Need a new motherboard - B550 or X570 ??

[TheSwede]

Hey all,

As the title really, I foolishly broke the GPU "secure hatch" (or what it is called, that little flip at end of the GPU slot) so that's a good excuse as any to buy something new and shiny, right ? Plus, most likely be buying a new MB once the next gen Ryzen CPU's coming out anyway, so thought I jump the gun and buy the MB now, so wont have to buy it all at once later.

In any case, not that good at the PC stuff but if I not misread things, either of the B550 or the X570 will be able to support the next generation of Ryzen CPU's (4000 series ?), right ? But for now they would also be able to use my present Ryzen 5 2600 CPU ??

I'm leaning towards a X570 since I can get one of those boards with 8 sata slots, the B550 seems to be 6 max. Although that's not a major thing, since can get a sata extension card, just more out of conveniency really.

Then which manufacturer to pick, Gigabyte, ASUS, Asrock or MSI ?? I normally seem to end up with a Gigabyte MB in my cases though, so maybe time for a change ?

Price point would be.. reasonably but not ridiculous priced ?

Thank you for any and all suggestions, as always they are greatly appreciated !!

 

[eeek]

You will need an X570 board the B550 are only compatible with the 3000 series and above (and not even the 3000G series) see https://www.amd.com/en/chipsets/b550

As for board - it depends on how immediate you need the board and your budget. The X570 MSI Tomahawk should be in stock next week.

 

[jimferno]

B550 boards are way overpriced at the moment.

When a good x570 board can be had for £160-200 why pay the same for a B550 board with less features?

 

[MartinPrince]

B550 boards are way overpriced at the moment.

When a good x570 board can be had for £160-200 why pay the same for a B550 board with less features?

Yes, MSI seems to be trying to cash in on their previously well rated Tomahawk branded B450 boards. The B550 Tomahawk is one of the most expensive ones when previously the B450 Tomahawk was one of the best value boards.

 

[EsaT]

If you don't need Wifi, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite is one of the better X570 boards for reasonable price.

• Its modern efficiency VRM is pretty much at overkill strength level for AM4 CPUs and hence won't ever get stressed no matter the CPU.
  (B450 Gigabytes were substandard, like nearly every Asus B450)
• Chipset cooler is properly designed with good size heatsink and fan farther from heat of graphics card and capable to mostly passive cooling.
  That avoids unnecessary noise, fan wear and problems from fan's failure.
  (unlike Asus X570 boards)
  MSI is another with proper chipset HSF design, but half the range has B450 copypasta level VRM.
• Feature set is also otherwise well balanced for the price with nice USB connectivity and headers, USB BIOS Flashback for being able to rewrite/update BIOS without booting PC and Intel NIC is well supported with latest drivers available from Intel's site.

 

[Tetras]

The hatch isn't that important, just prop it up with a box if you're bothered, or if the graphics card is heavy. Shall I get me coat?

 

[TheSwede]

You will need an X570 board the B550 are only compatible with the 3000 series and above (and not even the 3000G series) see https://www.amd.com/en/chipsets/b550

As for board - it depends on how immediate you need the board and your budget. The X570 MSI Tomahawk should be in stock next week.

Whopsi. I did read that page earlier this morning, just goes to tell you that don't read stuff before properly awake ! But at least that cuts it down to just the X570 board though !

If you don't need Wifi, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite is one of the better X570 boards for reasonable price.

• Its modern efficiency VRM is pretty much at overkill strength level for AM4 CPUs and hence won't ever get stressed no matter the CPU.
  (B450 Gigabytes were substandard, like nearly every Asus B450)
• Chipset cooler is properly designed with good size heatsink and fan farther from heat of graphics card and capable to mostly passive cooling.
  That avoids unnecessary noise, fan wear and problems from fan's failure.
  (unlike Asus X570 boards)
  MSI is another with proper chipset HSF design, but half the range has B450 copypasta level VRM.
• Feature set is also otherwise well balanced for the price with nice USB connectivity and headers, USB BIOS Flashback for being able to rewrite/update BIOS without booting PC and Intel NIC is well supported with latest drivers available from Intel's site.

Nah, don't really need wifi. But if you would pick the best X570 board, with or without wifi, would it still be this one or another ?? The way my case is designed the GPU is not attached to the board so it will not block the chipset cooler in any way or form.

The hatch isn't that important, just prop it up with a box if you're bothered, or if the graphics card is heavy. Shall I get me coat?

Shush you ! Don't be reasonable, the broken hatch gives me an excuse to scratch the upgrade itch !

 

[jimferno]

I pulled the trigger on an x570 recently and went with a Tomahawk pre-order at £210.

Technically the Asus prime x570-p at £165 was sufficient for my needs but I decided to treat myself to the Tomahawk as this will be the board which I'm hoping will stay in my gaming machine for at least the next 5-8 years. The Gigabyte Aorus Elite, Asus TUF and Asrock Steel Legend were all strong contenders at the £200 mark.

 

[EsaT]

Nah, don't really need wifi. But if you would pick the best X570 board, with or without wifi, would it still be this one or another ?? The way my case is designed the GPU is not attached to the board so it will not block the chipset cooler in any way or form.

VRM wise Aorus Elite is more than enough for any AM4 CPU at stock.
Basically it wouldn't overheat even without any heatsinks at 100A output.

That graphics card in the end of riser negates one of the advantages and reasons for getting X570:
PCIe v4 is certain to not work with those risers because of lot tighter signaling requirements.
Riser would need to have signal "amplifiers"/re-timers to maintain signal integrity over extra trace distance.
AMD blocked PCIe v4 for GPU slot with Zen2 on B450/X470 boards, because not all boards had good enough quality for even those shortish traces.

B550 isn't any different and PCIe v4 works only when sticking card directly into board's slot.
So basically might as well get [url="https://hexus.net/tech/news/mainboard/142990-msi-confirms-amd-400-series-motherboards-support-zen-3/"Zen3 support getting[/url] MSI's B450/X470 board, if you intend on keeping using that riser for graphics card.

 

[TheSwede]

VRM wise Aorus Elite is more than enough for any AM4 CPU at stock.
Basically it wouldn't overheat even without any heatsinks at 100A output.

That graphics card in the end of riser negates one of the advantages and reasons for getting X570:
PCIe v4 is certain to not work with those risers because of lot tighter signaling requirements.
Riser would need to have signal "amplifiers"/re-timers to maintain signal integrity over extra trace distance.
AMD blocked PCIe v4 for GPU slot with Zen2 on B450/X470 boards, because not all boards had good enough quality for even those shortish traces.

B550 isn't any different and PCIe v4 works only when sticking card directly into board's slot.
So basically might as well get [url="https://hexus.net/tech/news/mainboard/142990-msi-confirms-amd-400-series-motherboards-support-zen-3/"Zen3 support getting[/url] MSI's B450/X470 board, if you intend on keeping using that riser for graphics card.

Ohh I see. Well, the reason I am using the raiser is because the hatch is broken and just mean less pressure. I can use the GPU directly in the board, and definitely want to use it to get the most out of the X570 board, since not sure if the 450/470 boards will work with 4th generation ryzens. For now I have a RX 5700XT anniversary edition in the machine, but depending on what coming out next might be upgrading it.

 

[Buffalo2102]

The Aorus Elite has one of the better positioned chipset fans on x570 boards. If you use your GPU without the riser it won't block airflow to the fan. I can't really comment on the other boards mentioned here though.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Yes, MSI seems to be trying to cash in on their previously well rated Tomahawk branded B450 boards. The B550 Tomahawk is one of the most expensive ones when previously the B450 Tomahawk was one of the best value boards.

was until they rose in price from demand and b550 bein more costly.

@TheSwede gigabyte/aorus gets high praise on here due to the reps. other brands still lacking on this

 

[PhoenixUK]

I'm in same boat - was looking at B550 (Asus ROG STRIX B550-F and the TUF-Gaming) but at £200 notes I'm really hesitant.
I will be running Vega 64 for quite a while so not sure the whole PCI-E 4.0 is any use (worked just fine in my Crosshair VI X370 but I wanted 2x NVME Slots)

The only thing that bothers me is the chipset fan - can it be switched off to passive? I will be watercooling PC and would hate if that little thing was kicking in and annoying me when I run all case fans on 500rpm and PC is inaudible otherwise.

All I'm after is decent BIOS with flashback button (I don't want to faff with taking battery out), good audio card and 2x NVME slots.
I was even looking at X470 at this point.

The Aorus elite is out of stock where I need to order from ... any other ideas for good X570 board that has option to set chipset fan to passive vs B550-F Strix?

Or shall I look at X470 and save some cash. uhm..

 

[PhoenixUK]

actually went for a cheap x470 for £115, saving £100 notes and also has 2x nvme and everything else I need! Better put that extra money in other parts for now, ryzens auto boost by default fairly well no need for crazy OC options. Will see how that goes .

 

[TheSwede]

Just got this board delivered, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master. Just waiting on a extra sata card and then be installing it, most likely next week when I'm off.

Spoiler: Large Picture

 

[Alex h]

Just got this board delivered, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master. Just waiting on a extra sata card and then be installing it, most likely next week when I'm off.

Spoiler: Large Picture

Nice

 

[voidshatter]

I am willing to pay double to get rid of the chipset fan on the X570. This is why the B550 is the obvious choice for me.

 

[FireTwo]

x570 master is amd best board out! mega over spec'd 14 true phase VRM (no doublers) I love it!
will chew up a 3950x and spit it out ha!

 

[MeatLoaf]

actually went for a cheap x470 for £115, saving £100 notes and also has 2x nvme and everything else I need! Better put that extra money in other parts for now, ryzens auto boost by default fairly well no need for crazy OC options. Will see how that goes .

How are you finding the board? Im very tempted to get it myself

 

[PhoenixUK]

How are you finding the board? Im very tempted to get it myself

It's definitely an adjustment coming from CH6, BIOS is not as well controlled but it gets my 3900 to boost at 4.35ghz out of the box and the pre-set memory profiles ("mem try it") are handy and seems to work well, put my 3200mhz 8pack c14 kit to 3600mhz c16 instantly.

Got 2 nvmes hooked up to it, 32gb ram and not running into any problems and the RGB software is easy to use.

Overall I'd say it's a positive and has more than enough features for 99% of people so unless you push for that last 50-100mhz for benchmarks it's better to just save money and put it elsewhere - I got myself a 2tb nvme which is much more use to me.

It's definitely better than a budget b550 in my opinion. Yes you don't have pcie 4.0 but who needs that, I have 2 nvmes and vega64 and there are no issues and not long ago people used run SLI Titan RTX on 3.0 so I don't see the appeal.

B550/x570 is currently way overpriced in my opinion, I'd rather just wait for ryzen 4000 and upgrade then if O have to.

Tbh I'd have kepy my CH6 if I didn't need 2x nvme and didn't kill 1 ram slot. High end x370 is still getting BIOS updates and is better with more features than any b550 under £190