Question Mobo suggestion Ryzen 5 3600

[Fallengod]

I could use some help and/or thoughts on which mobo to pair with a Ryzen 5 3600. I am having difficulty figuring out what I need/want. I was planning on waiting for B550 to get released, but it seems like some people say that will be Q3/4 of 2020. I do not want to wait that long.

Stability and reliability are important to me. Low temps? I did kind of want intel lan and good quality audio but I am not sure how necessary that is. I do not necessarily care about overclocking, I don't think it is worth it. Do not care about wifi. I am open to both B450/x470 and probably do not need x570. Also only plan on a single graphics card.

So far my motherboard picks:

Asrock B450 Steel Legend
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Asus Rog Strix B450-F / X470?


Any help/input is appreciated. I cant decide....

 

[Iron Woode]

Get an X570 board for better performance and features.

I am considering:
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Asus Prime X570-P
Asus TUF x570 Gaming Plus

 

[Steltek]

I could use some help and/or thoughts on which mobo to pair with a Ryzen 5 3600. I am having difficulty figuring out what I need/want. I was planning on waiting for B550 to get released, but it seems like some people say that will be Q3/4 of 2020. I do not want to wait that long.

Stability and reliability are important to me. Low temps? I did kind of want intel lan and good quality audio but I am not sure how necessary that is. I do not necessarily care about overclocking, I don't think it is worth it. Do not care about wifi. I am open to both B450/x470 and probably do not need x570. Also only plan on a single graphics card.

So far my motherboard picks:

Asrock B450 Steel Legend
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Asus Rog Strix B450-F / X470?


Any help/input is appreciated. I cant decide....

Do be aware that all of those boards EXCEPT the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max will require a BIOS upgrade to support the Ryzen 5 3600. It is a common problem with using an AMD Matisse CPU in a B450/x470 board as the 3600 was released after the B450/x470 chipsets).

MSI has an advantage here as both of your choices have a feature where the BIOS can be flashed without a CPU installed (though, the Tomahawk Max shouldn't actually need a BIOS upgrade as it is a newer board with R5 3600 support in the initial BIOS).

The Asrock/ASUS boards you chose don't have that feature. As a result, if you decide to buy the Asrock or either ASUS board and you don't have a compatible spare AMD CPU laying around (or don't want to deal with AMD's CPU loan program) you need to make sure you are being sold an Asrock/ASUS board with an updated BIOS installed supporting the R5 3600 (or Ryzen 3 CPUs in general) out of box.

If you decide to go x470, you might also find an x570 in a similar price range. If so, consider getting the x570 for PCIe 4.0 support (PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives should benefit going forward).

 

[Fallengod]

Yeah thanks for the suggestions. I did realize the bios update issue on boards other than msi. However, I would believe that at this point in time, all boards would be shipping with updated bios now and it is probably lesser of an issue.


I was kind of trying to stay away from x570 only because they were kinda expensive and not really needing pcie 4.0 just yet. I suppose that is the smart choice though if you find a good quality x570 for around a similar price point to a B450 or x470.

My main concern is reliable/stable and then good quality audio and lan. I want boards with no issues or problems. I kind of build 'quiet' pcs. So part of my concern with the x570 is how much noise that chipset fan makes. That was part of my reason for NOT wanting the x570.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm fairly happy with my Asus B450-F ROG STRIX Gaming ATX board, and my R5 3600. Have 4x8GB DDR4-3600 (Trident Z RGB "for AMD" 3600 kit x2 in there) @ XMP setting, no problems.

I believe that it has Intel LAN. (I burned mine out, as well as an Asus 10GbE-T card, for some reason, my rig has some issues, but probably it's the PSU, not the board.)

I run two GPUs, and the CPU, mining. Also, run dual PCI-E NVMe SSDs, in RAID-0. (The B450-F ROG STRIX is one of the few AM4 boards on the market, before the X570 chipset boards, that could run TWO NVMe slots in RAID-0 at FULL speed. That was one of the features that drew me toward it. The downside is, the second GPU slot becomes PCI-E 3.0 x4, rather than x8, when using the second NVMe PCI-E 3.0 x4 slot.)

You can also use the last PCI-E x16 (PCI-E 2.0 x4 from chipset electrically) as well, and that's where I had the 10GbE-T card.

So, if you want to load up on 2x GPUs, 2x NVMe SSDs in RAID-0, and add a 10GbE-T (PCI-E x4) on top, this board will do it!

Also, it has two dedicated water-cooling pump headers. HWMonitor (newest version, with newest UEFI 3003), calls them out as "Water Pump" and "AIO Pump", I think. (I'm also using an AIO WC kit with this rig. Went all-out.)

Edit: Down-side is (compared to Tomahawk Max), no 32MB BIOS (only 16MB, I think), and no "BIOS flashback" feature. Which would have made this board PERFECT. Oh well. It does have a USB 3.1 Gen(2?) Type-C connector too.

 

[Charlie98]

Low temps?

I don't know about that. My B450 and stock 2700x idles around 38C and easily shoots up into the 50's when working, this in a 70'ish degree room. Stock cooler, however.

I like my B450 mobo, the only weak points are the horrible Gigabyte BIOS GUI, and the location of the SATA ports (hidden behind my full-length GPU.) With a single M.2 slot, I don't know that I'm missing anything over an X-board, this in general PC use.

 

[Campy]

The Asus B450-F seems to fit your needs. If you consider spending more than that you might as well look at entry level X570 boards.

 

[Fallengod]

The Asus B450-F seems to fit your needs. If you consider spending more than that you might as well look at entry level X570 boards.

Yeah that is part of my consideration as well. I dont want to spend to much on a B450/x470 because if it starts to get past $150, I feel like I might as well go x570. I think I am just going to go for a cheap B450 board while I wait for the B550 to come out. If anything changes with the B550 release I really care about I can always upgrade I guess. It seems B550 are not coming out any time soon really and I dont want to keep waiting.

I do have one question regarding the Asus B450-F and this is part of my hesitation and confusion. Does the Asus B450-F support the new Ryzen 5 series fine? It has a lower bios size compared to the MSI B450 Tomahawk max, is that a problem? Or should I just go for the MSI tomahawk max. I do hate Asus for their terrible support but I have never owned an MSI motherboard either. At least MSI has upgraded bios size to fix the issues they had. I just dont understand if other B450 motherboards have the bios size issue or if this was just an MSI thing.

Id rather go Asus only because they have better intel nic(which probably doesnt matter) and better audio. I do notice they support lower memory speeds than the tomhawk max though(which also may not matter).

The last random question I have is, regardless of how it sounds, I prefer to stay with windows 7 64bit. I am not really big on windows 10 nor do I own it or want to spend the money to buy it. Is the Asus B450-F or MSI tomahawk either any different or easier to install windows 7 on? I noticed on newegg page it says for the Asus B450 that it only supports Ryzen 1-2gen for win7 64-bit. And they have very few windows 7 drivers on the support page, where as MSI seems like they have full drivers for windows 7.

Anyways. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The last random question I have is, regardless of how it sounds, I prefer to stay with windows 7 64bit. I am not really big on windows 10 nor do I own it or want to spend the money to buy it. Is the Asus B450-F or MSI tomahawk either any different or easier to install windows 7 on? I noticed on newegg page it says for the Asus B450 that it only supports Ryzen 1-2gen for win7 64-bit. And they have very few windows 7 drivers on the support page, where as MSI seems like they have full drivers for windows 7.

In that case, I'd probably go MSI then. But firstly, I wouldn't stick with Win7.

 

[Iron Woode]

Yeah that is part of my consideration as well. I dont want to spend to much on a B450/x470 because if it starts to get past $150, I feel like I might as well go x570. I think I am just going to go for a cheap B450 board while I wait for the B550 to come out. If anything changes with the B550 release I really care about I can always upgrade I guess. It seems B550 are not coming out any time soon really and I dont want to keep waiting.

I do have one question regarding the Asus B450-F and this is part of my hesitation and confusion. Does the Asus B450-F support the new Ryzen 5 series fine? It has a lower bios size compared to the MSI B450 Tomahawk max, is that a problem? Or should I just go for the MSI tomahawk max. I do hate Asus for their terrible support but I have never owned an MSI motherboard either. At least MSI has upgraded bios size to fix the issues they had. I just dont understand if other B450 motherboards have the bios size issue or if this was just an MSI thing.

Id rather go Asus only because they have better intel nic(which probably doesnt matter) and better audio. I do notice they support lower memory speeds than the tomhawk max though(which also may not matter).

The last random question I have is, regardless of how it sounds, I prefer to stay with windows 7 64bit. I am not really big on windows 10 nor do I own it or want to spend the money to buy it. Is the Asus B450-F or MSI tomahawk either any different or easier to install windows 7 on? I noticed on newegg page it says for the Asus B450 that it only supports Ryzen 1-2gen for win7 64-bit. And they have very few windows 7 drivers on the support page, where as MSI seems like they have full drivers for windows 7.

Anyways. Thanks for the feedback.

The B450 boards have limitations with the Zen2 cpu's and sometimes quirky behaviour.

Win 7 is done with regards to support now. Win 10 has it's issues to be sure but win 7 has limitations under AMD.

Personally, I have decided to go with the Asus Prime X570-P. No Intel LAN but it has great VRM cooling and power phases for stable operation.

 

[Shmee]

AFAIK, there are no drivers for X570 boards, or at least for mine, with Windows 7. Also, windows 7 is not supported on 2nd gen boards using 3rd gen CPU.

Luckily, MS is pretty generous about Windows 10 activations. If you have a current license for windows 7, it will likely activate an install of windows 10. What version of windows 7 do you have? If it is a retail copy and you have the product key, you should be set.

 

[Shmee]

Also, what is your budget? I have a spare X470 board, the Asrock X470 Taichi that I am looking to sell. It has a Windows 10 pro license attached and is patched to BIOS 3.50 to work with the Ryzen 3000 series. PM me if interested.

 

[Fallengod]

Yeah. I have used windows 10 and just dont like it. I know it would probably be a bad choice sticking with win7 over win10 but it seems like some B450 and x470s do have support for it. I have not definitively decided on win7 yet so maybe I will just bite the bullet and upgrade. Well see...

Thanks for the offer on the x470. I dont really have a budget per se. I just want a good, stable, durable and reliable mobo for the long haul. I am a little hesitant buying a used mobo only because if there was an issue, I have no way to return it. Thanks for the offer though. I will consider it though thanks.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

have you considered: Gigabyte Aorus B450 Pro Wifi?

-built in wifi + BT
-2x m.2 slots
-reinforced PCI-E Slot (metal)
-rgb lighting on the mb (if you're into that, controllable with gigabyte software in windows)
-integrated back plate for cleaner rear and easy install

 

[Fallengod]

have you considered: Gigabyte Aorus B450 Pro Wifi?

-built in wifi + BT
-2x m.2 slots
-reinforced PCI-E Slot (metal)
-rgb lighting on the mb (if you're into that, controllable with gigabyte software in windows)
-integrated back plate for cleaner rear and easy install

Gigabyte has awful support and low quality. They would be at the bottom of my list. No Gigabyte products over here.

Trying to stick with MSI, Asus, Asrock, not that Asus has any better support but at least their products are usually good quality.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Gigabyte has awful support and low quality. They would be at the bottom of my list. No Gigabyte products over here.

Trying to stick with MSI, Asus, Asrock, not that Asus has any better support but at least their products are usually good quality.

lol ok

 

[Fallengod]

Thanks for the help all. I had a small amount of bestbuy gift card left as well as some cash rewards I had to use expiring so I just went with the MSI B450 Tomahawk max @ bestbuy. I didnt want to have compatibility issues with the Ryzen 3600. I wanted the Asus B450 strix but it seems to have far worse vrm temps and people still complaining about bios issues with new gen ryzens. Not sure if its the best decision but hopefully ends up being good. I am big on the bang 4 buck builds so this paired with a ryzen 3600 should be decent I hope. It came to $75 after my gcs/rewards so...

 

[MBrown]

Thanks for the help all. I had a small amount of bestbuy gift card left as well as some cash rewards I had to use expiring so I just went with the MSI B450 Tomahawk max @ bestbuy. I didnt want to have compatibility issues with the Ryzen 3600. I wanted the Asus B450 strix but it seems to have far worse vrm temps and people still complaining about bios issues with new gen ryzens. Not sure if its the best decision but hopefully ends up being good. I am big on the bang 4 buck builds so this paired with a ryzen 3600 should be decent I hope. It came to $75 after my gcs/rewards so...

Good choice on the Tomahawk Max.

 

[Fallengod]

Good choice on the Tomahawk Max.

Yeah hopefully. Well see. I really wanted better audio and intel lan but, it probably wont make much of a difference. I got it for only $75 after gcs and rewards at bestbuy. I figured, I can always return it if it doesnt work out and if something better comes out with B550, I can always upgrade(even though that would suck to do).

I actually waited an additional 5 months to upgrade and then saw that B550 wasnt coming out all that quickly, I got tired of waiting...

 

[Tomana]

I could use some help and/or thoughts on which mobo to pair with a Ryzen 5 3600. I am having difficulty figuring out what I need/want. I was planning on waiting for B550 to get released, but it seems like some people say that will be Q3/4 of 2020. I do not want to wait that long.

Stability and reliability are important to me. Low temps? I did kind of want intel lan and good quality audio but I am not sure how necessary that is. I do not necessarily care about overclocking, I don't think it is worth it. Do not care about wifi. I am open to both B450/x470 and probably do not need x570. Also only plan on a single graphics card.

So far my motherboard picks:

Asrock B450 Steel Legend
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Asus Rog Strix B450-F / X470?


Any help/input is appreciated. I cant decide....

I got a Tomahawk Max some weeks back and find it to be an excellent platform for OCing a Ryzen 5 2600. It's a nice build, VRM coolers ... check it out