Anyone have experience with Colorful (brand) motherboards? Should I use one versus an MSI Tomahawk board?

dexvx

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 14, 2002
Messages
1,273
I'm trying to do an all-white build and am struggling to find modern white-themed motherboards. The major OEM's (Asus/Gigabyte/MSI/Asrock) don't really have white-themed motherboards (modern ones are all black PCB + a few white heatsinks). The board I currently have lying around is the MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic. The major downside to using that is that you're using Intel HEDT, which is inferior to Ryzen 5000 series and the IO is dated.

I recently discovered that Colorful makes white PCB motherboards. I searched some reviews, but they are smaller and don't cover as much as I'd like (e.g. VRM's, BIOS options).

Do you guys think I should go for one of the Colorful boards or stick to the X299 Tomahawk Arctic?

MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic (board I currently have)
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/x299-tomahawk-arctic.html

Colorful Z490 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=901

Colorful X570 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=891

Colorful B550 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=893
 
If you aren't planning to run things stock, I'd pass on the Colorful branded stuff.

That said, they sell GPUs in my country and they are an entry level option people are beginning to consider.

As you mentioned, there are some boards that come close. Asus X570 PRO?

Chase down an MSI B450 Actic?
 
If you aren't planning to run things stock, I'd pass on the Colorful branded stuff.

That said, they sell GPUs in my country and they are an entry level option people are beginning to consider.

As you mentioned, there are some boards that come close. Asus X570 PRO?

Chase down an MSI B450 Actic?

afaik, there's not a b450 arctic, just b350 and the vrm are lackluster.


dexvx
Vision D b550 has a nice white aesthetic but is black PCB
 
Last edited:
Those boards have some really nice looking PCB 's. Too bad they do not have some higher-end models with good VRM's and other extras.
 
If you don't want to see the black PCB you could use a mini-ITX board and giant air cooler.
 
I'm trying to do an all-white build and am struggling to find modern white-themed motherboards. The major OEM's (Asus/Gigabyte/MSI/Asrock) don't really have white-themed motherboards (modern ones are all black PCB + a few white heatsinks). The board I currently have lying around is the MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic. The major downside to using that is that you're using Intel HEDT, which is inferior to Ryzen 5000 series and the IO is dated.

I recently discovered that Colorful makes white PCB motherboards. I searched some reviews, but they are smaller and don't cover as much as I'd like (e.g. VRM's, BIOS options).

Do you guys think I should go for one of the Colorful boards or stick to the X299 Tomahawk Arctic?

MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic (board I currently have)
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/x299-tomahawk-arctic.html

Colorful Z490 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=901

Colorful X570 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=891

Colorful B550 White PCB
https://en.colorful.cn/product_show.aspx?mid=84&id=893

Anemic looking VRM's, dated design. I'd pass on the Colorful stuff.
 
If you aren't planning to run things stock, I'd pass on the Colorful branded stuff.

That said, they sell GPUs in my country and they are an entry level option people are beginning to consider.

As you mentioned, there are some boards that come close. Asus X570 PRO?

Unfortunately, with the way PBOC works, you're kind of overclocking by default these days. The cooler will be a Corsair H100i. So my expectations are with PBOC/Turbo on (but not set super aggressively).

The Asus Prime X570-Pro looks pretty nice:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/All-series/PRIME-X570-PRO.

Oh man, I just realized this existed, the Asus Z490 Gundam edition.
https://www.thefpsreview.com/2020/1...og-strix-rtx-3090-1499-motherboards-and-more/

afaik, there's not a b450 arctic, just b350 and the vrm are lackluster.

Actually, there is a MSI B450 white PCB. It's the MSI B450M Mortar Titanium (moved away from Arctic branding). It's a prime choice, but unfortunately OOS everywhere and costs more than a Colorful B550 Frozen board.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450M-MORTAR-TITANIUM.html

Anemic looking VRM's, dated design. I'd pass on the Colorful stuff.

Yea, I was looking for a VRM teardown or thermals, but none seem to exist for the Colorful stuff. TBH, the X570 Frozen doesn't look that bad, assuming the heatsinks are metal.
 
I have had good experiences building systems with the Asus Prime X570-Pro. The only downside to them was the price. I thought they were about $50 too much. Sometimes you can find them on sale for about $220.
 
Unfortunately, with the way PBOC works, you're kind of overclocking by default these days. The cooler will be a Corsair H100i. So my expectations are with PBOC/Turbo on (but not set super aggressively).

The Asus Prime X570-Pro looks pretty nice:
https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/All-series/PRIME-X570-PRO.

Oh man, I just realized this existed, the Asus Z490 Gundam edition.
https://www.thefpsreview.com/2020/1...og-strix-rtx-3090-1499-motherboards-and-more/



Actually, there is a MSI B450 white PCB. It's the MSI B450M Mortar Titanium (moved away from Arctic branding). It's a prime choice, but unfortunately OOS everywhere and costs more than a Colorful B550 Frozen board.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450M-MORTAR-TITANIUM.html



Yea, I was looking for a VRM teardown or thermals, but none seem to exist for the Colorful stuff. TBH, the X570 Frozen doesn't look that bad, assuming the heatsinks are metal.

Just looking at the components I can see, I'm not filled with confidence.
 
NZXT makes a good white Z490 board. It's not amazing, but very solid. And, well, white.

https://www.nzxt.com/products/n7-z490-matte-white


1616362099537.png


Made by ASRock I believe.
 
Here's a shot of the X299 Tomahawk Arctic I have lying around. I think white PCB helps a lot.

But this board's VRM's aren't great either (for a X299; 4x2 phase).

1024.png
 
Last edited:
I would do the NZXT. I had a similar idea last year. Ended up not mattering how I mounted that system, but I was going to use it.
 
I like the clean look of the NZXT board.

Yeah it looks nice, but it does trap a ton of heat on the board. Plus the VRM heatsinks on the board are terrible, and being an Asrock board, the quality can be hit or miss. NZXT aslo has had terrible bioses on their boards in the past, although no idea how good or bad this one is.
 
Yeah it looks nice, but it does trap a ton of heat on the board. Plus the VRM heatsinks on the board are terrible, and being an Asrock board, the quality can be hit or miss. NZXT aslo has had terrible bioses on their boards in the past, although no idea how good or bad this one is.
Standard ASRock from all the reviews I've read.
 
I'm probably going to just stick with the Arctic X299, might take a shot at the Colorful X570

Someone did a VRM analysis of the Colorful B550M Frozen:
 
Last edited:
Back
Top