Too many b350 mATX options. What gives?

[Timstertimster]

I have the sinking feeling that my Asus b350 is a lemon (weird unexplainable hang-ups despite windows, all drivers and bios updated) and also might have been used even though I ordered retail... the straw that put me over the edge was that my new GPU now butts up against my PCIe wifi card, bending it a little.

so now I'm taking the opportunity to replace it and want to be sure I'm getting the right board.

My case is custom built and therefore I am committed to a 10" x 10" footprint, give or take. So mATX is the desired form factor.

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600
RAM: Corsair 2666 2x 4GB
PSU: Rosewill Glacier 500W
GPU: Asus GTX 1060 3GB

Usage:
1 SATA SSD 128GB for win10 and software
1 SATA SSD 256GB for game data
1 SATA HDD 1TB for documents, media
1 USB-powered HDD 4TB for backups

1 USB 2 for mouse wireless dongle (via onboard USB)
1 USB 2 for keyboard wireless dongle (via onboard USB)
2 USB 2 back panel for wired KBM

Don't care about led shenanigans.

Not sure if I'm yet convinced that OC'ing is actually worth it but might if it gives me real life results. But it's not a huge factor for me.

I remote into the box and WoL from S5 is a must.

I'm all about making the system stable once and leaving it that way for a long time. I'm not a "fiddler", I just don't want issues.

What I'm wondering:
All the boards I've looked at have the same PCIe x1 slot configuration so I'm struggling to find a board that won't cause issues having a fat GPU slotted next to a wifi NIC.

Oh, I like spending money on dinner, not components. But if 20.- extra makes a difference, of course don't mind.

All the reviews on newegg are similar. Some people have issues and others love their board.

I currently have an Asus b350m-a prime.

Would love to hear some specific considerations on brand and models you prefer.

 

[erekp]

I have the sinking feeling that my Asus b350 is a lemon (weird unexplainable hang-ups despite windows, all drivers and bios updated) and also might have been used even though I ordered retail... the straw that put me over the edge was that my new GPU now butts up against my PCIe wifi card, bending it a little.

so now I'm taking the opportunity to replace it and want to be sure I'm getting the right board.

My case is custom built and therefore I am committed to a 10" x 10" footprint, give or take. So mATX is the desired form factor.

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600
RAM: Corsair 2666 2x 4GB
PSU: Rosewill Glacier 500W
GPU: Asus GTX 1060 3GB

Usage:
1 SATA SSD 128GB for win10 and software
1 SATA SSD 256GB for game data
1 SATA HDD 1TB for documents, media
1 USB-powered HDD 4TB for backups

1 USB 2 for mouse wireless dongle (via onboard USB)
1 USB 2 for keyboard wireless dongle (via onboard USB)
2 USB 2 back panel for wired KBM

Don't care about led shenanigans.

I do not own any B350m motherboard; however, in comparing them myself, what I found to be very interesting was the Gigabyte B350m Gaming 3 (rev.1.0) for one reason: it has an ALC 1220 sound codec and a >-110db SNR on the audio DAC. No other board seems to have spent the few dollars on a DAC >-95db. At higher volumes, this should be audible to anyone, audiophile or not.

 

[Franklin_4]

i went with the asrock b350m pro4 because it has 2 m.2 ports and I think that gives me a lot of flexibility going into tbe future. also accepts more ram than most of the matx boards. it also has elna audio and a good set of features that make it worth while if you plan on oc'ing, but its not like youre payibg thru the nose for OC capabilities youre never going to touch like on some high end fullsized atx boards.

 

[Franklin_4]

https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16813157762

 

[Timstertimster]

I went with ASRock b350m pro4

Heat sinks on MOSFETs and VRMs

4 DIMM slots

Fast POST

Useful, feature rich and unpretentious EFI

Under $100.-

My only gripe is 4 SATA ports. I wanted 6.

And personal priority feature: POST without display attached. Not all mobos will do this but nobody documents that feature so it's trial and error.

 

[Franklin_4]

yeh the 4 sata ports is a little underwhelming. also, asrock skimped on the soder that is beneathe the mobo anchor points. not a huge deal...but not good for longevity.

what is POST without display attached mean? im waiting on my evo960 and a new psu before installing, but its alls sitting ob my desk waiting