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Thanks for your reply. Did you notice if your temperatures changed when going from mATX to ATX. This in relation to my first point.

Hi, I am deciding between those two motherboards. From my point of view, these are the main differences: - The Tomahawk is ATX, while the Mortar is mATX. Would the former be better in terms of cooling/airflow because attached components would be more spaced? The case will be the Phanteks P400A RGB, which comes with 3 front intake fans, and the CPU cooler will be the Scythe Fuma 2. - Both motherboards seem to have the same or very similar VRMs, but the Tomahawk has an additional heat sink on the top part. I am currently considering a Ryzen 5 3600, but later, I might step up to a higher processor if the price/performance ratio is good. Also, although the 3600 doesn't allow for much overclocking, the memory modules may do. So, would this additional heat sink be helpful for a higher processor or memory overclocking? These are other differences that may or may not be relevant: - The Mortar has an additional M.2 slot, but if I ever put a second SSD, it would probably not run as fast as the one connected to the first slot, so this second slot is not too advantageous, right? - The Tomahawk has one more 4-pin fan connector, which may be handy if I want to throw in an additional fan, but I can probably daisy-chain some fans to connect more to the Mortar, right? - The Mortar has two additional USB 3.0 ports on the back and S/PDIF output, which is nice. - The Tomahawk has a 4-pin water-pump-fan connector, but may not be relevant as I don't plan to use water cooling (at least for now). So, if you have answers to my questions or additional thoughts, please let me know.

From what I read on the web, it seems that the best value all-rounder mobo is the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max, but in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGY2mqTn2rc it is said that the Mortar Max would be a better option as it has better I/O while retaining the same VRM; however, I notice that the top-center part of the Mortar Max does not have a heat sink. Do you know what is this heat sink for and if it would affect performance/VRM temperatures significantly?

I'll have a look at it.

Why? Is it unreliable? They seem to have quite a number of samples. Maybe their tests are not suitable?

RM750x. I like it because it is quite silent.

I am a noob with AMD and when I look at something with similar performance on cpu.userbenchmark.com, it is more expensive. Which processor you are referring to?

EDIT: Following the advise of several forum members, I am considering to go with the configuration in the title, so my remaining questions are: 1) The MSI B450 Tomahawk is pointed as the best value all-rounder in the B450 line, but from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUp8YiWyR7s and the comments to that video, it seems that it is prone to malfunction. This motherboard was my original choice for the 3600, but now I think it may be better to go with the Mortar, which is very similar but has some extra I/O and not so many issues reported. That said, it is an mATX motherboard, so I was wondering if the reduced spacing for the components attached to the motherboard would be detrimental, and if so, how much. Also, the case I plan to use (p400a digital) is a mid tower case, but I don't see equivalent good options in terms of airflow/noise in the mATX format. 2) Would the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo keep the 3600 (and maybe the motherboard's VRM) well cooled while not being too noisy or should I go for the Scythe Fuma 2 I was considering in my old post? 3) I read that Ryzen likes fast memory. What would be the minimum speed recommended for the 3600? And what about latency? OLD POST: Would it be reasonable to team the components in the title up? Other components in the build will be 32 GB of Vengeance LPX RAM, Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB and a GXT 1080 Ti, which I plan to replace with an equivalent card once Ampere is released. The case will probably be the Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital in its stock configuration (not that I care about RGB, but it comes with 3 apparently nice fans). I am not super interested in overclocking the CPU. I was actually aiming at an i5-9400F, but since the i5-9600KF is "only" 25% more expensive (in the Netherlands) while having 14% more performance according to cpu.userbenchmark.com, I thought it might be worth to consider it. Now, my concerns are if the MSI B360-A Pro will be able to handle the CPU at stock turbo without overheating the VRM or throttling the CPU, and if the Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo will keep the CPU (and maybe the VRM) well cooled while not being too noisy. From this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GSoaRsuke4, it seems that the eSports Duo is a good budget cooler and can cope with high loads better than similarly priced or even more expensive alternatives, although I have found some contradictory numbers at https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/9055/arctic-freezer-34-esports-duo-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html, so I would be willing to spend a bit more on the cooler if necessary and maybe go for a Scythe Fuma 2, which is about 10 euros more expensive and a better performer in both temperatures and noise according to https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/9223/scythe-fuma-2-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html. Regarding the motherboard, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1dHa2F3fvw, the MSI B360 Gaming Plus is able to handle the i7-8700 well, and the MSI B360-A Pro looks quite similar but without RGB and maybe other "gaming features", so I guess it would be able to handle the i5-9600KF, which is supposed to have a similar TDP. Unfortunately, the temperatures of the CPU and VRM are not mentioned in the video and they seem to be using an open test bench. So, I would like to know your opinions about my setup or your experiences if you have used (any of) these components. My main activities will be data science (probably on Linux and probably similar to gaming in the sense that the CPU has to prepare data for the GPU to crunch) and rendering (probably on Windows and with Daz Studio, but I may add other software later). As you can see, I would like to optimize my budget; however, if it is necessary to spend a bit more to get a reliable configuration, I would be wiling to do it. For example, I have also been looking at the Z390 motherboard line, and the Gigabyte Z390 Gaming SLI seems to be a good option with a VRM that doesn't get too hot and allows some overclocking according to https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cheap-z390-motherboards-compared,6090.html, although I have also read that (some) Gigabyte BIOSes do weird things like changing their settings on their own or even not throttling when they should (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcqw-K1drY). Do you know if that is the case with the Gaming SLI?

Thanks for the info, I will have it in mind if I am still waiting.

Thanks for your reply and your side note. The foam filter may be a factor that makes the Meshify C get slightly higher temperatures than the RL06 in reviews.

Hi, I am looking for a mid-tower case with good airflow at around 100 euros or less (Netherlands) that is not too big (<= 50x50x20ish cm) or too heavy (<=10 Kg). I don't care about aesthetics, RGB, tempered glass, etc. I plan to install an i7-9700K and a nonblower RTX 2080 ti. The PSU will probably be the Corsair TX750M. I have kind of narrowed my options to: - Phanteks Eclipse P400A - Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 - Fractal Design Meshify C - SilverStone RL06 - Corsair Obsidian 450D All of them sport a mesh front panel, so my main concern is the amount of dust coming into the case through the intake fan(s) and if it could damage the components inside. The first two cases don't use a separate dust filter, the next two seem to use a fine meshed filter behind the front panel, and the last one seems to use a not-so-fine mesh filter. My second concern is how much noticeable noise they produce with their stock fans. I have checked several reviews already and while they do cover my second point to some extent, they do not address the first one, so I would like to have more opinions, especially from users of these cases. Alternatives are also welcome. Thanks in advance!