[SOLVED] Need help picking the right motherboard

[Mr Penguin]

Hello, recently my motherboard decided to die on me while in use and I am in need of a new motherboard, I believe it has something to do with the chipset or vrms as my motherboard has an history with overheating.

I can spend up to £250 (GBP), I was looking at the Asus Rog Strix B550-f & e but more input will be nice as I know there are other options out there. I don't mind MSI, but I would prefer to stay away unless the board at question is the best option due to their crap utility's.
The board will need to be full-atx.

Any questions just say and all suggestions are highly appreciated.

Links:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...g-atx-am4-motherboard-rog-strix-b550-e-gaming

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...g-atx-am4-motherboard-rog-strix-b550-f-gaming
Wifi version is £10 more - don't really need wifi.

 

[Lutfij]

What was your prior motherboard's make and model? What processor are you looking to pair with your new motherboard?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hello, recently my motherboard decided to die on me while in use and I am in need of a new motherboard, I believe it has something to do with the chipset or vrms as my motherboard has an history with overheating.

I can spend up to £250 (GBP), I was looking at the Asus Rog Strix B550-f & e but more input will be nice as I know there are other options out there. I don't mind MSI, but I would prefer to stay away unless the board at question is the best option due to their crap utility's.
The board will need to be full-atx.

Any questions just say and all suggestions are highly appreciated.

Links:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...g-atx-am4-motherboard-rog-strix-b550-e-gaming

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...g-atx-am4-motherboard-rog-strix-b550-f-gaming
Wifi version is £10 more - don't really need wifi.

Either of those boards are excellent in terms of power delivery to the CPU. They could both comfortably handle even a 5950X in a fixed overclocked, not that it would offer any performance benefit to do so.

The -E variant has an interesting setup that allows more than the usual one PCIe gen 4 NVME allowed on a B550, but at the expense of taking some PCIe lanes from the GPU. It also uses some fairly expensive PCIe switches to do so, hence it's higher price. You can see them arrayed below the top PCIe slot in the pictures, four of them.

If you don't need a second gen4 NVME...and very few do since it rarely comes into play in common useage scenarios which don't saturate even PCIe gen2 NVME's...then the -F variant will be a better value. IIRC it has provisions for a 2nd PCIe gen 3 NVME that is fed through the chipset as do many B550's.

 

[Mr Penguin]

What was your prior motherboard's make and model? What processor are you looking to pair with your new motherboard?

Ahh yes, sorry forgot to say.
I am currently running a 3700x with a MSI MPG Gaming Edge X570 wifi, I wouldn't of gone for it but I got it for a very cheap price off a friend, it is known to run hot and not be the best. I am looking to upgrade in the future to a 5000 series chip probably since this is the last line up of am4. I have also got a 2070 Super but also thinking of upgrading in the future.

 

[Mr Penguin]

Either of those boards are excellent in terms of power delivery to the CPU. They could both comfortably handle even a 5950X in a fixed overclocked, not that it would offer any performance benefit to do so.

The -E variant has an interesting setup that allows more than the usual one PCIe gen 4 NVME allowed on a B550, but at the expense of taking some PCIe lanes from the GPU. It also uses some fairly expensive PCIe switches to do so, hence it's higher price. You can see them arrayed below the top PCIe slot in the pictures, four of them.

If you don't need a second gen4 NVME...and very few do since it rarely comes into play in common useage scenarios which don't saturate even PCIe gen2 NVME's...then the -F variant will be a better value. IIRC it has provisions for a 2nd PCIe gen 3 NVME that is fed through the chipset as do many B550's.

Thanks for the info!
Do you know any other mobos at this price point or lower what are worth the money? and can handle future upgrades to 5000 series etc. If not I am thinking of going for the -F variant then.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks for the info!
Do you know any other mobos at this price point or lower what are worth the money? and can handle future upgrades to 5000 series etc. If not I am thinking of going for the -F variant then.

I have a TUF Gaming B550m-Plus that's working great with my 3700x, there's also a full-size ATX variant. It too has a 2nd gen3 NVME slot. The VRM is less capable compared to the Strix-F/-E's but it's still quite enough to handle even a 5950 without getting overly hot.

Otherwise, the only significant failing (to some, at least) of my mATX is it lacks a USB-C header for a front panel connector if your case has one. I'm not sure if your case has one, or if it's important to you. I don't see it's merits since I don't have any type C fed devices. I'm also not sure if the ATX variant has one.

 

[Mr Penguin]

I have a TUF Gaming B550m-Plus that's working great with my 3700x, there's also a full-size ATX variant. It too has a 2nd gen3 NVME slot. The VRM is less capable compared to the Strix-F/-E's but it's still quite enough to handle even a 5950 without getting overly hot.

Otherwise, the only significant failing (to some, at least) of my mATX is it lacks a USB-C header for a front panel connector if your case has one. I'm not sure if your case has one, or if it's important to you. I don't see it's merits since I don't have any type C fed devices. I'm also not sure if the ATX variant has one.

Thanks will look into it!! Yeah the USB-C is no problem for me so that doesn't really matter.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks will look into it!! Yeah the USB-C is no problem for me so that doesn't really matter.

BTW, MSI also has some excellent boards. And while MSI's Dragon Center is a particularly worthy piece of software kit to loath, Asus' isn't much better. I made the mistake of letting it install the Armoury Crate package and regretted it. Even with the utility I had to find on Asus forums it didn't fully uninstall. I subsequently wound up hurting my Windows install trying to rip it all out and had to do a clean install.

The thing to be especially wary of is it's BIOS as at every re-start it will, by default, send a signal to Windows to ask it to download and install (which it did to me) and keep the Armoury Crate package up-to-date. As I understand it, it does not use the Microsoft Store to do this but Asus' own servers. At least there's an optional switch in the BIOS settings to disable it.

So you get the option to install it on first bootup at least but after every restart it semi-secretly checks for updates and installs them from a server somewhere in China. What could go wrong there I wonder.

 

[Mr Penguin]

BTW, MSI also has some excellent boards. And while MSI's Dragon Center is a particularly worthy piece of software kit to loath, Asus' isn't much better. I made the mistake of letting it install the Armoury Crate package and regretted it. Even with the utility I had to find on Asus forums it didn't fully uninstall. I subsequently wound up hurting my Windows install trying to rip it all out and had to do a clean install.

The thing to be especially wary of is it's BIOS as at every re-start it will, by default, send a signal to Windows to ask it to download and install (which it did to me) and keep the Armoury Crate package up-to-date. As I understand it, it does not use the Microsoft Store to do this but Asus' own servers. At least there's an optional switch in the BIOS settings to disable it.

So you get the option to install it on first bootup, but after every restart it semi-secretly checks for updates and installs them from a server somewhere in China. What could go wrong there I wonder.

Thanks for the heads up. It has gotten to a point where I don't download any software from the manufactures as it gets to a point where they mess up your computer, I had the same problem with Dragon Center and the only way to fix it was a clean install of windows.

 

[Mr Penguin]

What was your prior motherboard's make and model? What processor are you looking to pair with your new motherboard?

I have been torn on what mobo to go with for the past hour, I have seen the b550-f, b550 tomahawk, Motar, tuf b550m-plus and even some x570 have come up in the same price range.
If you have any recommendations it will be greatly apricated (prefer full atx).
Currently have: 3700x & x570 gaming edge wifi (broke) and am thinking of upgrading in the near future depending on pricing and stock.
Thanks again

 

[drea.drechsler]

I have been torn on what mobo to go with for the past hour, I have seen the b550-f, b550 tomahawk, Motar, tuf b550m-plus and even some x570 have come up in the same price range.
If you have any recommendations it will be greatly apricated (prefer full atx).
Currently have: 3700x & x570 gaming edge wifi (broke) and am thinking of upgrading in the near future depending on pricing and stock.
Thanks again

This:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-TUF-B...&keywords=tuf+b550+plus&qid=1622918516&sr=8-5

If you have other special needs than full-ATX size let us know to be more specific.

BTW:what happened to the Gaming Edge?

 

[Mr Penguin]

This:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-TUF-B...&keywords=tuf+b550+plus&qid=1622918516&sr=8-5

If you have other special needs than full-ATX size let us know to be more specific.

BTW:what happened to the Gaming Edge?

The gaming edge wifi (is known to be hot) broke while I was using my pc, the screen went full black and the debug leds said my CPU is not there or failed. I swapped components about with my 2nd pc to see if the mobo broke or my cpu and it was the mobo. I am assuming that the chipset/or vrms overheated and broke. (tested each component in my pc to double check)

As for the motherboard I realise that my pc case has space for a type c front panel (forgot about it since it was never an option) so that would be nice to use, so if you have any recommendations with that feature that would be great!! Other than that and atx and the ability to withhold 5000s cpus in the future (what most do comfortable) should be all good.

 

[drea.drechsler]

The gaming edge wifi (is known to be hot) broke while I was using my pc, the screen went full black and the debug leds said my CPU is not there or failed. I swapped components about with my 2nd pc to see if the mobo broke or my cpu and it was the mobo. I am assuming that the chipset/or vrms overheated and broke. (tested each component in my pc to double check)

As for the motherboard I realise that my pc case has space for a type c front panel (forgot about it since it was never an option) so that would be nice to use, so if you have any recommendations with that feature that would be great!! Other than that and atx and the ability to withhold 5000s cpus in the future (what most do comfortable) should be all good.
Thanks the help!

The B550 Tomahawk is a terrific board as is the MSI B550 Gaming Plus and B550 A-Pro; they all have a TyC header for front panel. The Tomahawk has an exceptional VRM, the Gaming Plus and A-pro is slightly less exceptional but still going to be very cool running for a 3700x. I don't think the Asus B550 Strix-F has a Ty C header, nor the Tuf Gaming-plus.

Too late now but that X570 Gaming Edge was a terrible board...at least the VRM's were. Overpriced for it too. Have you considered to contact MSI about an RMA? It may still be in warranty.

As far as hating on MSI's software (Dragon Center): just don't install it. All you should need to install from MSI is the LAN driver (network) and the audio driver, although you could go looking for the generic RealTek packages should you prefer that. I know that frequently disables RGB control, but sometimes you have to make choices.

I strongly suggest the same for any other motherboard control software, especially Asus' Armoury Crate which IMO is nothing less than a trojan back door into your system they could use for anything they wanted. At least with MSI you have to pro-actively initiate the download and install process, Armoury Crate launches a friendly invite to download and install as soon as you launch into Windows.

 

[Mr Penguin]

The B550 Tomahawk is a terrific board as is the MSI B550 Gaming Plus; they both have a TyC header for front panel. I don't think the Asus B550 Strix-F has a Ty C header, nor the Tuf Gaming-plus.

Too latenow but that X570 Gaming Edge was a terrible board...at least the VRM's were. Overpriced for it too. Have you considered to contact MSI about an RMA? It may still be in warranty.

As far as hating on MSI's software (Dragon Center): just don't install it. All you should need to install from MSI is the LAN driver (network) and the audio driver, although you could go looking for the generic RealTek packages should you prefer that.

I strongly suggest the same for any other motherboard control software, especially Asus' Armoury Crate which IMO is nothing less than a trojan back door into your system they could use for anything they wanted. At least with MSI you have to pro-actively initiate the download and install process, Armoury Crate launches a friendly invite to download and install as soon as you launch into Windows.

Thanks, as for MSI DC I just don't bother with it, I download the needed drivers and leave their tools alone, same for other manufactures. Yeah I agree that the gaming edge was terrible only went for it as I got it for like £50ish off a friend who never used it.