Motherboard Advice

[PerryT78]

Hello everyone,

I am purchasing different parts to upgrade my PC. These are the new parts I've decided to go with

- GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GPU

- Amd Ryzen 3 2200G CPU

- 8GB DDR4 RAM

 

I am unsure which motherboard to go with (my PC knowledge is limited). What is the best (compatible) motherboard to go with, While remaining on a budget? Preferably nothing over $150 AUD (106 USD)

 

 

[GoldenLag]

swap GPU with an RX 570.

 

get an B450 PRO4 board from ASrock or a B450 gaming plus from MSI.

[LukeSavenije]

11 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

swap GPU with an RX 570.

 

get an B450 PRO4 board from ASrock or a B450 gaming plus from MSI.

or b450m pro4, or bazooka, fatal1ty, tomahawk, pro carbon

 

a 580 can be found for a bit more, take a look into those too

[PerryT78]

I have found the Asus PRIME B450-PLUS and the MSI Gaming B450 PLUS ,but on neither do see where my wireless network card can be inserted. Do motherboards have built in wireless capabilities? My Wireless Adapter is the D-Link DWL-G510.

[mariushm]

Don't buy the GTX 1050. If you don't have the cash, use the integrated graphics in 2200g for a month or so until you can get more cash and then buy a RX 570 - it's kinda the best money/performance thing right now.

 

Make an effort to buy memory that runs at 2933 Mhz or higher, 3000 Mhz or 3200 Mhz would be ideal.  Ryzen processors benefit from higher frequency, you have an added bit of performance.

You get a bit of performance if you go with two memory sticks, but if you start with just 8 GB of memory, I would buy just one stick, with the idea that I'll buy a second stick later - you don't have to worry about not finding the same brand of stick later,  you can safely combine sticks from various manufacturers as long as you match the frequencies (the motherboard will auto configure both sticks at the frequency supported by both sticks.

Definitely DO NOT buy 2 x 4 GB sticks if you decide on buying a motherboard that has only 2 memory slots on it (nothing wrong with these, in fact often they're better for overclocking, but you'll want to add more ram in the future so you want at least one free memory slot)

 

Buy a motherboard with B350 or B450 chipset. You may find some discounts on B350 boards, they're safe purchases. Some may pop out here saying that 2200g may not be supported by such boards without a BIOS upgrade, but really any board shipped to stores within the last 6 months or more comes from the factory with bioses that support the 2200g and newest Ryzen processors. This was only the case right after the new Ryzen 2xxx series processors launched.

 

Buy one that has some heatsinks on the VRM (the area between the cpu socket and the IO shield) because those usually are better built and may allow you to do some overclocking in the future. The motherboards suggested above are all good, but if they're above your budget say so and I or others can suggest cheaper ones.

 

Maybe say the online stores or link some catalogues since you say AUD and Australian prices can be different than US or EU ones

 

 

[mariushm]

3 minutes ago, PerryT78 said:

I have found the Asus PRIME B450-PLUS and the MSI Gaming B450 PLUS ,but on neither do see where my wireless network card can be inserted. Do motherboards have built in wireless capabilities? My Wireless Adapter is the D-Link DWL-G510.

Your wireless  card is PCI based, and modern motherboards no longer offer PCI, only PCI-e slots. You'd have to buy a PCI-e wireless card.

 

Your wireless card is working only on 2.4 Ghz , b and g standards, with only 54 mbps. If you buy a new wireless card, make sure it's dual band, to support both 2.4 ghz that your old card supports, and 5 ghz which is newer and better. Your router / modem may not support 5 Ghz but it won't hurt to have it available for the future.

If you do search around, you will still find some b350 or b450 boards with PCI slots, but they may drop other features you may like like usb type c connectors or extra pci-e x1 slots.

There are also motherboards with wifi built in , usually tiny cards plugged in m.2 connectors on the motherboard, but double check because those cards are often just 5 ghz cards, and your router or modem may be older and support only 2.4 ghz.

[PerryT78]

42 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Don't buy the GTX 1050. If you don't have the cash, use the integrated graphics in 2200g for a month or so until you can get more cash and then buy a RX 570 - it's kinda the best money/performance thing right now.

 

Make an effort to buy memory that runs at 2933 Mhz or higher, 3000 Mhz or 3200 Mhz would be ideal.  Ryzen processors benefit from higher frequency, you have an added bit of performance.

You get a bit of performance if you go with two memory sticks, but if you start with just 8 GB of memory, I would buy just one stick, with the idea that I'll buy a second stick later - you don't have to worry about not finding the same brand of stick later,  you can safely combine sticks from various manufacturers as long as you match the frequencies (the motherboard will auto configure both sticks at the frequency supported by both sticks.

Definitely DO NOT buy 2 x 4 GB sticks if you decide on buying a motherboard that has only 2 memory slots on it (nothing wrong with these, in fact often they're better for overclocking, but you'll want to add more ram in the future so you want at least one free memory slot)

 

Buy a motherboard with B350 or B450 chipset. You may find some discounts on B350 boards, they're safe purchases. Some may pop out here saying that 2200g may not be supported by such boards without a BIOS upgrade, but really any board shipped to stores within the last 6 months or more comes from the factory with bioses that support the 2200g and newest Ryzen processors. This was only the case right after the new Ryzen 2xxx series processors launched.

 

Buy one that has some heatsinks on the VRM (the area between the cpu socket and the IO shield) because those usually are better built and may allow you to do some overclocking in the future. The motherboards suggested above are all good, but if they're above your budget say so and I or others can suggest cheaper ones.

 

Maybe say the online stores or link some catalogues since you say AUD and Australian prices can be different than US or EU ones

 

 

I already own the GTX 1050 Ti from my previous PC but I can see how the RX 570 would be a better choice. I will do more research in the future. 

 

One last question. I have seen the Asus PRIME B450M-A Micro ATX motherboard. I currently own a full sized ATX motherboard, would this micro one be able to fix support the cpu fan, the 1050 Ti, the RAM all of that. I know this may sound dumb but also can it fix inside a mid sized case. I currently have a full ATX motherboard but some of the unused screws on the back of the case have markings saying A / M. Does this stand for micro atx meaning that is can fit inside my case?

[mariushm]

The screw holes for mATX motherboards are in the same locations as the ones on ATX motherboards. The mATX motherboards are only smaller in length, the width is the same, as is the location of pretty much everything else.

ATX motherboards only have 3 more screw holes at the very bottom to keep them fixed, so they won't flex when you insert cards in the slots.

 

That particular motherboard isn't that great... doesn't have heatsinks on the VRM from what I can see. It would be fine with 2200g processor and even processors with more cores, but could get very hot with 8 core processors and I wouldn't do overclocking with it.

 

Maybe see if you can still buy ASUS PRIME B350-PLUS  - https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-B350-PLUS/

Here's Amazon link : https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Prime-B350-Plus-Ryzen-Motherboard/dp/B06X416NJ1/

 

It's ATX but offers 2 PCI slots so you could reuse the wireless card. Other than that, it has good features as well.

 

If you're not gonna overclock ever, there's also this Gigabyte GA-A320-DS3 that has PCI slots: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-A320-DS3-rev-1x#kf

It's with A320 chipset, so only 2 memory slots, no m.2 connector so no nvme ssds,  fewer SATA ports (only 4), fewer USB ports, and no overclocking but it does have PCI slots.  The VRM's probably fine with up to 6 core processors like Ryzen 2600, but I wouldn't use it with processors higher than that.

It may be available only in some territories or discontinued - i see it here in Romanian stores but not on Amazon or Newegg