Motherboard for Ryzen 2600

[Razor-BladE]

Hi,

Due to my motherboard kind of failing I'm looking to upgrade to Ryzen 2600.
The last PC I built for myself is 1st gen i5 760, and it's still doing pretty well considering I've had it about 8/9 years or so. The PSU is just as old so the only thing I'll be taking from this current PC is the HDD/SSDs and the GTX 760.

I'm looking to hopefully get as much use out of a new build as with this one, as I don't game the latest games (mostly just League of Legends), and only use Lightroom lightly.

I have currently on it's way:

Seasonic Focus Plus 750W
Team Group Xtreem 2x8GB 4000MHz RAM
Samsung 960 EVO 500GB nVME

And will most likely be putting it in a Corsair 200R case.

Now I don't really know what's good for a motherboard, and what can make the best use of my new system. I was looking at Gigabyte B350 and AX370 board but hadn't really considered X470 or B450, not sure if that would be better?

Because I want the system to last, I know I don't want to cheapest boards because of the quality of the components, but I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount on one either. I'm not opposed to a light overclock if at all (as clearly the speed of i5 760 at near stock hasn't really bothered me), but I won't be pushing the system too much, plus I'll be using the stock cooler (unless temps start getting too high).

I know the RAM won't run at 4000MHz, so either 3600MHz or 3200MHz with tighter timings is fine. Also, if a board has the M.2 slot running with PCI-E 3.0 x4 that would be good.

Thanks.

 

[Jamin280672]

Hi,

Due to my motherboard kind of failing I'm looking to upgrade to Ryzen 2600.
The last PC I built for myself is 1st gen i5 760, and it's still doing pretty well considering I've had it about 8/9 years or so. The PSU is just as old so the only thing I'll be taking from this current PC is the HDD/SSDs and the GTX 760.

I'm looking to hopefully get as much use out of a new build as with this one, as I don't game the latest games (mostly just League of Legends), and only use Lightroom lightly.

I have currently on it's way:

Seasonic Focus Plus 750W
Team Group Xtreem 2x8GB 4000MHz RAM
Samsung 960 EVO 500GB nVME

And will most likely be putting it in a Corsair 200R case.

Now I don't really know what's good for a motherboard, and what can make the best use of my new system. I was looking at Gigabyte B350 and AX370 board but hadn't really considered X470 or B450, not sure if that would be better?

Because I want the system to last, I know I don't want to cheapest boards because of the quality of the components, but I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount on one either. I'm not opposed to a light overclock if at all (as clearly the speed of i5 760 at near stock hasn't really bothered me), but I won't be pushing the system too much, plus I'll be using the stock cooler (unless temps start getting too high).

I know the RAM won't run at 4000MHz, so either 3600MHz or 3200MHz with tighter timings is fine. Also, if a board has the M.2 slot running with PCI-E 3.0 x4 that would be good.

Thanks.

Personally I would go with a B450 board, theres no point back tracking to an older board with a newer CPU, and if you decided to change the CPU down the line to even maybe just one of the X versions, you know the board will fully support it with XFR2 and PBO etc whereas B350 and X370 wont, no point going with X470 unless you got lucky and could get one for the same price as a B450.

I know a lot of people around here hate the MSI boards, but ive read great things about their new B450 boards and apparently, they have the best VRM out of all of them, ive had a few MSI boards both B350 and X370 and loved all of them, the only B450 boards I would say to stay away from would be Gigabyte believe it or not.

 

[Razor-BladE]

Personally I would go with a B450 board, theres no point back tracking to an older board with a newer CPU, and if you decided to change the CPU down the line to even maybe just one of the X versions, you know the board will fully support it with XFR2 and PBO etc whereas B350 and X370 wont, no point going with X470 unless you got lucky and could get one for the same price as a B450.

I know a lot of people around here hate the MSI boards, but ive read great things about their new B450 boards and apparently, they have the best VRM out of all of them, ive had a few MSI boards both B350 and X370 and loved all of them, the only B450 boards I would say to stay away from would be Gigabyte believe it or not.

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what XFR2 or PBO are but ok! Yeah I guess for similar price, it doesn't make sense getting a previous gen board. I've had a look a bit more and I can get the MSI B450 Tomahawk board for £92.
That would be good right? Looks nice too.

 

[Jamin280672]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what XFR2 or PBO are but ok! Yeah I guess for similar price, it doesn't make sense getting a previous gen board. I've had a look a bit more and I can get the MSI B450 Tomahawk board for £92.
That would be good right? Looks nice too.

Yes very good board, the first gen Tomahawk was a very very popular and sought after board, XFR (extreme frequency range) and PBO (Precision Boost overdrive) they are basically automatic boost / overclock features that are built into the CPU, not sure about the non X models, but on the X models of CPU they work very well, no point in manually overclocking them, the PBO does a better job of it.

 

[Jonnybmac]

I'm no expert but I chose my ram based on my motherboards compatibility. I had to buy directly from corsair because it was the cheapest ram that was Samsung b die and my motherboard was compatable to overclock to 4000mhz.

Not sure if the higher end boards have less of an issue but you need to make sure the motherboard supports overclocking to 4000mhz and also that it supports the memory at that speed.

I have the MSI B450-A Pro. Only got it cause it had VGA that I cant actually use anyways but the spec is decent for the price, especially if you dont need wifi on a mobo and on board graphics. Its similar spec as the tomahawk only different on boards, which with Ryzen chips isnt supported bar 2 &5 gens.
You get 4x usb 3.0 and the 2x 2.0. Not sure if it supports 4000mhz though, and think you'll struggle with a medium spec board at those speeds

 

[Jamin280672]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what XFR2 or PBO are but ok! Yeah I guess for similar price, it doesn't make sense getting a previous gen board. I've had a look a bit more and I can get the MSI B450 Tomahawk board for £92.
That would be good right? Looks nice too.

Not sure if you've purchased it yet, but there is also the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, that has built in WiFi and Bluetooth but also has a 2nd M.2 Slot, if you can hold off a couple of weeks, they usually follow up with the same board without the WiFi module if its of no use to you, which should be slightly cheaper too, they always try and make the money out of the more expensive board first.

 

[Wingz]

I would also go for the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, it has the best VRM and cooling compared to the other B450 boards and also packed with nice features The MSI B450 Tomahawk is a good choice for a cheaper option.

 

[Razor-BladE]

Yes very good board, the first gen Tomahawk was a very very popular and sought after board, XFR (extreme frequency range) and PBO (Precision Boost overdrive) they are basically automatic boost / overclock features that are built into the CPU, not sure about the non X models, but on the X models of CPU they work very well, no point in manually overclocking them, the PBO does a better job of it.

Doesn't the CPU do that anyway? As on the specs it says it has a base clock of 3.4, and max boost to 3.9. Or would a board without XFR/PBO mean that it has to be a fixed speed?

I'm no expert but I chose my ram based on my motherboards compatibility. I had to buy directly from corsair because it was the cheapest ram that was Samsung b die and my motherboard was compatable to overclock to 4000mhz.

Not sure if the higher end boards have less of an issue but you need to make sure the motherboard supports overclocking to 4000mhz and also that it supports the memory at that speed.

I have the MSI B450-A Pro. Only got it cause it had VGA that I cant actually use anyways but the spec is decent for the price, especially if you dont need wifi on a mobo and on board graphics. Its similar spec as the tomahawk only different on boards, which with Ryzen chips isnt supported bar 2 &5 gens.
You get 4x usb 3.0 and the 2x 2.0. Not sure if it supports 4000mhz though, and think you'll struggle with a medium spec board at those speeds

Yeah, I'm not fussed about getting anywhere close to 4000MHz, I probably won't really notice a difference above 3200MHz, so as long I can hit that it's fine. I got the 4000MHz RAM because it was a good price on the MM.
I did try to look at the QVL for the B450 boards but they don't have anything published yet.

Not sure if you've purchased it yet, but there is also the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, that has built in WiFi and Bluetooth but also has a 2nd M.2 Slot, if you can hold off a couple of weeks, they usually follow up with the same board without the WiFi module if its of no use to you, which should be slightly cheaper too, they always try and make the money out of the more expensive board first.

I would also go for the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, it has the best VRM and cooling compared to the other B450 boards and also packed with nice features The MSI B450 Tomahawk is a good choice for a cheaper option.

I've not bought it yet. I did see that motherboard but I was thinking it's a bit overkill and I wouldn't ever connect via Wi-Fi or use the bluetooth. If they release a cheaper one without the Wi-Fi that might be a good option. Do you know if that's a definite?

 

[Wingz]

I've not bought it yet. I did see that motherboard but I was thinking it's a bit overkill and I wouldn't ever connect via Wi-Fi or use the bluetooth. If they release a cheaper one without the Wi-Fi that might be a good option. Do you know if that's a definite?

The Tomahawk is the cheaper option The carbon has 1 more M.2 slot, better audio and Lan also slightly better VRM, looking around the price difference is around £26.

Saying that ... Reviews showed the Tomahawk performing really well with the 2600 @ 4.2Ghz with 1.4v and 2700X @ 4.2 with 1.4V as long as you have decent airflow around the VRM.

 

[Razor-BladE]

True. I just realised neither have optical out, I've been using a FiiO E17 as my DAC/AMP. Do you know if the Tomahawk will be able to sufficiently drive DT770 250Ohms? Will the Pro Carbon be that much better?

Edit: That's a lie. The Pro Carbon does have optical out. Hmm. My question still stands though, will the Tomahawk audio be just as good/powerful enough to drive 250Ohms headphones? If so, I could get that and sell my E17.

 

[Wingz]

True. I just realised neither have optical out, I've been using a FiiO E17 as my DAC/AMP. Do you know if the Tomahawk will be able to sufficiently drive DT770 250Ohms? Will the Pro Carbon be that much better?

Edit: That's a lie. The Pro Carbon does have optical out. Hmm. My question still stands though, will the Tomahawk audio be just as good/powerful enough to drive 250Ohms headphones? If so, I could get that and sell my E17.

Looking at the specs the Carbon has a headphone amplifier which supports up to 600 Ohms but not sure about quality, the tomahawk doesn't have the amp so not sure if it'll drive your headphones.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Looking at the specs the Carbon has a headphone amplifier which supports up to 600 Ohms but not sure about quality, the tomahawk doesn't have the amp so not sure if it'll drive your headphones.

aorus b450 has best onboard audio for b450/b350 , VRM cooling is fine but VRM bit behind the MSI

comes with free 256gb ssd if it helps *** seems promo has stopped but £40 steam vouchers been listed else where

Spoiler: audio

• ALC1220-VB Enhanced 114dB(Rear) / 110dB(Front) SNR in Microphone with WIMA Audio Capacitors

Spoiler: hit 3400hz with the 4000hz 9 pack ram on board- again i've got a poor 2700 chip, Ultra hit 3466hz and 7 hit 3700hz

use Ryzen Ram Calculator!

 

[Razor-BladE]

I guess the Tomahawk is out of the picture then, as it probably won't drive the headphones sufficiently nor can I use my E17. The difference in price will be less than what I sell my E17 for anyway so that's fine.
I don't use my headphones a lot, mostly listen through my speakers but I'm not an audiophile or anything, as long as it doesn't sound bad I'm happy.
So I guess the MSI Pro Carbon would be the one to go for? I can wait a couple of weeks to see if a non Wi-Fi version comes out. I'm moving to a new flat in a couple of weeks anyway so I can wait until then.
I never usually buy expensive cases but I think I might get the Corsair Carbide Air 540 to put it all in.

aorus b450 has best onboard audio for b450/b350 , VRM cooling is fine but VRM bit behind the MSI

comes with free 256gb ssd if it helps *** seems promo has stopped but £40 steam vouchers been listed else where

[/SPOILER]

Can you PM me where you found that? That might sway me actually. My friends are trying to get me to buy Monster Hunter but I don't want to fork out the £35 for it.

Edit: DW, I found it.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

I guess the Tomahawk is out of the picture then, as it probably won't drive the headphones sufficiently nor can I use my E17. The difference in price will be less than what I sell my E17 for anyway so that's fine.
I don't use my headphones a lot, mostly listen through my speakers but I'm not an audiophile or anything, as long as it doesn't sound bad I'm happy.
So I guess the MSI Pro Carbon would be the one to go for? I can wait a couple of weeks to see if a non Wi-Fi version comes out. I'm moving to a new flat in a couple of weeks anyway so I can wait until then.
I never usually buy expensive cases but I think I might get the Corsair Carbide Air 540 to put it all in.



Can you PM me where you found that? That might sway me actually. My friends are trying to get me to buy Monster Hunter but I don't want to fork out the £35 for it.

Edit: DW, I found it.

seen thats its rolling out for all resellers if you want to stick with OCUK

dont be tempted by the Elite for cheaper price, audio is basic like rival B450 boards

not sure if @GIGA-Man has Gigabyte site etc , couldnt see any myself , just others listing the deal

 

[Razor-BladE]

I would actually stick with OcUK as the price difference isn't much. I couldn't find anything on Gigabyte's site about the promotion so was wondering if it was select retailers. I'll hold out a little bit then. Good spot, thanks.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

I would actually stick with OcUK as the price difference isn't much. I couldn't find anything on Gigabyte's site about the promotion so was wondering if it was select retailers. I'll hold out a little bit then. Good spot, thanks.

not sure if @Gibbo dabbles in the promo's of vendors/aib but will be able to confirm im sure

 

[Razor-BladE]

I asked in pre-sales and they said they're not aware of any details confirming the promotion but possibly in near future if other retailers are doing it. I've ordered everything else so I'll have to order elsewhere this time!

So my build will be:

Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro
Ryzen 5 2600
Team Group Xtreem 8Pack 16GB 4000MHz
MSI GTX 760 2GB
Samsung EVO 960 500GB nVME
Seasonic 750W Focus Plus
Corsair Carbide Air 540

I can't wait! It's not the most powerful system, but more powerful than I originally set out to build. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

should do you well mate, let us know how you get on