Motherboard Upgrade From B350 To B450 Queries

[8tyone]

Hi, Techpowerup'ians, asking this for a friend; His config. at present:

AMD R5 5600X
Gigabyte RTX 2070 8GB
Asus B350 Prime Plus
Adata XPG 2800MHz 2x8GBRAM
Antec HCG 750 Watts PSU
Crucial MX500 1tb + some HDDs
Thermaltake Versa N26

Would the Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro (rev 1.0) be a worthy upgrade to his current Asus B350 Prime Plus (Edit: esp. VRM wise) ? He is also planning to upgrade to 3600MHz, 2x16GB RAM in a month or two, would there be any problems with this motherboard with 3600MHz RAM ? Also, would he be able to enable Resizable-BAR ? He is getting this motherboard at a very low price and hence opted out of a new B550 chipset!

Thank you.

 

[8tyone]

Bumping this thread.

 

[AusWolf]

Why does he need a motherboard upgrade?

 

[Toothless]

Board is fine. Make sure bios is updated.

 

[Dr. Dro]

This is not an upgrade. It's a sidegrade at best. If the B350 motherboard is not defective, do not replace it. Instead, update the BIOS to support Zen 3 and resizable BAR. If this is the motherboard, it is available:

PRIME B350-PLUS｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

 

[8tyone]

Why does he need a motherboard upgrade?

He is going to keep this system for a while now (upgrading the gpu maybe to rtx4060/rx7600 after a while) and the motherboard is old, no warranty anymore (he bought this with an R5 1600). Also, it is showing some problems, turning off/restarting on its own (tested with different PSU), turning on without the on switch being pressed (tested with different cabinet), throttling issue (again tested with different PSU). These problems only happened after bios update and r5 5600x upgrade. Most importantly he is getting a great deal and wants to buy the motherboard. He is also getting a good pair of speakers and the ALC 1220 helps as well.

Board is fine. Make sure bios is updated.

Bios is at its latest.

This is not an upgrade. It's a sidegrade at best. If the B350 motherboard is not defective, do not replace it. Instead, update the BIOS to support Zen 3 and resizable BAR. If this is the motherboard, it is available:

PRIME B350-PLUS｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

Bios is at its latest, no resizable bar. He will be selling this with his old r5 1600. He wants to keep this for a while along with upgraded RAM and a new gpu and most importantly a warranty and so the need for a new cheap enough motherboard. He was going for the Asrock B550M Pro4 but its price has increased a lot, two days ago he got the Gigabyte motherboard at a very good price.

Could you guys answer the questions in my original post, please...

 

[AusWolf]

He is going to keep this system for a while now (upgrading the gpu maybe to rtx4060/rx7600 after a while) and the motherboard is old, no warranty anymore (he bought this with an R5 1600). Also, it is showing some problems, turning off/restarting on its own (tested with different PSU), turning on without the on switch being pressed (tested with different cabinet), throttling issue (again tested with different PSU). These problems only happened after bios update and r5 5600x upgrade. Most importantly he is getting a great deal and wants to buy the motherboard. He is also getting a good pair of speakers and the ALC 1220 helps as well.

I see... Well, there is nothing wrong with the Aorus B450 that you linked, but personally, I wouldn't get a 400-series board anno 2022, especially not with a 5600X. The B550 chipset doesn't only have PCI-e 4.0 which might be a huge advantage depending on your friend's next GPU choice, but also supports the 5600X without a BIOS update, not to mention potentially a 5800X3D if he decides to upgrade later.

The problem with a newly bought 400-series board and a 5000-series CPU is that the board might need a BIOS update before it works with the CPU. To do that, you need to pop in an older CPU that is supported by the current BIOS first.

 

[8tyone]

I see... Well, there is nothing wrong with the Aorus B450 that you linked, but personally, I wouldn't get a 400-series board anno 2022, especially not with a 5600X. The B550 chipset doesn't only have PCI-e 4.0 which might be a huge advantage depending on your friend's next GPU choice, but also supports the 5600X without a BIOS update, not to mention potentially a 5800X3D if he decides to upgrade later.

What are your thoughts on the Asrock B550M Pro4?

 

[AusWolf]

What are your thoughts on the Asrock B550M Pro4?

Its power delivery looks a bit meh, which is probably not a problem with a 5600X at stock, but might be with a hungrier CPU in the future. I don't have much experience with ASRock, to be honest.

 

[8tyone]

Its power delivery looks a bit meh, which is probably not a problem with a 5600X at stock, but might be with a hungrier CPU in the future. I don't have much experience with ASRock, to be honest.

I was thinking the same. Gigabyte one though looks solid also cheaper full atx board. Do you have any info on 3600mhz ram and resizable bar support on the said gigabyte motherboard.

 

[AusWolf]

I was thinking the same. Gigabyte one though looks solid also cheaper full atx board. Do you have any info on 3600mhz ram and resizable bar support on the said gigabyte motherboard.

I wouldn't count on ReBAR on B450 as it's PCI-e 3.0 only. Technically B450 supports it, but whether that particular board got the update is questionable. Not to mention the lack of bandwidth that you may feel with some GPUs. If AMD (or Nvidia) pulls another 6500 XT, that is, they limit the available lanes on an otherwise reasonable GPU to x4, and your friend upgrades to it, he will feel it.

 

[Dr. Dro]

He is going to keep this system for a while now (upgrading the gpu maybe to rtx4060/rx7600 after a while) and the motherboard is old, no warranty anymore (he bought this with an R5 1600). Also, it is showing some problems, turning off/restarting on its own (tested with different PSU), turning on without the on switch being pressed (tested with different cabinet), throttling issue (again tested with different PSU). These problems only happened after bios update and r5 5600x upgrade. Most importantly he is getting a great deal and wants to buy the motherboard. He is also getting a good pair of speakers and the ALC 1220 helps as well.


Bios is at its latest.

Bios is at its latest, no resizable bar. He will be selling this with his old r5 1600. He wants to keep this for a while along with upgraded RAM and a new gpu and most importantly a warranty and so the need for a new cheap enough motherboard. He was going for the Asrock B550M Pro4 but its price has increased a lot, two days ago he got the Gigabyte motherboard at a very good price.

Could you guys answer the questions in my original post, please...

Wait, he has a R5 1600 installed at present? I believe the feature requires a Zen 2 and 3 CPU installed, that is why it might not show up. Either way, it is not a deal breaker. Anyway, if you are going through that hassle, at least try to get a B550 board for PCIe 4.0 support.

I wouldn't count on ReBAR on B450 as it's PCI-e 3.0 only. Technically B450 supports it, but whether that particular board got the update is questionable. Not to mention the lack of bandwidth that you may feel with some GPUs. If AMD (or Nvidia) pulls another 6500 XT, that is, they limit the available lanes on an otherwise reasonable GPU to x4, and your friend upgrades to it, he will feel it.

ReBAR doesn't depend on PCIe 4.0, it will work on PCIe 3.0 platforms as well

 

[AusWolf]

ReBAR doesn't depend on PCIe 4.0, it will work on PCIe 3.0 platforms as well

It will - the question is whether that particular board got ReBAR support through BIOS updates or not.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It will - the question is whether that particular board got ReBAR support through BIOS updates or not.

It received AGESA v2 1.2.0.7 so probably did

Even if it didn't (which seems rather odd), it's not worth replacing an entire board over it IMO

 

[8tyone]

I wouldn't count on ReBAR on B450 as it's PCI-e 3.0 only. Technically B450 supports it, but whether that particular board got the update is questionable. Not to mention the lack of bandwidth that you may feel with some GPUs. If AMD (or Nvidia) pulls another 6500 XT, that is, they limit the available lanes on an otherwise reasonable GPU to x4, and your friend upgrades to it, he will feel it.

I have relayed this information to my friend, he's thinking about it...

Wait, he has a R5 1600 installed at present? I believe the feature requires a Zen 2 and 3 CPU installed, that is why it might not show up.

No, he used to have the 1600 (he still has it not installed, he will sell it with the mobo + ram + cooler). He upgraded to 5600x in August.

 

[Toothless]

ReBar isn't a game changer and PCI 3.0 is fine for a few years more. If your friend can get it, get a quality B550 board (not AsRock or Gigabyte)

If your friend is on a tight budget, keep the B350. Literally nothing wrong with it.

 

[8tyone]

Just asking, VRM quality wise, and maybe even 5800x3d compatibility out of the box, which one of these two would be better (please keep in mind he cannot spend anymore):

*Asrock B550 Pro4
or
*Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2

Thank you.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Just asking, VRM quality wise, and maybe even 5800x3d compatibility out of the box, which one of these two would be better (please keep in mind he cannot spend anymore):

*Asrock B550 Pro4
or
*Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2

Thank you.

Every AM4 motherboard should support every CPU at stock relatively safely. My brother is running my old 3900XT (a VERY power hungry SKU) on a B450M Steel Legend, which is famed for its weaksauce VRMs.

The 5800X3D is not unfriendly to lower end mobos because it is a locked down processor with a preprogrammed current cutoff the processor will never exceed. Its support AGESA even introduced a bug to the other Ryzen CPUs that now throttle just like it because its overcurrent protection is applying to every other chip too, reducing performance for everyone in the process. Yay.

Honestly, don't worry about it. Replacing the motherboard for the sake of it might very well be a waste of money, but if you are gonna do it, buy something with the B550 chipset at a minimum. Between those two, I would pick the Gigabyte. Cheers

 

[8tyone]

He should make his decision tomorrow, will report back. Thanks

 

[SL2]

The B550 chipset doesn't only have PCI-e 4.0 which might be a huge advantage depending on your friend's next GPU choice, but also supports the 5600X without a BIOS update, not to mention potentially a 5800X3D if he decides to upgrade later.

I think it's better to explain when PCIe 3 might be an issue, like when used with a PCIe 4 x4 graphics card, like an RX 6500 XT, or an RX 6400.
A B550 is not worth the money for a budget conscious build. A potential rtx4060/rx7600 buyer has nothing to worry about, IMO.

Many B450 boards are sold with a Zen 3 compatible BIOS, and if the owner would get a board with an older BIOS he can just use his R5 1600 when flashing.

The 5800X3D works with a lot of older boards, including the B350 board listed in #5.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I think it's better to explain when PCIe 3 might be an issue, like when used with a PCIe 4 x4 graphics card, like an RX 6500 XT, or an RX 6400.
A B550 is not worth the money for a budget conscious build. A potential rtx4060/rx7600 buyer has nothing to worry about, IMO.

Many B450 boards are sold with a Zen 3 compatible BIOS, and if the owner would get a board with an older BIOS he can just use his R5 1600 when flashing.

The 5800X3D works with a lot of older boards, including the B350 board listed in #5.

This is true, but considered they already own an RTX 2070 GPU, I don't think they would be in the market for a Navi 24 GPU, unless something extraordinary happens. It's a significant downgrade.

 

[SL2]

This is true, but considered they already own an RTX 2070 GPU, I don't think they would be in the market for a Navi 24 GPU, unless something extraordinary happens. It's a significant downgrade.

He even mentioned the possible upgrade, that's why I said rtx4060/rx7600.

 

[Toothless]

Just asking, VRM quality wise, and maybe even 5800x3d compatibility out of the box, which one of these two would be better (please keep in mind he cannot spend anymore):

*Asrock B550 Pro4
or
*Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2

Thank you.

You picked the two worst brands for this lol.

Every Asus and MSI board I've seen has handled the 5800x and up with ease. Go quality.

 

[8tyone]

Seems like B550 chipset is the way to go and my friend agrees. He has chosen the Asrock B550m Steel Legend after seeing this video . Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Toothless]

Seems like B550 chipset is the way to go and my friend agrees. He has chosen the Asrock B550m Steel Legend after seeing this video . Thanks for everyone's help.

Just an fyi, I've seen previous Steel Legends have issues galore. Good luck to your friend.