B550 WiFi Ryzen Build with 2021 in mind

[Joxeon]

I would get the B450 pro carbon as it has wifi, 2 nvme slots, is over £70 cheaper and PCIe gen 4 will make no difference for gaming, just like the pcie gen 2 on your current board worked fine with the 2060. Could use that £70 to get some nice B-die ram and a 3600 which will make a difference in gaming.

 

[Pencheven]

I would get 3600mhz Cl16 ram as detailed tests from Gamers Nexus etc show that's the sweet spot. Also I had to upgrade to a 2TB SSD as I just found that 1TB wasn't enough for all my games and mods.

With the £40+£25 cashback, that makes the 3600 more appealing... seems like a crazy good deal for doing pretty much nothing!

I would get the B450 pro carbon as it has wifi, 2 nvme slots, is over £70 cheaper and PCIe gen 4 will make no difference for gaming, just like the pcie gen 2 on your current board worked fine with the 2060. Could use that £70 to get some nice B-die ram and a 3600 which will make a difference in gaming.

Awesome thanks guys, the deal was enough to sway me so I've pulled the trigger. I don't want to fall fowl of the rules but basically ended up pushing the discount little further (if the cashbacks come in) so it's not far off what Joxeon's suggesting

As for the ram I think this is the article you're suggesting?

After looking around I've ended up getting a pack of (8GB x2) Crucial Ballistix 3600 MHz CL16 (Not the Elite, but not like that's available anyway - OcUk don't even have the one I've bought listed) - it's the only 3600 CL16 I could find in the same price bracket.

It's not exactly the same part number from the QVL (BLS8G4D36BESBK.8FE vs BL2K8G36C16U4B) but it's got exactly the same details including timings 16-18-18-38 so I'm thinking it must be the same part but for a different market (e.g. US vs UK)

If not and if it doesn't work I can always shop around again if any one has suggestions.

I'm assuming the reason this is even in stock is because people avoid the brand name but it looks like it's had some good recent reviews from Ryzen builds and at the end of the day as long as XMP works in the new B550 I don't see why it would be a problem?

The Nexus review didn't look kindly on the Crucial Ballistix Elite but that was using a 2666MHz kit so I don't think it's the same comparison

Just be sure you don't need a mobo with front USB-C headers as many cases are now providing front USB-C ports. However, you can of course always use a hub or something.

Good shout, but I'm not too fussed on the USB-C. I'll be re-using my older Lian Li so unless I opt for a new case next year it wouldn't have the connectivity anyway