Deciding between X370 and B350

[DuronBurgerMan]

I was originally going to buy an X370 board, but all (except the Biostar, which I don't want) are out of stock. So I got to thinking on whether or not the B350 would be fine for what I want anyway.

I'm building a Ryzen 1800X box for mixed gaming, graphics (Photoshop, After Effects, etc), 3D rendering, and video editing. I don't have any desire to go SLI or Crossfire. But I do intend on buying the fattest, nastiest single GPU I can find. Which is the 1080 Ti, whenever it pops back into stock. Going to run a Samsung 960 EVO 1TB M.2 drive for boot, and probably 2x 3TB Seagate Barracudas for data. Going with 32GB of RAM in two DIMMs, since Ryzen seems to have issues with four, and 32GB will be useful for all my graphics work.

Overclocking will only be casual. Whatever the low hanging fruit is. If I can get some MHz for free, I'll take it. But I don't really care overmuch. Not going crazy on OCing.

Given all that, is there any downside to going B350? If not, Asus or ASRock B350 boards?

 

[MacPoedel]

X370 motherboards generally have better RAM support right now, so if you want fast and a lot of RAM, you're better off getting a X370 board right now, although you could still end up having to lower RAM speed or not booting at all (best stick to the QVL). In the end BIOS updates will probably trickle down to lower end motherboards.

As for features, yes a B350 would suffice for you.

 

[tamz_msc]

The main problem I see with buying into the ecosystem in these early days is the frequency of BIOS updates. I think it's a fair assumption that manufacturers would prioritize their top SKUs hen it comes to pushing updates and fixes. So X370 is at an advantage here.

That and the memory support issues as noted above.

 

[DuronBurgerMan]

The main problem I see with buying into the ecosystem in these early days is the frequency of BIOS updates. I think it's a fair assumption that manufacturers would prioritize their top SKUs hen it comes to pushing updates and fixes. So X370 is at an advantage here.

That and the memory support issues as noted above.

Very good point. I shall wait for the X370 boards to come back in stock, then. Asus or ASRock, you think? Because my current box is a 2600k machine, it's lasted more than 5 years... I haven't built a rig since 2011. So I'm not sure what the motherboard brand reputations are like these days. Back then, it was Asus or ASRock if on a budget. Today? Lol. No f'ing clue.

 

[Malogeek]

Very good point. I shall wait for the X370 boards to come back in stock, then. Asus or ASRock, you think? Because my current box is a 2600k machine, it's lasted more than 5 years... I haven't built a rig since 2011. So I'm not sure what the motherboard brand reputations are like these days. Back then, it was Asus or ASRock if on a budget. Today? Lol. No f'ing clue.

ASUS memory support is atrocious at the moment. Many can't even go past 2133 at the moment. A few specific types are reaching 2666.

I'm sure (I hope!) it will get better. My Prime X370-Pro is just crap right now.

 

[VirtualLarry]

What's so wrong with the Biostar X370 board that everyone doesn't want one, thus they're still in stock, when that's the only X370 board in stock?

 

[whm1974]

What's so wrong with the Biostar X370 board that everyone doesn't want one, thus they're still in stock, when that's the only X370 board in stock?

Biostar isn't known for having decent motherboards.

 

[DuronBurgerMan]

Biostar isn't known for having decent motherboards.

Yup. They are sh*t. Had one a long time ago. Sh*ttiest board I've ever owned. Never again.

 

[dlerious]

I never liked Biostar or ECS. I've been mainly ASUS and Gigabyte (tho I did jump on the DFi bandwagon for a while). I think I'm going to give ASRock a try this time, been hearing good things about them lately. I've really liked my ASUS boards, but I hate their support.

 

[guachi]

I've never gotten the top tier chipset on a motherboard as the prime selling point of so many of them was support for dual GPUs, or so it seemed.

For my AM3+ system I went with a mainstream 970 chipset but one that MSI had put better features on - USB 3.0 and good audio (I think it was the 1120 chipset and some other headphone specific features).

There is precisely one B350 board, the Gigabyte Gaming 3, that I can find with the 1220 chipset most of the X370 boards have. It's missing the USB-C connectivity of the X370 boards and, like all B350 chips, only has onboard connections for 2 USB 3.0 ports instead of 4. The Gigabyte board is only $110.



Aside from built-in wi-fi on some ASRock boards, I'm not otherwise seeing any compelling case for getting the X370 at this point.

 

[funks]

The Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 is a good board from a feature perspective - it has the Realtek ALC1220 codec (along with Smart Headphone Amp), still has TOS-Link Optical Out on the I/O header. Additionally, it has 2 ports of USB 3.1 Gen 2 on the back (albeit, Type-A connectors, not Type-C - the red ports), most other B350 boards only have USB 3.1 Gen 1 (aka USB 3.0)

Has
4 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the back controlled by the CPU
2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports on the back (Type-A) controlled by the chipset
2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the motherboard header controlled by the chipset
5 USB 2.0 ports (1 port on the back, 4 ports available through internal USB headers) controlled by the chipset.

The X370 boards are double / triple the price in some cases - I guess if one SLI's but I don't understand the need for DUAL LAN chips and etc.

 

[Greyguy1948]

Have you any idea about the normal boot time for AM4 mobos?
Here in Sweden ASUS are first on the market with MSI and Gigabyte on the way.

 

[Malogeek]

Have you any idea about the normal boot time for AM4 mobos?

POST time is quite slow on these motherboards, which may get better with updates but who knows at this stage.

 

[Yakk]

I'd be very interested in a full B350 motherboard comparison myself. I don't see much use for the X370 beyond paying the SLI (tax).

 

[tamz_msc]

The Gigabyte AB-350 Gaming 3 is a very nice board - it even has Dual BIOS! AFAIK only Gigabyte has been offering Dual-BIOS on its AM4 boards as of now. The only letdown is Realtek LAN - which might be problematic on Linux.

 

[Malogeek]

The Gigabyte AB-350 Gaming 3 is a very nice board - it even has Dual BIOS! AFAIK only Gigabyte has been offering Dual-BIOS on its AM4 boards as of now. The only letdown is Realtek LAN - which might be problematic on Linux.

And it's the only B350 motherboard with the ALC1220 audio.

 

[guachi]

The inclusion of ALC1220 audio chip and assorted other audio features was the reason I got the MSI gaming 970 motherboard for my FX-8350. It cost about $10-15 extra for the chip and saved me from getting either an expensive sound card or a headphone DAC/amp.

Now that I've checked, the MSI board had ALC1150 audio. But the principle is still there. It has all the features of the higher-end boards but doesn't have the expensive chipset.

I'd go for any B350 board that had high-end features (particularly audio) but without the cost of the X370 chip.

EDIT: Maybe after the R5 comes out there will be B350 boards wit more features. X370 seems to be catering to people who are willing to spend $300+ on their R7 CPU.

 

[funks]

The only letdown is Realtek LAN - which might be problematic on Linux..

Pretty much all the X370 and B350 boards come with the RealTek GBE, even on the Intel MOBO side - most offer the RealTek chip..

 

[Malogeek]

Pretty much all the X370 and B350 boards come with the RealTek GBE, even on the Intel MOBO side - most offer the RealTek chip

That's not correct. All but one of the X370 boards are using the Intel 211T. The only Realtek being the cheap Biostar.

 

[funks]

Seems like you are right Malogeek

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/5zkcn5/am4_motherboards_updated_031517/

 

[Shmee]

I ordered the B350M (micro ATX) from gigabyte, should finally get here tomorrow!

 

[Greyguy1948]

Have you any idea about the normal boot time for AM4 mobos?
Here in Sweden ASUS are first on the market with MSI and Gigabyte on the way.

Now I have a Ryzen 1700 and an ASUS Prime B350M-A.
Booting with Windows 10 is very slow but Linux do it in 5 sec (only tested 32bit yet).In BIOS you can close cores and run 2, 4 or 6 but I have not found any way to disable SMT.

 

[Malogeek]

Booting with Windows 10 is very slow but Linux do it in 5 sec

Not sure what's up with your Windows installation but once I get past post Windows takes about 3 seconds to load. Granted this is on a NVMe SSD.

 

[Greyguy1948]

Now I have a Ryzen 1700 and an ASUS Prime B350M-A.
Booting with Windows 10 is very slow but Linux do it in 5 sec (only tested 32bit yet).In BIOS you can close cores and run 2, 4 or 6 but I have not found any way to disable SMT.

Windows is faster now after some starts.
Are you happy with the BIOS on your mobo?
I'm not- it is a mess compared to BIOS in the past.
I can't disable turbo. I can't disable SMT like i can disable HT for Intel.
I can't slow down the clock for example to 1600 MHz as I can for my Ivy Bridge.
I have 3 CDs with 64 bit Linux Mint Live. All of them crash. Is it the BIOS or is it that Ryzen is too new?

 

[dlerious]

Are you running kernel 4.10 or higher?