Ryzen 5 mATX system

[sydh]

Hey LTT,

 

So for my build I have most of it sorted out but as it happens the closer you get to purchasing the more you think about. For me those questions came about in audio compatibility and drive space.

 

Right now I have 4 drives in my current system. I would /really/ like the ability up add another 1 or 2 if it comes to it. I am planning to get the Corsair Air 240 with the drive space in mind(3hdd/3ssd). While the case doesn't have a hot swap plugin system I do see myself adding in drives for temporary use from time to time. My problem right now is board selection once you pass 4 SATA III ports. We go from a list of 27-ish to 5. My first pick in board selection is the GIGABYTE GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 after looking at it's feature set. On top of having 6 SATA III connections it has 8 usb ports on the back and what seems to be a good amount of vrm/phasing(4+3?) for overclocking? I am 9 years out of system building and overclocking so I am quite rusty if not forgetful.

 

Is there a better mATX board I can pick up for overclocking if I were to pick up a SATA controller for those extra 2 drives? I've read the AM4 guide in the mobo section by @dave_k and let's just say it has cast a bit of doubt on the board. Would this board be good for reaching 4ghz on a R5 1600/x? Is the vrm quality/cooling really an issue I should look into and work around?

 

Going back to the SATA III issue, would a controller like this IOCrest SI-PEX40064 PCI-Express 2.0 be what I am looking for without completely breaking the bank? I have no clue what to pick out when it comes to these types of expansion cards.

 

Then for the other portion of what I am mulling over, my audio connections. With the first choice the board only has a 3 port analog setup with blue, green, and pink. I'm guessing these are line in, line out, and mic in? The board page goes on to list it can do 5.1 and even 7.1( "To configure 7.1-channel audio, you have to use an HD front panel audio module and enable the multi-channel audio feature through the audio driver" ). How or can these 3 rear ports do 5.1 if my setup uses a orange/sub, green/line out, and black/rear connection? Is it possible to just change what those 3 ports do to match my speakers with the Realtek software or something else? I have given a search into port remapping but most of it comes up as registry edits. Yet with a G-Image search I come across something like this( Example ). Anyone know if this is still a thing that the Realtek HD audio manager software still lets you do now a days? I would like to assume so with how the board list 5.1 being an option.

 

For my actual set up... I already have some of the parts so this isn't a full new build.

Corsair Air 240 case

R5 1600x

NZXT - Kraken X52 (Really really tempted to get for it's looks)

R9 280 3gb (owned)

Gigabyte ab350m Gaming 3 Asus TUF B350M Plus

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3200

Corsair RMX 650w

Windows 10

Samsung 850 EVO 500G (owned)

Seagate BarraCuda 1TB (owned)

x2 Samsung HD103SJ 1TB (owned)

+

(Possible future drives I spoke about that I use currently with a usb connector.)

OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD (Portable movie drive)

Laptop 500GB HDD (Temp backup of backup)

 

 

Ohh, as per the sticky thread. This is to upgrade my really old system I am still using. My Phenom 955 BE is running near the end of it's life span after being pushed to near 4ghz for almost 9 years. Been hard to keep up with some games that are a bit more cpu heavy. Then on top of normal day to day task needing just more cpu power. This new build is set to replace that for a mix of gaming and work between 2 windows logins with a bit of portability added in. So the gaming side will likely always have something loaded up when I need to take up a work call and swap profiles. The total price for the above is just at $780ish which sits in a good point for upgrading(after 9 years) but not going too extreme as the refreshes come out.

 

I don't think I am forgetting anything after all of that? Aside from some recommendations to my above questions it's just a bit of waiting as my friend grabs me a few things before I can order, build, and post up some pictures!

 

Edited September 1, 2017 by sydh
Asus TUF B350M Plus

[just_dave]

If you read my guide, youll know that all gigabyte B350s and some X370s have really bad VRMs. For mATX i recommend the new Asus TUF B350M Plus, it has VRM heatsink and is good for OC, Asus has best B350 mobos.

Number of phases does not mean it is good, depends on used components.

[sydh]

I did and spent a bit reading and reading various things to see if it's a tolerable thing or just a flat bad. As my build my requirements seem rather rough for a mATX build. Well at least on the early release versions right now.

 

Also spec wise that board is totally in my zone... well aside from the yellow but nothing a bit of tlc can't fix! Where was this little thing hidding when I was looking at parts earlier today? Do you know when this is going to be released by chance? Then for down the line with something like this what are the chances of running a 1700/1800 in it? Obviously the overclock will not match a fuller features 370 board.

[seon123]

Gigabyte B350 boards have the second worst VRMs, and since you're going to water cooling the CPU, there won't be getting any air flow over the heatsinks. So strap a fan onto the heatsink, don't overclock, or change the motherboard. 

The 1600X is not performing better than the 1600, and comes without a cooler. Techspot has an article comparing the 1600 and the 1600X. 

[sydh]

Well isn't that going to be the case for most higher end cpu coolers? Most of what I have seen are in the tower profile rather than top down. So the only airflow would be from case fans the majority of the time. 

 

Anyways as boards go that Asus TUF B350M Plus is looking pretty neat as I said in the prior post. Also just found the release thread on here about that board too.

 

They have the 1600 just behind the 1600x but they also were using different volts for the vrm. Is it not better for some binned silicon/lottery on the 1600x to get a higher oc at the cost of a lower voltage bump? With what I have read and some post from @dave_k's threads the vram on am4 isn't exactly the best stuff right now for the upper voltage/heat. As of right now the price difference is only $20 between the two versions. Seems like a decent deal for the X version unless there is some market for the stock fan somewhere I am missing.  

 

At the $200 vs $250 price range when it was released I would totally agree the X version was not worth it.

[just_dave]

1 hour ago, sydh said:

Well isn't that going to be the case for most higher end cpu coolers? Most of what I have seen are in the tower profile rather than top down. So the only airflow would be from case fans the majority of the time. 

 

Anyways as boards go that Asus TUF B350M Plus is looking pretty neat as I said in the prior post. Also just found the release thread on here about that board too.

 

They have the 1600 just behind the 1600x but they also were using different volts for the vrm. Is it not better for some binned silicon/lottery on the 1600x to get a higher oc at the cost of a lower voltage bump? With what I have read and some post from @dave_k's threads the vram on am4 isn't exactly the best stuff right now for the upper voltage/heat. As of right now the price difference is only $20 between the two versions. Seems like a decent deal for the X version unless there is some market for the stock fan somewhere I am missing.  

 

At the $200 vs $250 price range when it was released I would totally agree the X version was not worth it.

There is no B350 mobo optimal for R7 overclocks, you could upgrade it next year to R5 1600 equivalent Zen 2 model. VRMs are great on few X370s (even cheaper ones) but the B350s arent really for R7 overclocking. The TUF is much better choice than Shittybyte.

Dont know when will be released but i would expect 2 weeks until available in US

[sydh]

Two weeks, I can do two weeks. What's two weeks on top of near 9 years?

 

Jokes aside thanks as the threads I had opened up were before that board was edited in to your post. Any place to watch for a release drop in particular? I don't mind just taking a look every few days at the vendor sites but adding something to the normal daily feed would be nice too.

 

If anything for an upgrade to the R7 would be on the refresh. Maybe I can find a proper mATX dream board by then. One with full overclocking support on the R7 series, loaded with proper connectivity, tons of that lovely SATA III, and with the cherry on top a good built in wifi solution. The ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/ac is close-ish but still lacking. RAM prices also make it rather annoying to upgrade into with only 2 slots on ITX. Right now I just need to set up a new base pc to work from... comfortably.