Non-MSI B450 board that is compatible with Zen 2?

Gorilla

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So I ordered a MSI B450 Tomahawk from Amazon a couple weeks back in anticipation of Zen 2. Unfortunately MSI has really dropped the ball on BIOS updates and they don't even know when they will have a BIOS update for my board (mass reddit threads about how people with the B450 Tomahawk can't even get to the BIOS screen). Actually, it isn't just my board but most of their non X570 boards (though a bunch at least have a beta BIOS which is better than nothing but I don't even get that).

I swore I would never buy another Asus board but does anyone know if they are on top of things for B450 and Zen 2? I was trying to stay away from Gigabyte because of their shenanigans about claiming way more phases than their boards actually have, but how are they doing?
 
Hmm I am looking at B450 Tomahawk on MSI page, their latest BIOS 7C02v18 does support Zen 2 released 06/24, but of course there is probably a good chance your mobo has an olded BIOS. I think the problem with buying B450 board is you just don't know which version of the BIOS you have until you get the mobo. I know this sounds rather counterproductive but do you have or know anyone has a spare Ryzen 1000 or 2000 series CPU laying around to update the mobo to the latest BIOS?

Or you can borrow a CPU from AMD itself to help you get updated to the latest BIOS, I copy and pasted the instructions below:

To obtain the boot kit, please carefully follow these instructions:

  1. Go to the AMD online warranty claims page: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/warranty-information/rma-form
  2. Fill in your full contact and product details (3rd Gen Ryzen Processor OPN number and serial number)
  3. In the Problem Description field enter "Boot kit Required" (without quotes)

Edit: Forgotten to include MSI BIOS page for Tomahawk

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK
 
Hmm I am looking at B450 Tomahawk on MSI page, their latest BIOS 7C02v18 does support Zen 2 released 06/24, but of course there is probably a good chance your mobo has an olded BIOS. I think the problem with buying B450 board is you just don't know which version of the BIOS you have until you get the mobo. I know this sounds rather counterproductive but do you have or know anyone has a spare Ryzen 1000 or 2000 series CPU laying around to update the mobo to the latest BIOS?

Or you can borrow a CPU from AMD itself to help you get updated to the latest BIOS, I copy and pasted the instructions below:

To obtain the boot kit, please carefully follow these instructions:

  1. Go to the AMD online warranty claims page: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/warranty-information/rma-form
  2. Fill in your full contact and product details (3rd Gen Ryzen Processor OPN number and serial number)
  3. In the Problem Description field enter "Boot kit Required" (without quotes)

Edit: Forgotten to include MSI BIOS page for Tomahawk

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK

Thanks for trying to help, but that doesn't help. It's not a matter of not having the right BIOS, it's that the latest BIOS that MSI offers is completely useless. It does not add compatibility. It's not a problem of not being able to update. The B450 Tomahawk has a flash feature to update the BIOS without a CPU installed. I don't need a boot kit. I need a BIOS that actually supports Zen 2 in function instead of just in name.

If you go to the MSI Gaming reddit it is nothing but people complaining that they can't even POST with the latest BIOS from MSI and a Zen 2 CPU. 10% of the time they manage to POST and get to the BIOS screen. I have seen literally one person with my board manage to somehow install Windows, but he gets tons of BSOD and other errors, all with the latest BIOS that MSI offers.

They are slowly adding beta BIOS updates for their non-X570 boards, but mine doesn't have one yet and they can't give a date by which there will be one. Because I ordered my board early expecting supply to sell out or prices to go up (they have gone up or sold out) I only have until the 17th to start a return with Amazon, so I can't sit around forever waiting for MSI.
 
The newer bios 2301 supports all except 3900x on the Asus website, though I suspect it does support a 3900x. I still am rocking the 2600 right now, but according to Asus, B450's should be good to go.

Seems they have 2406 out. Can't remember what I updated to.
 
ASUS has a BIOS upgrade for its B450 STRIX motherboards. Unfortunately, the patch notes are useless. Although the dates are right I don't know what the hell is in the newer ROM version.
 
Sounds like an opportunity to get a lot of content views for anyone that has an inventory of the most popular older boards to do a running series of Zen2 compatibility testing.
 
So basically I guess I'm keeping my MSI B450 Tomahawk as I have had zero problems using it with a Ryzen 5 3600. That's not to say that others are not having problems with the same motherboard and CPU though. I think it has something to do with the current V18 bios not liking all RAM and getting hung up during POST. I hadn't used Ryzen before but I remember first gen Ryzen having memory compatibility problems so I made sure I went with RAM that people had had success using with the first two generations. Maybe that is why I haven't had problems. I don't know.

I've also seen that other brands are having problems too.

 
ASUS has a BIOS upgrade for its B450 STRIX motherboards. Unfortunately, the patch notes are useless. Although the dates are right I don't know what the hell is in the newer ROM version.

Yes, my Microcenter updated my B450 Strix before I left the store. As a part of the update process, they use an older gen chip to update the BIOS, then validate using a Zen 2 chip afterwards. So while mine is still in the box due to utter chaos at work, I can guarantee that they are currently working (at least for my R5 3600).

Good luck!
 
Yes, my Microcenter updated my B450 Strix before I left the store. As a part of the update process, they use an older gen chip to update the BIOS, then validate using a Zen 2 chip afterwards. So while mine is still in the box due to utter chaos at work, I can guarantee that they are currently working (at least for my R5 3600).

Good luck!
Yup. Should mention they usually charge for this sort of thing.
 
I have been running the b450 tomahawk with a ryzen 3600 for three weeks now. No real issues of significance. Using Bios version 19. Have not update to the latest version that was just released. See no need to.
 
I'm using the AsRock B450m Pro4 board with a Ryzen 9 and it's working well in my plex server.
 
I'm using the AsRock B450m Pro4 board with a Ryzen 9 and it's working well in my plex server.
still holding up well for you?

I just picked up a B450M Pro4 and 3600 to replace my 1600 + B450M HDV... ASRock has been reassuringly proactive with timely iterative BIOS updates since Zen2 support was added back in May so fingers crossed it's ready for my media production + gaming + VM box
 
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