Ryzen 2700X Motherboard Help!

Loch · May 21, 2018

Hello everyone! I am in the midst of upgrading my pc from a I5-4690k to a Ryzen 2700X! I just wanted to ask a really broad question about AM4 motherboards. The two motherboards that I'm stuck between are Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming K5 or the ASrock AB350 Pro4. I know the main differences are the extra features on the Aorus. Is it worth the $45 or so dollars? I mean, do the features out way the price difference? If there are better motherboards for around $80-$120, please let me know!

intender · May 21, 2018

If you buy any of the 300 series boards you are going to have to get ahold of a 1000 series cpu and update the bios before you can run the 2700x. you can take it to a shop and they will usually do it for a low price, you can buy a cpu, or you can get the boot kit from amd. but they are going to want to see reciepts from where you bought the cpu, and copies of emails where you contacted the manufacturer of the motherboard about it and tried to get them to fix it.

mariushm · May 21, 2018

No you don't, intender is wrong.

If you have bad luck that you buy a motherboard that sat on the shelves for a long time, that motherboard may have a bios that's too old, and you may need to install an older AM4 processor in order to update the bios to the latest version.

If you buy from some bigger seller like Newegg or Amazon, they probably move enough motherboards that the motherboard you buy will be with one of the latest BIOSes.

x370 chipset or b350 chipset, it doesn't matter ... for both chipsets, new bios versions were required for the Ryzen 2xxx series. If you have bad luck, you may receive a motherboard with a bios version too old to work with a Ryzen 2xxx out of the box. There's no 100% guarantee, unless you buy a motherboard with the x470 chipset.

Now going back to your questions.

x370 chipset allows for SLI or running two video cards at higher speed, connected directly to cpu ... so the first two pci-e slots will run in pci-e x8 if you install two video cards, or you'll have a card running at x16 if the second slot is left unused.

b350 boards (like the asrock one) can only use ONE video card at high speeds, so only one slot is x16 and connected directly to cpu. The second x16 slot on the asrock board and the 3rd slot on the gigabyte board are only x4 electrically and connected to the chipset (so they're a tiny bit slower).

Other differences... the x370 board (gigabyte) has slightly better VRM (the circuit which powers the cpu), which doesn't matter unless you'll overclock heavily.

The gigabyte one has slightly better sound, newer onboard chip alc1220 (supposed to be more hi-fi, less background noise) vs older alc892

the gigabyte one has intel gigabit network card, the asrock one has realtek standard gigabit network card, very common chip... in theory the intel chip is supposed to be ever so slightly higher performance, less cpu usage, in practice doesn't matter

the gigabyte one has FOUR usb 3.1 gen 2 (10 gbps) usb ports, 2 from the chipset and 2 from an extra usb 3.1 gen 2 controller, the asrock b350 board saves money by not having any usb 3.1 gen 2 ports ... up to you if you think you're gonna have 10gbps usb devices , or you'll be fine with regular usb 3 ports ( usb 3.1 gen 1, 5 gbps )

That's pretty much it.

If I were to choose, I wouldn't pick the Asrock AB350 board to pair it with a 2700x , it's a bit too basic in features and the VRM is acceptable but a bit on the low side. I see that Asrock board paired more with a 6 core cpu maximum, or something with integrated graphics, not with a 2700x

But you also don't have to go as high as a board using a x370 chipset or that Gigabyte one.

You should be able to find a board that's maybe 10-15$ more expensive than that ASrock AB350 Pro4 which would be paired well with a 2700x.

i_build_nanosuits · May 21, 2018

4 hours ago, Neverforgettimomspaghetti said:

Hello everyone! I am in the midst of upgrading my pc from a I5-4690k to a Ryzen 2700X! I just wanted to ask a really broad question about AM4 motherboards. The two motherboards that I'm stuck between are Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming K5 or the ASrock AB350 Pro4. I know the main differences are the extra features on the Aorus. Is it worth the $45 or so dollars? I mean, do the features out way the price difference? If there are better motherboards for around $80-$120, please let me know!

upon receiving both boards you will have to face the fact that neither of them support the CPU out of the box...

what you need for a 2700X is an X470 board, or figure out how to get an older CPU to update the 300 series to support the 2700X

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/motherboard/#c=132&sort=price&page=1