Recently we talked about the X470 motherboards for the best, mid range and budget AMD builds. Today in this post we will focus on the Best B450 Motherboard for your AMD Ryzen CPU. Actually both these motherboards were starting to look outdated with the release of X570 and B550 chipset offers. However these motherboards arose in the arena again with the announcement that they will support the Zen 3 BIOS. Therefore the demand still remains for these 400 series motherboard chipsets.
B450 Vs X470
Lets take a swift glance at both the motherboards together, so that you will realize what suits your 3000 series Ryzen more.
| X470 | B450 | |
| CPU support | Zen 2 and BIOS for Zen 3 | Zen 2 and BIOS for Zen 3 |
| PCIe Lanes | PCIe 3.0 x4 | PCIe 3.0 x4 |
| PCIe Gen2 | 8 | 6 |
| SATA III | 4 | 2 |
| SATA Express | 2x or 4x SATA or x4 NVMe Gen 3 | 2x or 4x SATA or x4 NVMe Gen 3 |
Although at first impression both the motherboards appear to be identical, there are a few slight differences to note. The X470 is a bit ahead in terms of PCIe lanes. These bridge the GPUs, Sound Cards, Hard drives with the motherboard. Also the X470 triumphs over the B450 in terms of SATA III availability. We know that NVMe SSDs have been a thing for a long time now.
Nonetheless for users hung up on SATA ports the X470 allows two more. And yes you guessed it right. The X470 is of higher price compared to the B450 for the additional options. And another feature that has to be mentioned is the multi-GPU support, In which the X470 still holds the upper hand. However as we know many gamers, content creators are slowly deviating from the multi-GPU culture. That pretty much summarizes B450 vs X470 motherboards. Now let’s hop on to the topic of the day.
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC- Ultimate Best B450 Motherboard
- ATX Form Factor
- Socket AM4
- 4 × DDR4 DIMM, max. 128 GB
- 2 way AMD crossfire technology
- Turbo M.2
- PCI-E Steel Slot
- Intel Gaming LAN
- 2 × PCIe x16, 3 × PCIe x1
Undeniably MSI has conquered the spot for the Best B450 Motherboard with features surpassing many of its competitors. The VRM here is a 4+2 phase compared to the 5+2 phase of the same X470 Pro Carbon. Dual memory channel support and 2667/ 2800/ 2933/ 3000/ 3066/ 3200/ 3466 MHz by a xmp oc mode. The PCB has a high quality design, fully isolated, shielded and optimized. And the cooling mechanism is definitely better in this board as it supports a bigger heatsink.
This board is mostly popular for its unmatched connectivity. Wi-Fi 5 along with Bluetooth 5.0 and the gigabit LAN. Also it packs four USB 3.2 ports including a USB-C, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, and Flash BIOS button. The M.2 delivers up to 32Gb/s. There’s also the X-boost software that enables auto detection of any storage or USB device and allows you to boost the performance. The RGB lighting adds the final touch for this MSI B450 motherboard.
MSI B450 TOMAHAWK Max- Best Budget B450 Motherboard
- Socket AM4
- ATX Form Factor
- 4 × DDR4 DIMM, max. 128 GB
- 2 × PCIe x16, 3 × PCIe x1
- 1 × M.2, 6 × SATAIII
- PCI-E Steel Armor
- Optimized gaming audio
The first noticeable difference between the Tomahawk and the MSI Carbon Pro is the lack of Wi-Fi. Also the Carbon Pro has another M.2 slot. Apart from the above features the MSI board also has single gigabit LAN port and Realtek ALC892 for audio. This motherboard supports the Ryzen 3000 series processors as well. And the heatsink is designed for better thermal dissipation with larger surface area. And it certainly is a good thing because the VRM can get pretty hot when overclocking.
Core Boost is another option presented by MSI for optimum CPU power delivery. It ensures precise and uninterrupted power delivery to the CPU through an optimized circuit design. The AMD Crossfire multi-GPU is supported. The rest of the ports include four USB 3.2 ports including USB-C, two USB 2.0 ports and a selection of audio jacks, a DVI and HDMI ports, and a flash BIOS button. If you are looking for something less flashy and perhaps hoping to cut down on budget a bit and not going for something like the Carbon Pro, this is definitely a worthy choice. Especially as the best b450 motherboard for Ryzen 5 3600.
ASRock B450M PRO4- Best Micro ATX B450
- Socket AM4
- Micro ATX Form Factor
- 4x DDR4-3200+(OC) until 64GB
- 2x PCI-Express 3 0 x16, 2x PCI-Express 2 0 x16 Slots, 1x PCI-Express 2 0 x1 Slot
- 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s,1 x Ultra M.2 Socket
- 2 USB 3.1 Gen2 (Rear Type-A+C)
- 6 USB 3.1 Gen1 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
- Realtek Gigabit LAN
- HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub Graphics output
The ASRock B450M PRO4 is definitely the best budget b450 motherboard out there for the micro ATX form factor. Supports 105W Water Cooling (Pinnacle Ridge), 95W Water Cooling (Summit Ridge), 65W Water Cooling (Raven Ridge). The dual M.2 slot support is the most outstanding feature of this motherboard. The PCB layer is well designed with 2oz selected copper materials prompting high energy efficiency and low temperature when overclocking.
VRM design consists of next generation Hybrid Digi Power to ensure clean power delivery to CPU. Supports triple monitor setup with the three graphic outputs. Realtek ALC892 Audio with ELNA Audio Caps. AMD Crossfire support included. Aesthetics have been considered by the manufacturers too. 1 x RGB LED Header,1 x AMD Fan LED Header are some of them. ASRock A-Tuning, ASRock Polychrome SYNC, ASRock XFast LAN are the softwares engaged in motherboard management.
The ASRock motherboard surely does justice to your money and the only thing lacking is the Wi-Fi. Also memory support is limited at 64GB. But the RAM support is sufficient for any budget gamer/ content creator. Therefore if you are looking for a budget micro ATX motherboard, never abandon the ASRock.
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I- Best Mini-ITX
- Mini-ITX Form Factor
- Socket AM4
- 2 x DIMM; Max. 32GB DDR4-3200 MHz (O.C.)
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (@ x16)
- 2×2 Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac supports dual frequency band 2.4 / 5 GHz Bluetooth v4.1
- 1 x 2280 (PCIE 3.0 x 4 and SATA modes); 1 x 2280 (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
- Dual M.2 with good Cooling
- USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A connectors.
Apart from the specs mentioned above the ASUS ROG Strix B450-I also has aura sync RGB lighting plus 2 additional RGB headers and 8-channel HD audio. Not many people use the mini-ITX boards, which makes these motherboards special. The ability to integrate all these options into a motherboard of this dimension is truly impressive and admirable. Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, RGB lighting, Dual M.2 slots with the cooling, SupremeFX audio are some such options.
The board supports both liquid and air cooling and also presents a sound CPU power delivery system. 5-Way Optimization software provides the overclocking and cooling profiles and the Strix B450-I has a good overclocking potential. However due to certain cooling issues, experts suggest not to use this chip for APU builds. Therefore if you are planning a small form factor build definitely consider this motherboard.
Asus ROG Strix B450-F- Best B450 Motherboard for Ryzen 7 3700x
- AM4 Socket
- ATX Form Factor
- AMD B450 Chipset
- 4 x DIMM; Max. 64GB DDR4-3200 MHz (O.C.)
- 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (@ x16 or x8/x4) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x 16 (max. @ x4) 3 x PCIe 2.0 x 1
- Dual M.2 and USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A connectors.
- Aura Sync RGB
- Intel Gigabit Ethernet
The answer to a most frequently asked question. Asus ROG Strix B450-F is a genuine candidate for the Best B450 Motherboard for Ryzen 7 3700x. It has enough expansion slots, the Dual M.2, Pre-mounted I/O shield, 5-Way Optimization and SupremeFX S1220A gaming audio to justify its price. Moreover the RGB on the VRM and the chipset heatsink. ASUS Aura offers full RGB lighting control with a variety of options for the built-in RGB headers and LEDs.
The AI Suite 3 software helps you maintain a healthy balance in your rig by optimizing cooling, performance, efficiency and fine tuning each aspect of your rig. You can extend the motherboard for its limits with the CPU and GPU. The XMP and manual core voltage settings assist in setting the best gaming experience once fine tuned. The audio is on point, delivering flawless functionality and the only thing absent from making this board a perfection is Wi-Fi. However some users have experienced issues with the BIOS update. Still if you are looking for a budget friendly board for your 3700x, the Asus B450-F is undoubtedly a worthy choice.
Conclusion
Those are our top suggestions of different form factors for the Best B450 Motherboard. Of course you still need to research and make a clear parallel choice between your needs and the appropriate motherboard to host all your peripherals. The key features to keep in mind when purchasing motherboards are the CPU and GPU support. The maximum RAM factors in next.
Connectivity, Number of ports are also some criteria to keep an eye on. Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock, Gigabyte and MSI are the leading manufacturers of these AMD and Intel motherboards. Therefore stick with those. In our list the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC is the pinnacle of B450 motherboards. But it all comes down to your requirements.
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