Optimal assembly: TOP 5 ATX motherboards based on the B450 chipset

The AM4 platform attracts potential buyers not only with affordable and powerful Ryzen processors, but also with the ability to decently overclock these "stones" on a relatively inexpensive motherboard. One of these boards is the ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4, which costs just over $100 but still falls into the category of overclockers.

Both the name Fatal1ty and the equipment of the card speak of belonging to the class of gaming boards. Here you have 9 power phases, a VRM heatsink for more stable overclocking, and a couple of reinforced PCI-E 16x slots for installing two video cards at once. As well as 4 slots for DDR4 with the ability to install up to 64 GB of RAM, backlighting with ASRock Polychrome Sync. Of the more mundane things, it is worth highlighting 2 M.2 slots with support for high-speed NVMe SSDs, a full-fledged USB-C and USB 3.1 gen2. Given the affordable price of the ASRock Fatal1ty B450, it should be compared with mid-range motherboards, and not expensive gaming motherboards. So for the middle class, this is very good equipment.

Now for a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, ASRock, as always, is a little cunning about the power phases: according to the passport, there are 9 phases (6 for CPU), but in fact the ISL95712 chip is capable of operating in the maximum 4+3 configuration. That is, the overclocking capabilities of this board are somewhat limited, and it will not work here to drive a conditional eight-core with water cooling to the limit. However, here the B450 chipset itself was not created for this. The second nuance concerns the convenience of work. In addition to the illumination of the chipset heatsink, the board does not have any operation indicators, which is why it is not always clear whether the computer is on, off, or in sleep mode.

Motherboards of the PRIME series are inexpensive and designed for the most mass consumer. At the same time, as is often the case with Asus, the design savings turned out to be the most thoughtful - the board is based on the B450 chipset, which is positioned as an inexpensive alternative to the flagship AMD X470.

Like the junior model in the PRIME line, Asus PRIME B450-PLUS is designed for entry-level and mid-range PCs. But unlike the younger one, here we have a full-fledged functional set that does not promise any connection problems in a few years. It includes four RAM slots, DVI-D and HDMI video outputs, one M.2 output with NVMe support, a pair of PCI-E 16x for connecting two video cards, USB 3.1 gen2 support, and the ability to synchronize the computer backlight using the Asus Aura Sync utility.

Thanks to the B450 chipset, the motherboard is able to pull out the overclocking of the processor and RAM within reasonable limits. And the quality of materials and design allows it to be friends with both entry-level office hardware and quite serious gaming configurations with equal success.

Among the shortcomings, one can single out the peculiarity of connecting drives - when installing an M.2 SSD, two SATA ports are disabled. It is also important to note the somewhat limited functionality - the board only works with processors from the Ryzen family.

After the release of the AMD B450 chipset in 2018, the number of universal socket AM4 motherboards has mushroomed. In the face of fierce competition, manufacturers had to get out and release game boards with price tags slightly above $100. One of these instances is the MSI B450 GAMING PLUS.

Let's make a reservation right away that the name Gaming Plus is very conditional here, since MSI equipped the board with a set of connections quite standard for the B450 chip (4 DDR4 slots, a pair of M.2, support for two video cards, HDMI) and standard functionality such as backlight with synchronization or reinforced PCI slots -E to safely connect cards of any size. The overclocking capabilities of the MSI B450 GAMING PLUS are within reason (i.e., do not drive anything at the level of Ryzen 7 2700X and higher), and the “gaming” nature of the board manifests itself only in a stylish black and red color scheme and the ability to overclock RAM up to 3466 MHz.

Does this mean that we have a so-so motherboard? By no means! Solutions based on the B450 chip look extremely interesting, as they provide everything the average user needs and do not require much in return. And for fans of extreme overclocking, there are plenty of motherboards based on top-end X370 and X470 chips. As for this particular board, it provides a couple of bonuses in terms of ease of use: MSI has a damn convenient and understandable BIOS with the most simplified overclocking process. Plus, in case something happens, there is a separate button on the board to reset the BIOS.

Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO is a perfectly balanced model based on the modern B450 chip, which takes its toll due to a successful combination of functionality and reasonable cost. It is perfect for building a gaming system with one video card and the possibility of overclocking.

In the arsenal of the board, you can find a reinforced power subsystem, 4 DDR4 slots, a pair of M.2 connectors with cooling radiators, a pair of reinforced PCI-E 16x slots, an Intel LAN controller with the ability to prioritize traffic, an improved audio subsystem on a top-end codec (there is even an optical input ), a well-thought-out cooling system, a modern set of video outputs including HDMI for using processors with integrated graphics. A large number of USB ports are provided for connecting peripherals, including high-performance USB 3.1 and USB-C.

Since this is an AMD B450-based device, it means that it supports all AMD Ryzen processors available on the market and is capable of overclocking them out of the box. However, compared to gaming boards based on X370 and X470 chips, the Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO has limited overclocking capabilities in the BIOS. It's as if Gigabyte 's engineers have decided to play it safe from the excessive enthusiasm of overclockers. Therefore, when assembling a productive system, the perfect pair for this board would be AMD Ryzen 5 Pinnacle Ridge 2600X BOX Price from 9 481 up to 9 975 ₴ and AMD Ryzen 7 Pinnacle Ridge 2700X BOX Price from 4 971 up to 7 039 ₴ which don't really need overclocking.

ASUS has taken a liking to the B450 chipset and has managed to release some interesting gaming boards from the ROG series on it. In contrast to them, the new board belongs to the Asus TUF series, the distinctive feature of which is increased reliability.

Looking at the card under a microscope, the increased reliability comes from more transistors in the power subsystem, a modified VRM heatsink, and improved chokes. The reinforced PCI-E 16x slot is difficult to include in this list, since it is found in every second board based on the B450 chipset with a price tag above $120. In addition, Asus promises many small improvements to the batteries, cooling system, and in general, virtually all important components of the board.

In terms of equipment, this is a fairly standard mid-range board with 4 DDR4 slots, the ability to install two video cards, USB 3.1 gen2 support, a modern set of video outputs, and only one M.2 slot for installing fast SSD drives. The last one is a bit strange, since boards based on the B450 chip usually have two M.2 connectors. The number of additional features of the board is minimized, its main task is to drive reliably. We can only note an improved version of the Realtek ALC887 codec and backlight synchronization using the Asus Aura Sync utility.

Of the unsuccessful engineering decisions, it is worth highlighting the inconvenient connection of multi-channel acoustics and reduced support for CPUs: the board supports AMD Ryzen chips of the first or second generation, but will not work with AMD A and Athlon processors for Socket AM4.