Question What is the best micro atx b450 motherboard

[Kajshsj]

I’m building a pc with a ryzen 5 2600 and wondering what the best motherboard to go for is. Preferably under £70.

 

[drea.drechsler]

You're lucky that you can still get it in the EU, so far as I know: B450M Mortar. Easily the best. He's testing the Titanium version: the base version is identical just lacking the color scheme.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qZW3-xZEHg

 

[Karadjgne]

Msi mortar, gaming, gaming plus, gaming pro, pro carbon, basically msi has the corner on this.

 

[ocer9999]

B450M Steel, it's a now model with really good design (VRMs to match the Tomahawk ) and to me looks really good at it's avaiable in the Micro factor as you were looking but as well ATX.

 

[TJ Hooker]

B450M Steel, it's a now model with really good design (VRMs to match the Tomahawk )

Source? It appears to have a 4+2 phase VRM (which is very common), but I can't find anything else to suggest that its VRMs are the same or on par with the Tomahawk.

 

[Kajshsj]

Should I get the msi mortar or the asrock b450m steel legend.
I thing the asrock board definitely looks better but I haven’t really touched any asrock products before
Do they have a good reputation and is there any real difference in performance or quality between the 2 boards?
If not I would probably go for the steel legend as it does look pretty cool.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Source? It appears to have a 4+2 phase VRM (which is very common), but I can't find anything else to suggest that its VRMs are the same or on par with the Tomahawk.

It's a better 4 stage design than the 3 stage VCore VRM in the Pro4 but reports are 3 FET's (2 lo-side, 1 hi-side) in the VCore. That's unfortunate to hear but not necessarily 'bad' depending on the parts used. Hopefully the same ones they use in the Pro4 which are pretty good ones and what makes that 3 phase VRM so good.

I'm also not sure of the heatsink...looks massive enough but does it have finning to dissipate heat? That plastic shroud covering the I/O connectors and half the heat sink would have to go in order to assure air flow in the area.

I'm not willing to say it's on par with Tomahawk--or Mortar--or even the Pro4 just yet but there has to be a reason they are bringing it out now, getting close to the Ryzen 3000 release.

 

[Kajshsj]

It's a better 4 stage design than the 3 stage VCore VRM in the Pro4 but reports are 3 FET's (2 lo-side, 1 hi-side) in the VCore. That's unfortunate to hear but not necessarily 'bad' depending on the parts used. Hopefully the same ones they use in the Pro4 which are pretty good ones and what makes that 3 phase VRM so good.

I'm also not sure of the heatsink...looks massive enough but does it have finning to dissipate heat? That plastic shroud covering the I/O connectors and half the heat sink would have to go in order to assure air flow in the area.

I'm not willing to say it's on par with Tomahawk--or Mortar--or even the Pro4 just yet but there has to be a reason they are bringing it out now, getting close to the Ryzen 3000 release.

Thanks, I think I’m gonna get the steel legend because I really like how it looks and in my opinion how new it is can only be a good thing.
I watched a few videos and it was more than capable of overclocking a 5 2600. In not planning on overclocking anyway so it should be fine.One thing is does anyone know how many fan headers it has because I can’t find out anywhere.
I wanna know if I’ll need any fan splitters.

 

[drea.drechsler]

...One thing is does anyone know how many fan headers it has because I can’t find out anywhere.
I wanna know if I’ll need any fan splitters.

It looks pretty well equipped for fans:

• 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)****
• 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)*
• 3 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)**

****The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.
*The CPU/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
**The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
CPU_FAN2/WP, CHA_FAN1/WP, CHA_FAN2/WP and CHA_FAN3/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

5 headers total. That's kind of awesome on an mATX.

the Asrock spec page is:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Steel Legend/index.asp#Specification

Be sure and let us know what it's like. Would be nice to get some pictures of the VRM area with the shroud and heatsink removed.

If you go through reviews running back to their B350/X370 boards Asrock's offerings seem to be pretty well liked (the X370 Taichi was a 'go to' for some extreme overclockers, just not up to Crosshair VI Hero standards). Their biggest complaint was BIOS: it's a bit clumsy and requires a lot of clicks to do even simple things. Probably not an issue if you don't fiddle with settings a lot, or like tweaking an overclock to work well in all situations.