Motherboard VRM Tier List v2 (currently AMD only)

[PeachDodo]

HI there.  It's been a long time since I built a new rig (which I used to do a lot...) so I'm a bit out of the loop on hardware.

 

Long story short I plan to get a 3950x, and I want the best motherboard that I can get.  For this build, budget isn't really a constraint, and I'd like a top-end motherboard to go with the processor.  I see that VRM is a concern, or at least something people pay attention to.  I was looking at the google spreadsheet posted as well, which sort of has rankings of motherboards for this chipset.

 

I do a lot of graphical editing and rendering, but I also play games.  This build will have 64gb ram, and I have a 2060 video card to tide me over till the 3000 series comes along.  I more or less have the rest of the build figured out (M.2 drive, probably Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case, EVGA SuperNOVA T2 850 if I can find one).

 

Additionally, it's worth noting that I have no intention of overclocking anything (I have no real reason to), and if possible I'd like to air cool everything.

 

That said, if money isn't a barrier, what's the best motherboard that I can get?  I'm willing to pay for top-end, or something that will last and be reliable, especially with the 3950x.

 

Thanks for any help!

[Haro]

2 minutes ago, PeachDodo said:

what's the best motherboard that I can get? 

Technically one of the best am4 boards right now is the aorus extreme. But while budget isn't a concern for you. Can you give us a number to work with? Features that you like? (IO or m.2 slots, how many pcie slots etc..). 

[Mateyyy]

Are Z490 and B550 (accurately) getting added in soon?

[Snarky]

I need a new MOBO to upgrade my build and i was wondering if an Asrock b450M Steel Legend would function similar to the ATX version of it or is it in a weaker tier?  ( yes i know it is an mATX board with less PCI-E connectors and a SATAIII m.2).

[Haro]

1 minute ago, Snarky said:

an Asrock b450M Steel Legend would function similar to the ATX version of it or is it in a weaker tier? 

They both have the same vrm. 

Also look at the b450 pro 4m as it does the same thing and is generally cheaper. 

[Snarky]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

They both have the same vrm. 

Also look at the b450 pro 4m as it does the same thing and is generally cheaper. 

My local stores are out of stock and i can only get a steel legend , other options: Msi b450m pro vdh or gigabyte b450m gaming

[Haro]

1 minute ago, Snarky said:

other options: Msi b450m pro vdh 

Yea then the steel legend would be decent. 

Afaik the pro vdh is also good. But they're pretty similar iirc. 

[Snarky]

1 minute ago, TofuHaroto said:

Yea then the steel legend would be decent. 

Afaik the pro vdh is also good. But they're pretty similar iirc. 

Ok, thanks.

[nolblues]

On 1/1/2020 at 8:04 PM, f0gpie said:

Ugh again i cant decide to get asus tuf or gigabyte elite x570 board

get the asus one

[Nena Trinity]

So how is progress on charting the LGA1200 boards? Not gonna bother or is it AMD for ever list?

[Apjue]

Hardware Unboxed released a new test (including B550 Tomahawk, A Pro, Pro-VDH)

 

[PeachDodo]

On 7/24/2020 at 1:42 AM, TofuHaroto said:

Technically one of the best am4 boards right now is the aorus extreme. But while budget isn't a concern for you. Can you give us a number to work with? Features that you like? (IO or m.2 slots, how many pcie slots etc..). 

Hey there!  Sorry for my delayed reply, and thanks for your response.  I think I'd probably cap out around $700 or so, but if an e.g. $500 board would be just as good for what I need, that'd be nice I guess.

 

How important is that the arous extreme is fanless?  How does the aorus extreme compare to e.g. the aorus master or asus crosshair viii hero or formula?  Is there something about as good that is a step down, for example?  I see the differences for each here, I'm just not sure the real world benefit that I'd see from the different vrm setups, for example.  The Aorus master is newer, and is more easily available (e.g. the aorus extreme is often oos, same with the crosshair viii).

 

side note: I've seen that a number of people have issues with the gigabyte boards, e.g. here.  How concerning should this be?  I'm probably more concerned with reliability than features...

 

As for my needs, it's nothing special:

• 6x SATA minimum is fine.  8 would be okay, but not sure I'll use them all
• 2x m.2 minimum is fine
• 64gb ram is what this machine will have
• WiFi isn't a "must", but it'd be nice to have
• I'm never going to run more than one GPU
• I will rarely (if ever) use my PCIE slots beyond my video card
• I dont need an extended-atx, just atx is good for me

This computer will be used for gaming, rendering, game development, and lots of Adobe products.  I have no interest in overclocking or watercooling.  I want something reliable, stable, and very compatible with the 3950x, so I'm willing to pay for quality/reliability.  I don't think I have any strong demands as far as motherboard features go.  Basically all high-end boards will have what I need, I think?  It's mostly the VRM stuff that is entirely new to me since it's been so long since I built a computer.  There's more to consider nowadays than when I built my i7-930 rig, for example

[Haro]

20 hours ago, PeachDodo said:

How important is that the arous extreme is fanless? 

Not really important. It's just afaik the heatsink for the chipset is so massive on that board that a fan isn't required to cool the x570 chipset. 

20 hours ago, PeachDodo said:

the aorus master

For example the aorus master has 12 50a phasee, the aorus extreme has 14 70a  phases. 

 

20 hours ago, PeachDodo said:

or asus crosshair viii hero or formula

Unless you're making a custom loop the formula is kind of pointless and the hero afaik is usually overpriced. 

The aorus extreme is over kill in every way possible for example. It's just one of the best x570 boards out there, it's not necessarily the best value board, but it's the most Overkill. 

20 hours ago, PeachDodo said:

e.g. here.

I'm not familiar with any obvious issues with gigabyte boards. But they're fine for the most part afaik. 

 

20 hours ago, PeachDodo said:

something reliable, stable, and very compatible with the 3950x,

Then honestly b550 boards are even more than enough. 

If you want the aorus extreme is overkill in every way possible. But even a good 200 dollar board like the tomahawk is more than enough, which uses 6 60a phases doubled with ISL6617 and will easily handle anything from AMD right now. 

As for b550. 

The aorus master has the same vrm as the aorus extreme, has 2 m.2's. Decent io. 6 SATA ports, though if you populate  the second m.2 then the x16 slot will be switched to x8. That's how the lanes are configured on that board. 

In general. As the one of the best x570 board. 

The aorus extreme. 

As for other x570 board. The tomahawk is really good.  There's a wifi version, and 2 m.2's decent IO and it's vrm are good.  

If you want as well, consider b550 like the aorus master if you want something that's Overkill. 

But the most notable difference between x570 and b550 is that in x570. The chipset has pcie 4.0 lanes where b550's chipset has 3.0. But in b550 the lanes that are connected to the cpu are 4.0 assuming your cpu is zen 2 and above obviously. 

So in general, for b550: the tomahawk, the aorus pro, the strix f, the steel legend, and the aorus master as a more expensive option are really good. 

As for x570 obviously the extreme is one of the best, but the tomahawk and the unify are good.  Obviously there are other options but these are also solid. 

[EgeN7]

What about B450M A-Pro MAX? (mATX)

[Haro]

10 hours ago, EgeN7 said:

B450M A-Pro MAX

this board is just bad, nothing like the atx version, doesn't have a heatsink and uses 25a mosfets iirc, unless you're building an athlon/apu build/ an office build, i wouldn't use it.

[YT_DomDaBomb20]

Quick question what makes the b350 vdh tier e while the b450 pro-vdh has basically same vrm‘s In tier d

Edited August 10, 2020 by YT_DomDaBomb20
Edit: other than chipset, or is that the only reason

[Mateyyy]

4 minutes ago, YT_DomDaBomb20 said:

Quick question what makes the b350 vdh tier e while the b450 pro-vdh has basically same vrm‘s In tier d

The B450 uses different MOSFETs, though really neither should be paired with anything above a stock 3700X.

[YT_DomDaBomb20]

1 minute ago, Mateyyy said:

The B450 uses different MOSFETs, though really neither should be paired with anything above a stock 3700X.

Oh ok I found a deal on a 1700x with a prism(I think or maybe a spire?), thanks for the info

[Dale Gribble]

Quote

 

Tier A: 200A current draw on little ambient airflow, maxed out 3950X on ambient cooling, 2700x on LN2

Asus: ... B450 TUF Pro S (mATX), ...

 

I didn't find a lot posted on this board as it was just added to Tier A. Is this the best B450 option out right now? Any reason to go with the Mortar instead if they are about the same price? I'm really interested to hear more on this board!

[Haro]

10 hours ago, Dale Gribble said:

I'm really interested to hear more on this board!

seems like it's a new board, i'm not familiar with it, but it looks similar to the b550m tuf plus. 

if it is, then it uses 10 sic639's (50a dr mosfets)  and 8 of those is for the vcore. the b550 one is pretty good, and if this one has the same vrm then it's a really good value.

10 hours ago, Dale Gribble said:

Any reason to go with the Mortar instead if they are about the same price?

the b450 mortar? if it's the same price  as the b450 mortar, and it's vrm is as good as the b550m tuf plus, then definitely go for it. 

 

im actually interested on why they released this board now, and why it's using the old chipset. 

 

edit: yep, it looks like it's the same as the b550m tuf plus with the old chipset. 

Edited August 11, 2020 by TofuHaroto

[Dale Gribble]

1 minute ago, TofuHaroto said:

seems like it's a new board, i'm not familiar with it, but it looks similar to the b550m tuf plus. 

if it is, then it uses 10 sic639's (50a dr mosfets)  and 8 of those is for the vcore. the b550 one is pretty good, and if this one has the same vrm then it's a really good value.

the b450 mortar? if it's the same price  as the b450 mortar, and it's vrm is as good as the b550m tuf plus, then definitely go for it. 

 

im actually interested on why they released this board now, and why it's using the old chipset. 

I actually have no idea! Reading this article it seems like Asus may release more refreshes of their b450-line (an atx option would be nice). 

 

Yes! It's about the same price as the b450 mortar that I was looking at prior to finding out about this board over here and it seemed like a good option to me. According to a post on chiphell, it seems to use the same vrm as the tuf plus and it has a 256mb chip which could be nice in the future. 

[Haro]

10 hours ago, Dale Gribble said:

 it seems like Asus may release more refreshes of their b450-line (an atx option would be nice). 

interesting, well this board is simply the best b450 board that you can probably get for 120ish bucks.

8 sic639's are absolutely  more than enough for any am4 cpu currently, if you want to go for it, then that wont be a bad choice. 

[Oswin]

new video from Hardware unboxed on the budget B550s

hope this helps

 

[NoTiNControl]

What is it that makes B550 Tomahawk one tier higher than B550 Gaming Edge? I thought both boards using the same VRM designs?

[Haro]

10 hours ago, NoTiNControl said:

What is it that makes B550 Tomahawk one tier higher than B550 Gaming Edge?

the edge is under b550 speculation. 

the edge afaik has the same or better vrm as the tomahawk but it's still not on the list. Tier A under speculation does not mean Tier A on the list.