Question Which motherboard should I buy?

Jmi20

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I currently have an ASUS PRIME Z270 motherboard, but unfortunately I broke it...

So I’m thinking of buying a used board, I only found two.

An MSI Z270 gaming pro, or a Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3.

Which of these would you guys suggest? The only big difference I see between them is SLI support and the audio codec... Just want no problems really.

Thanks.
 

Jmi20

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Anyone?

I found a used B450m board, but I would have to buy a new processor; or maybe a used Ryzen 3, but I think it would be a downgrade from my current i5...

Edit: Ok, it’s getting a bit complicated now. Honestly I haven’t had much time to research the B450. All I found out is that it might support the Zen 3 ryzen.

So, what should I do? Buy a Z270 and keep my i5 6400, and possibly upgrade to an i7 (Kaby lake?) once cheap used ones pop out

or...

Buy a used B450m and a used ryzen 1200, then wait for cheap used ryzen 5 (2xxx, or 3xxx), or potentially zen 3 ryzen...

anything else might be out of my budget.
thanks.
 
Last edited:

SM/Madao

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Jul 2, 2020
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-Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3. VS MSI Z270 gaming pro
-downgrade i5 to RYZEN (do not do that)
-SLI Support (unless you want to combine 2 GPU, i see no purpose of this)
-Audio Codec(can be benefit)

Answer:
Since this is Z Series and they are a same thing, i decide by my Technical Experience:
(Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3. )

MSI Motherboard downside is, sometimes the Board is Difficult too "Boot" and outright there no LED to tell what exactly the board actually booting
 

Jmi20

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Jun 5, 2020
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-Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3. VS MSI Z270 gaming pro
-downgrade i5 to RYZEN (do not do that)
-SLI Support (unless you want to combine 2 GPU, i see no purpose of this)
-Audio Codec(can be benefit)

Answer:
Since this is Z Series and they are a same thing, i decide by my Technical Experience:
(Gigabyte GA-Z270-HD3. )

MSI Motherboard downside is, sometimes the Board is Difficult too "Boot" and outright there no LED to tell what exactly the board actually booting

I see, thanks for your response. Im only looking for something thats reliable.
So Gigabyte it is, I ask this because I’ve never really deviated from Asus. My first computer was an Asus (core 2 duo laptop) and I had a good experience with it so I kinda stuck with the brand.

As for the B450 motherboard, what caught my attention on this board was the resale value of AMD processors tend to drop much more and at a faster rate than intel ones; in my area at least.

I was only thinking of using the Ryzen 1200 as a placeholder till I could buy a better (used) one, or even the new upcoming 4000 series if the board would support it. Maybe if I find an enticing reason to double down on the B450, I could sell some stuff to be able to get something better than the 1200

-downgrade i5 to RYZEN (do not do that)
I see, so you mean that a Ryzen would be a downgrade from intel, in general?
I have no knowledge whatsoever about AMD, so I don’t know how it compares to intel. But I recently bought an Asus (yes) Vivobook with a Ryzen 4500u and I’m kinda liking it...

Thanks again.
 
A ryzen 1200 (which is essentially the oldest and weakest of the entire range) is pretty much on par with your current i5 6400.

So I don't believe it's a downgrade but an absolute side grade.

While generally I wouldn't recommend that kind of swap system wise the fact you're running a 3 gen old intel and your board is broke in this case it makes absolute sense to do so if it's financially viable.

Factor in you can sell your old i5 (you're not going to get a huge amount for it though) and it'll probably work out cheaper.

You're going to be absolutely better off future proofing wise getting on the ryzen platform than spending money on an older intel setup imo.
 

Jmi20

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A ryzen 1200 (which is essentially the oldest and weakest of the entire range) is pretty much on par with your current i5 6400.

So I don't believe it's a downgrade but an absolute side grade.

While generally I wouldn't recommend that kind of swap system wise the fact you're running a 3 gen old intel and your board is broke in this case it makes absolute sense to do so if it's financially viable.

Factor in you can sell your old i5 (you're not going to get a huge amount for it though) and it'll probably work out cheaper.

You're going to be absolutely better off future proofing wise getting on the ryzen platform than spending money on an older intel setup imo.

I see, thanks. Im also taking future proofing into consideration. I’ve always been frustrated that almost each time a new intel cpu is released I have to upgrade the board...

Thats why I was shocked when I learned that the B450 chipset would support AMD Zen, Zen 2, and (I think) Zen 3.
 

Jmi20

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After doing some more research, and some math, I have decided to go with a B450 motherboard. For the sake of longevity. Plus, I just got news from a friend that a small pc parts shop is doing a clearance sale as the owner is gonna close it down. So I’m gonna go brand new with this one.

So now, it begs the question. Which B450 board should I get? I did some research and called the store so here are my choices.
-MSI Tomahawk (I read that its very good)
-MSI Mortar (like an matx tomahawk, cheaper)
-Aorus elite (selling for half price)
-Asrock steel legend
-Gigabyte DS3H (cheapest, guy in the phone said bad VRM)
-Asus Prime B450M-A (Asus, basic board)

It seems based on the reviews I checked, that the MSI in this case is the best one that would fit my already extremely stretched budget. I have read that its very good for overclocking, just in case I could get a good cpu in the future. Any input on this?

I didn’t ask what CPUs they have as I still think I should just buy the used Ryzen 1200 if ever and just wait for the new ones (if it will be supported) to come out, I would probably have some money to spare by then.

Edit: As for intel, they didn’t have any cheap intel boards (coffee lake) so I’m just gonna go with B450
 
Nothing wrong with the ds3h in my opinion, Infact unless you're expecting to be running a zen 2 8 core 16 thread at 4ghz+ boost speeds they will all do the job fine.

Ryzen really aren't worth overclocking, the gen 1 don't have that much headroom, really 3.7ghz is about the norm, zen 2/+ have such good pbo boost speeds that manual overclocking is fairly pointless.

The mortar looks a good buy at half the price of the tomahawk really, as long as it has all ports/slots you'd require.

I have a liking for the asrock steel legend personally but it's really all dependant on price.
 

Jmi20

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Well I think its better to buy one that would let me overclock more (and reliably) just in case. Called the shop again and they have 1 3700x for half the price, willing to negotiate if I buy it with any board. They also got a few 2xxx cpus, and some 2xxx APUs for less than half the price. Seriously it’s not everyday that you see this...

On a side note, really a shame that the current world situation (at least in my area) would drive a small business to closure...
 
Tomahawk
Steel legend
Mortar
Auros elite

In that order

If you purchase with a zen 2 (3000) series chip they need to update the bios before selling it to you.

Small independents are dying everywhere, that was happening before coronavirusb hit.
Unless shops can buy in bulk and have big Internet presence its the way of things nowadays unfortunately.

Back in the day I loved spending time perusing the small independent tech shops (and record shops for that matter)

Unfortunately those days are gone.
 

Jmi20

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Thanks again for your input, since your top two are the Tomahawk and the Steel legend, I’ll research a bit more on those. The Tomahawk is just a tiny bit more expensive than the Steel legend.

I found this article: https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-3-1200-af-12nm-zen-quad-core-cpu-tested-excellent-budget-chip/ that says the 1200 AF outperforms the i5-7500 when overclocked. The older 1200 is on par according to the benchmark. So if it even slightly outperforms the i5-7500, then the difference is even bigger with my 6400...

That shop has been there for as long as I remember. I remember my dad used to bring our old PC (emachines i think) there when something was wrong with it. I was five then...
 

Jmi20

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Buying a quad core cpu seems like a bad idea. See if you can stretch your budget for a 2600 or a 1600AF

Thanks, I’m still deciding what cpu I should buy really. I’ve stretched the budget far enough even if the B450 is at a reduced price.

I could:

1. Buy the 1200 and use it as a “placeholder” until the Ryzen 4000 series come out, and buy that instead (if the board would take it).

2. Stretch my budget to the sky (borrow money) to get the 3700x for half the price (hopefully be able to negotiate), and skip the 4000 series.
Haven’t asked if they have any 3000 series Ryzen 5s at the moment, but no. 2 still applies if so.

3. Go for the 2600 as it’s also on sale, and? Stick with it maybe?
 

Jmi20

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Just want to up this thread one last time.

The Tomahawk max was already taken when I got to the shop, as was the steel legend. So these are my options now:

MSI Mortar titanium - somebody had it reserved, but hasn’t taken it yet.
MSI Bazooka plus (2 left)
MSI B450M gaming plus
ASRock B450M Pro 4
Gigabyte DS3H
MSI B350 Tomahawk
And a few other brands
Plus some X470s and a B550 board

By now, my heart is set on MSI. My top two choices are the Mortar or Bazooka plus. If the Mortar titanium isn’t taken by tomorrow, they’re gonna sell it to me.

At this point since my choices are mATX, the only thing I’m gonna be comparing is the VRM.

After looking at some VRM tier lists, I found that the Bazooka plus has the same VRM as the [B450] Tomahawk max, and a post in a different forum (forgot where) says that the VRM of the Bazooka Plus is more efficient (better?) than the Mortar’s.

So with this new knowledge, I assume that the Bazooka Plus is slightly better despite the lower price tag? If there aren’t any objections to the Bazooka Plus, I’m getting that instead. If there are, Mortar it is.

Thanks.
 
Just want to up this thread one last time.

The Tomahawk max was already taken when I got to the shop, as was the steel legend. So these are my options now:

MSI Mortar titanium - somebody had it reserved, but hasn’t taken it yet.
MSI Bazooka plus (2 left)
MSI B450M gaming plus
ASRock B450M Pro 4
Gigabyte DS3H
MSI B350 Tomahawk
And a few other brands
Plus some X470s and a B550 board

By now, my heart is set on MSI. My top two choices are the Mortar or Bazooka plus. If the Mortar titanium isn’t taken by tomorrow, they’re gonna sell it to me.

At this point since my choices are mATX, the only thing I’m gonna be comparing is the VRM.

After looking at some VRM tier lists, I found that the Bazooka plus has the same VRM as the [B450] Tomahawk max, and a post in a different forum (forgot where) says that the VRM of the Bazooka Plus is more efficient (better?) than the Mortar’s.

So with this new knowledge, I assume that the Bazooka Plus is slightly better despite the lower price tag? If there aren’t any objections to the Bazooka Plus, I’m getting that instead. If there are, Mortar it is.

Thanks.
I'm sure you will be blown away by the performance of the bazooka heh.
 

Jmi20

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No I have a crosshair hero 7. I'm not sure what the difference is between the two. Direct fire vs in direct fire heh

Haha. So I guess I’m just gonna take whatever’s left.

Oh, so since you have the crosshair hero... It’s an ASUS, so its better than the MSI Tomahawk max? I read that the Tomahawk could perform as good as the cheaper X470s... Oh wait, never mind. Don’t want to stretch my budget any further... makes me wish I hadn’t bought a new car...
 
Haha. So I guess I’m just gonna take whatever’s left.

Oh, so since you have the crosshair hero... It’s an ASUS, so its better than the MSI Tomahawk max? I read that the Tomahawk could perform as good as the cheaper X470s... Oh wait, never mind. Don’t want to stretch my budget any further... makes me wish I hadn’t bought a new car...
It's a higher end board. Too expensive new but I got it used for a good price on ebay.