Question Best motherboard under $200 for a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and DDR4 3600 RAM?

[Hugh Jass]

Looking to purchase a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and DDR4 3600 RAM soon and wondering what motherboard to get. Want to make sure what I get is compatible without a BIOS flash if possible as I don't have an older Ryzen CPU to drop in to do the flashing.

Need it to be under $200 and preferably with built in wifi.

I've read online that the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC is good but I worry about possibly having to flash the BIOS to get it compatible. I've also read that the stock Wraith cooler that comes with the Ryzen 5 3600 doesn't fit properly as it rubs up against one of the heatsinks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[UsandThem]

https://www.techspot.com/review/2020-msi-x570-tomahawk/

The X570 Tomahawk is on it's way, and right at $200. Techspot really liked it.

Another one that would be a solid choice (and comes with wifi) is the Asus TUF Gaming X570-Wifi.

However, right now is one of the worst times to buy many computer components because of shortages (Covid 19). If you need something anytime soon, you might have to settle for something. Plus, the B550 chipset motherboards should be coming in another 2 months or so.

 

[Hugh Jass]

That Asus TUF Gaming X570-Wifi looks good.

 

[Iron Woode]

alternatively, you can buy the board I have (in my sig) for under $200 US and use that money to buy a wifi adapter.

 

[Meghan54]

Looking to purchase a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU and DDR4 3600 RAM soon and wondering what motherboard to get. Want to make sure what I get is compatible without a BIOS flash if possible as I don't have an older Ryzen CPU to drop in to do the flashing.

Need it to be under $200 and preferably with built in wifi.

I've read online that the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC is good but I worry about possibly having to flash the BIOS to get it compatible. I've also read that the stock Wraith cooler that comes with the Ryzen 5 3600 doesn't fit properly as it rubs up against one of the heatsinks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That board has a flash BIOS and doesn't need anything other than a power supply and the current BIOS.rom on a USB flash drive to flash the BIOS, so temporary incompatibility with the cpu shouldn't be much of a concern at all.

The MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC, is the board my wife's 3600X is running on. Got lucky....dropped the cpu in and the mb ran beautifully with it, straight out of the box. I did get to examine the mb's and the boxes prior to purchasing and the box had an "AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop Ready" orange sticker on the box. Two boxes of this board sitting on the shelf lacked the sticker, two had it. I chose one of the two with it. (Micro Center)

BTW.....great darned board.

The 3600X's Wraith Spire and 3700X's Wraith Prism heatsinks both fit that board without issue.

 

[Hugh Jass]

That Asus TUF Gaming X570-Wifi looks good.

Can't find it in stock anywhere.

 

[Hugh Jass]

That board has a flash BIOS and doesn't need anything other than a power supply and the current BIOS.rom on a USB flash drive to flash the BIOS, so temporary incompatibility with the cpu shouldn't be much of a concern at all.

The MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC, is the board my wife's 3600X is running on. Got lucky....dropped the cpu in and the mb ran beautifully with it, straight out of the box. I did get to examine the mb's and the boxes prior to purchasing and the box had an "AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop Ready" orange sticker on the box. Two boxes of this board sitting on the shelf lacked the sticker, two had it. I chose one of the two with it. (Micro Center)

BTW.....great darned board.

The 3600X's Wraith Spire and 3700X's Wraith Prism heatsinks both fit that board without issue.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Hugh Jass]

alternatively, you can buy the board I have (in my sig) for under $200 US and use that money to buy a wifi adapter.

Sorry...not really looking to buy used.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

However, right now is one of the worst times to buy many computer components because of shortages (Covid 19).

Yup. Friend just purchased. All mobo stock under $200 was complete garbage, he settled on an MSI Gaming Max B450.

 

[Iron Woode]

Sorry...not really looking to buy used.

I didn't mean my board. I meant one like it new. Asus Prime X570-P is a solid board.

 

[pallab]

Instead of worrying about mobo, and RAM
get a better cpu (3800X) with any x570 cheap mobo you like

 

[aigomorla]

The stock wraith cooler is FAIL.
The R5 3600 runs hot as hell.
Dedicate a portion of your board price and Get a Noctua U12 or at the very least a Cooler Master Hyper 212.
A good overclocking board is pointless without a good heatsink to keep that puppy in check.

As for ram, it depends totally on if you want RGB's or not.
Otherwise i would try to find a vendor which have samsung IC's, as they have shown to be far more overall flexible, and also stable with AMD ryzens and Threadrippers.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

The stock wraith cooler is FAIL.
The R5 3600 runs hot as hell.
Dedicate a portion of your board price and Get a Noctua U12 or at the very least a Cooler Master Hyper 212.
A good overclocking board is pointless without a good heatsink to keep that puppy in check.

As for ram, it depends totally on if you want RGB's or not.
Otherwise i would try to find a vendor which have samsung IC's, as they have shown to be far more overall flexible, and also stable with AMD ryzens and Threadrippers.

Sounds like Micron Rev E is the overall safest and easily identifiable bet (so basically, just buy the newest Crucial 3200 or 3600 kit). Otherwise, yes hunt down Sammy B die or maybe E die.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Not going to OC so I have 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600 RAM in my Amazon cart.

Or would Crucial Ballistix 3600 be better?

 

[aigomorla]

Not going to OC s

then why are you looking at x570 board?
Im completely LOST in your choice of hardware....

Oh wait... the people here started throwing you 200 dollar x570 boards... FML...
Stick with a B450.... you don't need a X570 unless you want that PCI-E 4.0

 

[Hugh Jass]

Instead of worrying about mobo, and RAM
get a better cpu (3800X) with any x570 cheap mobo you like

Ryzen 7 3800x is not in my budget...unless I'm wrong it's approximately $150 more than the Ryzen 5 3600.

And from the benchmarks I've seen the 3600 will run anything I throw at it on highest/ultra settings with the GPU I'm getting.

 

[Hugh Jass]

then why are you looking at x570 board?
Im completely LOST in your choice of hardware....

Oh wait... the people here started throwing you 200 dollar x570 boards... FML...
Stick with a B450.... you don't need a X570 unless you want that PCI-E 4.0

Wouldn't I have to flash a B450 board to get it to work with a Ryzen 5 3600?

 

[Iron Woode]

The stock wraith cooler is FAIL.
The R5 3600 runs hot as hell.
Dedicate a portion of your board price and Get a Noctua U12 or at the very least a Cooler Master Hyper 212.
A good overclocking board is pointless without a good heatsink to keep that puppy in check.

As for ram, it depends totally on if you want RGB's or not.
Otherwise i would try to find a vendor which have samsung IC's, as they have shown to be far more overall flexible, and also stable with AMD ryzens and Threadrippers.

for cooling my 3600 I bought Arctic Cooling Freezer 34 Esports Duo:

 

[Iron Woode]

Not going to OC so I have 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600 RAM in my Amazon cart.

Or would Crucial Ballistix 3600 be better?

I use the same Corsair kit. It works fine.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Not going to OC so I have 16GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3600 RAM in my Amazon cart.

Or would Crucial Ballistix 3600 be better?

Crucial Ballistix 3600 is better. Good timings, for sure Micron Rev E.

 

[aigomorla]

Wouldn't I have to flash a B450 board to get it to work with a Ryzen 5 3600?

no most reputable retailers have already swapped them with preflashed versions.
For example, i just built one from a ASRock B450 PRO. Its a MATX board, and not a full sized, but it had a ready for ryzen 3000 sticker on the box.
They come mostly like that now, unless u go though shady back channels where they are trying to offload old inventory / stock.

 

[Meghan54]

no most reputable retailers have already swapped them with preflashed versions.
For example, i just built one from a ASRock B450 PRO. Its a MATX board, and not a full sized, but it had a ready for ryzen 3000 sticker on the box.
They come mostly like that now, unless u go though shady back channels where they are trying to offload old inventory / stock.

And even if he stumbled across a B450 board that wasn't already flashed, depending upon the board, it may be able to be flashed sans cpu. That's one reason I picked up an MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC...nice, stable, well built board that has the ability to flash the BIOS sans everything except ps.

 

[CHADBOGA]

There is now a MAX version of the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon, so that has the larger bios and has already been flashed for Ryzen 3000 series.

Any of the MSI boards with "MAX" in their name, has that updated bios installed.

 

[Meghan54]

There is now a MAX version of the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon, so that has the larger bios and has already been flashed for Ryzen 3000 series.

Any of the MSI boards with "MAX" in their name, has that updated bios installed.

Mind linking it? Cannot seem to locate it on MSI's website. Thanks!

 

[CHADBOGA]

Mind linking it? Cannot seem to locate it on MSI's website. Thanks!

MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI (AMD AM4, DDR4, CF, M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Wi-Fi, HDMI, ATX Gaming Motherboard)

Powered by AMD Ryzen AM4 processors, the MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI inspired by the curve and shape of supercars, offers colorful customization with Mystic Light RGB, tuned for better performance by Core boost, DDR4 Boost, two M.2 slots with one

www.msi.com