Two boards - best choice?

gastan

Junior Member
May 21, 2018
1
0
1
Building a budget/mid-level Ryzen 5 2400G system and am considering two mATX motherboards:
Asus TUF B350m-plus gaming https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/TUF-B350M-PLUS-GAMING/specifications/
or
Gigabyte GA-AB350m-d3h https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-D3H-rev-10#sp

The boards have virtually identical specs so I am having a hard time deciding. VRM's and overclocking will decide which I choose but even info on those seems hard to find.
Asus: all the web page says is DIGI+ 6 phase digital power. Can't find any independant reviews that mention power phase's.
Gigabyte: no mention of power on webpage at all and I've read conflicting reports on review sites. (for example) one site says, simply, 6 phase. Another claims 7 phase (4+3).
Which board has better power implemention - - - phase's, quality VRM's, quality mosfets, heatsinks, etc. ?????

Which board has the best/easiest, most straight-forward overclocking? Any issues with missing or hard to find settings? Any issues with individual quirks or odd-ball implementaion? I am mostly interested in overclocking the RAM (will want to get it up to rated 3200mhz).

I am not a gamer but do lots of Photoshop and light/moderate video editing.

Rest of build will be (main components only):
16GB Pro Dark DDR4 3200 CL14-14-14-31 (b-die)
Crucial BX300 240GB SSD system drive
WD Black 1TB 7200rpm storage drive
No GPU until/unless prices go down.

Any input greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

Gt403cyl

Member
Jun 12, 2018
126
21
51
Im not super familiar with either of those boards specifically, however if memory serves ASUS has a BIOS reflash option if you manage to brick the chip or something to that effect, but in my opinion the Gigabyte BIOS is easier to use.

Realistically I would say just pick the one you like better.
 
Last edited:

alexruiz

Platinum Member
Sep 21, 2001
2,832
555
126
Are those your only 2 options?

I would recommend a third one, the Gigabyte GA-AB350M Gaming 3. This one has beefier heatsinks on the VRMs than the D3H.
In my opinion, the Gaming 3 is the best B350 mATX board available. The TUF seems comparable though.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
55,875
9,798
126
I have a Gigabyte Gaming 3 mATX B350 AM4 board, and it's really a great board. I've got a Ryzen 5 2400G in it, and 2x8GB Team Vulcan DDR4-3000 RAM, running at 3000, supposedly. Runs great!

But I did have to boot it with an older original Ryzen CPU, and a dGPU, and flash the BIOS to F21, it came from the factory with F6. Before that, when I installed the 2400G, it was dead as a doornail.
 

Gt403cyl

Member
Jun 12, 2018
126
21
51
Are those your only 2 options?

I would recommend a third one, the Gigabyte GA-AB350M Gaming 3. This one has beefier heatsinks on the VRMs than the D3H.
In my opinion, the Gaming 3 is the best B350 mATX board available. The TUF seems comparable though.

100% agree, I absolutely love the B350 Gaming 3, more-so the ATX version (just not a fan of the mATX form factor) still is a great board though.
I was only going from the options listed, if possible I would recommend ^^^.
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
6,989
2,129
136
I will 3rd the Gigabyte AB350M gaming 3. It is a great mATX board for under $100. I use it in my ryzen rig, with a 2700X and 16GB b-die. Be sure to apply the latest bios. Remember if you get one with an older bios you may need an older AM4 cpu to update the bios for use with a newer CPU like the 2400G or any of the 2000 series Ryzen.
 

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