Question Which mobo is better?

[fereska]

Im building a budget productivity/gaming build and im wondering which mobo I should have.

My two options are:
(1) MSI B450M Pro-VDH Max
(2) B450 Aorus M

This is my current build
PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $194.00 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $79.98 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $79.98 @ Amazon
Video Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6 GB SC ULTRA GAMING Video Card | $229.99 @ Best Buy
Case | Thermaltake Versa H18 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $54.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Corsair CXM 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $44.99 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $99.95 @ Amazon

| Total | $783.88

Edit:

I like that the Aorus one has dual bios. This is going to be my first time trying to overlock and if having dual bios provides an extra safety net then thats all the more reason to stick with the Aorus mobo. But from what i've heard, the MSI one is better overall. Thoughts?

 

[bit_user]

One thing I see is that MSI claims to support higher-speed memory. Even if you're not going to clock the RAM that high, it suggests the board is designed for better DRAM signal integrity.

Feature-wise, there aren't a lot of differences. Gigabyte has 2 more SATA ports, but 4 is more than enough for most people. Newegg currently lists the Gigabyte as $10 cheaper.

Lastly, I look at the reviews. I reduce them from 5 rating levels to just 3. So, out of 36 reviews, 54% like or love the Gigabyte and 38% dislike or hate it. That's not quite a ringing endorsement. You should probably read all the 1-star, 2-star, and maybe even 3-star reviews to learn about its flaws.

The MSI board has just 4 reviews, so you can't really read much into that, on a statistical level. Just read what all the reviews actually say.

Also, I'd check Amazon's reviews, but I'll leave that up to you.

Good luck.

 

[Notorious^]

Pretty much what bit_user said. Some people are brand loyal some are not, its kinda like asking what the best motor oil is. There are low end, and higher end boards which all will work just fine. Do your research, read reviews, search YouTube for review videos.

Check Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy & Micro Center for pricing. If you live in the USA and don't live by a Micro Center, Best Buy should price match AS LONG as the item is sold by Amazon and not a 3rd party retailer. They also will price match Micro Center.

 

[bit_user]

Pretty much what bit_user said. Some people are brand loyal some are not, its kinda like asking what the best motor oil is.

Thanks. Good shopping advice, as well. There's also the price comparison tool on PCPartPicker, but @fereska obviously knows about that.

I consider their price history to be at least as important, because it's just about the best way of knowing what a good price is. For instance, I have my eye on a X470 board, and knowing that it once sold for as little as $130 gave me the confidence to pass up a sale at $150 and hold out for Black Friday.

I was going to mention brand reputation, but I don't really know that much about either one. I figured the customer reviews would be the best source of actual information, whereas reputation can be colored by a few bad products, from years ago, and much rumor or hearsay.

Do your research, read reviews, search YouTube for review videos.

On something like this, I would focus on customer reviews long before professional or video reviews, just because you're getting the benefit of many more people's experiences per the amount of time invested.

Also, you don't know if the professional reviewers got cherry-picked samples, and most of them are probably using early BIOS/firmware - so they might even have a couple issues that are not relevant to you.

 

[Crosslhs82x2]

As far as the best buy price match they have price matched micro center for me as i live in the Denver, Co metro and could have drove the 25 miles to MC and still saved after gas cost.