Switching to AMD - questions about a couple of ASRock boards

[suraswami]

Aside from the PG boards I mentioned having an interest in, Gigabyte's X570 Aorus-I as well as the B550 version, both appeal to me in some ways, as does the X570 Aorus Ultra. The VIII Hero from Asus is near the top of my short list, but I'm worried it's a bit "overkill" for my needs. Although, if I wanted to think about it that way, my VI Hero was technically "overkill" for me back then, and yet I still loved it to bits.

Recently helped a friend build a gaming PC for his Son, he ordered the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wifi from Amazon. We wanted to use the new R5 5600x with it, so had to flash the bios without the CPU. Flashing seemed to work but the board wouldn't post with the 5600x at all. There are no beeps nothing. I even tested with no ram, still no beep. After wasting few hours in trying to trouble shoot every component of the build, finally we went back to MC, stood in the stupid line, and got the B550 Aorus Pro AC. It had an old bios, but still it booted with the 5600x, it just didn't identify what frequency the CPU was running at. Updated the Bios and all was well. I like the B550 feature wise, loads of fan headers and it also had the debug LED which is handy in these kind of situations.

I built my PC with Asus X570 TUF Gaming Plus Wifi, I like the Bios layout of Asus to the Gigabyte.

Anyway good luck with your build.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Technically, the Z490-G is higher end than any AM4 mATX board, so if you're looking to "move up", it's gonna have to be smaller or bigger (although PCB layers really only matters for Intel because you won't be running 4000+ unless you have a Renoir APU).

The Hero is a good board, Dark Hero is technically more up to date though.

Between the X570-I Aorus and B550I Aorus AX, I would have chosen my B550 even if they were the same price. The X570 has the deprecated 16MB BIOS chip, the B550 has the 32MB chip; Gigabyte also had some trouble with BIOS corruption on X570 before B550 launched. The B550 also has a pretty ridiculous full coverage backplate that the X570 doesn't have, that makes it weigh twice as much and damn stiff, just make sure the socket area on the case mobo tray has no obstructions. Add to that the fact the B550I is usually rather cheap even amongst its B550 ITX competitors, let alone X570.

Gigabyte X570 ATX boards received later board revisions with a better memory topology, which the B550 boards have right from Rev. 1.0. So if you are looking at Gigabyte X570, it's good to take note of the revision number.

The Dark Hero might be more up to date, but it's also $400 and sold out everywhere

Damn, the Aorus B550 AX has a full coverage backplate?! Oh lawd I consider that a HUGE plus because I'm always afraid of touching the back of the board, but sometimes it's inevitable. As far as I know, the Crosshair VIII Impact is the only other small board to feature a full coverage backplate. I wish they came standard, honestly. Makes working with the board so much easier.

 

[Redwoodz]

I am using a B450 Steel Legend as we speak. Everything the other guy said about it is incorrect pretty much. He obviously got it before AMD got the Ageasa straightened out. Running right now with .950 SOC no problem. You don't need monster VRM's because these chips pull no more than 125w, same as an old Phenom X4. As for memory performance, I put in a CL18 4000MHz B-die set and it booted first try. To each his own but I hate it when people misdiagnose stuff then spread FUD.Look to professional reviews.

 

[INSTG8R]

In GB fan control you can use arrow keys to scroll through all the controls on the screen. So if you are using a manual fan curve, you can use arrow keys to scroll through each of the 4 (or was it 5?) adjustable points on the curve. There's a small label once you've selected a point that says something like Hold Shift to Adjust, so just hold down Shift and your arrow keys will move that point on the curve in whatever direction you desire. Only if you are using a Manual fan curve.

Yes I’m very particular about my fan curves. Ii did see ”Press Space” hovering over them but it didn’t make much sense to. Next BIOS update I’ll see well that way works.

 

[cueman]

well,wanna say bfore you do final choose...

wait for rocket lake cpu,specially if you are gamer,its beat all ryzen vermeer,easily. coming january 2021 latest rumor..

and, if you have patience and want also multicore performance,wait summer 2021,june,then intel Adler lake coming,
its 8+8 core Hybrid cpu and maded 10nm tech. its is fast!

i mean then you really can compare little bit closer both cpu performance and efficiency,much better than ever..and see is it amd 7nm cpus so 'good'.

well,amd vermeer are not bad cpu,no, but bcoz its maded 7nm tech against intel 14nm,7nm vermeer has so massive handicap advance to verify intel 14nm.

anyway, im gonna wait maximum summer 2021, then i choose cpu my next totally new PC rig


mobo?

i choose Asus or Msi...but sure, Asrock is good also,

 

[tabascosauz]

The Dark Hero might be more up to date, but it's also $400 and sold out everywhere

Damn, the Aorus B550 AX has a full coverage backplate?! Oh lawd I consider that a HUGE plus because I'm always afraid of touching the back of the board, but sometimes it's inevitable. As far as I know, the Crosshair VIII Impact is the only other small board to feature a full coverage backplate. I wish they came standard, honestly. Makes working with the board so much easier.

Mine is in my M1 so it's a little hard to see but the TPU review has a good pic:



A significant benefit is that the backplate makes good contact with thermal pads over the back of the ISL99390s on the VRM. Makes a lot of sense on ITX boards where you can only have so much heatsink area on the front side. I wish more companies realized that MOSFET temp is only part of the equation; more contact on the back is a great way to cool VRM PCB temps.

The B550 also has a heatpipe to spread the VRM heat out a bit (not that it really needs it, ISL99390s are really good), and a much cooler-running chipset.

 

[Chrispy_]

ASRock's BIOS fan control can't hold a candle to even Gigabyte's, let alone Asus'.

That's a valid point actually; Even up as recently as the B450 boards I would describe Asrock's fan control as barely adequate. I've never been unable to do what I needed but my god it is finicky and basic. I remember their old Z77 boards forcing me to swap two fans around because one header only had fan control for 3-pin and didn't understand PWM. That was a long time ago though. More recently I've been able to set custom speeds for any header I wanted, even if the UI was clunky and not particularly intuitive.

 

[freeagent]

My Z77 OC Formula had awesome fan control, better than the Asus it replaced.. pity.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

well,wanna say bfore you do final choose...

wait for rocket lake cpu,specially if you are gamer,its beat all ryzen vermeer,easily. coming january 2021 latest rumor..

and, if you have patience and want also multicore performance,wait summer 2021,june,then intel Adler lake coming,
its 8+8 core Hybrid cpu and maded 10nm tech. its is fast!

i mean then you really can compare little bit closer both cpu performance and efficiency,much better than ever..and see is it amd 7nm cpus so 'good'.

well,amd vermeer are not bad cpu,no, but bcoz its maded 7nm tech against intel 14nm,7nm vermeer has so massive handicap advance to verify intel 14nm.

anyway, im gonna wait maximum summer 2021, then i choose cpu my next totally new PC rig


mobo?

i choose Asus or Msi...but sure, Asrock is good also,

Um...sure man, whatever you say... Way to miss the topic of this thread by a country mile. If I was going to stay with Intel, I don't think I'd be asking about AMD boards...

Mine is in my M1 so it's a little hard to see but the TPU review has a good pic:

View attachment 181323

A significant benefit is that the backplate makes good contact with thermal pads over the back of the ISL99390s on the VRM. Makes a lot of sense on ITX boards where you can only have so much heatsink area on the front side. I wish more companies realized that MOSFET temp is only part of the equation; more contact on the back is a great way to cool VRM PCB temps.

The B550 also has a heatpipe to spread the VRM heat out a bit (not that it really needs it, ISL99390s are really good), and a much cooler-running chipset.

That's board is damn sexy in the back... Only thing I'm worried about - and this applies to most ITX boards - is that M.2 port in the back. Granted, the M.2 I have runs in SATA mode so it most likely doesn't get very hot, but still. Is having M.2 ports on the back a bad idea?

 

[biffzinker]

Is having M.2 ports on the back a bad idea?

Having it on the back could allow using a thermal pad in contact with the metal panel the standoffs are in.

 

[Chrispy_]

intel Adler lake coming,
its 8+8 core Hybrid cpu and maded 10nm tech. its is fast!

Betting on Intel 10nm is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. It's currently so bad, and so far behind schedule that Rocket Lake was diverted away from 10nm and backported to 14++++

Nobody (apart from you) is confident that 10nm will be viable for desktops in 2021. Even Intel have bet against it, they're outsourcing to both TSMC and Samsung in 2021 whilst they try and fix the utterly broken mess of their 10nm fab. It simply doesn't work, laptop yields are poor, they don't clock high enough to be competitive and they can't reliably make any larger multi-core dies despite almost four years of desperately trying.

Rocket lake will be an improvement because it brings newer architecture to 14nm but the most optimistic projections have it tying with Zen3 Vermeer in performance for much higher power draw. That's not a win, that's a tie at best, with lots of added caveats.

 

[tabascosauz]

That's board is damn sexy in the back... Only thing I'm worried about - and this applies to most ITX boards - is that M.2 port in the back. Granted, the M.2 I have runs in SATA mode so it most likely doesn't get very hot, but still. Is having M.2 ports on the back a bad idea?

If you just run an APU like me, no problem. I've had my SN550 back there with no real thermal differences to being on the front side of the board in my main rig. And my WD drives are both inherently warm drives, the SN550 and SN750.

But if you have a high wattage GPU and have a small case like the M1 or NR200P, it can get really toasty on the back of the board. I imagine that a SATA M.2 would never have any issues though. So yeah, since you don't really have space for any aftermarket M.2 heatsinks back there in most ITX cases, it's probably safe to stick with SATA.

The B550 AX doesn't have a case USB-C header though, if you're into that. I couldn't care less because I use a blank front I/O in my M1 with just the power button, but I know USB-C is becoming all the rage these days. It also has 3 fan headers, but much like the X570 Aorus the third header is actually a mini-4-pin and you need the included adapter to connect it to a regular 3 or 4 pin fan.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Not related to mobos but, is the Ryzen 5 1600A still a worthy alternative to the 3600? I'm just trying to have a Plan B in case the 3600 goes out of stock again. I read the 1600AF is basically a 2600 in all but name and is still pretty capable. My only concern is mobo support. Given that it's basically a 2600, I'm guessing it'll work on x570 boards, but not B550 as those are only compatible with 3000 and 5000 series Ryzen, right?

 

[Caring1]

Not related to mobos but, is the Ryzen 5 1600A still a worthy alternative to the 3600? I'm just trying to have a Plan B in case the 3600 goes out of stock again. I read the 1600AF is basically a 2600 in all but name and is still pretty capable. My only concern is mobo support. Given that it's basically a 2600, I'm guessing it'll work on x570 boards, but not B550 as those are only compatible with 3000 and 5000 series Ryzen, right?

Correct, it won't be supported on later Motherboards that only support 3### or 5### chips
Have you looked at 3500X chips?

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Correct, it won't be supported on later Motherboards that only support 3### or 5### chips
Have you looked at 3500X chips?

OK, that's what I thought. So my Plan B will have to include an X570 board, as those tend to support 2000 series.

 

[tabascosauz]

OK, that's what I thought. So my Plan B will have to include an X570 board, as those tend to support 2000 series.

1600AF might be a decent alternative to the 3600 if you're *really* strapped for cash, but that's really about it.

Being an even lower binned 2600 (the 2600 already being amongst the lowest in the binning stack) the quality of the cores can get pretty close, but from what I've seen the memory controller is still Ryzen 1000-level, whether that's the result of binning or design. Knowing where Ryzen 1000 is memory-wise, that's not particularly confidence inspiring even for a 3200CL16 kit.

Correct, it won't be supported on later Motherboards that only support 3### or 5### chips
Have you looked at 3500X chips?

Isn't the 3500X a China-only part? Sure it ships in a proper box unlike Renoir, but something tells me that attempting to get warranty support on it will probably end the same way as trying to get an RMA for a 4750G. I think where it's available outside of China (where it's a retail product), it's OEM-only.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

1600AF might be a decent alternative to the 3600 if you're *really* strapped for cash, but that's really about it.

Being an even lower binned 2600 (the 2600 already being amongst the lowest in the binning stack) the quality of the cores can get pretty close, but from what I've seen the memory controller is still Ryzen 1000-level, whether that's the result of binning or design. Knowing where Ryzen 1000 is memory-wise, that's not particularly confidence inspiring even for a 3200CL16 kit.



Isn't the 3500X a China-only part? Sure it ships in a proper box unlike Renoir, but something tells me that attempting to get warranty support on it will probably end the same way as trying to get an RMA for a 4750G.

I believe so, yeah. But oddly enough, you can find them for sale on Amazon and Newegg. Hardware Unboxed didn't give it particularly high marks...

https://www.techspot.com/review/1966-amd-ryzen-5-3500x/

The key difference between it and say, the 2600/3600 is that SMT is disabled, so while it's a 6 core, it's also only 6 threads, whereas the 2600/3600 are 6c 12t.

 

[tabascosauz]

I believe so, yeah. But oddly enough, you can find them for sale on Amazon and Newegg. Hardware Unboxed didn't give it particularly high marks...

https://www.techspot.com/review/1966-amd-ryzen-5-3500x/

The key difference between it and say, the 2600/3600 is that SMT is disabled, so while it's a 6 core, it's also only 6 threads, whereas the 2600/3600 are 6c 12t.

Didn't find it on Amazon but Newegg's is unsurprisingly available only from third party sellers - I'd probably not trust in whatever "warranty" it has actually being enforceable in North America. Learned my lesson with third party sellers on Amazon lol. AMD's own page on the 3500X is in Chinese and states China-only.

Are you unable to find a 3600/3600X/3600XT though? Though $CAD is unforgiving I generally see the three on sale regularly and sometimes at the same price. Knowing that you come from a 10700K, a 3600 is still alright but 1600AF seems like quite a downgrade.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Didn't find it on Amazon but Newegg's is unsurprisingly available only from third party sellers - I'd probably not trust in whatever "warranty" it has actually being enforceable in North America. Learned my lesson with third party sellers on Amazon lol. AMD's own page on the 3500X is in Chinese and states China-only.

Are you unable to find a 3600/3600X/3600XT though? Though $CAD is unforgiving I generally see the three on sale regularly and sometimes at the same price. Knowing that you come from a 10700K, a 3600 is still alright but 1600AF seems like quite a downgrade.

Oh, I can find the 3600 on Newegg and Amazon for $200, but am unable to find the X or XT variants. Unfortunately, the money from my Intel parts won't be in my PayPal until between Jan 8-14, and the way the CPU market is at the moment, the 3600 could damn well go out of stock again so just in case it does, I'm trying to formulate a "Plan B".

Y'all wanna know the sad part about all this? I still have my Ryzen 5 1600, and so all I'd need is a board to put it in, but I can't because AMD doesn't "support" first-gen Ryzen anymore

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I agree, you may not notice the difference from a 3600 to a 10700k in real world scenarios with a mid range ish gpu but the 1600AF is a major downgrade from a 10700k

You'd be going from near the top tier as far as gaming cpu performance to near the bottom of all modern cpu.....

 

[Chrispy_]

Given that there's no real motherboard shortages right now and plenty of options, Just focus on getting the CPU you want first. Whatever you end up with you can easily find RAM/Motherboard/Cooler etc to pair it up with later.

 

[Super XP]

The ASRock boards seem alright, though my total preference is ASUS ROG gaming boards, I ended up with a ASRock myself because of price and wanted to give them a try. So far, its been running as it should with no issues. Though I struggle to get my RAM to 3200 as its meant to run. I later figured that my 1700X was the limiting factor.

 

[sepheronx]

Oh, I can find the 3600 on Newegg and Amazon for $200, but am unable to find the X or XT variants. Unfortunately, the money from my Intel parts won't be in my PayPal until between Jan 8-14, and the way the CPU market is at the moment, the 3600 could damn well go out of stock again so just in case it does, I'm trying to formulate a "Plan B".

Y'all wanna know the sad part about all this? I still have my Ryzen 5 1600, and so all I'd need is a board to put it in, but I can't because AMD doesn't "support" first-gen Ryzen anymore

85.99US $ 24% OFF|Amd Ryzen 5 3500x New R5 3500x 3.6 Ghz Six-core Six-thread Cpu Processor 7nm 65w L3=32m 100-000000158 Socket Am4 New - Cpus - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

I bought from this guy 4 times. All 4 times have been good. I bought one of these exact processors (though it was the boxed variant with cooler) for about $180 CAD. This is of course cheaper.

This is at least makes a good alternative for a while till you can find a 5600X at reasonable price.

 

[Caring1]

Not related to mobos but, is the Ryzen 5 1600A still a worthy alternative to the 3600? I'm just trying to have a Plan B in case the 3600 goes out of stock again. I read the 1600AF is basically a 2600 in all but name and is still pretty capable. My only concern is mobo support. Given that it's basically a 2600, I'm guessing it'll work on x570 boards, but not B550 as those are only compatible with 3000 and 5000 series Ryzen, right?

If you would consider an Asus board apparently they support older CPU's even after an update.

Asus Prime B450 M-A latest bios update...update or not?

Hi, I am Running an Ryzen 5 1600 (non AF) processor on a b450 M-A MB with 16 gb 2400mhz ddr4 ram, i recently saw that asus has posted a new bios update for the MB...version 2409. There are some rumours that asus has dropped support for 1st gen ryzen processors. The bios release notes only...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[A Computer Guy]

Being completely honest with you here, even if my reasons for preferring ASrock are rather silly, I'm simply interested in their PG boards (the good ones like the Velocita and such) because they're the only company that makes silver, red and black-themed boards and those are the main colors of my build theme

Imma go hide now, lol

That being said, I can't seem to pull myself away from flashy, pricey boards like the VIII Hero. I had a VI Hero (RIP) and that damn thing absolutely spoiled me as far as IO USB ports went, among other things. So thanks to the VI Hero, whenever I look at mobos now and see no more than 5 USB ports on the back, I shake my fist at it, LMAO

If your open to ITX formfactor ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax is quite good and a decent amount of rear I/O and robust enough VRM should handle 3950x.
I have one as my backup PC and have no complaints and had a much better time with RAM overclocking over my ASRock x470 Master SLI/ac.

(As as side note it's a great fit for cooler master NR200P or allows a bit more room for water-cooling in Lian Li 011D.)