B550m Vs B550 motherboard

[Epicernie77]

Hello,

I noticed that b550m is cheaper than the b550.

With my current plan for my custom built pc on PC specialist (UK) does the b550m skip on anything that I should better go with b550 non m

If there isn't much that could harm performance I might as well cheap out and go with the B550m 

This is my computer I'm planning on

CPU: 5700x 

GPU: 4060 (when it comes out)

Motherboard: B550M/B550

Do let me know if you need extra info on the pc but I think I listed all the essential bits on this debate.

 

I'm planning to play games and stuff like blender and stuff

[Paul17]

How much cheaper?   I think the mATX boards are often cheaper because they don't sell as well.   ITX motherboards are the most expensive - they are niche and there's not very many.   The mATX boards are not as widely available as ATX, too and there are limitations - lower dimensions, possibly less pcie lanes and limited expansion options.   Also, if you get an mATX - there's not as many choices there either and the case (dimensions) can be smaller.   Of course, a mATX board can fit in an ATX case although there is sometimes some issue with lining up the mounting holes - but, not usually.  

 

If you go with mATX mobo and mATX case - keep these in mind and also, the smaller dimensions mean more limitations with AIO and graphics cards - depending on what you are looking for.   There might also be some 'space' limitations or cooling issues to be concerned with - there may be less ports - less drive ports (expandability) - or they will be located closer to the cpu socket or other ports.  

 

I used to be interested in mATX and ITX - but, now I want a full size mobo and ATX case - since I don't want my options to be limited and I think it's probably more of a pain to work in a smaller build.  

 

Anyway, regarding price of mATX vs ATX - I think I'd pay a bit extra for the ATX and there's usually enough decent 'budget' ATX mobos to choose from.   

[Epicernie77]

1 hour ago, Paul17 said:

 

Thanks mate

[Paul17]

7 minutes ago, Epicernie77 said:

Thanks mate

No problem.    

[Queen Chrysalis]

3 hours ago, Paul17 said:

lower dimensions, possibly less pcie lanes and limited expansion options.   Also, if you get an mATX - there's not as many choices there either and the case (dimensions) can be smaller

This is completely incorrect.  matx and atx have nothing to do with PCI lanes, that's entirely chipset dependant.  matx boards are also the same width as atx boards, they are just a bit shorter on the bottom.  the hole locations that are shared are identical, you will never have a problem mounting one in an atx case.  

 

3 hours ago, Paul17 said:

If you go with mATX mobo and mATX case - keep these in mind and also, the smaller dimensions mean more limitations with AIO and graphics cards - depending on what you are looking for.   There might also be some 'space' limitations or cooling issues to be concerned with - there may be less ports - less drive ports (expandability) - or they will be located closer to the cpu socket or other ports.

This also completely incorrect, as they are the same width so an AiO would be completely unaffected.  Every board will have the PCIe x16 slot for the GPU in the same spot: right under the rear IO.  This is no different between ATX and mATX.  The only difference in ports with be two fewer PCIe SLOTS (NOT LANES, lanes are the same) which doesn;t matter as multi GPU is a thing of the past, and mATX still have two x16 slots and a couple smaller ones for other cards anyway, and most people don;t use any of them.  IF anything you might end up installing one or two PCIe cards, which mATX would still be able to accommodate.

 

3 hours ago, Paul17 said:

Anyway, regarding price of mATX vs ATX - I think I'd pay a bit extra for the ATX and there's usually enough decent 'budget' ATX mobos to choose from.

All you are paying for is more PCB, as newer boards use like 7-10 layers so that extra 2 inches at the bottom costs a lot.

[Paul17]

Yes, it looks like I was wrong, there.  Sorry, OP.   I would like to change my tune.    I think the restrictions to micro-ATX or mATX have more to do with size as you said.   The micro ATX will have less PCIe slots and often less USB and SATA ports/nvme slots - sometimes, an extra nvme is situated on the back of the mobo because of space restrictions - that might be more applicable to mini-ITX?   

When I was debating whether to build an itx or matx pc, I didn't like the choices for matx cases - there just weren't as many good ones as ATX and itx cases were super expensive - as well some of the components - motherboards, for e.g.   ITX boards usually have only 2 memory slots and matx boards can have only 2 sometimes although there's more nowadays with the full 4 slots.   But, like I said, previously, the sockets and slots are often closer together and not as spread out.

I had the impression that the pcie lanes were impacted but thanks for pointing it out that it is a chipset issue.   

 

I decided to go with ATX because it was more versatile - for me - and I didn't want to be limited to certain lengths of video cards, AIO coolers - if I wanted a 360 AIO - or other limitations/restrictions that made it more complicated for choosing parts.   That's just me, though - I was really interested in ITX for a while but I'm content with the ATX format/build.   There's way more options and I don't move my PC around.