Question Which Mobo for Ryzen 5600X? Four Options

[Bobsy]

Hello community. I'm ready to upgrade from a i5-4690K to something faster. I've been running with Intel since the 90s, but now ready to consider AMD.
The PC will be used for gaming @ 1440p 165 Hz. It will get a 5600X CPU (no overclocking), GTX 3080-class GPU from AMD or NVIDIA, 2x8 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD, a few extra SSDs/HDDs, and a new case that I have yet to pick.
I've reviewed advice from Anandtech, Hardware Unboxed, Gamers Nexus, Buildzoid, LTT and even Jayz2Cents (not my favorite) and I boiled it down to these options below. I guess I can't go wrong with any of them, but would like to seek the opinion of the amazing people of this community.
What I want:

• A truly awesome and durable board that will be somewhat future-proof (except for AM4, it's ok)
• Minimum 6 SATA
• More than 4 USB at the back IO (rules out MSI B550 Tomahawk and Gaming Edge)
• Optical Audio Out (I'm thinking it would be great futureproofing for plugging the PC into a home theater receiver and get 7.1 audio? Would this work?)
• 2.5G LAN vs. 1G LAN: how important is this? What about futureproofing?
• Wifi and good looks (RGB) would be nice

Motherboard (current price in Canadian dollars before taxes)	Why I like it
Gigabyte B550 AORUS PRO (possibly with wifi) ($224 or $240 w/wifi)	It's only missing an internal Type-C header basically. Otherwise, it's great with lots of rear IO, 2.5G LAN, and 4x system fan headers (better than 3)
MSI B550-A Pro ($175)	Basic board, but at least it's cheap. Missing optical audio out and only has 1G LAN. 6 SATA though.
ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (possibly with wifi) ($225 or $250 w/wifi)	Best Sweet Spot according to Anandtech's last "best picks". Has everything except internal Type C header
ASUS TUF Gaming X570 Plus (possibly with wifi) ($218 or $229 w/wifi)	Apparently one of the best value X570 board on the market. Only has 1G LAN, but everything else is good.

On the topic of X570 vs B550, Linus says that B550 is all most people need while Jayz says X570 costs the same as B550 so he would never buy B550... 🤔 It looks like the B550 boards being newer get 2.5GB LAN while the X570 have the slower connection. Not sure how this matters... From what I know, I'm probably the kind of guy who will be more than happy with B550 over the long run...

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I welcome your comments! Cheers.

 

[UsandThem]

On the topic of X570 vs B550, Linus says that B550 is all most people need while Jayz says X570 costs the same as B550 so he would never buy B550

For the same price, a X570 motherboard seems like the easy choice. However, I am one who doesn't want a chipset fan (both from the noise small fans make, to having to replace it when it dies).

The Asus ROG Strix B550-F Wifi would be the board I personally would go with if were building a new AMD system. It's pretty loaded as far a features, it's a solidly built mid-rage board, Asus provides steady BIOS updates. Plus, I think it looks nice (although that doesn't really matter to me since I don't have a windowed case).

 

[Bobsy]

@UsandThem, you make an excellent point about the chipset fan. It was a concern when I saw a photo of the board. I don't think I can go wrong with the ASUS board.
Now, I'll just have to wait and see if the 5600X is a good choice or not. Independent reviews should come out shortly!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It depends on how you are using this new build concerning the audio. If this will be hooked to a HDTV, and your home theater receiver supports HDMI, you can use the audio from your new GPU. If you are going DP and a gaming monitor, then yes, Optical will work.

2.5Gb add in cards are getting cheap, so you can add one, if you need it, later. Unless you are transferring large files, and have the supporting infrastructure, it is not a deal breaker imo. I am mildly curious why you care if it includes wifi though? Going to move the system between rooms, and lack ethernet in some?

The TUF Gaming X570 Plus does look like the best pick for you.

 

[bfun_x1]

Any reason your not interested in something like an ASRock B550 Steel Legend?

 

[Bobsy]

@DAPUNISHER, I'm currently using external DAC/headphones with my PC, as well as DP + Monitor. The reason why I specified optical audio out was for the scenario of moving the PC to the living room/home theater and use it there for some occasional gaming. If HDMI will carry the sound, then I agree I don't
need it! I'm happy to scratch that off my list of requirements.
I have nothing supporting 2.5 GB for the time being and did not even know there was such a thing before last week!
The PC is normally located in the office and wired to the router. I will also be wired in the living room/home theater, but only in about 12-18 months time (after renos). Until then, the wifi would be convenient. The scenario of moving my computer to the living room is only theoretical at this point.

@bfun_x1, I originally had the ASRock B550 Steel Legend in my table, but when I checked out the current price in Canada (280 CAD), I just took it off the list. I didn't see the value at all vs. the other options I listed. (In the US, it's 175 USD so a lot more viable). Please let me know if you think it's worth 280 CAD.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

@DAPUNISHER, I'm currently using external DAC/headphones with my PC, as well as DP + Monitor. The reason why I specified optical audio out was for the scenario of moving the PC to the living room/home theater and use it there for some occasional gaming. If HDMI will carry the sound, then I agree I don't
need it! I'm happy to scratch that off my list of requirements.
I have nothing supporting 2.5 GB for the time being and did not even know there was such a thing before last week!
The PC is normally located in the office and wired to the router. I will also be wired in the living room/home theater, but only in about 12-18 months time (after renos). Until then, the wifi would be convenient. The scenario of moving my computer to the living room is only theoretical at this point.

When I started using a gaming PC in the living room, I quickly saw how much better it was than a console for couch or recliner gaming; better fps, full controller support, and kb&m for shooters using my Roccat Sova. I quickly grew annoyed with constantly unplugging and plugging in everything. Which meant throwing money at another system. Maybe you could repurpose your old system for now? If you are like me, you have a 100+ games that will run great on fairly modest hardware.

 

[Bobsy]

What you are describing there is what I want to do, but with this PC I'm building right now, in a few years' time. I have kids that will want to play with their friends (and me hopefully) in a few years and I want to make sure this new PC is suitable for that down the road.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

For motherboard comparison purposes, this is pretty awesome:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wmsTYK9Z3-jUX5LGRoFnsZYZiW1pfiDZnKCjaXyzd1o/edit#

 

[Bobsy]

Any reason your not interested in something like an ASRock B550 Steel Legend?

Turns out the ASRock B550 Steel Legend is currently on sale for 190 CAD! That's 90 dollars off from its regular price. It's more competitive now than all other options I was considering.

 

[bfun_x1]

Turns out the ASRock B550 Steel Legend is currently on sale for 190 CAD! That's 90 dollars off from its regular price. It's more competitive now than all other options I was considering.

The ASRock boards have had some good sales and rebates going on. The VELOCITA has been down to $165 and I got the Extreme4 for $150. I guess that's about $195 CAD.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

I currently have an Asrock B450 ITX board. My case is a fractal design Meshify C Mini, so I need to go with ITX or m-ATX.

I am really liking the MSI B550M Mortar WiFi. It has good VRM performance according to hardware unboxed testing, it has 2.5G LAN, WiFi (which is what I would use), optical audio out, good fan support, two nvme connectors (one of which is PCIE 4, even though that’s pretty much a gimmick right now) and no real drawbacks from what I can see. Well, maybe only 6 rear USB headers could be considered a bit low, but seems pretty standard these days.

Just saw a review where they tested the audio and it was pretty crappy. So while this board has other good features, it may not great for those who want good audio. Or maybe that review had a bad board. It was overclockersckub or something like that. Couldn’t find many reviews of this board.


I think that would be my pick, and it is ~$170 on Newegg.

-AG

 

[Bobsy]

Thank you for your input, @AnnoyedGrunt. I can't stand crappy onboard audio, so I bypass it completely by using an external DAC and USB microphone.

I'm down to three options for the motherboard:
a) ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wifi)
b) Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro AC
c) Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro AX (https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550-AORUS-PRO-AX-rev-10#kf) - not yet available?!
Most characteristics are exactly the same, with very small differences. Here are the pros of each board (first two choices) as I see it: (I know I'm splitting hairs here):

In favor of ASUS B550-F (Wifi)	In favor of Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro
- Wifi solution is way better (Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2T2R vs. 1T2R and Bluetooth is 5.0 instead of 4.2) - LAN seems better with Intel I225-V instead of a Realtek controller	- 4 case fan headers instead of 3 (total of 8 instead of 6) - More RGB lighting headers (1 more 12v and 1 more addressable 5V) - Use of the second M.2 slot does not disable any SATA port - 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 ports on the back panel (none on ASUS board)

My third option seems to be the best of both worlds. The Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro AX is too new and not yet on sale anywhere. It seems to be a newer version of the Pro AC with the better wifi. That's the one I really want!

 

[HomerJS]

You may want to narrow further between B550 and X570 and then decide. Perhaps comparing sweet apples vs tart apples. Depends on your primary use and load.

 

[Bobsy]

Good suggestion. B550 is definitely the right chipset for me. I ended up purchasing the Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro AC, since the AX version is nowhere to be seen and the price was very good (156 USD). I've had this board sitting in its box alongside my new Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, G.Skill Trident Z Neo memory and a 1 TB M.2 NVMe drive for almost two weeks! I can't wait to put them together, which will happen tomorrow.