Is this a bad idea?

AMDPower · 7 Dec 2018 at 07:33

Hi all

Long story short, I have X58 system x5650 got upgrade bug, bought a 2700x then decided not to bother and sold it. Person i sold it too is going to intel and I bought it back.

I have some trident Z RGB ram but now need a motherboard. I do have a Gigabyte B350 Gaming (not the 3 version) motherboard from a earlier planned build that never happened. I was thinking of using it to save money and also because x570 and ryzen3000 series cpu is so close i might as well save my money for later. My dilemma is should i use such a cheap motherboard with weak VRM? Given the rest of the system is 2700x, 16gbram and 1080Ti should i not cheap out on mobo?

I wont be overclocking everything stock, just want ram @ 3200mhz.

I am worried this motherboard might die or catch on fire and kill my precious 1080Ti or other stuff because of weak VRM.

Thanks all

ChocoViennese · 7 Dec 2018 at 08:17

If you are not planning to overclock, then I cant see why it would die or catch fire, unless there was a fault. VRMs, as I understand it, smooth out power delivery, which aids in overclocking, ergo, no overclock = no fire.

pastymuncher · 7 Dec 2018 at 19:01

It will be fine with no overclocking. It has a heatsink on the vrm's so is far from being the worst board available. One problem you may have though is that the board may need a bios flash before the 2700x will work in it.

Jamin280672 · 7 Dec 2018 at 20:19

Be prepared for the bios on that board to not support the CPU too, you will need a 1st edition RyZen too update it to support 2000 series CPU's.

AMDPower · 7 Dec 2018 at 21:44

Thanks everyone who replied.

I will give it a try and see what happens, I will just buy a cheap A series cpu and flash the bios.

Now my problem is how to get a second M.2 into that board. I need two slots, one is for booting and one for a 1gb samsung 970evo for games.

If i bought a M.2 pci addin board, this one

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-m.2-x4-pci-e-3.0-adapter-card-black-cc-00a-ak.html

Am I correct that it would not reduce the speed of the graphics card but the SSD speed will be reduced to 1000mb as it goes into a PCI2 x4 PCI slot, This board only has 1x 16 PCI and 1 x4PCI and 3 x1 PCI. The manual does not seem too clear here, it seems to indicate i can run graphics card in x16 and the M.3 board at x4 without degradation of speed in the x16 slot where the graphics card goes?

I also have 2 normal mechanical sata drives i must fit.

Jamin280672 · 8 Dec 2018 at 10:39

AMDPower said:
Thanks everyone who replied.

I will give it a try and see what happens, I will just buy a cheap A series cpu and flash the bios.

Now my problem is how to get a second M.2 into that board. I need two slots, one is for booting and one for a 1gb samsung 970evo for games.

If i bought a M.2 pci addin board, this one

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/akasa-m.2-x4-pci-e-3.0-adapter-card-black-cc-00a-ak.html

Am I correct that it would not reduce the speed of the graphics card but the SSD speed will be reduced to 1000mb as it goes into a PCI2 x4 PCI slot, This board only has 1x 16 PCI and 1 x4PCI and 3 x1 PCI. The manual does not seem too clear here, it seems to indicate i can run graphics card in x16 and the M.3 board at x4 without degradation of speed in the x16 slot where the graphics card goes?

I also have 2 normal mechanical sata drives i must fit.

Can you post a link to the board you have please as I cant find one with the layout you describe, I just keep getting this: https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-1x#k

AMDPower · 8 Dec 2018 at 10:51

Jamin280672 said:
Can you post a link to the board you have please as I cant find one with the layout you describe, I just keep getting this: https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-1x#kf

That is the exact board i have

sorry my explanation of the PCI layout was really confusing looking back at it.

and this is the specification for the board

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-1x#sp

Jamin280672 · 8 Dec 2018 at 10:59

AMDPower said:
That is the exact board i have sorry my explanation of the PCI layout was really confusing looking back at it.

and this is the specification for the board

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-1x#sp

Your first main PCI-ex16 slot for you graphics card doesnt share any lanes, its always x16, PCI 3.0 standard, full speed.

The one that you want to put a riser card into runs at x4 speed but only PCI 2.0 standard which means your nvme drive in it will run at half speed, via the chipset, not direct to the CPU, thats as long as PCIEX1_2 & 3 are empty, if you have anything in those 2 slots, the speed of the X4 slots gets reduced to X2 PCI 2.0, whioch means your nvme will run even slower, taken from the manual:

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)(Note) * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot. (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) (Note) * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_2 and PCIEX1_3 slots. The PCIEX4 slot operates at up to x2 mode when the PCIEX1_2/PCIEX1_3 slot is populated.
The PCIEX4 slot operates at up to x4 mode when both of the PCIEX1_2 and PCIEX1_3 slots are empty.
3 x PCI Express x1 slots (The PCIEX4 and PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

AMDPower · 9 Dec 2018 at 09:04

Jamin280672 said:
Your first main PCI-ex16 slot for you graphics card doesnt share any lanes, its always x16, PCI 3.0 standard, full speed.

The one that you want to put a riser card into runs at x4 speed but only PCI 2.0 standard which means your nvme drive in it will run at half speed, via the chipset, not direct to the CPU, thats as long as PCIEX1_2 & 3 are empty, if you have anything in those 2 slots, the speed of the X4 slots gets reduced to X2 PCI 2.0, whioch means your nvme will run even slower, taken from the manual:

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)(Note) * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot. (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) (Note) * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_2 and PCIEX1_3 slots. The PCIEX4 slot operates at up to x2 mode when the PCIEX1_2/PCIEX1_3 slot is populated.
The PCIEX4 slot operates at up to x4 mode when both of the PCIEX1_2 and PCIEX1_3 slots are empty.
3 x PCI Express x1 slots (The PCIEX4 and PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

Thanks a lot, appreciate the help.

having the NVME at half speed is not a problem, but having that halved again is a something i want to avoid. Luckily for me the third thing I want to put in does not go into a PCI slot even though it takes up the space of one. Its one of those lianli RGB power cables things. It comes with a controller board that takes a PCI slot but does not physically plug in.