Question Picking a MOBO for a Ryzen 3000 build

[LORDPrometheus]

So at long last i am in the market for a new core to my PC. my I7 4790k has served me well but the time has come for a full rebuild.

I am planning on going with a Ryzen 7 3700x (or depending on how compelling it is the upcoming 3750x) and need to pick a new motherboard. I am trying to operate within a budget so my plan is to spend no more than $200-220 USD on the motherboard but my requirements have limited my choices somewhat. Here are the features i strongly desire/need.

Must Haves:

• X570 chipset
• 7+ rear panel Type-A USB ports of any generation
• 6+ internal SATA III headers
• Front panel USB 3
• 2+ M.2 sockets ideally of maximum length capability but that is not critical
• Strong VRM array to allow for moderate overclocking

Nice to Haves:

• redundant BIOS such as GIGABYTE dual BIOS
• high quality on board audio

I don't need integrated WiFi although its never a bad thing.

I already have several candidates and am currently leaning towards the MSI X570-A PRO however i would love to hear what the community has to suggest.

Cheers!

 

[jon96789]

Make sure that any AMD motherboard has a beefy voltage regulator design. The MSi MPG motherboards (like the MSi X570A Pro) are notorious for their crappy VRMs which runs super hot (100+ degrees C with a 105 watt AMD CPU) which is NOT conducive for reliability. Better boards have VRM temps as low as 50-60 degrees. If you decide to upgrade to a better CPU, the VRMs play a big role.

Search for X570 motherboards videos on YouTube uploaded by Hardware Unboxed. They have several videos on different priced mobos and their general consensus is that MSi's MPG lineup is literally crap. The VRMs heat up and then the CPU throttles down its speed because of overheated VRMs.

 

[ocer9999]

X570 Taichi is one of the best sub 300$ motherboard.

View: https://youtu.be/zuyuS04lD4o?t=1146

 

[LORDPrometheus]

Make sure that any AMD motherboard has a beefy voltage regulator design. The MSi MPG motherboards (like the MSi X570A Pro) are notorious for their crappy VRMs which runs super hot (100+ degrees C with a 105 watt AMD CPU) which is NOT conducive for reliability. Better boards have VRM temps as low as 50-60 degrees. If you decide to upgrade to a better CPU, the VRMs play a big role.

Search for X570 motherboards videos on YouTube uploaded by Hardware Unboxed. They have several videos on different priced mobos and their general consensus is that MSi's MPG lineup is literally crap. The VRMs heat up and then the CPU throttles down its speed because of overheated VRMs.

Yeah i have heard quite a bit about bad VRM setups on x570 boards although i was mostly hearing that it was GIGABYTE (my usual preferred brand) that was on the low end. with AZRock and MSI on the high end. I'll keep looking but still would like something around $200 USD. shame the market is so limited in that respect

 

[drea.drechsler]

...mostly hearing that it was GIGABYTE (my usual preferred brand) that was on the low end. with AZRock and MSI on the high end....

That was true in the X470 and especially B450 boards. Gigabyte and Asus received a lot of really bad reviews for the crap they turned out (I mean...faked 8 phase's? with 8 inductors on a 4 phase and all the FET's hidden so you can't count them). But MSI had some excellent VRM designs for their budget-conscious B450 boards.

But the X570 boards flipped it...MSI's lower tier X570 aren't very well suited for 3900 or 3950's and marginal at best for even 8 core CPU's. Their top tier does get good marks though, MEG Ace seems to be a go-to board for many reviewers to use for their baseline systems. Gigabyte and especially Asus have pretty strong VRM's up and down their X570 lines.

 

[LORDPrometheus]

Ok taking into account what you guys have said i have 5 canidates let me know which one you think i should go with

1. Budget choice, barely meets my needs so ehhh
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Prime-X...182&s=electronics&sr=1-1&tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

2. option 2 still light on USB and SATA but better?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SXF8GY3/?tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

3. Back to Gigabyte my old favorites
https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-X57...e-bin:10656895011&rnid=5657491011&s=pc&sr=1-1

4. Interesting one. I am more curious in the change from "True 12 phase VRM" to "Direct 12+2"
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-X57...e-bin:10656895011&rnid=5657491011&s=pc&sr=1-9

5. outside the comfort zone max budget choice
https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Gaming-C...e-bin:10656895011&rnid=5657491011&s=pc&sr=1-7

 

[LORDPrometheus]

Figure I should add this. I am currently using a GIGABYTE Z97 UD5H black edition and basically don't want to lose out on the feature set with a new board

 

[jon96789]

Do NOT get the MSi X570 MPG Gaming Carbon Pro WiFi... I regrettably bought that board and it is a piece of crap (along as any of the MSi MPG boards)... The VRMs consistently hit 95-100 degrees, far above the acceptable temp of 80 degrees. My 3900X consistently runs slow at 4.0 GHz, nowhere close to the rated 4.6 GHz. According to Hardware Unboxed, the motherboard throttles the CPU when the VRMs hit 100 degrees, which means it reduces the CPU clock speed until the VRMs cool down.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Ok taking into account what you guys have said i have 5 canidates let me know which one you think i should go with

1. Budget choice, barely meets my needs so ehhh
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Prime-X...182&s=electronics&sr=1-1&tag=httpwwwtechsp-20
..

I know it's a 'budget choice' and barely meets your needs...but barely or not, it meets your needs. I'd stop right there since I'm pretty sure this is a board Buildzoid liked in a breakdown build. That means it's got a 'tolerable' VRM...and tolerable to buildzoid means pretty damn good to any average user!

Also, Asus has always done great BIOS. That makes it a winner as far as I'm concerned, and the price just makes it more so. But then, it's your choice to go for more of course...

Here's the buildzoid video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gKFzNEgOY&t=860s

 

[LORDPrometheus]

I know it's a 'budget choice' and barely meets your needs...but barely or not, it meets your needs. I'd stop right there since I'm pretty sure this is a board Buildzoid liked in a breakdown build. That means it's got a 'tolerable' VRM...and tolerable to buildzoid means pretty damn good to any average user!

Also, Asus has always done great BIOS. That makes it a winner as far as I'm concerned, and the price just makes it more so. But then, it's your choice to go for more of course...

Here's the buildzoid video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gKFzNEgOY&t=860s

It is on the list for a reason i can definiatly see myself getting it. the issue is the Realtek LAN chip. I have never in my life had a single Realtek LAN chip work. Period. With over 8 attempts at using them all have either never worked at all or been intermittent and caused horrific memory leaks (400mb per 10 seconds). I'm sure its just bad luck and paranoia but from athalom X2 to Intel 9 lth gen I have always been met with nothing but anger from them. So i would 100% be buying a PCIE Ethernet card with this board which would be an additional 30 or so dollars

 

[jon96789]

The Prime 570 VRMs had temps of 70 degrees C, a lot better than the 120 degrees of the MSi board you were considering...

 

[drea.drechsler]

It is on the list for a reason i can definiatly see myself getting it. the issue is the Realtek LAN chip. I have never in my life had a single Realtek LAN chip work. Period. With over 8 attempts at using them all have either never worked at all or been intermittent and caused horrific memory leaks (400mb per 10 seconds). I'm sure its just bad luck and paranoia but from athalom X2 to Intel 9 lth gen I have always been met with nothing but anger from them. So i would 100% be buying a PCIE Ethernet card with this board which would be an additional 30 or so dollars

I've had several boards with realtek chips, including several my son has. the only one that 'failed' didn't really fail...it was a bad BIOS update that bricked it. I could go back to the original BIOS and it worked...but the update and every update thereafter bricked it.

That was when I got a couple LAN cards and still have them knocking around in a spare parts bin. Those, along with a couple cheap GPU's and drives in case something crashes permanently and I need a temporary 'fix'. The only thing I don't have a spare for is a sound card, but HDMI audio has served that purpose more than once.

So to my thinking, that $30 purchase is not just an upper for system purchase but a necessary expense one should make when choosing to lead a tech-connected existence.

 

[LORDPrometheus]

Any thoughts on https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-TUF-X57...W26GM81CQXK&psc=1&refRID=R01A7QG0DW26GM81CQXK