Question Upgrade from Gigabyte A320M-H

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OutragedResident

OutragedResident

Sep 18, 2024
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Does the B450M-A have a good VRM heatsink, and is it a great upgrade from the Gigabyte A320M-H? Since I bought 32GB (16x2) 3200MHz RAM, I needed to go into the BIOS and enable XMP. However, when I started playing Valorant, for example, believe it or not, my temperatures went from around 61-62°C at 30-40% usage to as high as 71, 72, and even 73°C sometimes. I know this doesn’t hurt my CPU (Ryzen 5 3600X), but it still infuriates me. I’ve always had problems with temperatures (never dangerous because I never played overly demanding games, but they were still high) due to a lack of fans, poor airflow, etc. I bought a pre-built PC, and I know it was my mistake, but I was eager to get a PC during the pandemic. My friends always joked that I was overthinking and too concerned about it. Recently, with the death of my father, I found a bit of comfort in gaming and wanted to address this problem. I replaced the RAM, bought a new case with better airflow (Zeus Y03B), added some fans, and I’m pretty content with my components. However, I guess I need to change my motherboard and eventually my PC cooler (Antec CPU Cooler A30). I should also mention that my graphics card is an RX 580 8GB. Sorry for rambling; I just needed honest advice from PC enthusiasts. Oh, and I should mention that I have yet to move my components into my new case, so I don’t know what to expect with temperatures, but I figured that if I am replacing them, I should just get a better motherboard along the way. Besides the pre-built 3 fans in the new case, I have 3 more fans in my current case.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I am a student and my budget is 80€, as that’s all I can afford with my current financial situation.
 
Last edited:
OutragedResident said:
Does the B450M-A have a good VRM heatsink, and is it a great upgrade from the Gigabyte A320M-H? Since I bought 32GB (16x2) 3200MHz RAM, I needed to go into the BIOS and enable XMP. However, when I started playing Valorant, for example, believe it or not, my temperatures went from around 61-62°C at 30-40% usage to as high as 71, 72, and even 73°C sometimes. I know this doesn’t hurt my CPU (Ryzen 5 3600X), but it still infuriates me. I’ve always had problems with temperatures (never dangerous because I never played overly demanding games, but they were still high) due to a lack of fans, poor airflow, etc. I bought a pre-built PC, and I know it was my mistake, but I was eager to get a PC during the pandemic. My friends always joked that I was overthinking and too concerned about it. Recently, with the death of my father, I found a bit of comfort in gaming and wanted to address this problem. I replaced the RAM, bought a new case with better airflow (Zeus Y03B), added some fans, and I’m pretty content with my components. However, I guess I need to change my motherboard and eventually my PC cooler (Antec CPU Cooler A30). I should also mention that my graphics card is an RX 580 8GB. Sorry for rambling; I just needed honest advice from PC enthusiasts. Oh, and I should mention that I have yet to move my components into my new case, so I don’t know what to expect with temperatures, but I figured that if I am replacing them, I should just get a better motherboard along the way. Besides the pre-built 3 fans in the new case, I have 3 more fans in my current case.
Click to expand...
A new motherboard is not going to lower your CPU temperature and your temps are fine. I think the max temp for that CPU is 95C.
 
OutragedResident said:
Does the B450M-A have a good VRM heatsink, and is it a great upgrade from the Gigabyte A320M-H? Since I bought 32GB (16x2) 3200MHz RAM, I needed to go into the BIOS and enable XMP. However, when I started playing Valorant, for example, believe it or not, my temperatures went from around 61-62°C at 30-40% usage to as high as 71, 72, and even 73°C sometimes. I know this doesn’t hurt my CPU (Ryzen 5 3600X), but it still infuriates me. I’ve always had problems with temperatures (never dangerous because I never played overly demanding games, but they were still high) due to a lack of fans, poor airflow, etc. I bought a pre-built PC, and I know it was my mistake, but I was eager to get a PC during the pandemic. My friends always joked that I was overthinking and too concerned about it. Recently, with the death of my father, I found a bit of comfort in gaming and wanted to address this problem. I replaced the RAM, bought a new case with better airflow (Zeus Y03B), added some fans, and I’m pretty content with my components. However, I guess I need to change my motherboard and eventually my PC cooler (Antec CPU Cooler A30). I should also mention that my graphics card is an RX 580 8GB. Sorry for rambling; I just needed honest advice from PC enthusiasts. Oh, and I should mention that I have yet to move my components into my new case, so I don’t know what to expect with temperatures, but I figured that if I am replacing them, I should just get a better motherboard along the way. Besides the pre-built 3 fans in the new case, I have 3 more fans in my current case.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I am a student and my budget is 80€, as that’s all I can afford with my current financial situation.
Click to expand...
Ryzen 1-3 works best at 60c and under. A over 70c they lose boost by about 300-400MHz. That Antec cooler has only 2 heat pipes and is barely enough to keep it from over heating. You simply need better cooler. You can get one like this for fraction of the cost of another MB which wouldn't help anyway.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Do1wXFliU&t=9s
 
CountMike said:
Ryzen 1-3 works best at 60c and under. A over 70c they lose boost by about 300-400MHz. That Antec cooler has only 2 heat pipes and is barely enough to keep it from over heating. You simply need better cooler. You can get one like this for fraction of the cost of another MB which wouldn't help anyway.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Do1wXFliU&t=9s
Click to expand...
Quick search led me to these two coolers: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE and DEEPCOOL AG620. What do you think of them, and do you maybe have some suggestions? 😀

​

 
SkyNetRising said:
What is full model name of B450M-A board? There are several.
Asus Prime B450M-A
ASUS Prime B450M-A/CSM
Asus Prime B450M-A II
MSI B450M-A Pro Max

From these only Asus Prime B450M-A II has VRM heatsinks.
Click to expand...
I saw that the Asus Prime B450M-A II was really good, but it didn't sit right with me that without XMP, the maximum it can support is 2666 MHz. So, I found an alternative, the MSI B550M Pro VDH, which can support up to 3200 MHz without XMP and is just slightly more expensive. What do you think about these two, and do you have any recommendations?
 
OutragedResident said:
I saw that the Asus Prime B450M-A II was really good, but it didn't sit right with me that without XMP, the maximum it can support is 2666 MHz. So, I found an alternative, the MSI B550M Pro VDH, which can support up to 3200 MHz without XMP and is just slightly more expensive. What do you think about these two, and do you have any recommendations?
Click to expand...
XMP is just automatic way to set OC frequency and other settings that go with it. You can set it manually to whatever particular RAM supports, Base frequency for DDR4 is 2133MHz and any above it is considered OC using XMP or not. It's not only MB that determines frequency but also IMC (Internal Memory Controller) built into CPU. IMC in 3600x supports up to 3200MHz memory and above that it's OC which it can do quite well even 3600MHz+. When you consider memory OC (Above 2133MHz) you have to consider IMC too. As for XMP, BIOS has last word and it's only questionof how well it conformas to it.
So, which exact RAM do you have and is BIOS updated to last one ? Earliest ones had some trouble withfast RAM.
 
CountMike said:
XMP is just automatic way to set OC frequency and other settings that go with it. You can set it manually to whatever particular RAM supports, Base frequency for DDR4 is 2133MHz and any above it is considered OC using XMP or not. It's not only MB that determines frequency but also IMC (Internal Memory Controller) built into CPU. IMC in 3600x supports up to 3200MHz memory and above that it's OC which it can do quite well even 3600MHz+. When you consider memory OC (Above 2133MHz) you have to consider IMC too. As for XMP, BIOS has last word and it's only questionof how well it conformas to it.
So, which exact RAM do you have and is BIOS updated to last one ? Earliest ones had some trouble withfast RAM.
Click to expand...
So, for the BIOS, I don't know if it's the latest version, and for RAM, I have Kingston Fury Beast 16GBx2 3200MHz. Also, thanks for the new insights.
 
For an R5 3600x, I would choose a B550 board. You then have PCI-E Gen 4 for top M.2 and graphics. Some budget graphics cards are x4 or x8 gen 4, and can lose performance in a gen 3 slot.

A little over budget, but this would work just fine with your chip.

PCPartPicker Part List

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€85.67 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €85.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-09-19 14:13 CEST+0200
 
OutragedResident said:
So, for the BIOS, I don't know if it's the latest version, and for RAM, I have Kingston Fury Beast 16GBx2 3200MHz. Also, thanks for the new insights.
Click to expand...
That RAM should run fine, Kingston makes pretty compatible RAM with AMD.
Memory speed and IMC overclock don't directly influence CPU temps and heat but faster one enables CPU to run better so that might heat it up a little.
Find your BIOS version when you boot to BIOS but can also see it in a program like CPU-Z.
Compare version you have to the list here:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320M-H-rev-1x/support#support-dl-bios
 
CountMike said:
That RAM should run fine, Kingston makes pretty compatible RAM with AMD.
Memory speed and IMC overclock don't directly influence CPU temps and heat but faster one enables CPU to run better so that might heat it up a little.
Find your BIOS version when you boot to BIOS but can also see it in a program like CPU-Z.
Compare version you have to the list here:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320M-H-rev-1x/support#support-dl-bios
Click to expand...
So, I discovered that my BIOS hasn't been updated since 2021; it's still on version F60. For the CPU cooler, I went with the Deepcool AG620 over the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE, even though I found a non-SE version that's slightly cheaper. I hope I didn't make a mistake choosing the Deepcool.

I'm still debating which motherboard to buy. I like the suggestion from LogainofHades, but I've also seen the ASRock B550M Pro 4, which is priced similarly, if not the same, in my country. They are still a little too expensive for me and I wonder if it will pay off in the long run. So now, I'm stuck deciding on the motherboard and whether the CPU cooler I chose will obstruct the RAM slots.
 
OutragedResident said:
So, I discovered that my BIOS hasn't been updated since 2021; it's still on version F60. For the CPU cooler, I went with the Deepcool AG620 over the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE, even though I found a non-SE version that's slightly cheaper. I hope I didn't make a mistake choosing the Deepcool.

I'm still debating which motherboard to buy. I like the suggestion from LogainofHades, but I've also seen the ASRock B550M Pro 4, which is priced similarly, if not the same, in my country. They are still a little too expensive for me and I wonder if it will pay off in the long run. So now, I'm stuck deciding on the motherboard and whether the CPU cooler I chose will obstruct the RAM slots.
Click to expand...
My suggestion is to stay on present MB and see how it works with updated BIOS and improved cooler. As far as performance is concerned, you have little to gain from new MB. 3600x is not too power demanding from VRM, don't have to change it just because of that.
 
CountMike said:
My suggestion is to stay on present MB and see how it works with updated BIOS and improved cooler. As far as performance is concerned, you have little to gain from new MB. 3600x is not too power demanding from VRM, don't have to change it just because of that.
Click to expand...
Okay, Mike, I'll take your advice, and thank you all very much. Just one more question: do you think I made the right choice with the cooler? Do you believe it was the better option between the two?
 
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