MSI B450-A PRO - cause for concern?

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 13:27

It comes right next to the MSI B450 Tomahawk in that infamous spreadsheet (has the same VRMs apparently), though I've since heard elsewhere it's been accused of being physically flimsy and failing under O/C pressure.

It's all a bit late now for me as I have one running a Ryzen 7 2700. VRMs peak at 54 C at stock clocks in Prime95 (though the 2700 is only a 65W TDP chip @ stock). It's possibly also disadvantaged as I'm using an AIO water cooler, so the VRMs aren't getting any incidental airflow from a nearby CPU cooler.

Should I be concerned about my long-term plan to clock the 2700 to 2700x levels, or upgrading to a Ryzen 3 with more cores?

My initial impression is I shouldn't be too worried, especially coming from an MSI AM3+ motherboard with an FX-8350 where VRMs were ~75C at idle and tended to get superheated in the unusual situation of Prime95, going up to 105-107C before automatically shutting down.

Anyone else have this board and could shed some light on their experience with it?

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 16:54

Every passing hour without reply relaxes me that bit more about my choice of motherboard

Robert · 15 Jan 2019 at 18:51

I have the gigabyte b450 micro atx, but now have an evolv x atx case and was considering getting the asus ch7, but not sure it’s worth it.

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 19:45

I heard Gigabyte boards were ones to avoid for AM4 or for B450 at least.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-ZwVuH_tinzgpsOdfMvYeCLI5ZbIpnq5fyiWD4NCkkU/edit#gid=0

There's that spreadsheet^.

Entirely up to you I guess.

Robert · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:01

Vexr said:
I heard Gigabyte boards were ones to avoid for AM4 or for B450 at least.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-ZwVuH_tinzgpsOdfMvYeCLI5ZbIpnq5fyiWD4NCkkU/edit#gid=0

There's that spreadsheet^.

Entirely up to you I guess.

I’m not oc’ing if that helps?

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:02

What's the exact name of your motherboard?

Robert · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:06

This:

Gigabyte AMD B450 AORUS M Ryzen MicroATX Motherboard

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:18

According to the spreadsheet, that's in the category of 'lower end: would require airflow for a highly OC'd 2700x' (Gigabyte B450 Aorus M). That fits what I've heard about Gigabyte boards more than generously (usual advice is avoid like the plague).

The Asus Crosshair Hero VII is the top top end (though Asus notoriously blows for warranty - I'm not gonna criticise, both my current GFX card and last one were from Asus, and they've been awesome.)

As I say, up to you.

Robert · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:23

Yeah, I mean I’m not overclocking beyond the PB2 stuff. So if that’s the only thing then...

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 20:40

If overclocking isn't an issue, then the only consideration is for the Ryzen 3000 series (if you plan on upgrading on this socket.)

Which brings me nearly back around to my question regarding the MSI B450-A Pro, though I suspect it'll be okay.

KungFuSpaghetti · 15 Jan 2019 at 22:04

It should be fine, the new 8 core part AMD benched against Intel 9900k was still only a 65w chip and those boards are fine with a 2700x. My mate us uses that board with a 2700x without issue.

Vexr · 15 Jan 2019 at 23:00

Reassurance enough, and having seen AM3+ boards go supernova, I'm very comfortable with 54 C VRMs with a Ryzen 7 2700. I know OCing it to Ryzen 2700x levels will probably involve doubling of the power to it, though I've seen nothing so far to indicate that'd be an impossible hurdle (CPU stabilises at 50 C @ 100% CPU XFR load - and that's with a 120mm radiator fan when the radiator is actually 140 mm - ...long story)

KungFuSpaghetti · 16 Jan 2019 at 08:28

With those temps I don't think you will have any issues with the 105w chips, which seem to pull about 120w in synthetic benches.