New amd am4 platform, Help with mobo pick..

viktum

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Ok, I am leaning toward an OC platform. I have never bothered with OC. So I am a little hesitant. If I go this route I will more than likely get an Asrock x370 tachi. I will just wait until I can find one to get. So, this brings me to my question. If I get impatient and decide to move forward without going with an OC setup,.. What amd am4 mobo would you pick if not going to OC? A brief why? would help also (maybe a unique feature that swayed you).
 
OC is all limited by the Ryzen CPU's pretty much all hitting between 3.9 and 4.1 with the 1700, 1700x or 1800x. The tachi is a really nice board i went with the cheaper killer x370 board and its been great. Went with ASrock due to using the 2 m.2 slots, and the decent power delivery. The tachi has even better power delivery, and pretty much the same. Just make sure to grab memory thats on the QVL. Gskill Flare x 16gb kit 3200 should be good.
 
Also to be fair a lot of the b350 boards will do what you want as well, i also have the asrock b350 pro4 for a plex server and it has all the same features. Minus the SLI support
 
I run a Ryzen 5 1600 at 3.9GHz v 1.335 on an MSI B350 Tomahawk. x370 just provides SLI. If you don't need it or prefer Crossfire the B350 Chipset will serve you well.
 
Hmm, I do have a asrock x370 killer on the wishlist as an option for the tachi wait. The B350 option does sound interesting. I don't rally think I will every SLI or crossfire. I usually upgrade or rebuild every 2-3 years. So, I end up with a new gen rig for awhile or I upgrade and stretch it to 3-5 years. That's been my trend for the last 20 years anyway. The B350 chipset seems to be a bit cheaper. Which is always nice. I pretty much decided on the r5 1600.
I have heard a little on the Tomahawk. But I really haven't looked into any of the b350 mobos.

I will look at the b350 pro and the tomahawk.
 
Frustrating as it is, power delivery is iffy on nearly all B350 boards. Speaking from experience, the Asus x370 prime pro is a really great board for the price.
 
The asus prime x370 pro looks like a nice board. Its got some questionable reviews but I assume most of these are or have been addressed with the BIOS updates.
I will be using this rig primarily for high end gaming. But, I would like to stay around 200$ at most for the mobo.
Any particular reason why you went with the prime x370?

I have no particular loyalty to any brand. I want the best bang for my buck to rock any modern game for atleast a couple years before upgrading or rebuilding.
 
The asus prime x370 pro looks like a nice board. Its got some questionable reviews but I assume most of these are or have been addressed with the BIOS updates.
I will be using this rig primarily for high end gaming. But, I would like to stay around 200$ at most for the mobo.
Any particular reason why you went with the prime x370?

Power delivery (8+2)
Cost (low in comparison to alternatives)
Number of full length PCI-e slots (3 - I run a 10 gig network card)
Intel 211 Nic
Realtek 1220 sound
More than 6 sata connectors

Only drawbacks I can see are:
Limited overclocking options in the bios (No P-state overclocking, but this is addressed by Asus zenstate)
Pcie locks are a pain to get off (what's new?)
Ram slots are a fraction too close to the CPU if you are going to be using very tall ram. (Only an issue if you use 4 slots)
Must upgrade bios with a USB stick
Only has a single bios chip
No USB3.1 type c socket on board (but does have 3.1 support) - non issue for me
 
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Limited overclocking options in the bios (No P-state overclocking, but this is addressed by Asus zenstate)
Pcie locks are a pain to get off (what's new?)
Ram slots are a fraction too close to the CPU if you are going to be using very tall ram.
Must upgrade bios with a USB stick
Only has a single bios chip

If I OC it will be down the road.
USB bios update seems to be the theme I am reading for the amd am4 rigs.

Prime is running for 150 atm so that's in my range.
THat b350 pro4 is only 90$, but power delivery issues doesn't sound good.

hmm so many options.

I think I am still leaning toward the x370 chipset. Hard to resist those b350 prices though for a man on a budget.
 
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Ok I will clarify.

When overclocked to 3.7 ghz on all cores, at 1.187v, my 1700 chip draws 100w at load

When this is boosted to 3.9ghz and 1.35/1.337v the chip draws 140w at load.

All of the b350 boards I know have either:
2+2 phases
3+2 phases or
4+2 phases

For supporting a 95-100w chip this is boarderline, for supporting a 140+w chip this risks burnout.

If you are running stock, this is almost a non issue (though I don't like the idea of a 2+2 motherboard driving a 95w chip!)

The b350 motherboards also have lower class audio (except the gigabyte series), and Realtek network support which is crap imo.

Frustrates me because if the prime had a b350 chipset and all of the other features, it would be plenty (I don't need 2x8 PCI-e)
 
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Ok I will clarify.

When overclocked to 3.7 ghz on all cores, at 1.187v, my 1700 chip draws 100w at load

When this is boosted to 3.9ghz and 1.35/1.337v the chip draws 140w at load.

All of the b350 boards I know have either:
2+2 phases
3+2 phases or
4+2 phases

For supporting a 95-100w chip this is boarderline, for supporting a 140+w chip this risks burnout.

If you are running stock, this is almost a non issue (though I don't like the idea of a 2+2 motherboard driving a 95w chip!)

The b350 motherboards also have lower class audio (except the gigabyte series), and Realtek network support which is crap imo.

Frustrates me because if the prime had a b350 chipset and all of the other features, it would be plenty (I don't need 2x8 PCI-e)

I disagree. The amount of power phases is not the only factor. The Tomahawk has 4+2 and can OC very well. Oc3d tested one with an 1800x and hit 4GHz on 1.4v with only 8 hundredths vdroop so a drop to 1.32v is a very stable result.

https://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_b350_tomahawk_am4_motherboard_review/
 
Longevity depends on how stressed components are. The more phases, the less stress is on them. I'm not saying they can't do high voltages/high amperage I'm saying when you have fewer to spread the load, they won't last as long
 
I personally decided on Taichi because of the reviews. Excellent board with very few problems during integration. Easy to overclock. Superior VRMs.
 
Ok I will clarify.

When overclocked to 3.7 ghz on all cores, at 1.187v, my 1700 chip draws 100w at load

When this is boosted to 3.9ghz and 1.35/1.337v the chip draws 140w at load.

All of the b350 boards I know have either:
2+2 phases
3+2 phases or
4+2 phases

For dealing with a 95-100w chip this is boarderline, for dealing with a 140+w chip this risks burnout.

If you are running stock, this is almost a non issue (though I don't like the idea of a 2+2 motherboard driving a 95w chip!)

The b350 motherboards also have lower class audio (except the gigabyte series), and Realtek network support which is crap imo.

Frustrates me because if the prime had a b350 chipset and all of the other features, it would be plenty (I don't need 2x8 PCI-e)


ok I believe I understand. Too make it through 2-3 years I might have some longevity issues if I OC an x350 with a r5 1600.


I personally decided on Taichi because of the reviews. Excellent board with very few problems during integration. Easy to overclock. Superior VRMs.


Is the BIOS on the Taichi fairly user-friendly? I am not experienced with an OC rig. But, with my extreme gaming tendencies, It seems that I would benefit a lot if I do OC this next platform I choose. The Taichi tends run around 200+, depending on the source I find one from. Mind you I am on a budget but I am not going to quibble over and extra 100$ here or there. Especially on my mobo. Taichi is still my number one choice. But, I am not sure my patience will hold out once I am ready to hit the "Buy" button. Which will probably be this weekend. This lack of availability on the Tachi is why I am exploring these other options.
 
Yeah
Is the BIOS on the Taichi fairly user-friendly? I am not experienced with an OC rig. But, with my extreme gaming tendencies, It seems that I would benefit a lot if I do OC this next platform I choose. The Taichi tends run around 200+, depending on the source I find one from. Mind you I am on a budget but I am not going to quibble over and extra 100$ here or there. Especially on my mobo. Taichi is still my number one choice. But, I am not sure my patience will hold out once I am ready to hit the "Buy" button. Which will probably be this weekend. This lack of availability on the Tachi is why I am exploring these other options.

I OC'd my 1700 to 3.8 with the change of 2 settings. All you have to do is set the vCore and change the clock speed. So I set 1.25 and 3.8 and was rock solid. Availability is a challenge. I checked the newegg and SuperBiiz page about 10 times daily until it came in stock for about 3 hours (to my surprise). I think the biggest thing is getting Ryzen certified memory running at 3200Mhz. The g.Skill FlareX memory XMP profile was recognized and immediately ran at 3200Mhz once I applied the profile on my taichi (just select the profile and hit save). It's a bit more expensive, but it's seriously a huge time saver. People have been struggling with getting memory running at advertised speeds and the FlareX was absolutely flawless at advertised CAS14 timings.
 
Yeah


I OC'd my 1700 to 3.8 with the change of 2 settings. All you have to do is set the vCore and change the clock speed. So I set 1.25 and 3.8 and was rock solid. Availability is a challenge. I checked the newegg and SuperBiiz page about 10 times daily until it came in stock for about 3 hours (to my surprise). I think the biggest thing is getting Ryzen certified memory running at 3200Mhz. The g.Skill FlareX memory XMP profile was recognized and immediately ran at 3200Mhz once I applied the profile on my taichi (just select the profile and hit save). It's a bit more expensive, but it's seriously a huge time saver. People have been struggling with getting memory running at advertised speeds and the FlareX was absolutely flawless at advertised CAS14 timings.

That sounds very doable for me(The OC). I read somewhere else(an above post from Luke) that the gskill flare worked nicely with the Taichi, so I will not mess around there and just get that memory. I have replaced everything or upgraded everything before but I have never actually built a rig from the ground up. So the less hassle the better for me. I have seen Taichi's for around 250-275. But, my senses are telling me I can get one closer to 200 if I'm patient. Amazon has one but its 268 from "Rackgo".
Also, another question I have is my psu,.. Will a Taichi with a r5 1600 or a 1600x OC'd and gskill flare OC'd be ok with a....

Corsair CX Series, CX600, 600 Watt (600W) Power Supply, 80+ Bronze Certified ?
 
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That sounds very doable for me.(The OC) I read somewhere else(an above post from Luke) that the gskill flare worked nicely with the Taichi, so I will not mess around there and just get that memory. I have replaced everything or upgraded everything before but I have never actually built a rig from the ground up. So the less hassle the better for me. I have seen Taichi's for around 250-275. But, my senses are telling me I can get one closer to 200 if I'm patient. Amazon has one but its 268 from "Rackgo".
Also, another question I have is my psu,.. Will a Taichi with a r5 1600 or a 1600x OC'd and gskill flare OC'd be ok with a....

Corsair CX Series, CX600, 600 Watt (600W) Power Supply, 80+ Bronze Certified ?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...57757&cm_re=am4_asrock-_-13-157-757-_-Product

Cheapest ive seen the Taichi for normal MSRP is 199, and in stock has a 10 dollar rebate
 
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Well I just have one question left for this thread.

Will a Taichi with a r5 1600 or a 1600x OC'd and gskill flare OC'd be ok with a....

Corsair CX Series, CX600, 600 Watt (600W) Power Supply, 80+ Bronze Certified ?

I should probably move this question to another thread. But in case someone does answer here,..
If I need to upgrade the psu, Can I setup the system(stock) and just upgrade the psu prior to the OC?
Also, will thee stock wraith cooler with the r5 1600 be enough after OC?
 
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stock should be fine with that PSU, i have a r5 1600 running stock on a older 500 watt. I would probably avoid doing much ocing with the stock cooler. i just run mine stock for my plex server.
 
stock should be fine with that PSU, i have a r5 1600 running stock on a older 500 watt. I would probably avoid doing much ocing with the stock cooler. i just run mine stock for my plex server.

This psu was from 2014. So do I need to go up to 850 or a 1000w after OC?

Also the wraith cooler should be upgraded before the OC. <check>
 
i mean a higher quality high 12amp psu even at 600 watt should be more than enough, i mean at most the cpus are drawing 150 watt on a 3.9-4ghz or so 8 core. Does also depend on the rest of the system especially your video card
 
i mean a higher quality high 12amp psu even at 600 watt should be more than enough, i mean at most the cpus are drawing 150 watt on a 3.9-4ghz or so 8 core. Does also depend on the rest of the system especially your video card

ok I understand. Thanks.


Ah, yah I looked hard at the gigabyte 370 chipset mobo's. My good friend runs an Intel gigabyte mobo and he has been very pleased.
 
i mean a higher quality high 12amp psu even at 600 watt should be more than enough, i mean at most the cpus are drawing 150 watt on a 3.9-4ghz or so 8 core. Does also depend on the rest of the system especially your video card

Nope, at 1.4-1.42 / 4 ghz I put the power consumption at about 160ish watts
 
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Nope, at 1.4-1.42 / 4 ghz I put the power consumption at about 160ish watts

This is true. I didn't quite hit 4Ghz stable on my 1700, but I also didn't push past 1.4v and at that point, I'm pulling 160W+ power through the CPU and the extra performance just wasn't worth it to me.

I'm running 3.8Ghz @ 1.232V and at 100% AIDA64 stress test load it pulls 119W. I'm happy with that.

23W at idle.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I'm sure I will start another thread for something. Once I start the actual build. Fyi, I decided I would just buy a new psu and not mess around. I decided on the EVGA supernova GQ 750w. Has a 62.4a 12v rail rating. PSU calculator says I will max load at 42a after I have everything in it and the system OC'd. The wattage is more than enough which gives me room to upgrade my gpu later. Just starting out with my old r9 290.
 
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