Good m/atx, itx boards?

[freeagent]

Hey guys, looking to get another motherboard. Originally it was going to be for my kids machine with a 3600XT and 16GB 3200 C14, but I wouldn't mind downsizing a little if the price is right.

I did miss a couple of deals over the weekend because I am very indecisive. The two boards I was looking at were the Strix B550-I, and the TUF B550-M wifi.

I do like Asus boards quite a bit, but if there is something that is better for the same cash I am all ears.. The only other non Asus board I have owned over the last decade is the Z77 OC Formula from Asrock, which is a really good board.. better than the Asus it replaced

Would I be better off going with Asus or is there something else you like? I don't want to spend a ton, but if I have to spend a little extra I would be ok with that too, if it would be worth it. In the past I have been pretty biased towards Asus, and have resorted to a little smack talk on the other brands. I don't really feel that way, and I am open to change if it is worthy.. it did hurt a little to say that.

This system would be housed in a dusty Define C mini that I bought by accident a couple of years ago used.. never been used though.. it looks like there is room for all of my thick fans, hence the consideration

Thanks!

 

[tabascosauz]

microATX:

I can vouch for the B550M TUF and TUF Wifi as the latter is what I have. Good VRM performance, good connectivity, aesthetics are ass though. The Gigabyte Pro-P and both MSI Mortars are pretty close on just about everything hardware, excepting differences in rear I/O and BIOS and whatnot. The Steel Legend mATX doesn't have BIOS flashback and has a hotter VRM due to the shitty heatsink design, but won't be any issue with less than a OC'd 5900X/5950X, my only prpblem with it was firmware which I assume is fixed by now. The original Aorus Pro (not the Pro-P) is not remotely competitive with the others.

Just don't expect 6-layer mem OC out of any of them, as they are all 4-layer boards that will top out somewhere around 3800-4000 even optimistically on 4DIMM or 2DIMM DR. A bit better around 4400 for 2DIMM SR. It's a necessary downgrade from your Strix if you want to downsize.

Only the Pro-P and Mortars should have a software visible VRM temp sensor. The Asus and ASRock boards do not and never will. Functionally it means little, all of them except original Aorus will have no trouble whatsoever.


ITX:

Frontrunners would be: the X570I Strix if you want top perf and connectivity and don't mind 1Gbe LAN, the B550I Aorus if you want close to top tier perf for a lower price, and the B550M/ITX-AC if you want a solid budget board.

The MSI B550 board has a nonstandard cooler backplate and only later revisions actually have a CMOS button. The X570 TB3 sacrifices a lot of things for Thunderbolt (no front M2, no flashback, sparse I/O, and it runs M2 off chipset lanes), and the B550 Phantom Gaming has no flashback (otherwise similar to the Aorus, but usually more expensive). X570 Aorus is pointless next to the B550 Aorus.

Can't think of much reason to get the Asus B550I. Inferior to the X570I in pretty much all respects (active cooling is not a plus when the VRM is already weaker than all but one competitor board), more expensive than the budget ASRock or the Aorus, you do get more USB ports but why wouldn't you just pony up a bit more for the X570 Strix or a more cost effective B550? Maybe if you just can't live without 2.5Gb LAN and have to go with Asus??

Mem OC should be better on all these ITX boards than mATX, but you're not using APUs. Well, I don't know about the B550M-ITX/ac, looks like a 6-layer (4-layer ATX equivalent). The others should all be 8-layer boards.

On ITX, GB and MSI have a higher socket placement, precludes larger downdraft coolers (C14S, DR TF) in some smaller cases. Conversely, ASRock and Asus have a centred socket placement that doesn't have that issue, but you may have some PCIe clearance issues with massive air coolers.

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I will say though, I don't know if I'd recommend my Aorus AX for a daily. For me it's an HTPC and mem OC rig so I don't care having to mess with it, but it has the annoying Gigabyte Bluetooth bug where the BT side of the AX200 card refuses to work sometimes ("Bluetooth is turned off"). Only way to fix it is to unplug from the wall and press the power button before plugging back in, rebooting or clearing CMOS or flashing BIOS do not help. Has been the case for all BIOS except the newest 1201/1202 one which I have not tried. It's not an AX200 issue as I've not had it on my B550M TUF, and not a universal Gigabyte issue as I had none of it on my B450I Aorus. But plenty of reports about the same problem from various ATX X570 and B550 Gigabyte boards.

 

[Hemmingstamp]

ITX - MSI B550i Gaming Edge WIFI. Running an R5 3600 & 32GB of Crucial Sammy B die RAM @3200MHz.
Hasn't skipped a beat yet.

 

[freeagent]

Such a hard decision.. I watched a couple of videos already, I think right now I am leaning more towards m/atx. A little itx board will swim in a define mini heheh. Although I am a little miffed that front connectivity on that case is pretty limited. Ahh well. As for overclocking mems.. its not really a deal breaker.. I mean you can only shove so much through IF.., and latency only goes so low.. I would be ok with 3800-4000, even 3600 is fine. As long as you don't expect to smash any Super pi records.

Thank you for your well detailed post, that is exactly what I was looking for!

Maybe I will tone down my expectations a little bit, and focus on just a kids build. My build is small enough already.. I have my Meshify C inches from me, and my old Stacker STC-01 just a few feet away.. quite a size difference That Define C Mini isn't that much smaller than my Meshify height wise, and the same in almost all other regards, I don't really want to give up much from my system, its bad enough I have to part with those Black and Whites lol.. but at the same time that lets me open up my OC a little more.

 

[tabascosauz]

Such a hard decision.. I watched a couple of videos already, I think right now I am leaning more towards m/atx. A little itx board will swim in a define mini heheh. Although I am a little miffed that front connectivity on that case is pretty limited. Ahh well. As for overclocking mems.. its not really a deal breaker.. I mean you can only shove so much through IF.., and latency only goes so low.. I would be ok with 3800-4000, even 3600 is fine. As long as you don't expect to smash any Super pi records.

Thank you for your well detailed post, that is exactly what I was looking for!

Maybe I will tone down my expectations a little bit, and focus on just a kids build. My build is small enough already.. I have my Meshify C inches from me, and my old Stacker STC-01 just a few feet away.. quite a size difference That Define C Mini isn't that much smaller than my Meshify height wise, and the same in almost all other regards, I don't really want to give up much from my system, its bad enough I have to part with those Black and Whites lol.. but at the same time that lets me open up my OC a little more.

Seems irresponsible to use your son's PC as your guinea pig well, I guess OC's part of the deal haha

Lots of space in the Define, just keep an eye out for cooler compatibility and you'll be fine on ITX. All of the above boards will work fine, but stay away from the original Aorus mATX if you might upgrade to a better CPU in the future.

The mATX boards *should* be okay with 3600 dual rank, I've done up to 3800 dual rank on the TUF but wasn't able to do >3200 dual rank on the Steel Legend, but probably just firmware issues. Single rank like you have and it should be all good.

I must have gotten the B550I Strix confused with the X570, the B550 ITX has I/O on par with the X570 TB3 (read: poor). No doubt the BIOS will be familiar to you and easier to use though, your call.

If no mem OC, the mATX boards will do all you ask of them, except for aesthetics (yuck except Mortar Wifi).

 

[Hemmingstamp]

Such a hard decision..

I was amazed at MSI's build quality on the B550i in all fairness mate, it's like a slab of concrete.
My B450 Gaming Plus AC is the same. I rarely praise any hardware so take that as a ++

 

[tabascosauz]

I was amazed at MSI's build quality on the B550i in all fairness mate, it's like a slab of concrete.
My B450 Gaming Plus AC is the same. I rarely praise any hardware so take that as a ++

Amen to that, I love MSI's integrated I/O shroud VRM heatsink designs. Even more so on their mATX and ATX Mortars/Tomahawks/Torpedos.

On the topic of slabs of concrete, the full coverage metal backplate on the X570I and B550I Aorus boards add a LOT of weight and rigidity. Like, it actually is pretty hard to pick the board up with one hand, it's like holding two mobos in your hand lol

 

[Hemmingstamp]

Amen to that, I love MSI's integrated I/O shroud VRM heatsink designs. Even more so on their mATX and ATX Mortars/Tomahawks/Torpedos.

On the topic of slabs of concrete, the full coverage metal backplate on the X570I and B550I Aorus boards add a LOT of weight and rigidity. Like, it actually is pretty hard to pick the board up with one hand, it's like holding two mobos in your hand lol

Amen to that too. I used to swear ASUS was the way to go but took a the dip on the MSI z270 series boards a few years ago and haven't looked back since.
I wanted the X570 board but just couldn't stomach another M-ATX build rubbing my knees. I used to create but not any more so it's ITX for me nowadays.
The MSI guys in the Bios dept actually answer your emails------Unlike ASUS

I honesty think this B550i board could be used as a spare roof tile when it finally goes to mobo heaven