Question Should I buy the Asrock b450 Pro4 or the Asrock b450 steel legend?

Oct 14, 2019
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I'm having a little bit of trouble deciding which mobo to get out of these 2 options. I can't afford a lot so I'll have to get the cheapest ones out there, and atx ryzen motherboards are totally not cheap from what I've seen. These 2 seem like the most affordable and most people say they're good. Are there any noteworthy differences between the 2 besides looking cooler? Is the steel legend a more worthy upgrade over the pro4? Are both of them good for gaming? Let me know. I'm open to any suggestions.
 

Budge414

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Jan 2, 2013
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Hi there,

  1. Firstly, from which country are you purchasing? (List any specific shops if you're limited)
  2. Also, which CPU are you pairing with the board?
We'll be able to assist you better in selecting a good match for you with this info.

Cheers
 
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Reactions: TJ Hooker
Both are good budget boards, pretty much depends on what you are looking for on a motherboard. There are no gaming motherboards, they all serve a porpuse, connect all system and make it work stable.
If you like the more fancy look and RGB on the Steel legend, go ahead there's nothing wrong with that, but if you want the most basic but still solid board the Pro would do fine.
 
Oct 14, 2019
8
0
10
Hi there,

  1. Firstly, from which country are you purchasing? (List any specific shops if you're limited)
  2. Also, which CPU are you pairing with the board?
We'll be able to assist you better in selecting a good match for you with this info.

Cheers
Amazon USA.

AMD Ryzen 3 1200. I'd love to get the 2600 but as I said before, I can't afford a lot.
 

Budge414

Distinguished
Jan 2, 2013
387
9
18,965
Okay from what I can see there's a $27 difference in price between the Pro4 and Steel Legend. This is a lot if you're working within a strict budget.

The answer really depends on what is important to you, but I'll try and narrow this down as well as provide some other options.

1. The Steel Legend is not a terrible board, however only buy this if you care about the RGB/colour scheme, noting that these features are what make up a chunk of the $107.

2. If those features don't matter, some solid motherboard options would be:
  • MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX (Well-featured, red theme, slightly better and cheaper than the Steel Legend)
  • MSI B450 -A PRO MAX (Virtually the same board as the above, darker theme, slightly cheaper again)
  • MSI B450-A PRO (Slightly cheaper again, ^MAX just means BIOS is pre-updated for Ryzen 3000)
3. The Asrock B450 Pro4 isn't a terrible budget choice, however I would fork out the extra dollars for the above boards, unless going cheaper means you can afford the R5 2600. At $71 the below option may also help you do that:
At $60~ and $120~ for the R3 1200 and R5 2600, these are both fantastic CPUs.

From here I would personally either grab the Steel Legend or one of the 3 MSI boards and the R3 1200, and then watch an overclocking tutorial for even better value (not absolutely necessary, but well worth it), or grab the Pro4-F for $71 and muster up some cash for the R5 2600.
This would be a noticeable performance improvement, just forget about overclocking on that particular board.

As a final note, you could also scour the second hand market! Motherboards and processors (especially) are hardy beasts, and you won't come even close to the price/performance options available on the used market. Don't write it off if you're looking to get the most out of your money.

Don't hesitate to come back with any other questions, or even an outline of your situation such as parts you currently have or are looking at, along with your total budget.

Hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
Oct 14, 2019
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Hmm. I might have to grab the B450 Gaming Plus Max then. Not sure how reliable MSI is but it seems like a pretty good deal and even the original price is a few bucks cheaper. Thanks for your suggestions!
 

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