AMD 2700x, Mobo, and Ram pairings

gvayl2

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2009
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Hi,
Would a ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING be a good pairing for the 2700x? I'm not interested in SLI. Will overclock somewhat with stock cooler. I also read somewhere that generation 2 mobos for the Ryzen are better than the gen 1?

What ram would you pair with this build? 2x8GB sticks...

Many thanks in advance!
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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If you are going to overclock, then I would get the x470 based boards. And use 2x8GB DDR4-3200 CAS 14 memory.
 

gvayl2

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2009
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Really? What board would you recommend. I don't plan on going crazy with OCing. Looking at the reviews they said the B350 boards support OCing...the x470 have the dual video card support that I don't need...

If you are going to overclock, then I would get the x470 based boards. And use 2x8GB DDR4-3200 CAS 14 memory.
 

raghu78

Diamond Member
Aug 23, 2012
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Hi,
Would a ASUS ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING be a good pairing for the 2700x? I'm not interested in SLI. Will overclock somewhat with stock cooler. I also read somewhere that generation 2 mobos for the Ryzen are better than the gen 1?

What ram would you pair with this build? 2x8GB sticks...

Many thanks in advance!
The stock Wraith Prism cooler is good for running at stock speeds. If you want to overclock beyond 4.0 Ghz with extra voltage you will need aftermarket air cooler or AIO water cooler. Frankly i think overclocking is just not worth it as the extra power and heat is not worth the marginal gain in perf.
 
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tamz_msc

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Jan 5, 2017
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If Precision Boost works the way it should, then you probably don't need to overclock a 2700X at all since you get 3.9-4 GHz all-core turbo out of the box. Besides, most B350 motherboards lack the necessary VRMs to sustain an 8-core Ryzen at 4.1-4.2 GHz, which is the maximum possible long-term overclocks on these chips.
 
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whm1974

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Jul 24, 2016
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The stock Wraith Prism cooler is good for running at stock speeds. If you want to overclock beyond 4.0 Ghz with extra voltage you will need aftermarket air cooler or AIO water cooler. Frankly i think overclocking is just not worth it as the extra power and heat is not worth the marginal gain in perf.
Which is why I would go with the 2700 and a B450 board instead.
 

raghu78

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Aug 23, 2012
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There is a significant perf gain from 2700 to 2700x.

https://www.computerbase.de/2018-04/amd-ryzen-2000-test/3/#abschnitt_benchmarks_mit_anwendungen

The extra power used is obviously larger % wise compared to perf gain %. Still the 2700x has better turbo clocks and is the best binned Ryzen 2000 chip with a very good stock cooler. The 2700 with the wraith spire cannot sustain 4 Ghz. Here is a review of Wraith Prism (ships with 2700x) vs Wraith Spire (ships with 2700/2600x) vs Wraith Stealth (ships with 2600)

https://youtu.be/zCkS77QUreQ
 

scannall

Golden Member
Jan 1, 2012
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That would be better than the ASUS option? I am just wondering why. I won't really be overclocking as someone mentioned here with the 2700x you won't gain much...
The Asrock boards are pretty much plug-n-play for memory, NVMe drives etc. Markfw can probably give you more details. He's the resident Ryzen champ. ;-)
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
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That would be better than the ASUS option? I am just wondering why. I won't really be overclocking as someone mentioned here with the 2700x you won't gain much...
First, I like ASRock mostly since they didn't have all the "brick" and other problems on last years release. Also, I love the Taichi for its power delivery and basic best features.

But that one seems fine.
 
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IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
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That would be better than the ASUS option? I am just wondering why. I won't really be overclocking as someone mentioned here with the 2700x you won't gain much...

As someone who has built 8+ Ryzen systems using all the major motherboard manufacturers, here is my take on AM4:

ASRock: Good motherboard designs with excellent power delivery at the high end and very reasonable designs for their midrange. Offers more features at a given price point than competitors. Had some very solid designs with first generation Ryzen, particularly the X370 Taichi, which is arguably the best board for the 1st generation Ryzen. Their mid-range boards were also solid performers.

ASUS: Good hardware on their flagships (Crosshair series) with every feature imaginable, but buggy BIOSes. Alas, I had one of the early Crosshair VI Hero boards which self-bricked. Definitely not a good first impression. Avoid their "TUF" series or B350 STRIX boards as they use cheaper components (read: less efficient, more heat on VRMs).

MSI: Cheaps out on components wherever they can, and must have bought a boatload of Onsemi FETs for their power delivery... Their lower end boards get very toasty on the VRMs with 8-core CPUs and long-term reliability is suspect. Seriously, their VRM designs are the worst, and they are beaten by ASRock in value at every price point. Their only saving grace is their memory profiles worked since Day 1 and up to 3600 MT/s in my experience. Even on a $50 B350 board.

Gigabyte: Decent hardware on the high-end and mid-range, but often skimps on the lower end boards. Crippled by what is quite possibly the worst BIOSes for AM4. I still see people running into the Auto XMP bug from time to time... at least they seem to have squared away that 1.55V CPU vcore bug...

VRM comparison of X370/B350/X470 boards:
https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f12/pga-am4-mainboard-vrm-liste-1155146.html

Disclaimer: I tend to run my systems at or near 100% load 24/7, so I overemphasize the value of a efficient (read: cool running, longer lasting) VRM.
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
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As someone who has built 8+ Ryzen systems using all the major motherboard manufacturers, here is my take on AM4:

ASRock: Good motherboard designs with excellent power delivery at the high end and very reasonable designs for their midrange. Offers more features at a given price point than competitors. Had some very solid designs with first generation Ryzen, particularly the X370 Taichi, which is arguably the best board for the 1st generation Ryzen. Their mid-range boards were also solid performers.

ASUS: Good hardware on their flagships (Crosshair series) with every feature imaginable, but buggy BIOSes. Alas, I had one of the early Crosshair VI Hero boards which self-bricked. Definitely not a good first impression. Avoid their "TUF" series or B350 STRIX boards as they use cheaper components (read: less efficient, more heat on VRMs).

MSI: Cheaps out on components wherever they can, and must have bought a boatload of Onsemi FETs for their power delivery... Their lower end boards get very toasty on the VRMs with 8-core CPUs and long-term reliability is suspect. Seriously, their VRM designs are the worst, and they are beaten by ASRock in value at every price point. Their only saving grace is their memory profiles worked since Day 1 and up to 3600 MT/s in my experience. Even on a $50 B350 board.

Gigabyte: Decent hardware on the high-end and mid-range, but often skimps on the lower end boards. Crippled by what is quite possibly the worst BIOSes for AM4. I still see people running into the Auto XMP bug from time to time... at least they seem to have squared away that 1.55V CPU vcore bug...

VRM comparison of X370/B350/X470 boards:
https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f12/pga-am4-mainboard-vrm-liste-1155146.html

Disclaimer: I tend to run my systems at or near 100% load 24/7, so I overemphasize the value of a efficient (read: cool running, longer lasting) VRM.
I agree. But I can't make anything of that link, except no 470 Taichi (non ultimate)
 
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whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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As someone who has built 8+ Ryzen systems using all the major motherboard manufacturers, here is my take on AM4:

ASRock: Good motherboard designs with excellent power delivery at the high end and very reasonable designs for their midrange. Offers more features at a given price point than competitors. Had some very solid designs with first generation Ryzen, particularly the X370 Taichi, which is arguably the best board for the 1st generation Ryzen. Their mid-range boards were also solid performers.
So ASRock makes the best motherboards? I brought two boards from them and never had any issues.
 

gvayl2

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2009
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Thanks everyone for the informative responses!

I think I'll go with the ASRock X470. Only question is the ASRock X470 Master SLI vs ASRock X470 Master SLI/ac version. Seems audio and the wifi antenna are the only differences. I don't use wifi on my desktop and audio...I don't care too much for anyway. However I can't find a reseller who sells ASRock X470 Master SLI w/o ac.

My source for comparison between the two boards is here: https://wccftech.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-2700-cpu-review-asrock-x470-asus-x470-motherboards/3/
 

scannall

Golden Member
Jan 1, 2012
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Thanks everyone for the informative responses!

I think I'll go with the ASRock X470. Only question is the ASRock X470 Master SLI vs ASRock X470 Master SLI/ac version. Seems audio and the wifi antenna are the only differences. I don't use wifi on my desktop and audio...I don't care too much for anyway. However I can't find a reseller who sells ASRock X470 Master SLI w/o ac.

My source for comparison between the two boards is here: https://wccftech.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-2700-cpu-review-asrock-x470-asus-x470-motherboards/3/
Get what's available? The AC also has Bluetooth, which may be useful to you?
 
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s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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So far ASUS looks to be winning the BIOS battle. Their new ones are super solid and have Precision Boost Overdrive enabled even on B350/X370. That leaves exactly zero useful features worth spending/waiting on a 400-series for.

If you want OC, just look for the ones with the best VRM/VRM cooling.