Best x570 for budget $250 and $300 builds?

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fakeng

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Been trying to find a board for my new Ryzen build what would you guys recommend? I have looked at the pros and cons of x470 vs. x570 as well as sub $200 boards but not many are fulfilling, what would you guys recommend?

My requirements are:
  1. At least 2 m.2 onboard
  2. At least 6 sata and not (shared resources with other m.2/pcie)
  3. At least 1 pcie x16 & 1 pcie x8 or greater
  4. VRM that can stand a bit of 3900x overclocking
  5. If it does have wifi, must have latest wireless AX/6 specs
I have been looking a Gigabyte Aorus x570 Ultra, Asus Strix x570-F Gaming and for budget a Gigabyte Aorus Pro wifi. Any tips and sugestions?
 
Aorus Pro/Pro WiFi. Check Buildzoid's recent video on the Gigabyte X570 boards.
 
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fakeng said:
Gaming, and occasional bit of 3D and video rending. I have a spare 10gbe NIC card (pcie 2.0 x8?) I wanna use and at least 2 m.2 (Samsung 970 evo + no name 1TB SSD)
Click to expand...
Why not just pickup an X470, have AMD send you a GE200 so you can update the BIOS and save yourself 150 bucks (if you already have the 10 GbE card). You can pickup these boards pretty cheap. I ended picking up the Gigabyte X470 Ultra Gaming on Amazon Prime Day(s) for 99 bucks:

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-X47...55011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=gateway&sr=8-11

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-X470GPLU...55011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=gateway&sr=8-16

I'm pretty certain you can update that Gigabyte BIOS without a CPU too (I will give this one a go tonight).
 
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Here is the thing about cheaper boards. Many people want to dimiss the more expensive motherboards as having nothing but fluff features. The assumption is that the products are roughly equal, and that your paying for things you do not need on a more expensive motherboard. There is a bit of truth in that, but there are also sometimes differences in VRM's, VRM cooling, PCB thickness and even quality. Now, some of this isn't really a big deal. PCB thickness is something that's a concern for designers, not really end users and system builders outside of one area. A thinner PCB is subject to warping and if sufficiently warped, you can damage the board. You can pop surface mount components off for example. This is most noticeable and problematic during the initial build. However, heavier video cards can subject a motherboard to sheering forces if it gets moved around or even bumped. The other big concern is with larger air coolers with cheaper PCB's. This is less of a problem for AIO users as the weight of that cooling solution doesn't rest on the motherboard.

Memory installation is another area where PCB thickness and bending can impact things. When doing an install its easy enough to knock something else loose. None of these issues are insurmountable and simply require some care ahead of time. Some people simply try their luck and don't worry about it at all. Frankly, this is probably not an issue most of the time. Cheaper motherboards also lack some of the same IC's that the more expensive ones do. This can impact things like external clock generators which are less flexible for overclocking. You may also lose a great deal of voltage control. Some less expensive motherboards won't support voltage adjustments in finer increments as an example. Some of these motherboards may literally have just enough capacitors on them to function properly and no more. Basically, these could be at the edge of what they need for stability. Power phases also come to mind. This impacts motherboard efficiency and potential overclocking or as is the case with AMD, boost clocks.

Look at it this way, you might be able to get the job done with four phases. However, those may be pushed and at their limits where they aren't very efficient. A more efficient VRM is a cooler VRM. Not only that, if you want to use something like Precision Boost Overdrive, the motherboards design limits for PPT, EDC and TDC will be less on cheaper boards. That said, PBO is virtually useless on the Ryzen 9 3900X. A final example on VRM's, if you look at their power output, there are many B350 and B450 motherboards that could barely handle a Ryzen 9 3900X at stock speeds. A 16c/32t 3950X is almost right out. I know some of you guys buy AMD because you want that platform longevity. You are under the impression that it will save you money going forward and while a nice idea, it doesn't always work out that way. It's harder to future proof a motherboard when its built to cut rate electrical standards.

Other more specialized IC's are used for things like fan control or additional temperature zone monitoring. That's something you could lose out on. You can end up with fewer fan headers as well. You almost certainly will when cutting motherboard prices to the bone. Let's not forget a couple of other ugly truths in the AM4 world. Those 16MB BIOS ROMs that we never gave any thought to are a problem now given the size of AMD's AGESA code. Lastly, cheaper motherboards (especially on the AMD side of things) will not have the IC's and therefore the capability of flashing the BIOS without a CPU being installed. This creates problems for people who buy an older motherboard at deep discounts and pair them with newer CPU's. That problem also extends to problems should a BIOS flash fail. You may be left with a bricked board that's best used as wall art. Many people don't realize that the money you spend on these higher end motherboards goes lots of different places. It's not all fluff.

Case in point, you can have a motherboard with OK VRM's and tons of features like ASUS' Maximus XI Formula. It's very expensive as a result. It's packed with things you might not need or even want. However, the Maximus XI APEX is relatively stripped in comparison. It's got one of the best VRM configurations for overclocking of any LGA 1151 motherboards out there. Yet, it has little RGB, no onboard video output, one NIC, no fancy plastic covers, only two RAM slots and no NVMe RAID support. It looks like of like a $160 motherboard with an enormous price tag. This is a performance model and that's what its built to do. Both of these motherboards are expensive, but their costs are tied up in very different areas.

Specifically, X570 is expensive for a reason. When I see a bargain bin price on an X570 motherboard, I can't help but think it's probably the Lorcin of the motherboard world. I haven't tested any such motherboards yet, so I can't speak to that definitively, but cheap boards are usually priced that way for a good reason. This is fine if you know what you are getting into, but don't think for a second that a higher priced board is a waste of money. Obviously, there is a limit there. A $699.99 MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE does have a ton of fluff on it and I doubt its any better than a $400 X570 motherboard beyond looks and some other nice to have features. By the same token, a $350 or $400 X570 motherboard is probably a much better investment in terms of longevity than some $159.99 X570 motherboards are likely to be.

We'll have to see how some of these cheaper boards pan out. However, one thing we can't do in reviews is test their longevity. I've had some pretty cheap stuff make it through the review process so its hard to knock them when they do. However, I wouldn't hedge my bets on how long some of those might last.
 
At least 1 pcie x16 & 1 pcie x8 or greater
Click to expand...

You do know every board is going to run the cpu lanes as x8/x8 when you populate the second slot right? The third slot on pretty much everything is x4 from the chipset.

However the lane configuration you listed does technically exist with the Asus X570 Pro WS board: x16/x0/x8 or x8/x8/x8. It gives up the third m.2 slot for this, and swaps the second for a U.2 connector instead.

MSRP on it is like $380 though, same price as the fancy Hero board which makes no sense. My local microcenters have tons of these and a giant gaping hole with lots of people waiting for the Heros.
 
Dan_D said:
Specifically, X570 is expensive for a reason. When I see a bargain bin price on an X570 motherboard, I can't help but think it's probably the Lorcin of the motherboard world. I haven't tested any such motherboards yet, so I can't speak to that definitively, but cheap boards are usually priced that way for a good reason. This is fine if you know what you are getting into, but don't think for a second that a higher priced board is a waste of money. Obviously, there is a limit there. A $699.99 MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE does have a ton of fluff on it and I doubt its any better than a $400 X570 motherboard beyond looks and some other nice to have features. By the same token, a $350 or $400 X570 motherboard is probably a much better investment in terms of longevity than some $159.99 X570 motherboards are likely to be.

We'll have to see how some of these cheaper boards pan out. However, one thing we can't do in reviews is test their longevity. I've had some pretty cheap stuff make it through the review process so its hard to knock them when they do. However, I wouldn't hedge my bets on how long some of those might last.
Click to expand...

I said fuckit and got the aorus extreme because Hell No to fucking trash chipset fans on nearly useless slivers of metal. Multi GPU is dead, why couldn't they have put real heatsinks on and keep them at the bottom of the board? Sigh.

Its about $200 more than it should be (IMO its a ~$450 board + $50 for the 10GbE) and really should have come with another premium feature addon such as thunderbolt (retail boards have no header, but cover still labels it lol) but whatever, fun hobby.
 
FWIW I got one of these for 18 bucks on Amazon

dIGfta2.png


No chipset fan yay
 
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I'm looking at B450 and x470 boards from MSI. The B450 Tomahawk and the Pro Carbon look like solid boards with a BIOS flash feature where you don''t need a CPU/RAM/Graphics plugged in.

Tomahawk is ~$115, 3600 is $200. 16gb of ddr4 3200mhz c14 b-die from teamdark is about $130. That is approx $450 or so, maybe $460 after taxes and shipping and stuff.

I think sub $400 is going to be hard to do unless you let lucky with sales or refurb parts. Or shop for really cheap boards that lack features. But IMHO, MSI with their BIOS quick flash feature is very compelling and worth it.
 
fakeng said:
Been trying to find a board for my new Ryzen build what would you guys recommend? I have looked at the pros and cons of x470 vs. x570 as well as sub $200 boards but not many are fulfilling, what would you guys recommend?

My requirements are:
  1. At least 2 m.2 onboard
  2. At least 6 sata and not (shared resources with other m.2/pcie)
  3. At least 1 pcie x16 & 1 pcie x8 or greater
  4. VRM that can stand a bit of 3900x overclocking
  5. If it does have wifi, must have latest wireless AX/6 specs
I have been looking a Gigabyte Aorus x570 Ultra, Asus Strix x570-F Gaming and for budget a Gigabyte Aorus Pro wifi. Any tips and sugestions?
Click to expand...

I recently upgraded to the system in my signature. The only reason I bought the Aorus Ultra is because MicroCenter did not have the Pro WiFi, and I do appreciate having the 3rd m.2 slot that the ultra provides. FWIW the Pro WiFi and Ultra are essentially the same, minus the extra m.2. that said, it's been rock solid out of the gate. the only issue is the voltage/temp issue which is hopefully addressed soon.
 
Dan_D said:
Here is the thing about cheaper boards. Many people want to dimiss the more expensive motherboards as having nothing but fluff features. The assumption is that the products are roughly equal, and that your paying for things you do not need on a more expensive motherboard. There is a bit of truth in that, but there are also sometimes differences in VRM's, VRM cooling, PCB thickness and even quality. Now, some of this isn't really a big deal. PCB thickness is something that's a concern for designers, not really end users and system builders outside of one area. A thinner PCB is subject to warping and if sufficiently warped, you can damage the board. You can pop surface mount components off for example. This is most noticeable and problematic during the initial build. However, heavier video cards can subject a motherboard to sheering forces if it gets moved around or even bumped. The other big concern is with larger air coolers with cheaper PCB's. This is less of a problem for AIO users as the weight of that cooling solution doesn't rest on the motherboard.

Memory installation is another area where PCB thickness and bending can impact things. When doing an install its easy enough to knock something else loose. None of these issues are insurmountable and simply require some care ahead of time. Some people simply try their luck and don't worry about it at all. Frankly, this is probably not an issue most of the time. Cheaper motherboards also lack some of the same IC's that the more expensive ones do. This can impact things like external clock generators which are less flexible for overclocking. You may also lose a great deal of voltage control. Some less expensive motherboards won't support voltage adjustments in finer increments as an example. Some of these motherboards may literally have just enough capacitors on them to function properly and no more. Basically, these could be at the edge of what they need for stability. Power phases also come to mind. This impacts motherboard efficiency and potential overclocking or as is the case with AMD, boost clocks.

Look at it this way, you might be able to get the job done with four phases. However, those may be pushed and at their limits where they aren't very efficient. A more efficient VRM is a cooler VRM. Not only that, if you want to use something like Precision Boost Overdrive, the motherboards design limits for PPT, EDC and TDC will be less on cheaper boards. That said, PBO is virtually useless on the Ryzen 9 3900X. A final example on VRM's, if you look at their power output, there are many B350 and B450 motherboards that could barely handle a Ryzen 9 3900X at stock speeds. A 16c/32t 3950X is almost right out. I know some of you guys buy AMD because you want that platform longevity. You are under the impression that it will save you money going forward and while a nice idea, it doesn't always work out that way. It's harder to future proof a motherboard when its built to cut rate electrical standards.

Other more specialized IC's are used for things like fan control or additional temperature zone monitoring. That's something you could lose out on. You can end up with fewer fan headers as well. You almost certainly will when cutting motherboard prices to the bone. Let's not forget a couple of other ugly truths in the AM4 world. Those 16MB BIOS ROMs that we never gave any thought to are a problem now given the size of AMD's AGESA code. Lastly, cheaper motherboards (especially on the AMD side of things) will not have the IC's and therefore the capability of flashing the BIOS without a CPU being installed. This creates problems for people who buy an older motherboard at deep discounts and pair them with newer CPU's. That problem also extends to problems should a BIOS flash fail. You may be left with a bricked board that's best used as wall art. Many people don't realize that the money you spend on these higher end motherboards goes lots of different places. It's not all fluff.

Case in point, you can have a motherboard with OK VRM's and tons of features like ASUS' Maximus XI Formula. It's very expensive as a result. It's packed with things you might not need or even want. However, the Maximus XI APEX is relatively stripped in comparison. It's got one of the best VRM configurations for overclocking of any LGA 1151 motherboards out there. Yet, it has little RGB, no onboard video output, one NIC, no fancy plastic covers, only two RAM slots and no NVMe RAID support. It looks like of like a $160 motherboard with an enormous price tag. This is a performance model and that's what its built to do. Both of these motherboards are expensive, but their costs are tied up in very different areas.

Specifically, X570 is expensive for a reason. When I see a bargain bin price on an X570 motherboard, I can't help but think it's probably the Lorcin of the motherboard world. I haven't tested any such motherboards yet, so I can't speak to that definitively, but cheap boards are usually priced that way for a good reason. This is fine if you know what you are getting into, but don't think for a second that a higher priced board is a waste of money. Obviously, there is a limit there. A $699.99 MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE does have a ton of fluff on it and I doubt its any better than a $400 X570 motherboard beyond looks and some other nice to have features. By the same token, a $350 or $400 X570 motherboard is probably a much better investment in terms of longevity than some $159.99 X570 motherboards are likely to be.

We'll have to see how some of these cheaper boards pan out. However, one thing we can't do in reviews is test their longevity. I've had some pretty cheap stuff make it through the review process so its hard to knock them when they do. However, I wouldn't hedge my bets on how long some of those might last.
Click to expand...
Damn, you write poetry... Always have the best damn things to say. I am trying out that X470 Gigabyte out right now, in the process of building it up with a 3600 which I suspect will run easily on the board. I suppose it all comes down to use cases and such. I do agree about the higher end chips, you would definitely want a solid board for them, however, I'm betting that most people could get by with a sub 100 buck board if they're running 8 cores or less. If the intent is to move to the 12+ core variants of the chip like the 3900+ then, yes, get a better X570 or a cheaper one if it fits your use case and still provides an appropriate amount of juice (and works...).
 
zpackrat said:
I recently upgraded to the system in my signature. The only reason I bought the Aorus Ultra is because MicroCenter did not have the Pro WiFi, and I do appreciate having the 3rd m.2 slot that the ultra provides. FWIW the Pro WiFi and Ultra are essentially the same, minus the extra m.2. that said, it's been rock solid out of the gate. the only issue is the voltage/temp issue which is hopefully addressed soon.
Click to expand...

Hey how many m.2 drives are you running and how many sata? are any of them disabled if you run only 2 m.2? How about 3 m.2? I'll look at x470 boards if they can only suppport 1 m.2 and sata ports.


Yea I'm looking at the x470 boards as well but I don't like the intel level, "use m.2 u don't get sata or use all 3 pcie, you don't get full sata speeds b/s"
 
fakeng said:
Hey how many m.2 drives are you running and how many sata? are any of them disabled if you run only 2 m.2? How about 3 m.2? I'll look at x470 boards if they can only suppport 1 m.2 and sata ports.


Yea I'm looking at the x470 boards as well but I don't like the intel level, "use m.2 u don't get sata or use all 3 pcie, you don't get full sata speeds b/s"
Click to expand...

most of the boards can do 2 m.2 1 on the cpu 1 on the chipset. if the board has a 3rd m.2 slot then using it will disable 2 sata ports if the board has 6 sata ports. if it's one of the asus boards that only has 4 sata ports then it's a non issue. asrocks boards are a bit different where using the 3rd m.2 slot disables one of the pcie slots instead. but just check newegg's spec page, all the boards have the m.2 / sata port configurations listed out which is way easier than going to each manufactures product pages.
 
fakeng said:
Hey how many m.2 drives are you running and how many sata? are any of them disabled if you run only 2 m.2? How about 3 m.2? I'll look at x470 boards if they can only suppport 1 m.2 and sata ports.


Yea I'm looking at the x470 boards as well but I don't like the intel level, "use m.2 u don't get sata or use all 3 pcie, you don't get full sata speeds b/s"
Click to expand...
fakeng said:
Hey how many m.2 drives are you running and how many sata? are any of them disabled if you run only 2 m.2? How about 3 m.2? I'll look at x470 boards if they can only suppport 1 m.2 and sata ports.


Yea I'm looking at the x470 boards as well but I don't like the intel level, "use m.2 u don't get sata or use all 3 pcie, you don't get full sata speeds b/s"
Click to expand...

I'm running 1 NVME in m2a and 2 SATA in m2b and c. the manual does however report that I can indeed run 3 NVME m.2 drives. however I would loose sata ports 4 and 5 when running a NVME in m2c.
 
How long do you plan to own, or use this new build as an upgrade path.
5 years?
7 years?

Obviously, it is easier to replace memory, cpu, gpu, psu in your system, than it is a mobo. Even your M.2 drives can be removed (in 2 years time) and replaced with super cheap 2gb (4gb?) NVMe, etc.



I am torn between the same limits trying to min/max my x570 build/buy.
But all I actually require is:
x16 PCIe
x4 PCIe
x1 PCIe
x4 M.2 NVMe
x4 M.2 NVMe
x4 SATA
 
Dan_D said:
Look at it this way, you might be able to get the job done with four phases. However, those may be pushed and at their limits where they aren't very efficient. A more efficient VRM is a cooler VRM. Not only that, if you want to use something like Precision Boost Overdrive, the motherboards design limits for PPT, EDC and TDC will be less on cheaper boards. That said, PBO is virtually useless on the Ryzen 9 3900X. A final example on VRM's, if you look at their power output, there are many B350 and B450 motherboards that could barely handle a Ryzen 9 3900X at stock speeds. A 16c/32t 3950X is almost right out. I know some of you guys buy AMD because you want that platform longevity. You are under the impression that it will save you money going forward and while a nice idea, it doesn't always work out that way. It's harder to future proof a motherboard when its built to cut rate electrical standards.
Click to expand...

After watching countless hours of BZ reviews I learned the number of phases isn't the end-all of VRM design. ASUS for example uses has x570 boards with 4 phase power, but each of those 4 phases uses 3 power stages which is more than enough power. A low end B450 board pushing a 12-16 core CPU is probably pushing it but I'd say even a mid range one is likely good enough. Overclocking is a non-starter with Ryzen 2. They are already peaked using stock settings and you'd be lucky to even hit the advertised boost clocks. It seems with any conventional cooling, including AIO's that most any overclocking you perform will come with a performance hit somewhere else. You either need to sacrifice single core clocks, all core clocks, memory bandwidth, IF frequency/decoupling. And that's with having plenty of power delivery to spare.

That said, even if I had known this going into my build, I would have went with x570 mainly because I keep my builds for many years with a couple GPU upgrades during the life cycle so I wanted to have the PCIe 4 to make sure i'm not bottlenecking a couple years down the line, and I actually am using a PCIe 4 NVME drive currently. I've also built two other Ryzen 2700x machines in the past for my cousins using x470, the first was an early one where I had a ton of memory issues. The 2nd one came later which had virtually all those issues worked out of it but I still couldn't get it to run at 3200MHz fully stable and settled on 3000Mhz, and I just didn't want to chance it.
 
RamonGTP said:
After watching countless hours of BZ reviews I learned the number of phases isn't the end-all of VRM design. ASUS for example uses has x570 boards with 4 phase power, but each of those 4 phases uses 3 power stages which is more than enough power. A low end B450 board pushing a 12-16 core CPU is probably pushing it but I'd say even a mid range one is likely good enough. Overclocking is a non-starter with Ryzen 2. They are already peaked using stock settings and you'd be lucky to even hit the advertised boost clocks. It seems with any conventional cooling, including AIO's that most any overclocking you perform will come with a performance hit somewhere else. You either need to sacrifice single core clocks, all core clocks, memory bandwidth, IF frequency/decoupling. And that's with having plenty of power delivery to spare.

That said, even if I had known this going into my build, I would have went with x570 mainly because I keep my builds for many years with a couple GPU upgrades during the life cycle so I wanted to have the PCIe 4 to make sure i'm not bottlenecking a couple years down the line, and I actually am using a PCIe 4 NVME drive currently. I've also built two other Ryzen 2700x machines in the past for my cousins using x470, the first was an early one where I had a ton of memory issues. The 2nd one came later which had virtually all those issues worked out of it but I still couldn't get it to run at 3200MHz fully stable and settled on 3000Mhz, and I just didn't want to chance it.
Click to expand...

I am not disagreeing. I've made been pointing out that VRM quality and implementation matters far more than raw phase count. However, using your case as a scenario, if you keep your motherboards for many years, you'll want to buy something with a better VRM implementation as that will ensure a better path forward should AMD release CPU's down the line with even greater core counts or power requirements.
 
I REALLY like MSI for their assortment of boards and the "sedate" but looking to do business type "attitude" their x570 boards "offer"

I believe an Asrock board was the "best" besides that one ASUS WS board? I forget the model name, but it was LOADED with M.2 etc making the rear panel "sparse" looking (dual x16 pci-e GPU 3rd is auto x4 linked with 2nd slot x8/x4 main will always be x16..so is a "chunk" better than most in this regard)

that Asrock one had 2 m.2 at full x8 speed the remain one is only @x2 (so not letting a 970 pro full saturate on m.2 slot 3 but 2 at same time on slot 1 and 2 no problem)

that Asrock one I believe stated 64gb max system memory, the others mostly list @ 128gb max as well the audio chip used is AC895 or was 892? (forget exactly, am sure easy enough to pull proper spec from my very loose memory of a quick glance at ^.^

....................

I love love the look of the new pro carbon, the gaming edge is an "updated" B450 gaming AC (already had 3 others comment on "man that is a sexy motherboard, it's bigger brother might be bettter or clamp coolers in easier, but, damn that is sexy and likely is all go with the show"

Pro Carbon just got "tougher" in regards to by all appearances VERY solid VRM and m.2 cooling ability (if pictures are worth a thousand words)

MSI MPG x570 Pro Carbon WiFi (newest version of or w/e they calling it)
the gaming edge wifi "gains" more levels of "normal" wifi (A/B/G/N/+ (good list of what supports)
Pro Carbon gets WiFi spec 6, and the direct heatpipe/air over 2 m.2 vs one only cooled via a heatshield likely to promote heat issues vs getting rid of, hopefully they did a retooling of it and works the way it should...
 
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