. Sucks to be me.
For OCing and gaming on a Ryzen 3 2200g though, which would you prefer?

I think the GAMING PLUS mobo, might be a better option, though both the boards are almost the same..

Why is it that? The VRM? The Bazooka plus has more DIMM slots though.
I still don't get why gaming plus is more expensive and is said to only be a basic board.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Why is it that? The VRM?

Oh yes, I know that. I didn't mean to say both the cards are 100% identical though. My previous comment wasn't clear enough, as I didn't word it properly.

 

[drea.drechsler]

....
I still don't get why gaming plus is more expensive and is said to only be a basic board.

They're both somewhat basic in features they offer. That is, audio is the same and the LAN chip is the same and neither is high-end. They both also lack any WiFi. They have same SATA ports and M.2 sockets. If anything, the Gaming Plus gets a plus because it has a USB Type C port which could be important if you need it.

The two DIMM sockets on the Gaming Plus is a bit of a mixed thing. Populating all four sockets limits the type and speed of memory you can operate (depends on the particular CPU you get) so it may not be as good as you'd like. But while only two sockets usually allows wider memory options and clock speed it does limit the ability to just pop in two more DIMM's in the future to double memory without sacrificing clock speed. It's a choice you have to make.

Both boards look to have similar VRM designs with good heatsinking, maybe a little better on the Bazooka Plus. But either one will run any current Ryzen chip well with moderate overclocking.

 

[Rhaemond]

Oh yes, I know that. I didn't mean to say both the cards are 100% identical though. My previous comment wasn't clear enough, as I didn't word it properly.

Ohh gotcha. Thanks a lot!

They're both somewhat basic in features they offer. That is, audio is the same and the LAN chip is the same and neither is high-end. They both also lack any WiFi. They have same SATA ports and M.2 sockets. If anything, the Gaming Plus gets a plus because it has a USB Type C port which could be important if you need it.

The two DIMM sockets on the Gaming Plus is a bit of a mixed thing. Populating all four sockets limits the type and speed of memory you can operate (depends on the particular CPU you get) so it may not be as good as you'd like. But while only two sockets usually allows wider memory options and clock speed it does limit the ability to just pop in two more DIMM's in the future to double memory without sacrificing clock speed. It's a choice you have to make.

Both boards look to have similar VRM designs with good heatsinking, maybe a little better on the Bazooka Plus. But either one will run any current Ryzen chip well with moderate overclocking.

I understand. Would you consider 3.8-3.9ghz moderate overclocking? I'll be using a deepcool 300r as my fan with it. 😅

 

[drea.drechsler]

...
I understand. Would you consider 3.8-3.9ghz moderate overclocking? I'll be using a deepcool 300r as my fan with it. 😅

IF you get a 2200G capable of it I'd definitely consider that a moderate, maybe even 'easy', overclock. Since it's only a 4 core/4 thread CPU it won't present a heavy power load on the VRM. But 2200G APU's aren't known for overclocking so be flexible about expectations.

You'll get better results overclocking the GPU and memory for improved overall gaming performance anyway.

 

[Rhaemond]

IF you get a 2200G capable of it I'd definitely consider that a moderate, maybe even 'easy', overclock. Since it's only a 4 core/4 thread CPU it won't present a heavy power load on the VRM. But 2200G APU's aren't known for overclocking so be flexible about expectations.

You'll get better results overclocking the GPU and memory for improved overall gaming performance anyway.

I have a dedicated graphics card (rx570) and I only plan to OC the CPU though 😅

 

[drea.drechsler]

I have a dedicated graphics card (rx570) and I only plan to OC the CPU though 😅

Just remember that 2200's CPU are not famous for lots of OC headroom

 

[Rhaemond]

Just remember that 2200's CPU are not famous for lots of OC headroom

Oh thank you so much for that info!!! Ryzen 5 was out of my budget
Ryzen 3 1200 seemed to be more expensive than the 2200g for some reason
And the other first gen Ryzens were either second hand, not found in shops here (except for the 1700) or above my budget range. 😅😅😅

 

[drea.drechsler]

Oh thank you so much for that info!!! Ryzen 5 was out of my budget
Ryzen 3 1200 seemed to be more expensive than the 2200g for some reason
And the other first gen Ryzens were either second hand, not found in shops here (except for the 1700) or above my budget range. 😅😅😅

2200g became the 'bottom' of the line so I guess 1200's dried up...so price went up accordingly? just a guess.

If you skim across the internet you should find plenty of overclocking guides and you-tube vids for 2200g's. The thing to remember is it's based on 1st gen Ryzen core, not 2nd gen (in spite of it's 2000 numbering) so it just won't hit as high of a clock as a, say, 2600 will. Also, It seems to me people who get best overclocking results seem to be more comfortable hitting it with higher voltage so that's something you have to work out for yourself.

 

[Rhaemond]

2200g became the 'bottom' of the line so I guess 1200's dried up...so price went up accordingly? just a guess.

If you skim across the internet you should find plenty of overclocking guides and you-tube vids for 2200g's. The thing to remember is it's based on 1st gen Ryzen core, not 2nd gen (in spite of it's 2000 numbering) so it just won't hit as high of a clock as a, say, 2600 will. Also, It seems to me people who get best overclocking results seem to be more comfortable hitting it with higher voltage so that's something you have to work out for yourself.

Alright. I'm new to overclocking but since it's fairly easy to ovetclock nowadays, I'll be giving it a shot on my new build. Thank you so much! Hopefully I can also win the silicon lottery 😅