Should I wait for B550?

May 22, 2020

Yeah... Should I wait for B550, I plan to use Ryzen 3 3100

Sauron · May 22, 2020

Depends, if you need it now then no, otherwise waiting is never a bad option.

Fasauceome · May 22, 2020

Since B450 has been confirmed to work with 4th gen Ryzen, you could definitely justify one of the cheap B450 MAX motherboards from MSI. Depends on what you're after, and if you have some use that needs PCIe 4.0.

JR_12 · May 22, 2020

I'm in the same situation and decided to wait because this is my first build in a LONG time and I wanted to have the largest window for upgrade opportunities down the road with my budget. I also don't mind waiting & don't need the system right now. I have all the parts sitting in my room outside of the Mobo but personally, think it's worth it. But I wouldn't fault anyone for getting a different board now.

SnowyMus · May 22, 2020

My motto is: if you can wait, then wait. You'll always be able to get something better later than now.

Anyway, given your CPU choice, you sound like you're on a budget. I'm doubtful that you'll be getting an PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD any time soon. You may get a PCIe 4.0 GPU, but it's far more likely your CPU choice will impact performance than the GPU bandwidth.

If you're not planning on upgrading, then no. You won't see any CPU performance differences between a B450 board and a B550 board provided everything else is constant. I doubt B550 boards will be superior to B450 boards in regards to VRMs, features (not offered by the chipset), etc.

Of course, if this CPU is a placeholder for a 4th generation CPU, then I do think it is worth considering a B550 board. You're guaranteed support for 4th generation Ryzen CPUs. If 5th generation CPUs run on AM4 (which is unlikely), you'll certainly be able to use those, too.

That said, higher end B450 boards like the MSI TOMAHAWK MAX will almost certainly allow you to download a BIOS that lets you use Zen 3 CPUs when those are released.