Which B450 board to pick?

[philipcarty103]

Hello, I am building a PC and will be buying a Ryzen 5 1600 cpu. I am looking at B450 boards since they offer some extra features and more future proofing. I have saw 4 boards n my price range with 4 DIM slots (I excluded a 5th Gigabyte board as I heard it rubbish) and don't know which one to pick.

Heres the list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/dQgzK8,pcF48d,mC97YJ,mJGxFT/

Which do you recommend? The cheaper the better obviously is it worth going for the Asrock or Asus board for 75 pound, the BAZOOKA for an extra 5 pound or the cheaper MSI board.

Also is it worth dropping to B350 or should I stock with the b450 boards.

Also if there are other similiar priced but better boards please do recommend.



Thank you

 

[jojesa]

I will go with MSI, Asus or ASRock...in that order
If you are going with a 1st gen CPU, then you could get a 1st gen B350 motherboard like the ASRock AB350M PRO4.

 

[zyh1987]

I would either opt for asrock pro 4m or msi bazooka.

do not get this asus boards, this mobo has no cooling whatsoever on the vrm, and you are running a CPU like 1600, the CPU can push the mobo close to its limit.
without heatsink, the vrm will get hot , may trip over temperature protection to cause random shutdown and shortens the lifetime of the motherboard.

also, is there an reason why you didn't opt for the 2600? you will get some nice performance upgrade by having the 2600. in my country, they are differ by $5~$10.

as for chipset, I think b450 costs the same as b350 atm, so there is no reason getting a b350 board.

as for futureproofing, pro4 and bazooka should be okay for a stock r7 or a oc r5 for prolonged use.

just pay attention to your CPU TDP, 65W TDP CPU is fine, but 95W+ CPU should be left stock.

 

[philipcarty103]

I would either opt for asrock pro 4m or msi bazooka.

do not get this asus boards, this mobo has no cooling whatsoever on the vrm, and you are running a CPU like 1600, the CPU can push the mobo close to its limit.
without heatsink, the vrm will get hot , may trip over temperature protection to cause random shutdown and shortens the lifetime of the motherboard.

also, is there an reason why you didn't opt for the 2600? you will get some nice performance upgrade by having the 2600. in my country, they are differ by $5~$10.

as for chipset, I think b450 costs the same as b350 atm, so there is no reason getting a b350 board.

as for futureproofing, pro4 and bazooka should be okay for a stock r7 or a oc r5 for prolonged use.

just pay attention to your CPU TDP, 65W TDP CPU is fine, but 95W+ CPU should be left stock.

The 2600 s about 20 pound more expensive and comes with a worse cooler hence the 1600. Would it really be worth it?

As or the Bazooka or Pro4 what are the main differences? Also how many fan headers do they have and do they have RGB?

 

[zyh1987]

I installed both 2600 and 1600 myself before, boosted speed for 1600 stock is 3.4 and 2600 is at 3.725,

you could overclock both 3.8, however there are still some minor improvements in 2600 in terms of IPC. if the $difference is off by 20, I would say forget it. just use the 1600.

pro4 runs a 3+3 vrm and msi runs 4+2 vrm, in theory your CPU voltage get better voltage regulation with 4+2 (smoother voltage, which may give you a better OC results ). however both are fine for a r5 at stock or oc 3.8ish.


asrock pro4:
- 1 x RGB LED Header*
- 1 x Addressable LED Header**
- 1 x AMD Fan LED Header***
- 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)******

*Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

**Supports in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

***The AMD Fan LED Header supports LED strips of maximum load of 3A (36W) and length up to 2.5M.

****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.

msi:
1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector
2 x 4-pin system fan connectors
1 x 5050 RGB LED strip 12V connector

 

[philipcarty103]

I installed both 2600 and 1600 myself before, boosted speed for 1600 stock is 3.4 and 2600 is at 3.725,

you could overclock both 3.8, however there are still some minor improvements in 2600 in terms of IPC. if the $difference is off by 20, I would say forget it. just use the 1600.

asrock pro4:
- 1 x RGB LED Header*
- 1 x Addressable LED Header**
- 1 x AMD Fan LED Header***
- 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)******

*Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

**Supports in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

***The AMD Fan LED Header supports LED strips of maximum load of 3A (36W) and length up to 2.5M.

****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.

msi:
1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector
2 x 4-pin system fan connectors
1 x 5050 RGB LED strip 12V connector

I see, which one would you buy for a moderate overclock (3.7-3.8ish)? I am leaning towards the PRO4 since its 5 quid cheaper but I heard some people say the mortar is better? Also I am buying this ram if it makes any difference: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/wQmxFT/team-vulcan-8gb-2-x-4gb-ddr4-3000-memory-tlgd48g3000hc16cdc01

 

[zyh1987]

Ram makes no differences, though msi has done a lot more work ( just looking at there able) has a lot more supported modules. It seems that msi has a very solid product in the Ryzen b450/x470 lineup. 3.8 ghz should be achievable by most r5 1600. Like I said earlier both boards are good for r5.