B550 vs X570

Gideon Moss · 13 Apr 2021 at 18:55

So either this:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-mpg-b550-gaming-plus-amd-am4-b550-atx-motherboard-mb-35a-ms.html

or alternatively a low end X570 board:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-x570-a-pro-amd-am4-ddr4-x570-chipset-motherboard-mb-34j-ms.html

Starting with a 5800 with 16gb RAM.

tamzzy · 13 Apr 2021 at 19:22

Most x570 boards by msi are crap.
So if you want to stick to msi then go b550

EsaT · 13 Apr 2021 at 20:04

About only good thing in those lower end MSI X570 boards is chipset's capabilities and passive cooling capable chipset cooler.
VRM is garbage for the price and similar to those in £100 level B450 boards.
After being the hero in B450 MSI clearly intended to ride on that reputation.

£200 is level where good X570 boards start appearing.
Even though Asus has good VRMs throughout the X570 range, chipset cooler design is substandard.

Gideon Moss · 13 Apr 2021 at 20:18

So if the MSI low end boards are garbage what's the lowest price decent X570 board?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...4-x570-chipset-atx-motherboard-mb-6dr-as.html

Seems to have positive reviews.

EsaT · 13 Apr 2021 at 20:41

While correcting VRMs from scams in B450 boards, X570 chipset coolers of Asus are straight from anus of brand overhype marketroids:

- Actual heatsink under plastic marketing excrements is small.
- And hence relies on constant airflow from fan to actually do good job.
- With whole crud put into worst possible place directly under graphics card to be bathed in its heat.

So put there high end graphics card and chipset will be running hot in gaming sessions.
And should be easy to guess what happens when that critical for cooling fan wears out.

Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite and MSI X570 Tomahawk have proper size chipset heatsink farther from graphics card and can stay passive, if you have good case cooling.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...4-x570-chipset-atx-motherboard-mb-57w-gi.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...-am4-ddr4-x570-atx-motherboard-mb-351-ms.html

The Asgard · 18 Apr 2021 at 20:24

tamzzy said:
Most x570 boards by msi are crap.
So if you want to stick to msi then go b550

The tomahawk is certainly not crap. Highly recommended. The VRM’s are very good. No issues, can’t beat it for the money.

tamzzy · 18 Apr 2021 at 21:33

The Asgard said:
The tomahawk is certainly not crap. Highly recommended. The VRM’s are very good. No issues, can’t beat it for the money.

I know.

If you read the OP's post however, he is looking at low-end MSI x570 boards.

Gideon Moss said:
alternatively a low end X570 board

Impossible to recommend a low end msi x570 board as they are crap.

Joxeon · 18 Apr 2021 at 22:04

Almost a couple of years ago I had to decide between X570 or B450 as B550 was delayed for a almost a year. I went with an MSI B450 as X570 while having more features were features I didn't need, nowadays I'm still using the B450 and I've upgraded the CPU to a 5800X and the GPU 3080, performance is great and on par with top X570 boards, can OC the memory + CPU etc and the VRM barely reaches 60c, never had any issues so no regrets.

If I was making the same decision today I'd go for the B550 since it's an improved B450 an offers all the features 99% of users need, no sense paying extra for stuff your not going to use or see any benefit from.

orbitalwalsh · 19 Apr 2021 at 11:25

EsaT said:
About only good thing in those lower end MSI X570 boards is chipset's capabilities and passive cooling capable chipset cooler.
VRM is garbage for the price and similar to those in £100 level B450 boards.
After being the hero in B450 MSI clearly intended to ride on that reputation.

£200 is level where good X570 boards start appearing.
Even though Asus has good VRMs throughout the X570 range, chipset cooler design is substandard.

reason why aorus rolling out fanless design, no one uses triple/quad slot 4.0 m.2 under workstation conditions . b550 master can run fine with triple m.2 4.0 m.2 and not overheat so x570 range should be fine .

if you want to stick with ocuk and dont mind going matx or pushing x570

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO-P (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard= £129.95
1 x Gigabyte X570 GAMING X (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard= £169.99

Total: £310.44 (includes shipping: £10.50)

rma is uk based not EU .

xrodney · 24 Apr 2021 at 13:52

I don't know why everyone is recommending X570 boards that have so many features cut out that B550 at a similar price can be much better.

If you can go a little bit higher with the price this mobo is a far better option, well worth its price:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...g-amd-am4-b550-atx-motherboard-mb-6fd-as.html

To get a decent x570 with similar feature set you will have to go much higher, It better to get a good B550 than a crapy x570.

PS: Avoid MSI X570 A Pro like a plague, it has one of the worst VRM that easily overheat, Twice as high temps compared to similar priced Asus board is something to tell:
https://youtu.be/xbyWKufthS4?t=562
If I remember all of MSI x570 lowend boards had similar issues and you had to go way up in price to get acceptable VRM performance.

orbitalwalsh · 24 Apr 2021 at 15:06

^^^ £200.. that Asus board is x570 Toma pricing , and then £20 more you'll get B550 master with one of the highest VRM and triple m.2 PCIe 4.0 support . And then the far superior warranty

xrodney · 24 Apr 2021 at 16:12

orbitalwalsh said:
^^^ £200.. that Asus board is x570 Toma pricing, and then £20 more you'll get B550 master with one of the highest VRM and triple m.2 PCIe 4.0 support. And then the far superior warranty

Except:
- only 1st PCI-e is from CPU, the other two are from the chipset
- 2nd and 3rd M.2 is shared with 1st x16 slot (you are better off having 2nd PCI-e slot to use as you desire, add more SSD or any other card)
- 2nd PCI-e slot is only x4 gen3 unless you use Sata 3-4 ports in which case its cut to x2
- no switch to select 1st/2nd bios boot option -> very annoying feature as when MB fails to post it switch to the other bios without user being aware and there is nothing you can do about it.
- no USB-C header
- no Intel NIC

Price-wise B550 Master is in-line with B550-XE which is an improved version of B550-E with improved VRM and memory layout. B550 Maste might have very slightly better VRM design (same power), but XE takes over with better 90A power stages.

Superior warranty? how?
My only attempt to RMA at gigabyte was pretty bad and so far Asus was fine.
That and Gigabyte is really slow with Bios updates.

And just for fun:
Local 2nd biggest etailer has RMA rate on B550 Master 14% when B550-E is only 2%.

Believe me, I spent full 3 days going over specs and reviews trying to find the best B550 and X570 motherboards and ended up with B550-E or XE and Dark Hero for X570.
I ended up ordering Dark Hero this week but only because It's better and I got 170 Pound off retail price on it which made it only 120 Pounds more expensive than B550-XE, otherwise, I would have gone with XE.

Minstadave · 24 Apr 2021 at 16:15

xrodney said:
Except:
- only 1st PCI-e is from CPU, the other two are from the chipset
- 2nd and 3rd M.2 is shared with 1st x16 slot (you are better off having 2nd PCI-e slot to use as you desire, add more SSD or any other card)

I had a quick look and it appears the 2nd and 3rd slots are off the CPU.

Most B550 have the 2nd and 3rd M2 slots off the chipset (and therefore PCIE 3) but for the B550 master seems to take CPU lanes from the first GPU slot instead.

xrodney · 24 Apr 2021 at 16:26

Minstadave said:
I had a quick look and it appears the 2nd and 3rd slots are off the CPU.

Most B550 have the 2nd and 3rd M2 slots off the chipset (and therefore PCIE 3) but for the B550 master seems to take CPU lanes from the first GPU slot instead.

Yes, that is what I said, and I take it as a big disadvantage to lose the 2nd gen4 PCI-e slot, If you ever need it you are screwed and stuck with those M.21 slots forever.

Minstadave · 24 Apr 2021 at 16:35

xrodney said:
Yes, that is what I said, and I take it as a big disadvantage to lose the 2nd gen4 PCI-e slot, If you ever need it you are screwed and stuck with those M.21 slots forever.

Sorry misread.

To be fair what Gen 4 cards are there apart from a GPU? I quite like the implementation.

xrodney · 24 Apr 2021 at 17:30

Minstadave said:
Sorry misread.

To be fair what Gen 4 cards are there apart from a GPU? I quite like the implementation.

You could simply use m.2 expander card to add more SSDs or anything else like capture cards, audio processing cards, 2nd GPU, or using 1st GPU in 2nd slot in case 1st slot breaks or if you cant fit card in 1st slot because it collides with GPU cooler or something else in the case.
Also, some Gen3 devices do not work in PCI-e connected to chipset etc.

I prefer to have options instead of being limited or forced to specific use only when it's not necessary.

orbitalwalsh · 24 Apr 2021 at 19:43

xrodney said:
Yes, that is what I said, and I take it as a big disadvantage to lose the 2nd gen4 PCI-e slot, If you ever need it you are screwed and stuck with those M.21 slots forever.

Not really. Only Volta ever max out two 16x PCIe 3.0 slots . 3090 SLi should work fine with 8x & 8x slots

Want bandwidth then you get Toma x570 period .
Of not £150 off Aorus/MSI

For RMA rates, have to ask Gigabyte and Asus directly. That's easy if you have their emails . Though Gigabyte is UK based and Asus is EU. And then need sales volume ontop.

As vrm, 16 X 70amps Vs 8x 90amp (running in Parallel I think )

xrodney said:
You could simply use m.2 expander card to add more SSDs or anything else like capture cards, audio processing cards, 2nd GPU, or using 1st GPU in 2nd slot in case 1st slot breaks or if you cant fit card in 1st slot because it collides with GPU cooler or something else in the case.
Also, some Gen3 devices do not work in PCI-e connected to chipset etc.

I prefer to have options instead of being limited or forced to specific use only when it's not necessary.

PCIe 4.0 is already outdated , next gen cards with take advantage of 4.0 slot . It's only now storage controllers are able to reach max speeds 4.0 m.2 can deliver and that's over 2 years from x570 launch ?

Bottom line, £220 and want lanes you don't go b550 Asus strix or master you go Toma hawk. Still would take Gaming X over B550 Strix for £170-190 range .
And then if gigabyte would say wait for the S refresh range as they are all fanless, or grab a bargain when new stock knocks pricing down .

xrodney · 24 Apr 2021 at 20:36

orbitalwalsh said:
Not really. Only Volta ever max out two 16x PCIe 3.0 slots . 3090 SLi should work fine with 8x & 8x slots

Want bandwidth then you get Toma x570 period .
Of not £150 off Aorus/MSI

For RMA rates, have to ask Gigabyte and Asus directly. That's easy if you have their emails. Though Gigabyte is UK based and Asus is EU. And then need sales volume ontop.

As vrm, 16 X 70amps Vs 8x 90amp (running in Parallel I think )

PCIe 4.0 is already outdated , next gen cards with take advantage of 4.0 slot . It's only now storage controllers are able to reach max speeds 4.0 m.2 can deliver and that's over 2 years from x570 launch ?

Bottom line, £220 and want lanes you don't go b550 Asus strix or master you go Toma hawk. Still would take Gaming X over B550 Strix for £170-190 range .
And then if gigabyte would say wait for the S refresh range as they are all fanless, or grab a bargain when new stock knocks pricing down .

Gigabyte Gaming X ? That's even worse than Tomahawk in features and VRM temps were far worse than on other boards tested on launch.

Its 14+2 90A power stages on B550-XE, Asus just use two in parallel so it can be virtually considered 7+1 180A, there are some drawbacks but also benefits, anyway it's not bad VRM.
PS: B550-XE included addon card with 4x Gen4x4 M.2 slots so there can be 6 M.2 at the same time if needed.

I don't think next gen PCI-e bandwidth will jump that much, maybe gen after that but then we will probably already have Gen5 on cards. Currently, on Gen3 x8 you can get 3-5% hit in some games, you will need 90% more bandwidth required from the card to saturate Gen4x8 and I don't think that happens this or next year.

x570 Tomahawk doesn't have 3rd PCI-e slots and 2nd one is only gen4x4 and I believe it goes from the chipset, plus missing front USB-C header, this alone would disqualify it from my consideration.
I do use those 3 slots on X570 Master and I could use them on B550-XE, but not on x570 Tomahawk.

ninjag · 26 Apr 2021 at 21:58

xrodney said:
Gigabyte Gaming X ? That's even worse than Tomahawk in features and VRM temps were far worse than on other boards tested on launch.

Its 14+2 90A power stages on B550-XE, Asus just use two in parallel so it can be virtually considered 7+1 180A, there are some drawbacks but also benefits, anyway it's not bad VRM.
PS: B550-XE included addon card with 4x Gen4x4 M.2 slots so there can be 6 M.2 at the same time if needed.

I don't think next gen PCI-e bandwidth will jump that much, maybe gen after that but then we will probably already have Gen5 on cards. Currently, on Gen3 x8 you can get 3-5% hit in some games, you will need 90% more bandwidth required from the card to saturate Gen4x8 and I don't think that happens this or next year.

x570 Tomahawk doesn't have 3rd PCI-e slots and 2nd one is only gen4x4 and I believe it goes from the chipset, plus missing front USB-C header, this alone would disqualify it from my consideration.
I do use those 3 slots on X570 Master and I could use them on B550-XE, but not on x570 Tomahawk.

Although my case doesn't have a front USB-C port, my MSI X570 Tomahawk does appear to have a front USB-C header. It's labelled JUSB5 and is right next to the 24-pin ATX socket.

Specifically, it says: "JUSB5: USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C Connector This connector allows you to connect USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps Type-C connector on the front panel. The connector possesses a foolproof design. When you connect the cable, be sure to connect it with the corresponding orientation."