NEW MSI B550 UNIFY better than X570 UNIFY??

mickyflinn · 4 Jan 2021 at 08:22

Nghtmare said:
Based on some research that I did it seems I was right. I can use 2 NVMEs Gen 3 x4 without issues as long as 1 goes on Slot 1 (CPU) and the other 1 goes on Slot 4 (Chipset). It starts splitting if I want more than x2/Gen 4 from Slot 2 or 3.

So B550 Unify ordered

Glad you sorted it.

Looks a very nice board.

Nghtmare · 4 Jan 2021 at 08:42

mickyflinn said:
Glad you sorted it.

Looks a very nice board.

Thanks.

I do understand for anyone going for the X570 version instead. I personally have an X570 Taichi now which I am going to sell, and I use it the same way I can use a B550. So I dont really benefit from the extra lanes, however I do love the idea of a better VRM and memory overclocking potential, plus not having to listen to a small chipset fan. No matter which one you pick, they are both great.

1Deep · 4 Jan 2021 at 13:55

Nghtmare said:
Thanks.

I do understand for anyone going for the X570 version instead. I personally have an X570 Taichi now which I am going to sell, and I use it the same way I can use a B550. So I dont really benefit from the extra lanes, however I do love the idea of a better VRM and memory overclocking potential, plus not having to listen to a small chipset fan. No matter which one you pick, they are both great.

Funnily enough I've just sold my X570 Taichi for the B550 Unify! Installed it a couple of days ago and it's bliss not having that onboard fan going off like a aeroplane.

Waiting for that 2x16gb 3600mhz CL16 8Pack ram to arrive form Ocuk for some overclocking fun.

Nghtmare · 4 Jan 2021 at 14:01

Well guys I have good news and bad news. Good news is I picked up the B550 Unify this morning and installed it, bad news is that it has an insane coil whine issue on the VRM, so now I have to send it back and wait for a replacement :/ Just my luck.

1Deep · 4 Jan 2021 at 14:09

Ah that is very annoying. Fortunately mine doesn't have any of that so hopefully your replacement is issue free.

Nghtmare · 4 Jan 2021 at 14:11

1Deep said:
Ah that is very annoying. Fortunately mine doesn't have any of that so hopefully your replacement is issue free.

Thank you

MoroBite · 4 Jan 2021 at 21:12

Hello everyone, I have some questions:

I'm precisely in this very same predicament between the x570 Unify which seems to be better on features, and after reading your opinions, this b550 Unify Looks and feels better. But I'm having second thoughts on which one should I choose. The reason is that I do rely on M.2, for storage, my actual build contains x3 m.2 Samsung Evo Plus, and x1 SSD Samsung Sata. So here are my questions:

Q. #1 - Can I use M_1 and M_4 on CPU mode without affecting the PCIE x4 from the GPU, while using the M_2 with the Chipset? My Graphic Card is 2080ti.
Q. #2 - Does PCIe Gen 4 has any effect on the M.2, in comparison with the Gen3?
Q. #3 - I don't think PCIe Gen 4 has any effect on my 2080ti, Am I right?

I would appreciate any help with those questions. I'm coming from a dead Auros Master x570 which lasted a week before it died suddenly from what it seems to be as known Bios issue. So now I'm looking at this B550 Unify, to be honest, I love the look and the lack of chipset active fan. But those questions are a big factor for me, before I decide if I will purchase any from those Unify.

Thanks in advance.

Nikson · 4 Jan 2021 at 23:04

MoroBite said:
Hello everyone, I have some questions:

I'm precisely in this very same predicament between the x570 Unify which seems to be better on features, and after reading your opinions, this b550 Unify Looks and feels better. But I'm having second thoughts on which one should I choose. The reason is that I do rely on M.2, for storage, my actual build contains x3 m.2 Samsung Evo Plus, and x1 SSD Samsung Sata. So here are my questions:

Q. #1 - Can I use M_1 and M_4 on CPU mode without affecting the PCIE x4 from the GPU, while using the M_2 with the Chipset? My Graphic Card is 2080ti.
Q. #2 - Does PCIe Gen 4 has any effect on the M.2, in comparison with the Gen3?
Q. #3 - I don't think PCIe Gen 4 has any effect on my 2080ti, Am I right?

I would appreciate any help with those questions. I'm coming from a dead Auros Master x570 which lasted a week before it died suddenly from what it seems to be as known Bios issue. So now I'm looking at this B550 Unify, to be honest, I love the look and the lack of chipset active fan. But those questions are a big factor for me, before I decide if I will purchase any from those Unify.

Thanks in advance.

#1 Only M_1 is directly connected to the processor without bus restrictions for 2080. M_4 is always only from the chipset (PSIe 3)There is no "CPU mode" for M_4 .If you put the current SSDs in M_1, M_2 and M_3 you will have only a theoretical limit for 2080, but without RAID0 there will be no difference in speed. They remain PCI3 SSDs on PCI4 interface.
#2 If we talk about the speed of the interface - still very few devices would be limited by Pcie3. In general, Pcie4 SSDs are faster, but only in certain types of usage scenarios. There is no noticeable difference in the responsiveness of the system, and the prices are significantly higher. If you use your current SSD, the answer is "No"
#3 PCIe4 can give some advantage only in combination with PCIe4 SSD (WD SN850, Samsung 980Pro). Also in RIDE 0 with two or three of them on M_1,2,3. The only effect will probably be a little faster loading of games and in the operation of GPU-oriented video software such as Davinci Resolve.

MoroBite · 4 Jan 2021 at 23:57

Nikson said:
#1 Only M_1 is directly connected to the processor without bus restrictions for 2080. M_4 is always only from the chipset (PSIe 3)There is no "CPU mode" for M_4 .If you put the current SSDs in M_1, M_2 and M_3 you will have only a theoretical limit for 2080, but without RAID0 there will be no difference in speed. They remain PCI3 SSDs on PCI4 interface.
#2 If we talk about the speed of the interface - still very few devices would be limited by Pcie3. In general, Pcie4 SSDs are faster, but only in certain types of usage scenarios. There is no noticeable difference in the responsiveness of the system, and the prices are significantly higher. If you use your current SSD, the answer is "No"
#3 PCIe4 can give some advantage only in combination with PCIe4 SSD (WD SN850, Samsung 980Pro). Also in RIDE 0 with two or three of them on M_1,2,3. The only effect will probably be a little faster loading of games and in the operation of GPU-oriented video software such as Davinci Resolve.

Thank you very much for answering my questions. I truly appreciate it and I think I'm leaning more towards the x570 Unify, even when this B550 looks gorgeous and its functionality sounds amazing. But I need to pick what is best for the components I have. I do video editing on After Effects and Gaming. So, I need to conbine the best of both worlds.

Smoogels · 5 Jan 2021 at 00:22

Nghtmare said:
Well guys I have good news and bad news. Good news is I picked up the B550 Unify this morning and installed it, bad news is that it has an insane coil whine issue on the VRM, so now I have to send it back and wait for a replacement :/ Just my luck.

Had to send my B550 unify back because of this as well, the whine from the VRMs was awful. A day later I took it out of my PC and boxed it up for a return. The most annoying thing was the constant shift in pitch/volume as you used the PC and even whined along as you moved the mouse.

Nghtmare · 5 Jan 2021 at 00:35

Smoogels said:
Had to send my B550 unify back because of this as well, the whine from the VRMs was awful. A day later I took it out of my PC and boxed it up for a return. The most annoying thing was the constant shift in pitch/volume as you used the PC and even whined along as you moved the mouse.

Yeah it was so annoying because it was all over the place. I could leave the PC on idle and it would go very high pitched for no reason, then calm itself down, and then spike again lol I tried stressing the CPU it turned into an orchestra haha

Anyways did you get one that works as intended?

Smoogels · 5 Jan 2021 at 00:49

Nghtmare said:
Yeah it was so annoying because it was all over the place. I could leave the PC on idle and it would go very high pitched for no reason, then calm itself down, and then spike again lol I tried stressing the CPU it turned into an orchestra haha

Anyways did you get one that works as intended?

Funnily stress tests kept mine quiet! Idle was it's worst and some types of loads it just did not agree with. It was so loud in certain games, could even hear it over headphones.

I've gone back to my old X470 Crosshair now and changing motherboards was just such a hassle that I've asked for a refund on the unify instead of replacement. It was a good board otherwise but I didn't fancy taking the chance on it. Fingers crossed your replacement doesn't come with the free orchestra addon again

Nghtmare · 5 Jan 2021 at 00:52

Smoogels said:
Funnily stress tests kept mine quiet! Idle was it's worst and some types of loads it just did not agree with. It was so loud in certain games, could even hear it over headphones.

I've gone back to my old X470 Crosshair now and changing motherboards was just such a hassle that I've asked for a refund on the unify instead of replacement. It was a good board otherwise but I didn't fancy taking the chance again. Fingers crossed your replacement doesn't come with the free orchestra addon again

Yeah I get what you mean. I initially askef for a replacement which they said could take 3-5 days. Later in the day I realized that I could just buy a new one while I send this one for a refund instead, that way Im not without PC for a bit. So I am picking up the other one tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes haha

Guest2 · 5 Jan 2021 at 07:59

No issues with my x570 Unify in terms of vrm whine. I’ve been using increased SOC, VDDG & VDDP voltages too for 1900 IF, DDR3800 & 1.5V on RAM.
The only time the chipset fan has turned on was during a BIOS update.
Currently trying the latest BIOS

MoroBite · 5 Jan 2021 at 08:17

Guest2 said:
No issues with my x570 Unify in terms of vrm whine. I’ve been using increased SOC, VDDG & VDDP voltages too for 1900 IF, DDR3800 & 1.5V on RAM.
The only time the chipset fan has turned on was during a BIOS update.
Currently trying the latest BIOS

I'm glad to hear that. Thank you!

Guest2 · 5 Jan 2021 at 09:51

MoroBite said:
I'm glad to hear that. Thank you!

No problem. If anyone knows of something to make the chipset fan spin up, that would be good (other than ramping up voltages to stupid levels)

TestMem5 v0.12 Anta Extreme config didnt make it come on which hammers RAM and is supposed to increase VRM heat

Timings and voltages being used are here (RAM 1.5V)

mickyflinn · 5 Jan 2021 at 10:08

Nghtmare said:
Well guys I have good news and bad news. Good news is I picked up the B550 Unify this morning and installed it, bad news is that it has an insane coil whine issue on the VRM, so now I have to send it back and wait for a replacement :/ Just my luck.

Now i know why you choose your username

Seriosly bad luck along with your tachi.

Nghtmare · 5 Jan 2021 at 10:56

mickyflinn said:
Now i know why you choose your username

Seriosly bad luck along with your tachi.

Haha tell me about it. At least the 4 red lights on the 3080 is gone with this board so it was the Taichi. I just picked up a new B550 Unify, the othet one is getting picked up tomorrow for a refund. As soon as I get back home I'll install it. Hopefully 2nd time is the charm.

mickyflinn · 5 Jan 2021 at 11:01

Nghtmare said:
Haha tell me about it. At least the 4 red lights on the 3080 is gone with this board so it was the Taichi. I just picked up a new B550 Unify, the othet one is getting picked up tomorrow for a refund. As soon as I get back home I'll install it. Hopefully 2nd time is the charm.

Keep us informed, have you rma the tachi yet it was me that advised you to in your other thread ?

Nghtmare · 5 Jan 2021 at 11:17

mickyflinn said:
Keep us informed, have you rma the tachi yet it was me that advised you to in your other thread ?

Yeah you did, honestlyI havent yet. I have been too busy trying to get this one to work. As soon as I get a working PC (hopefully today) I'll speak to them.