Solved! B450 vs X470

[arnuld]

I want to put a Ryzen 2600X on a good motherboard (my PCPartPicker list), I have 2 choices I see: B450 and X470 and also 3 choices of motherboard manufacturers: MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte. I am wondering which motherboard to buy. Searching so far has led me to choose MSI Tomahawk B450 but I was wondering why not Aorus X470?

I don't play games, I don't do overclocking, I do computer programming, data analysis and build machine learning models and do some heavy tasks like JupyterLab software.

 

[13Gigatons]

It's hard to know what you will want in the future so I usually recommend the x470, that way you are covered. The price difference with deals is pretty close price wise.

PS: I usually regret not getting the "better" board.

 

[Newbian]

From what I recall the main differences is the x470 usually offers sli / crossfire support and better overclocking usually plus less vrm issues if you use higher end cpu's like the 2600x / 2700x.

You will pay anywhere from about $50 - $100 more for a great x470 over a great b450 so consider that also.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

X470 and B450 are chipsets, and don't specifically affect VRMs. However, X470 is the more expensive chipset that offers SLI support, while B450 does not, so it is likely that X470 motherboards will be more expensive and may have better VRM solutions because they are competing in a higher price bracket. With that said, if you don't need SLI then a B450 board is just fine.

I just got an Asrock Fatality B450 ITX motherboard and am running a 2700X with it. A big reason I wanted this particular board was because it has Intel LAN, Intel WiFi, Intel Bluetooth, and the Realtek ALC1220 sound chip. I also don't want SLI, so there was no point in getting an X470 board for me.

The weaknesses of this particular board are the VRMs (ITX in general have weaker VRM due to smaller space for packaging everything) as well as only two RAM slots. Neither was an issue for my use case, and I am very happy with the motherboard.

As far as your choices go, I would look at the various components and features and decide what you like best. Also, look at the BIOS and see if it has the features you want. My previous computer was an Intel Z77 based build, also using an Asrock motherboard. That computer was still running strong when I got the itch to upgrade (it was the 7 year itch as well) so I have had a couple good experiences with Asrock motherboards. I really don't think you can go wrong with most motherboards. There's a YouTube guy who does very in depth critiques of motherboard power circuitry, buildzoid I think, so you might see if he has any reviews of the boards you are thinking of. He tends to be pretty critical IMO, with an eye towards overclocking and heavy power use, so keep that in mind. But if he says something is good, it very likely is (at least in the power delivery aspect).

Anandtech just reviewed a Tomahawk board, and I think it was a decent all rounder.

-AG

 

[arnuld]

I won't be touching my build for next 2 years at least. No updates or antyhing. My current desktop I have not upgraded in last 8 years.

Forgot to link my PCPartPicker List: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/arnuld.mizong/saved/r7VXP6

I see 2 points emerging here:

• Buy X470 but by hig-end one than cheaper one
• Buy high-end B450

 

[Newbian]

Buy X470 but by hig-end one than cheaper one

Make sure it's worth it as a lot of the high end ones cost more for a lot of extra's you may not need like built in wi-fi or extra RGB unless you like this kind of stuff.

If you are more into overclocking then yes some can be worth it but with zen 2 coming out soon it maybe worth waiting unless some hot deals happen to make sure they don't release some newer versions for it and the current gen.

Also try going for a rx 580 8 gb as the 570 4gb as you can get it for about the same price or a little bit more.

 

[arnuld]

I am not into overclocking at all. I will do feature comparison of motherboards (and I don't care about Wi-Fi on a MOBO). I just need extra pins for 6-8 fans, good heatsinks and VRAM. Will check YouTube for BIOS on Tomahawk vs Aorus Ultra .

Thanks for the 580 8GB advice. I will go with it. How is newegg for buying ?

 

[Newbian]

Thanks for the 580 8GB advice. I will go with it. How is newegg for buying

Newegg is one of the best tech sites out there to buy stuff from usually even these days with more competitors in most cases.

 

[13Gigatons]

X470 Chipset Features

• USB – 6 (2.0), 6 (3.1. Gen1), 2 (3.1. Gen2)
• SATA 3.0 – 4
• PCIe lanes – 2 (Gen3), 8 (Gen2)
• PCIe slot speeds – 1×16 / 2×8
• OC enabled – Yes
• XFR2 – Yes
• Precision Boost Overdrive – Yes
• StoreMI – Yes

B450 Chipset Features

• USB – 6 (2.0), 2 (3.1. Gen1), 2 (3.1. Gen2)
• SATA 3.0 – 2
• PCIe lanes – 1 (Gen3), 6 (Gen2)
• PCIe slot speeds – 1×16
• OC enabled – Yes
• XFR2 – Yes
• Precision Boost Overdrive – Yes
• StoreMI – Yes

 

[arnuld]

@AnnoyedGrunt

Buildzoid is really very good --

 

[arnuld]

I just got an Asrock Fatality B450 ITX motherboard and am running a 2700X with it. A big reason I wanted this particular board was because it has Intel LAN, Intel WiFI, Intel Bluetooth, and the Realtek ALC1220 sound chip. I also don't want SLI, so there was no point in getting an X470 board for me.

The weaknesses of this particular board are the VRMs (ITX in general have weaker VRM due to smaller space for packaging everything) as well as only two RAM slots. Neither was an issue for my use case, and I am very happy with the motherboard.

I think your build was an intelligent one.

As far as your choices go, I would look at the various components and features and decide what you like best. Also look at the BIOS and see if it has the features you want.

From last 2 weeks, I am thinking non-stop about your statement above and I can't come up with an exact answer. I mean, how do I know what features I want in BIOS ? I know hardware ones, like:

• M.2 slots = 2
• x16 slot = 1
• RAM slots = 4

What else I would need and why ? As per buildzoid, this is how VRAm quality goes X470 Gaming Plus > Tomahawk B450 > B450 Mortar and then his VRAm quality metrics/yardstick is about high OCing etc. Tomahawk go tonly 1 M2 slot hence it is out of question now when I have decided to get M.2 SSDs than internal ones, to avoid the unnecessary clutter. It is be between X460 Gaming Plus and B450 Mortar and since price difference is not much when it comes to India (3500 Indian rupees = $50), I will go with X470, much cleaner and good looking board, plus I got 6 set of extra pins for power delivery compared to 4 on Mortar.

 

[walk2k]

I was in the same boat, ended up with the GB X470 Ultra Gaming for $129 on sale. Sure I could get a B450 board for $80-90 (junk) but decent ones are $120+. for a couple bucks more I'm more future proof (Ryzen 3000 etc)

 

[killster1]

I was in the same boat, ended up with the GB X470 Ultra Gaming for $129 on sale. Sure I could get a B450 board for $80-90 (junk) but decent ones are $120+. for a couple bucks more I'm more future proof (Ryzen 3000 etc)

yea i hate upgrading and really wanted usb C / optical / 6 x usb 3 / decent vrm cooling / alc1220 audio. I dont know why but i kept telling myself for a little bit more i can get..

for a little bit more.. i ended up with teh x470 ultimate tiachi for 235 on amazon open box like new , a 2700x for 250 and 2x4gb pc2666 for 35 that should oc to 3155 with decent timing. Wondering why the other guy had 2x 960 evo's.. for raid? faster than a single higher end drive? guess that will be my next purchase / research. im thinking 2 x ex920 hp

 

[VirtualLarry]

My Gigabyte AX370-Gaming ATX board (REFURB) had the primary PCI-E slot go out. Looking at another new AM4 ATX board myself.

Taichi is nice, but pricey, a little above my price range. Looking for something maybe under $130, possibly could stretch to $150, but I'm on a budget (of sorts).

Looking to maybe use StoreMI, if I can.

Wish that I could afford ThreadRipper. Looking forward to a 16C/32T monster Ryzen 3rd-gen being released on AM4, using 7nm chiplets. Might consider one of those, if not horribly expensive. ($600 or less.)

 

[WT]

Larry, take a look at the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon - very well regarded, hits your price point and the latest F/W offers up the only thing that held this board back - the lack of LLC control in the BIOS. MC has them listed for $140, but they are perpetually OOS due to their popularity. It should have been my first choice, but I went for looks over functionality.

 

[LarryAB1950]

I don't think it is good, can recommend another one? thanks

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I don't think it is good, can recommend another one? thanks

Old thread and I am not sure what you are looking for.
Start a new thread with what you want to do, your budget and what you want the machine for.
You will get plenty of help.