Need an AM4 Board - but a catch....

MrGuvernment

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Aug 3, 2004
Messages
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Reading endlessly on all the great posts around AM4 boards, B550 vs X570 and all the things in between.

So, now here is my catch. I own a Asus 6800 OC - with triple fans, and almost every board only has 2x PCIe x 16 slots. with the 2nd one being right below where my GPU would end and fans would be.

I am going to be putting in a 10GB SFP+ card in this new system, prob an Intel x520 or something,(doing fiber through our my basement) and so, those card can be a little larger and with the heatsinks, my worry is blocking some of the airflow into the GPU.

If this really is not a worry, great , but it is on my mind right now so I was looking at boards with at least 3 x PCIe x16 slots, as it seems x2 slots don't exist on boards, it is x16 or x1 slots.

Having said that, this will likely be paired with a 3900XT, or if a 5900X pops up real soon and some O/C'n may be nice.

This cuts my options down on what boards I can get, with most of them being Gigabyte, with an Asus and an MSI, and it seems you now get into the $300+ range (Prices are all in CAD)

Are any of these Gigabyte boards...worthy?

B550 AORUS ELITE - $199 This may be a v1 model and not the v2 with the USB C onboard and true 14 Phase VRM vs the 12+2 doubling thingy..
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112707

[EDIT] Found a review https://www.thefpsreview.com/2020/12/23/gigabyte-b550-aorus-elite-motherboard-review/

B550 AORUS PRO - $259
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112708

B550 AORUS PRO AC - $269
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112709

ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING - $404 - WAYY to expensive I think...
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX77771

NewEgg.ca
MSI MEG X570 UNIFY - $389 - Pricey!
https://www.newegg.ca/msi-meg-x570-unify/p/N82E16813144273?Item=N82E16813144273

ASUS Prime X570-Pro - $329 - little easier to swallow...but still about $70 over what I would want to spend.
https://www.newegg.ca/asus-prime-x570-pro/p/N82E16813119196?Item=N82E16813119196


Doing some other reading on the Gigabyte lines, some one noted that their implementation of PCIe is screwed up if you want to use more than 1 NVMe drive?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/commen...w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

1611205147316.png


With some others saying quality of the Gigabyte boards in general are not as good as say MSI or Asus boards in the same price range? I have always loved Gigabyte boards but being as this is a higher end build for me, and i want it to last.....

Any thoughts around my options for a good mobo, able to OC and handle a 3900XT/5900X?

Or do I just make sure I have good air flow through the case and put my 10GBSFP+ card under the GPU in a 2 slot mobo and expand my options?
 
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I know for my X570 Taichi, the bottom PCI-E 8X slot can do PCI-E 8x or 4x, but it removes one of the M.2 slots on the board. (It already has 3)

1611214644147.png

So I'm guessing other X570 boards with triple PCI-E 16x slots should be able to do similar?
AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse) • 3 x PCI Express 4.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1/PCIE3/PCIE5: single at x16 (PCIE1); dual at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE3); triple at x8 (PCIE1) / x8 (PCIE3) / x4 (PCIE5))*
Storage • 8 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug • 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type 2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) (with Matisse) or Gen3x4 (32 Gb/s) (with Pinnacle Ridge and Picasso)* • 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s)* • 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_3), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s)* * If M2_3 is occupied, PCIE5 slot will be disabled
(If that couldn't appear more complicated)

I'm using an NVME drive in every M.2 slot (1 drive at 4.0 x4, 2 drives at 3.0 x4) and a 4th NVME drive in a riser in my PCI-E3 (operating at 3.0 x4) slot and I'm therefore using all 24 lanes without any hint of slowdown if that helps at all. I don't have any personal experience with the other boards you've mentioned.
I'm also currently using 7 of my 8 SATA ports and my M.2 WiFi adapter, still with no bandwidth issues.
 
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Reading endlessly on all the great posts around AM4 boards, B550 vs X570 and all the things in between.

So, now here is my catch. I own a Asus 6800 OC - with triple fans, and almost every board only has 2x PCIe x 16 slots. with the 2nd one being right below where my GPU would end and fans would be.

I am going to be putting in a 10GB SFP+ card in this new system, prob an Intel x520 or something,(doing fiber through our my basement) and so, those card can be a little larger and with the heatsinks, my worry is blocking some of the airflow into the GPU.

If this really is not a worry, great , but it is on my mind right now so I was looking at boards with at least 3 x PCIe x16 slots, as it seems x2 slots don't exist on boards, it is x16 or x1 slots.

Having said that, this will likely be paired with a 3900XT, or if a 5900X pops up real soon and some O/C'n may be nice.

This cuts my options down on what boards I can get, with most of them being Gigabyte, with an Asus and an MSI, and it seems you now get into the $300+ range (Prices are all in CAD)

Are any of these Gigabyte boards...worthy?

B550 AORUS ELITE - $199 This may be a v1 model and not the v2 with the USB C onboard and true 14 Phase VRM vs the 12+2 doubling thingy..
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112707

[EDIT] Found a review https://www.thefpsreview.com/2020/12/23/gigabyte-b550-aorus-elite-motherboard-review/

B550 AORUS PRO - $259
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112708

B550 AORUS PRO AC - $269
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX00112709

ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING - $404 - WAYY to expensive I think...
https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX77771

NewEgg.ca
MSI MEG X570 UNIFY - $389 - Pricey!
https://www.newegg.ca/msi-meg-x570-unify/p/N82E16813144273?Item=N82E16813144273

ASUS Prime X570-Pro - $329 - little easier to swallow...but still about $70 over what I would want to spend.
https://www.newegg.ca/asus-prime-x570-pro/p/N82E16813119196?Item=N82E16813119196


Doing some other reading on the Gigabyte lines, some one noted that their implementation of PCIe is screwed up if you want to use more than 1 NVMe drive?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/commen...w?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

View attachment 320993

With some others saying quality of the Gigabyte boards in general are not as good as say MSI or Asus boards in the same price range? I have always loved Gigabyte boards but being as this is a higher end build for me, and i want it to last.....

Any thoughts around my options for a good mobo, able to OC and handle a 3900XT/5900X?

Or do I just make sure I have good air flow through the case and put my 10GBSFP+ card under the GPU in a 2 slot mobo and expand my options?

The person who posted that information on the B550 Aorus Master has no clue what they are talking about. For starters, I've got one on my test bench, so I know a thing or two about it. That configuration isn't limited to the GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master. It's ALL B550 chipset motherboards. It's because that's a B550 motherboard. B550 chipsets aren't PCIe 4.0 compatible. They are PCIe 3.0. Their 4.0 slots come directly off the CPU. You get 1x PCIe x16 Gen 4.0 slot for your graphics card and 1x M.2 slot because the CPU has 4x dedicated PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes for an SSD. When you see 2, 3, or more M.2 slots, those come from the PCH (chipset) and not the CPU. B550 is a more cost effective chipset than X570. Boards made with it can be made cheaper as they don't have to have a full PCIe Gen 4.0 trace layout.

Here is X570's block diagram.

1611217430219.png


Now, here is B550's.

1611217403712.png


As you can see, the "20 PCIe 4.0 Lanes" advertised with B550 don't come from the chipset at all, but rather the AMD Ryzen 3000 and 5000 series CPU's. The flex lanes listed, allow for the manufacturers to alter the configuration somewhat, but no manufacturer I've ever seen used the option to split the dedicated 4x lanes for storage into two M.2 slots with only 2x lanes each, or opt to use them as SATA ports. So, everything aside from the single M.2 slot and the PCIe x16 slot for your GPU are going to be PCIe 3.0 compatible on B550. If you want everything to be PCIe 4.0, you need to step up to X570.

I hope this clears up the confusion.
 
Thank you everyone, Dan for correcting the wrong info (and I read some of your mobo reviews on the Gigabytes and they all seemed good...) and the extender had come to mind, never thought to use a mATX board with one to keep a normal ATX style case....

$505, sexy looking board! And as much as I would love one, going too high for my prefered budget.
 
Dan_D did you have any post issues on it ? Just reading over some threads about it and couple people have had post issues from cold boot or reboot and seems to be around ram speeds? Which ever board I get I am planning for 32GB of ram in 2 x 16GB sticks, prob 4000Mhz speed as i recall Zen 2 liked the 3800Mhz mark for speed? (might of been you who had said that in another thread)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/et9q38/prime_x570_pro_wont_post_but_only_randomly/
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/ht0ynv/asus_prime_x570pro_wont_post_with_more_than_one/

Could also get the MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI for $276.90..

Too many dam options! :D

I think I am somewhat narrowed down to as Ikeep going back to these boards.

ASUS Prime X570-Pro - $314
- But the boot issues worry me, but seem XPM and all that can do that to any x570 board?

MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI for $276.90
- Seems to get praise every where

Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE WIFI - $279

TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (Wi-Fi) - $249
- Not true 12x2 phase power but still good (Dan_D's review..)
 
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