Good B450 ITX Motherboard

[vimerate]

Hi, I'm currently spec'ing a build out with a R5 3600 and I'm trying to decide what motherboard to use. I'm not planning to OC the CPU, only RAM since Ryzen loves that RAM frequency. I've read a bunch of threads online for all the current B450 ITX boards and they all seem to have some issues. Anyone here have any recommendations for me backed up with their reasoning? Thanks!

[mariushm]

Amazon.com: GIGABYTE B450 I AORUS PRO WiFi (AMD Ryzen AM4/M.2 Thermal Guard with Onboard WiFi/HDMI/DP/USB 3.1 Gen 2/Mini ITX/Motherboard): Computers & Accessories

GIGABYTE B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI AM4 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com

 

Excellent mix of hardware features (good sound card chip, spdif header for digital output, great wireless, intel wired lan, 10g usb ports on io shield etc )

VRM isn't as great as other ITX boards, but more than enough for 3600

 

A bios update may be required to get it working with Ryzen 3rd generation - doesn't support bios flashback aka update bios without cpu installed, but new bios that supports Ryzen 3rd gen was released around June-July so unless the board sat on shelves in warehouse since then (very unlikely), you'd probably get a motherboard with a more recent bios.

 

This one has about the same features (just weaker wireless lan, no digital out as far asi can see, maybe fewer usb ports ) but has a bit stronger VRM .. and costs around 20$ more :

 

Amazon.com: ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Motherboard (Mini ITX) AMD Ryzen 2 AM4 DDR4 HDMI M.2 USB 3.1 Gen2 B450: Computers & Accessories

 

[Otto_iii]

4 hours ago, mariushm said:

A bios update may be required to get it working with Ryzen 3rd generation - doesn't support bios flashback aka update bios without cpu installed, but new bios that supports Ryzen 3rd gen was released around June-July so unless the board sat on shelves in warehouse since then (very unlikely), you'd probably get a motherboard with a more recent bios.

Unless you are shopping at a MicroCenter or other large retailer, and can confirm somehow that on the box it says "Ryzen 3000" ready often they aren't pre-updated, there are still a lot of boards being sold without the BIOS update.  If one is willing to wait, deal with the paperwork/documentation nothing is wrong with using the 200ge loaner program ('Short Term Processor Loan Boot Kit'), or RMAing the board with a request to have its BIOS updated. 

info here
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/295027-amd-will-provide-a-free-temporary-uefi-upgrade-kit-for-ryzen-3000-motherboard-updates
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/pa-100

Personally i like the look of the Rog Strix b450-i, better for potential upgradability later.  either of those look good though for just a 3600. 

[vimerate]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm probably going with the Gigabyte option since I'm on a budget and with the ITX tax, I'm trying to save all the money I can . Thanks for telling me about the Ryzen 3000 ready issue, that changes the timeline for me.

[Otto_iii]

3 hours ago, vimerate said:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm probably going with the Gigabyte option since I'm on a budget and with the ITX tax, I'm trying to save all the money I can . Thanks for telling me about the Ryzen 3000 ready issue, that changes the timeline for me.

Ya sadly, for whatever reason, i don't believe any mobo maker is pushing "Ryzen 3000 Ready" ITX boards.  Possibly just because its a more niche market, or likewise cause they want to sell the x570 ones

To the credit of the new x570 ITX boards, all of them have insanely good VRMs, in some cases better then similarly priced (200-240$) ATX boards, but they're still 200+$, so this puts people on a budget but buying newest gen for ITX builds in a odd spot.  Personally i would of liked to try to have gone for ITX if not for this, Cougar KAZE build or something similar would of been fun.