[SOLVED] Which of these 3 motherboards is likely to be the most durable ?

worstalentscout

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hi,

i don't play games at all.......so i don't need speed or performance.....i'm looking at durability and protection against surges or lightning strikes, etc........i came across these 3 choices at roughly the same price range.......

CPU will be a Ryzen 3 3200G.......the prices are quoted with the CPU and in my home currency......


1) ASRock B450m Pro4 R2.0.....................$253
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Specification

2) ASRock B450m Steel Legend................$276
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Steel Legend/index.asp

3) Asus TUF Gaming A520m-Plus..............$272
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-A520M-PLUS/


i planned to get the ASRock B450m Pro R2.0 but the Asus seems to have better TUF military-grade chokes + TUF capacitors and TUF Protection for the components.........:unsure:

will all these make a difference or just gimmicks with no real benefits for my usage ?o_O
 
Solution
....i'm looking at durability and protection against surges or lightning strikes, etc...
With that stated desire it might be safe to assume this system is located in a region with high incidence of lightning strikes, along with power outages and the attendant surges that accompany them.

You're best defense for that is to put your sensitive devices on a good un-interruptible power supply. It doesn't need to have long run-life with a battery bank, just something that will allow a soft shut-down and protected start-up. Make sure it also has an indicator that tells you when it's surge protection has been 'used up'.

You should also get a lightening, ESD and surge protection device for the ethernet ports. Some UPS' have them built in.

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
hi,

i don't play games at all.......so i don't need speed or performance.....i'm looking at durability and protection against surges or lightning strikes, etc........i came across these 3 choices at roughly the same price range.......

CPU will be a Ryzen 3 3200G.......the prices are quoted with the CPU and in my home currency......


1) ASRock B450m Pro4 R2.0.....................$253
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Pro4 R2.0/index.asp#Specification

2) ASRock B450m Steel Legend................$276
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Steel Legend/index.asp

3) Asus TUF Gaming A520m-Plus..............$272
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-A520M-PLUS/


i planned to get the ASRock B450m Pro R2.0 but the Asus seems to have better TUF military-grade chokes + TUF capacitors and TUF Protection for the components.........:unsure:

will all these make a difference or just gimmicks with no real benefits for my usage ?o_O
The power supply and the quality of the input power is more important than the choice of motherboard. Money should be put toward those two items with the motherboard as a distant third in the hierarchy of reliability.
 
....i'm looking at durability and protection against surges or lightning strikes, etc...
With that stated desire it might be safe to assume this system is located in a region with high incidence of lightning strikes, along with power outages and the attendant surges that accompany them.

You're best defense for that is to put your sensitive devices on a good un-interruptible power supply. It doesn't need to have long run-life with a battery bank, just something that will allow a soft shut-down and protected start-up. Make sure it also has an indicator that tells you when it's surge protection has been 'used up'.

You should also get a lightening, ESD and surge protection device for the ethernet ports. Some UPS' have them built in.
 
Solution

worstalentscout

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With that stated desire it might be safe to assume this system is located in a region with high incidence of lightning strikes, along with power outages and the attendant surges that accompany them.

You're best defense for that is to put your sensitive devices on a good un-interruptible power supply. It doesn't need to have long run-life with a battery bank, just something that will allow a soft shut-down and protected start-up. Make sure it also has an indicator that tells you when it's surge protection has been 'used up'.

You should also get a lightening, ESD and surge protection device for the ethernet ports. Some UPS' have them built in.


where i'm from, the power supply is very reliable........issue is it's in the tropics so a lot of lightning when it rains.......but thus far, none of my computers had blown up over the years......without any form of protection...
 

worstalentscout

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For you usage, the Asrock Pro4 board is plenty.


many thanks indeed.....i just found out that A-series of motherboards are supposedly inferior to B-series of boards......i thought the Asus A520 would be superior becoz of the higher ''520'' number.......... :giggle:

someone told me the ASRock B450m Pro4 R2.0 only has 3+2 VRM (with 10 x 42A chokes) ........while the B450m Steel Legend has 4+2 VRM (with 6 x 60A chokes) and 12,000 hour capacitors..........would that make any difference for a non-gamer ?
 
.....issue is it's in the tropics so a lot of lightning when it rains......
When lightening strikes close it induces a surge current in power lines. That's the situation where a UPS helps most as it completely isolates the computer from the power lines. A surge protector alone would do the same but people buy the cheap ones in power strips that are too weak and usually fail after the first surge but they don't know it so all protection is lost. Putting a proper one in can cost as much as a decent UPS.

The steel series has a 4 phase VRM to the CPU (the 4 part of 4+2), but with 1 complete current path for each phase so it only uses 1 choke. The Pro4 does have 3 phases but it has two complete current paths for each phase (not properly a phase but sometimes called that) so 6 chokes on the CPU VRM is used. Either of the three boards would work perfectly well for a 3200G with similar reliability since it's not demanding at all. If there are no other compelling features then buy based on price so the Pro 4 wins.

An A520 board has no ability to overclock a CPU whereas a B450 does. You can still overclock the iGPU of an APU on the A520.
 
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logainofhades

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many thanks indeed.....i just found out that A-series of motherboards are supposedly inferior to B-series of boards......i thought the Asus A520 would be superior becoz of the higher ''520'' number.......... :giggle:

someone told me the ASRock B450m Pro4 R2.0 only has 3+2 VRM (with 10 x 42A chokes) ........while the B450m Steel Legend has 4+2 VRM (with 6 x 60A chokes) and 12,000 hour capacitors..........would that make any difference for a non-gamer ?

A520 chipset is better, as it is PCI-E 3.0, for the chipset lanes, vs 2.0 in B450. A520 isn't compatible with the CPU you intend to use, though.
 

worstalentscout

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When lightening strikes close it induces a surge current in power lines. That's the situation where a UPS helps most as it completely isolates the computer from the power lines. A surge protector alone would do the same but people buy the cheap ones in power strips that are too weak and usually fail after the first surge but they don't know it so all protection is lost. Putting a proper one in can cost as much as a decent UPS.

The steel series has a 4 phase VRM to the CPU (the 4 part of 4+2), but with 1 complete current path for each phase so it only uses 1 choke. The Pro4 does have 3 phases but it has two complete current paths for each phase (not properly a phase but sometimes called that) so 6 chokes on the CPU VRM is used. Either of the three boards would work perfectly well for a 3200G with similar reliability since it's not demanding at all. If there are no other compelling features then buy based on price so the Pro 4 wins.

An A520 board has no ability to overclock a CPU whereas a B450 does. You can still overclock the iGPU of an APU on the A520.


many many thanks for the info indeed(y).........the B450m Pro4 R2.0 is the cheapest board too so that's good..........the only thing is the Steel Legend has 4 better audio capacitors....vs 2 inferior caps for the B450m Pro4 R2.0:cautious:


A520 chipset is better, as it is PCI-E 3.0, for the chipset lanes, vs 2.0 in B450. A520 isn't compatible with the CPU you intend to use, though.


strange that the shop selling this motherboard packaged it with the Ryzen 3 3200G........
 
many many thanks for the info indeed(y).........the B450m Pro4 R2.0 is the cheapest board too so that's good..........the only thing is the Steel Legend has 4 better audio capacitors....vs 2 inferior caps for the B450m Pro4 R2.0:cautious:





strange that the shop selling this motherboard packaged it with the Ryzen 3 3200G........
It's a bit of an open secret that 500 series chipsets officially don't support earlier Ryzen architecture...but have worked with it since the beginning. The code (SMU) is fully incorporated in the latest BIOS for that board. AMD or board partners been known to do this sort of thing in the past, but since you're working off-spec your support and warranty options might be somewhat limited. Since the shop is selling it as a bundle though you'd have recourse to them.

I would not worry about the audio cap situation, it should still be perfectly fine. If superior audio is a major issue then getting a superior audio add-in-card would be the way to go anyway, either that or an off-system DAC.
 
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worstalentscout

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It's a bit of an open secret that 500 series chipsets officially don't support earlier Ryzen architecture...but have worked with it since the beginning. The code (SMU) is fully incorporated in the latest BIOS for that board. AMD or board partners been known to do this sort of thing in the past, but since you're working off-spec your support and warranty options might be somewhat limited. Since the shop is selling it as a bundle though you'd have recourse to them.

I would not worry about the audio cap situation, it should still be perfectly fine. If superior audio is a major issue then getting a superior audio add-in-card would be the way to go anyway, either that or an off-system DAC.


yes, very true.......