MSI Tomahawk B550 - question regarding USB ports

[aduman]

Hi! Considering getting this board as I can get it for 137€ incl. AC Valhalla atm. Am also considering X570 Tomahawk but that one's 179€, still includes AC Valhalla though. The number of USB ports are a cause for concern for me however. I'll be VR gaming on this PC as well so I need all the USB ports I can get. Will be connecting about 10 devices or so:

 

2 for KB-Mouse

1 Mic

1 for BT Adapter for XBox controller

1 for the VR Headset and 3 for sensors which all require at least USB 3.0

1 for my USB DAC/Amp

 

so that's about 9 ports I'll need to get the job done.

 

Can I get away with using a Hub which I already have to connect the devices that don't need USB 3, and then using the available ports on the front and back for the other devices?

I'm basically afraid of getting a USB controller error on Windows, with that many devices connected.

Thanks.

[TVwazhere]

7 minutes ago, aduman said:

Can I get away with using a Hub which I already have to connect the devices that don't need USB 3, and then using the available ports on the front and back for the other devices?

I'm basically afraid of getting a USB controller error on Windows, with that many devices connected.

Thanks.

Dont forget you have front panel headers too! You can also get PCI-E cards that also give you more USB ports out the back too if needed. 

https://www.amazon.com/Express-Expansion-Controller-Rosewill-RC-508/dp/B011LZY20G?th=1

[Quackers101]

are you going to use the front ports as well, like the top of a case.

Also you might be fine with an USB controller, don't know how much one can take though.

A limit in power or a limit to the USB on the motherboard layout? or whatever.

if you plug the most need into the PC and then having some hub extension, I guess it can work?

Not fully sure, it will likely takle everything you talked about if you look away from the VR for USB?

Not really sure why you would use USB for any VR, thought they had their own setup? (I guess on brand and version it might be different)

Edited December 23, 2020 by Quackers101

[aduman]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

Dont forget you have front panel headers too! You can also get PCI-E cards that also give you more USB ports out the back too if needed. 

https://www.amazon.com/Express-Expansion-Controller-Rosewill-RC-508/dp/B011LZY20G?th=1

So you think I can get all those devices to work if I say used the front panel USB3 ports for 2 of the sensors? My case has two USB 3 and two USB 2 ports out front. 

 

I'd rather fork out the extra 40€ for the x570 Tomahawk since that one has two more USB3.2s on the back, instead of having to get an expansion controller, but thanks for the recommendation!

 

Also do you think the x570 tomahawk would be worth it for the extra 40€?

[aduman]

5 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

are you going to use the front ports as well, like the top of a case.

Also you might be fine with an USB controller, don't know how much one can take though.

A limit in power or a limit to the USB on the motherboard layout? or whatever.

if you plug the most need into the PC and then having some hub extension, I guess it can work?

Not fully sure, it will likely takle everything you talked about if you look away from the VR for USB?

Not really sure why you would use USB for any VR, thought they had their own setup? (I guess on brand and version it might be different)

I'll probably be connecting 2 of the sensors to the front USB3 ports of the case. It has two USB3 and two USB2 out front.

[Quackers101]

Well since you wanted the ports, why not just go with it and see?

Else it's more up to what you want.

[aduman]

Just now, Quackers101 said:

Well since you wanted the ports, why not just go with it and see?

Else it's more up to what you want.

Well it's another 40€ I'd rather save if I can get away with the ports on the B550, so that's why I asked the original question.

[-rascal-]

20 minutes ago, aduman said:

Hi! Considering getting this board as I can get it for 137€ incl. AC Valhalla atm. Am also considering X570 Tomahawk but that one's 179€, still includes AC Valhalla though. The number of USB ports are a cause for concern for me however. I'll be VR gaming on this PC as well so I need all the USB ports I can get. Will be connecting about 10 devices or so:

 

2 for KB-Mouse

1 Mic

1 for BT Adapter for XBox controller

1 for the VR Headset and 3 for sensors which all require at least USB 3.0

1 for my USB DAC/Amp

 

so that's about 9 ports I'll need to get the job done.

 

Can I get away with using a Hub which I already have to connect the devices that don't need USB 3, and then using the available ports on the front and back for the other devices?

I'm basically afraid of getting a USB controller error on Windows, with that many devices connected.

Thanks.

 

Well on the MSi B550 Tomahawk, you have 3x USB 3.x ports on the back.

4x if you also count the USB 3.x Type-C port.

Can you not use those for your VR headset?

 

Keyboard + Mouse..

2x USB 2.0 ports on the back.

 

BT adapter / USB DAC / Mic can go to the front USB 2.0 / 3.x ports.

[aduman]

14 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

 

Well on the MSi B550 Tomahawk, you have 3x USB 3.x ports on the back.

4x if you also count the USB 3.x Type-C port.

Can you not use those for your VR headset?

 

Keyboard + Mouse..

2x USB 2.0 ports on the back.

 

BT adapter / USB DAC / Mic can go to the front USB 2.0 / 3.x ports.

Yeah that seems doable. The headset uses a traditional USB 3.0 port but even then it's doable. Would you happen to know if I could simply connect a hub to one of those USB2 ports to power all of KBM, mic and the BT adapter? I tested it on my current system just now and it works.

 

Also an extra question if you don't mind. Should I fork over the extra 40€ for the x570 or would the B550 simply suffice if I'm not planning to use more than a single M2 drive and a single GPU.

[-rascal-]

16 minutes ago, aduman said:

Yeah that seems doable. Would you happen to know if I could simply connect a hub to one of those USB2 ports to power all of KBM, mic and the BT adapter? I tested it on my current system just now and it works.

 

Also an extra question if you don't mind. Should I fork over the extra 40€ for the x570 or would the B550 simply suffice if I'm not planning to use more than a single M2 drive and a single GPU.

 

KB / Mouse / BT Adapter (maybe mic?) don't use a whole lot of power.

Yes, you should be okay with using a hub for those.

 

Whether you want to get the X570 version is up to you.

Some differences between the X570 and B550, but main concern people have is the PCI-E lanes provided by the chipset.

X570 chipset supplies extra PCI-E 4.0 lanes (e.g. extra M.2 slots on the motherboard, other PCI-E slots), while B550 supplies PCI-E 3.0 lanes.

 

Both the B550 and X570 Tomahawk only routes the 16 PCI-E 4.0 lanes from the CPU to the 1st top-most PCI-E X16 slot...no second GPU either way.

Even second M.2 SSD would be fine, if you are okay to be limited to PCI-E 3.0 bandwidth (which is still crazy fast).

 

Aside from that, it's the VRM design.

X570 Tomahawk is a 6(x2) + 2 phase VRM, while the B550 Tomahawk is a 5(x2) + 2 VRM.

Both will fine for up to stock Ryzen 5950X, and should not much of an issue for overclocked Ryzen 5600X / 5800X.

[aduman]

10 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

 

KB / Mouse / BT Adapter (maybe mic?) don't use a whole lot of power.

Yes, you should be okay with using a hub for those.

 

Whether you want to get the X570 version is up to you.

Some differences between the X570 and B550, but main concern people have is the PCI-E lanes provided by the chipset.

X570 chipset supplies extra PCI-E 4.0 lanes (e.g. extra M.2 slots on the motherboard, other PCI-E slots), while B550 supplies PCI-E 3.0 lanes.

 

Aside from that, it's the VRM design.

X570 Tomahawk is a 6(x2) + 2 phase VRM, while the B550 Tomahawk is a 5(x2) + 2 VRM.

Both will fine for up to stock Ryzen 5950X, and should not much of an issue for overclocked Ryzen 5600X / 5800X.

So it seems for my use cases B550 will be more than enough? My only actual concern was the USB thing. I'm grabbing a 3600/3700 soon than maybe upgrading to a 5600x in the future. The PCI stuff doesn't really seem like it'd be a problem for me in the near future. It just the annoying back I/O the B550 Tomahawk has that's gotten me all confused. It has 2 LAN ports which I'd never need and I don't like paying for stuff I wouldn't ever need lol seems to be the case with PCI-E 4 lanes on the X570 board as well though. Which one would you go for if you were me?

 

Thanks for the help so far, really appreciate it!

[-rascal-]

15 minutes ago, aduman said:

So it seems for my use cases B550 will be more than enough? My only actual concern was the USB thing. I'm grabbing a 3600/3700 soon than maybe upgrading to a 5600x in the future. The PCI stuff doesn't really seem like it'd be a problem for me in the near future. It just the annoying back I/O the B550 Tomahawk has that's gotten me all confused. It has 2 LAN ports which I'd never need and I don't like paying for stuff I wouldn't ever need lol seems to be the case with PCI-E 4 lanes on the X570 board as well though. Which one would you go for if you were me?

 

Thanks for the help so far, really appreciate it!

 

The difference in rear I/O and the number of USB ports is pretty minimal.

I would just stick with the B550 board.

 

The X570 is actually the older board, so it doesn't have the second Ethernet port.

More and more boards are now coming with a second Ethernet port.

 

Before, standard is 1Gb Ethernet...but not with optical fiber hitting mainstream, people are now able to EXCEED 1Gb speed at their very home.

Plus, NAS and stuff at home also more common than...say 10 years ago.

In some cases, it's just marketing too... " AmaZinG 2.5 Gb Ethernet! WooOOooW !~~ Selling point! "

[aduman]

Just now, -rascal- said:

 

The difference in rear I/O and the number of USB ports is pretty minimal.

I would just stick with the B550 board.

 

The X570 is actually the older board, so it doesn't have the second Ethernet port.

More and more boards are now coming with a second Ethernet port.

 

Before, standard is 1Gb Ethernet...but not with optical fiber hitting mainstream, people are now able to EXCEED 1Gb speed at their very home.

Plus, NAS and stuff at home also more common than...say 10 years ago.

In some cases, it's just marketing too... " AmaZinG 2.5 Gb Ethernet! WooOOooW !~~ Selling point! "

Alright, I'm going for the B550 Tomahawk! Just seen that it comes with a 25€ postmates coupon too lol Thanks a lot for all the help and advice, really appreciate it! Stay safe in these weird ass times.