B450 vs B550 for a 5 year build

[MatthewBowker]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking to upgrade my 5 year old PC with components which are going to last me for the next 4-5 years. Currently I'm running a Intel i5 4570 CPU and a AMD RX 5700 GPU (which I bought on sale earlier this year) with the intent of upgrading my CPU later this year. I'm a graphic designer and photographer by trade but I also really enjoy gaming on PC so I'm planning on upgrading to the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, however I'm really struggling to decide whether to go for a B450 or a B550 motherboard. From my understand the main benefits of choosing B550 is PCIe 4 x16 and M.2 slots as well as support for Ryzen 4000 series CPU's which are expected to be released later this year. As I have already chosen my CPU which I'm hoping will last me the next 4-5 years, as well as PCIe gen 4 SSD's not really showing their value unless you deal with large data workloads like video editing, and how GPU's still haven't saturated PCIe 3 yet, is there any other reason for me to favour B550 over B450? 

 

I would really like to downsize from an ATX motherboard to a mini-ITX but if it's worth it for me to get a B550 motherboard I will probably have to get a mATX motherboard as B550 ITX's are too expensive for me. This would kind of suck as I haven't really found any affordable, truly mATX optimised cases but I would make that sacrifice if B550 would give me better longevity. I hope that makes sense. I would really appreciate some help.

 

Thanks in advance. Matt

[Prebuilt]

Once you said 5 year build, I would choose B550. It has just been recently released. But that depends if you want RGB on the motherboard itself or RGB headers (and ARGB). It also depends on your budget. May I ask if you want RGB and your budget please? I most likely reverse your budget to British Pounds as I live in the UK.

[Prebuilt]

4 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking to upgrade my 5 year old PC with components which are going to last me for the next 4-5 years. Currently I'm running a Intel i5 4570 CPU and a AMD RX 5700 GPU (which I bought on sale earlier this year) with the intent of upgrading my CPU later this year. I'm a graphic designer and photographer by trade but I also really enjoy gaming on PC so I'm planning on upgrading to the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, however I'm really struggling to decide whether to go for a B450 or a B550 motherboard. From my understand the main benefits of choosing B550 is PCIe 4 x16 and M.2 slots as well as support for Ryzen 4000 series CPU's which are expected to be released later this year. As I have already chosen my CPU which I'm hoping will last me the next 4-5 years, as well as PCIe gen 4 SSD's not really showing their value unless you deal with large data workloads like video editing, and how GPU's still haven't saturated PCIe 3 yet, is there any other reason for me to favour B550 over B450? 

 

I would really like to downsize from an ATX motherboard to a mini-ITX but if it's worth it for me to get a B550 motherboard I will probably have to get a mATX motherboard as B550 ITX's are too expensive for me. This would kind of suck as I haven't really found any affordable, truly mATX optimised cases but I would make that sacrifice if B550 would give me better longevity. I hope that makes sense. I would really appreciate some help.

 

Thanks in advance. Matt

By the way, as a graphic designer and photographer I may choose the Ryzen 7. I would also like to mention that the new AMD Ryzen 4th gen (or called Zen 3) is released this September. So its best to wait it out. If you are still willing to buy a Ryzen 5 its fine, it can handle some photo editing and graphic designing but the Ryzen 5 is mostly for gaming not extreme heavy workloads. Ryzen 7 or 9 is best for graphic designing and content creating. 

[MatthewBowker]

I don't have any interest in RGB lighting in my case so that's really not a factor to me and also I'm looking at the £300-350 for the CPU, motherboard and RAM.

[Prebuilt]

8 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking to upgrade my 5 year old PC with components which are going to last me for the next 4-5 years. Currently I'm running a Intel i5 4570 CPU and a AMD RX 5700 GPU (which I bought on sale earlier this year) with the intent of upgrading my CPU later this year. I'm a graphic designer and photographer by trade but I also really enjoy gaming on PC so I'm planning on upgrading to the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, however I'm really struggling to decide whether to go for a B450 or a B550 motherboard. From my understand the main benefits of choosing B550 is PCIe 4 x16 and M.2 slots as well as support for Ryzen 4000 series CPU's which are expected to be released later this year. As I have already chosen my CPU which I'm hoping will last me the next 4-5 years, as well as PCIe gen 4 SSD's not really showing their value unless you deal with large data workloads like video editing, and how GPU's still haven't saturated PCIe 3 yet, is there any other reason for me to favour B550 over B450? 

 

I would really like to downsize from an ATX motherboard to a mini-ITX but if it's worth it for me to get a B550 motherboard I will probably have to get a mATX motherboard as B550 ITX's are too expensive for me. This would kind of suck as I haven't really found any affordable, truly mATX optimised cases but I would make that sacrifice if B550 would give me better longevity. I hope that makes sense. I would really appreciate some help.

 

Thanks in advance. Matt

And also the new Ryzen 4th gen CPUs cannot support B450, they said it would but AMD retracted that statement in the media. So B550 would future proof you and also yes longevity.

[gloop]

1 minute ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

And also the new Ryzen 4th gen CPUs cannot support B450, they said it would but AMD retracted that statement in the media. So B550 would future proof you and also yes longevity.

They are supported. AMD released a statement saying they would. 

[Prebuilt]

2 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

I don't have any interest in RGB lighting in my case so that's really not a factor to me and also I'm looking at the £300-350 for the CPU, motherboard and RAM.

Ah then good. No RGB saves money. But £300 for a CPU, motherboard and RAM. I will have a think.

[Prebuilt]

Just now, gloop said:

They are supported. AMD released a statement saying they would. 

Well if they are then you can cheap out a bit and go for B450. But it may or may not work. And also, if the new Ryzen 4000 works on B450, you would need an older Ryzen CPU to update the BIOs of the motherboard. But those extra saved for a bit of faffing around will be worth it. And also AMD will lend you an older CPU to update the BIOs for FREE!

[MatthewBowker]

6 minutes ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

By the way, as a graphic designer and photographer I may choose the Ryzen 7. I would also like to mention that the new AMD Ryzen 4th gen (or called Zen 3) is released this September. So its best to wait it out. If you are still willing to buy a Ryzen 5 its fine, it can handle some photo editing and graphic designing but the Ryzen 5 is mostly for gaming not extreme heavy workloads. Ryzen 7 or 9 is best for graphic designing and content creating. 

I did think about a Ryzen 7 3700x but they're a completely different price bracket for what I was planning on spending and seeing as my i5 Surface Laptop (first gen) just about manages my workload when I'm travelling, I thought the 3600 would manage just fine.

[Haro]

20 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

support for Ryzen 4000 series CPU's

B450 will also support zen 3.

 

21 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

Thanks in advance. Matt

Wait for zen 3 

See what it offers and by that time , b550 prices would have normalized.

[Prebuilt]

4 minutes ago, MatthewBowker said:

I did think about a Ryzen 7 3700x but they're a completely different price bracket for what I was planning on spending and seeing as my i5 Surface Laptop (first gen) just about manages my workload when I'm travelling, I thought the 3600 would manage just fine.

In that case, if the i5 handles it then I think the Ryzen 5 will cut it. If you want to wait for the Ryzen 5 4000 series in September 2020 then go for it.

[MatthewBowker]

Cheers guys, really helpful 

 

I think I'll wait for Zen 3 and go from there.

[Prebuilt]

1 hour ago, MatthewBowker said:

Cheers guys, really helpful 

 

I think I'll wait for Zen 3 and go from there.

 No problem, the wait won't be too long. Zen 3 may even be released during August. Some people in the media said that it can be delayed to 2021 but I think that's too far. Well looks like it's going to be a decent summer!

[Prebuilt]

1 hour ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

Well if they are then you can cheap out a bit and go for B450. But it may or may not work. And also, if the new Ryzen 4000 works on B450, you would need an older Ryzen CPU to update the BIOs of the motherboard. But those extra saved for a bit of faffing around will be worth it. And also AMD will lend you an older CPU to update the BIOs for FREE!

If you are going for B450 you may need to do this step of updating the BIOs but I think that the extra cash saved is worth it.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

If you are going for B450 you may need to do this step of updating the BIOs but I think that the extra cash saved is worth it.

Or you could just buy an MSI MAX board and not have to update the bios.

[Chris Pratt]

1 hour ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

If you are going for B450 you may need to do this step of updating the BIOs but I think that the extra cash saved is worth it.

Really wish people would stop recommending B450 to people, especially in situations like this, where the OP wants a build to last 5 years. With a B450? Seriously?

 

It's not just about whether you can pop a particular chip into it. There's going to be differences all throughout the board, including things like just USB support. Good luck finding a B450 with USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C, but over the next 5 years, I kind of think you might want that.

 

If you want a PC to last you for a period like 5 years, buy latest gen everything, including motherboard. That means B550 or X570.

[Prebuilt]

5 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

Really wish people would stop recommending B450 to people, especially in situations like this, where the OP wants a build to last 5 years. With a B450? Seriously?

 

It's not just about whether you can pop a particular chip into it. There's going to be differences all throughout the board, including things like just USB support. Good luck finding a B450 with USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C, but over the next 5 years, I kind of think you might want that.

 

If you want a PC to last you for a period like 5 years, buy latest gen everything, including motherboard. That means B550 or X570.

I recommend BOTH the B550 and B450 . I mean the man that wants help just wants to save a few bucks. Check back on what I posted in this forum please.

[Chris Pratt]

3 hours ago, gloop said:

They are supported. AMD released a statement saying they would. 

With a one-way beta BIOS update, that is up to the board manufacturer to provide, at their own expense with no ROI. If you want Zen 3, buy B550. The *potential* B450 Zen 3 support is only useful for people that already have that board, and may potentially not have to replace it just yet. You'd be nuts to buy it new today.

[Chris Pratt]

Just now, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

I recommend BOTH the B550 and B450 . I mean the man that wants help just wants to save a few bucks. Check back on what I posted in this forum please.

The point is that it's not worth saving a few bucks.

[Haro]

1 minute ago, Chris Pratt said:

The point is that it's not worth saving a few bucks.

Define few bucks

Because b550 pricing at least now 

Is no where near close to b450.

2 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

With a one-way beta BIOS update, that is up to the board manufacturer to provide, at their own expense

For the most part

Probably most manufacturers will do it 

MSI will and if companies don't 

They'll receive a lot of backlash.

Edited July 5, 2020 by TofuHaroto

[Prebuilt]

1 minute ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

I recommend BOTH the B550 and B450 . I mean the man that wants help just wants to save a few bucks. Check back on what I posted in this forum please.

In all fairness B550 wins any day. I mean the new Ryzen 4000 is coming in September. So just buy the newly released stuff.

[Prebuilt]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

For the most part

Probably most manufacturers will do it 

MSI will and if companies don't 

They'll receive a lot of backlash.

Yes agreed.

[Prebuilt]

1 minute ago, Chris Pratt said:

The point is that it's not worth saving a few bucks.

It is. £84 for B450M Steel Legend, £140 for B550M Steel legend. that £56 can make a difference on a better GPU or some other stuff I don't know. 

[Prebuilt]

Just now, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

It is. £84 for B450M Steel Legend, £140 for B550M Steel legend. that £56 can make a difference on a better GPU or some other stuff I don't know. 

But I still choose B550M

[Chris Pratt]

2 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

For the most part

Probably most manufacturers will do it 

MSI will and if companies don't 

They'll receive a lot of backlash.

Perhaps, but I think the whole thing was overblown in the first place. The intersection of people with B450 boards, and those that are going to rush out and buy 4000-series chips is probably pretty small. They most likely already have 3000-series, and it'd make more sense to wait for 5000 and get a new board, or they'll be good with their 2000-series until 5000 is out. Remember that budget was always a factor here. If you're the type that's jumping on every processor gen, you weren't buying B450 in the first place.