B450 ok to buy now

Associate
Joined
23 Jun 2009
Posts
180
Hi All,

I am looking to do an upgrade from an intel i5 2500k as the motherboard has finally given up the ghost.

As part of the rebuild i am going to get a new case (take the chance to go to a mini-itx as my office space has shrunk), get a new cpu, mobo and memory.

I am going to reuse most of the old machine as its fine and will transfer over without an issue.

I am also trying to keep my costs down while getting an improvement and trying to future proof somewhat as well.

I am currently looking at

Ryzen 5 3600
1 x 16gb memory (so i can upgrade later)
b450 motherboard (i can flash the bios)

This keeps the price where i want it but my big question is should i spend the extra for the newer 5 series motherboards? Is there anything that would make it worthwhile for me to actually spend the extra to upgrade?

Looking through the specs i just cant see why its worth it for me at the moment. Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
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16,182
x570 isn't worth it if you're just pairing it with a 3600x lol - silly spending more $$$ on the board than the cpu itself.
that being said, b450 support is (somewhat) sketchy so far...some user reports being all hunk dory, and some reports saying it's not working as intended.
if you're going 3600, either get b450 now and take a chance it may not work 100%, or sit on the sidelines a while until all the bios issues get sorted.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Apr 2003
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13,513
yes. hence the advice to sit on the sidelines...not available yet ;)
Nah, not that - i meant our fear of premium bump seems not to be an issue (well at other sites).

I was concerned they would walk a fine line between the pricing of the budget x570 - as zero fan and instant support out of the box would appeal to a lot. But, seems they've given it a reasonable RRP - given the extra benefits over regular 450 (not much but a bonus considering initial pre-order price).
 
Man of Honour
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@Plec yes. though what i do fear, is that once the 32gbmb max boards come out, that msi will drop support for the b450 non-max boards.
which will be a kick in the teeth.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
19 Apr 2003
Posts
13,513
@Plec yes. though what i do fear, is that once the 32gb max boards come out, that msi will drop support for the b450 non-max boards.
which will be a kick in the teeth.
Yes, but would hope the potential PR disaster that would follow would limit this - as they've been bought by **** loads of people. But, then, they wouldn't exactly be breaking a computer component precedence... :/

Main fear would be they get it out of BETA and then absolve themselves of any future updates - would be harsh - and the kick back from forums would be significant (at the moment they genuinely appear to be working with the community - but, as you hint at, for how long(?)).

*That's a mighty eeprom :D
 
Associate
OP
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23 Jun 2009
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180
Thanks didn’t know about the max board

Any idea on timescales? As my current machine is totally offline I’m feeling some withdrawal symptoms and would like to get back up and running.

Sounds like it might be a bit risky going for the b450 and the potential drop in support is a little worrying

Also have their been signs of a mini itx max board as I wouldn’t want to wait if that wasn’t coming along?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
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16,182
list of MSI MAX boards:

Chipset Motherboard
A320 A320M-A PRO MAX
B450 B450M-A PRO MAX
B450M PRO-VDH MAX
B450 GAMING PLUS MAX
B450M PRO-M2 MAX
B450M MORTAR MAX
B450 TOMAHAWK MAX
B450-A PRO MAX
X470 X470 GAMING PRO MAX
X470 GAMING PLUS MAX

b450i ITX isn't on the list...so who knows?
 
Associate
OP
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180
So after doing some reading I am going to put my inpatients to one side and wait

By far the best option

Thanks for saving me from making a mistake!
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Apr 2003
Posts
13,513
So after doing some reading I am going to put my inpatients to one side and wait

By far the best option

Thanks for saving me from making a mistake!
Probably wise given the amount of threads popping up - but no telling how many problems are due to user error.

The MAX would certainly alleviate some of the ambiguity if you were unfortunate enough to have a problem.
 
Associate
Joined
15 Apr 2019
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1,140
list of MSI MAX boards:

Chipset Motherboard
A320 A320M-A PRO MAX
B450 B450M-A PRO MAX
B450M PRO-VDH MAX
B450 GAMING PLUS MAX
B450M PRO-M2 MAX
B450M MORTAR MAX
B450 TOMAHAWK MAX
B450-A PRO MAX
X470 X470 GAMING PRO MAX
X470 GAMING PLUS MAX

b450i ITX isn't on the list...so who knows?

According to MSI_Jorge on the MSI_Gaming subreddit:
Information on MAX boards is limited at the moment. I can only say they will not be released in the very near future.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI_Gaming/comments/ce3ift/msi_b450_tomahawk_update/

Pretty vague though. Not sure how long he means by "will not be released in the very near future".
 
Associate
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11 Jun 2019
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Personally, if you can wait it out I would. I bought the b450 board without seeing any of the posts stating the problems people were having, luckily for me I managed to be one the lucky ones to scrape through the net. It runs like a dream now, but knowing the problems I could have had, and could potentially save anyone else from having. I'd seriously advise either waiting it out for msi to sort out their mess, or wait for the Max.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Sep 2008
Posts
1,376
Personally, if you can wait it out I would. I bought the b450 board without seeing any of the posts stating the problems people were having, luckily for me I managed to be one the lucky ones to scrape through the net. It runs like a dream now, but knowing the problems I could have had, and could potentially save anyone else from having. I'd seriously advise either waiting it out for msi to sort out their mess, or wait for the Max.

Completely agree. The way things have turned out, this whole launch seems to have been rushed and premature. I'm tempted by a 3600, but will wait until B550 is out - and stable - before making any jump. And, of course, see how the 3600 holds up in Cyberpunk 2077. ;)
 
Associate
Joined
11 Jun 2019
Posts
40
Completely agree. The way things have turned out, this whole launch seems to have been rushed and premature. I'm tempted by a 3600, but will wait until B550 is out - and stable - before making any jump. And, of course, see how the 3600 holds up in Cyberpunk 2077. ;)

Yeah I paired mine with the 3600, like I say it runs like a dream, and its handled everything Ib thrown at it over the weekend, but in all honesty I think il upgrade it at the earliest chance I get. Cyberpunk is a must!!!!
 
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