Best B450 Motherboard Chipset for AMD Ryzen Platform

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Best B450 Motherboard

The B450 motherboard chipset is designed specifically for the AMD Ryzen platform, offering excellent compatibility, performance, and value for money. It is a successor to the popular B350 chipset, and it brings significant improvements in terms of power delivery, connectivity options, and overall functionality.

Benefits of Choosing a B450 Motherboard

When it comes to selecting a motherboard for your AMD Ryzen processor, the B450 chipset has several advantages.

Firstly, it provides robust power delivery, ensuring stable performance even under heavy workloads. Secondly, B450 motherboards offer a wide range of connectivity options, including USB 3.1 Gen2, SATA 6Gb/s ports, and M.2 slots for high-speed storage.

Moreover, B450 boards often come with advanced features such as RGB lighting, integrated Wi-Fi, and reinforced PCIe slots for enhanced durability.

Factors to Consider Before Buying

Before making a purchase, it’s important to consider certain factors to ensure compatibility and suitability for your needs.

These factors include the form factor, CPU socket compatibility, RAM support, expansion slots, I/O ports, and additional features like built-in Wi-Fi or RGB lighting. Assessing your requirements and comparing them with the motherboard’s specifications will help you make an informed decision.

Top B450 Motherboards for AMD Ryzen

MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC

MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC

The MSI B450 is easily one of the best B450 motherboard chipsets today. It is a robust solution for the AMD B450 platform without being heavy on your pocket. This board is fitted with features that will only be found in more expensive B450 boards and also some X470 boards. However, while it might be cheap, it does not compromise on the basics.

This MSI motherboard features very simple aesthetics with enough RGB that will keep gamers happy and moving forward. You will also get an assortment of accessories like an LED extension cable, Wi-Fi antenna, SATA cables, and an I/O backplate.

Both the DisplayPort and HDMI ports are offered so that you can utilize the integrated Vega GPU in the Ryzen 5 2400G APU, without really purchasing a discrete graphics card for light or medium gaming activities. When it is about expansion, this gaming motherboard has for you three PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI Express x15 slots.

However, since the expansion possibilities of the MSI B450 are quite limited, you might need to make judicious use of the available PCO Express lanes. The wiring of the MSI on the PCI Express lanes can be a tad confusing; for instance, if you want to use the primary M.2 slot, you might not be able to make use of the two available SATA ports. Similarly, if you make use of the remaining M.2 slot, you will lose the functionality of the PCI Express Gen2 slot. Hence, you might have to list and plant out your GPU and storage essentials well before purchasing this board.

The board’s overclocking aspect is decent; however, other memory performances are not up to the mark. While the MSI might make use of good-quality VRM components, you might have to push it a bit if you already have a good cooling system running. When it comes to performance, it is quite nice for common applications and purposes like gaming and can be counted in as a competing brand.

If you are looking for the best B450 motherboard chipset for your Ryzen 5 2600, you might first have to take a good look at MSI for the best combination of performance and value.

Pros

  • Well-laid out UEFI and full of features
  • Offers good cooling for VRMs

Cons

  • PCI Express wiring might be confusing for some users
  • The overclocking of the memory is not so great

PS: here, you will find out the best silent gaming keyboard.

Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming

Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming

If you have no problem spending a bit more than your actual budget or looking for more flexibility for your B450 platform, then the ROG Strix is the best B450 motherboard for gaming. The chipset offers you four PCI Express x1 slots, three PCI Express x16 slots, and two M.2 PCI Express x4 slots so that you have plenty of room for expansion. While the board is capable of catering to gaming enthusiasts, you will see no RGB overload.

Additionally, you will also get lighting effects on the chipset heatsink and VRMs. Also, there is no dearth of headers to opt for your lighting strips, if you want. The ASUS Gaming motherboard can support up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 memory. You also get the audio quality of SupremeFX audio, which is distortion-free and isolated; the reason behind this clean output is the Nichicon audio capacitors.

While the BIOS might be standard, there are some features that you might not find like manual core voltage settings and the XMP settings that can be seen on more exclusive X740 counterparts. The chipset and the board are made more for automatic overclocking via XFR and AMD’s Precision Boost. When it comes to manual overclocking, the Strix B450-F is more capable than anything else.

But, the latest BIOS update does not include some of the previous functionalities. If you want to gain control of how your components work, it is recommended that you look for an X470 motherboard chipset rather than the B450.

If you love gaming, then the Strix B450-F is the best B450 motherboard chipset. You will be able to play all the latest games in their highest quality, with limitations only arising from your CPU and GPU setup. This is one of the best B450 motherboard chipsets if there were no major issues like the extra PCI Express lanes and some overclocking; it would be put the Asus board on par with the X470 chipsets. However, if you are looking for something within a set budget and offers good gaming and possibilities for future upgrades, then the ASIS ROG Strix is one of the best b450 motherboard chipsets in the market today. At the same price, you will also be offered some accessories and a lot of expansion slots. If you are looking for customization, you can always swap pit the stickers on the heatsinks for your own.

Pros

  • A good number of RGB and fan headers
  • Great for gaming

Cons

  • BIOS has some overclocking issues

Besides, if you are looking for the best streaming PC, just read more.

MSI B450 Tomahawk

MSI B450 Tomahawk

One of the most affordable B450 motherboards in the market today, the MSI B450 Tomahawk, is the best b450 motherboard if you are looking for something pocket-friendly and offers good board capabilities. The accessory package of the chipset includes the user manual, driver DVD, build guide, M.2 screws, I/O shields, and two SATA cables. The fan headers are capable of working in both DC and PWM modes. Also, the aesthetics of the board does not look overboard and is quite pleasing.

If you are looking for overclocking specs, you will be pleased to know that the heatsink of the VRMs is large enough and will do the job of keeping the temperatures under control. The I/O on the rear does not have the pre-installed shield but will offer you common ports like the BIOS flashback button to reflash the older BIOS version easily, in case there is an incorrect setting or an update that has failed and caused the board to not post.

However, when it comes to the PCIe slots, you might feel some constraints. While you will see two large PCI Express slots, the top one is x16 and wired directly to the CPU; the bottom one is x4 and is connected to the chipset. You will also see an internal header for the front-facing panel USB 3.0. The configuration of the chipset is 4+2 VRM, which looks low if you see it from an overclocking perspective. However, MSI tries to compensate for this by making use of extra MOSFETs.

In regards to performance, you will not see a lot of differences between the B450 Tomahawk and other best b450 motherboard with the same chipset. Most memory and CPU benchmarks operate decently. You also have the option of overclocking the memory from the XMP settings in the BIOS. However, games will run well. But, competing offerings from Biostar and Gigabyte provide better numbers.

Perhaps, the best aspect of the MSI Tomahawk motherboard is the USB BIOS Flashback. We have already seen instances where newer AMD processors would not be compatible with older boards for want of a BIOS update. This USB Flashback feature will aid you in solving this problem by flashing a BIOS from the USB drive directly, without the need to mount it on your CPU. Overall, for a second-gen AMD Ryzen platform, the MSI B450 Tomahawk is one of the best b450 motherboard chipsets if you are on a budget.

Pros

  • Features BIOS Flashback+
  • A good number of hybrid fan headers
  • Decent VRMs

Cons

  • Only a single M.2 slot

Also, if you are looking for the best graphics card for Ryzen 5 3600, this guide you should check out.

Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi

Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro Wi-Fi

The Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro is one of the best B450 motherboard chipsets if you are looking for something that offers you the best feature set. This Aorus Pro will offer enough RGB and fan headers and a good accessory package. The aesthetics are quite nice and have tints of orange here and there. Additionally, you also have the option of adding customizations to your RGB and control them with the help of the RGB Fusion software.

You also acquire standard ports along with the antenna-in for a DVI-D port and the onboard Wi-Fi; however, most people state that it would have been better if Gigabyte offered a DisplayPort port instead since it is becoming a rare occasion to see DVI-D monitors. You will also see three PCI Express Ports, of which the first one is connected to x16 speeds directly to the CPU while the others are wired at x1 and x4 speeds.

While you will find most of the features in the BIOS that are offered inexpensive products, it might miss a setting or two. However, it should not matter much since your CPU will be able to work comfortably with a high clock rate for the RAM. It is the best B450 motherboard chipset that offers a substantial software toolset for monitoring and tweaking every aspect of your computing system. However, there are some reviews by users who state that installing the toolset tends to become an unwanted chore.

Perhaps, the major downside of the chipset is that the onboard wireless-only has a 1×1 card; this means that 433 Mbps is the maximum throughput of the Aorus Pro. This can prove to be a limiting factor for high-speed internet connections.

Pros

  • Provides good gaming performance
  • Great choice of components

Cons

  • Features only a 1×1 onboard Wi-Fi

ASRock B450M-HDV

ASRock B450M-HDV

If you are looking for the best B450 motherboard that can perform well without overloading, then the ASRock B450m is a great choice. It is easily one of the best B450 motherboard chipsets in the market that is available in the micro-ATX form. While the size might be small, the chipset is quite capable and offers a lot of mainstream computing features.

The ASRock is fitted with a 7-phase power design that supplies a steady flow of voltage and can be paired easily with a Ryzen CPU. However, it is recommended that you pair the motherboard up with the Ryzen 5 2600X rather than the 2600 version since the former is capable of increasing the clocks for the available power limits and temperature automatically.

Because this chipset does have a lot of overclocking features found in other boards from the same company, the X version is a good option if you want to avoid the troubles of working with the voltage settings. Additionally, you also get standard connectivity features.

But, since the size of the mini-ATX form is quite small, there are certain limitations. For instance, you can only make use of two RAM sticks; this means that you might have to figure out something for maximizing the RAM capacity. Additionally, you might also face some problems in setting the XMP profiles for faster RAM modules.

Pros

  • The feature set is good
  • It is quite affordable

Cons

  • There are issues with the XMP profiles
  • RAM expansion is limited

MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC

MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC

This MSI B450I is available in both ATX0 and mini-ITX-form factor boards. It is the best B450 motherboard for small-sized computers or if you want to save space. However, it also offers decent features for good overclocking and gaming experience. But, you should also be aware of its restrictions, given its small size.

For instance, you will only see a single PCI Express x16 slot. For added expansion, you might have to choose a PCI riser that will split the x16 bandwidth into x4 and x4. But, this should not prove to be a problem since this motherboard chipset does not support any SLI configuration. Additionally, you also get a single M.2 slot that will offer you PCI Express Gen 3 x4 speeds and can be linked to your CPU directly.

While you can install both ECC and non-ECC memory on the board, it will run automatically in non-ECC mode only. Another disadvantage of this board is that you do not have any type of Type-C connectivity; instead, you will see a USB 3.1 Gen1 5 Gbps Type A. You also get an onboard wireless AC along with the Realtek ALC887 audio codec, apart from the Intel Gigabit Ethernet controller.

If you are looking for something like this, you will also be enticed by the value proposition of the MSI B450I package. But, it does miss out on certain things. For example, you will get no fancy overclocking options or RGB. You will also not get any type of advanced controllers. But performance-wise, this motherboard chipset can easily give other expensive ATX offerings a run for their money. It is definitely one of the best B450 motherboard chipsets of mini PCs and HTPCs.

Pros

  • A great option for mini PCs and HTPCs

Cons

  • Consists of only a single M.2 slot

FAQ

1. Are B450 motherboards compatible with Ryzen 5000 series processors? Yes, B450 motherboards can support Ryzen 5000 series processors with a BIOS update. However, it’s advisable to check the motherboard manufacturer’s website for specific compatibility details.

2. Can I use B450 motherboards for gaming? Absolutely! B450 motherboards are well-suited for gaming, offering reliable performance, support for high-speed storage, and various connectivity options.

3. Do B450 motherboards support overclocking? Yes, B450 motherboards provide decent overclocking capabilities, allowing you to unleash the full potential of your AMD Ryzen processor. However, the extent of overclocking depends on factors like CPU quality and cooling solution.

4. Can I use B450 motherboards for content creation? Certainly! B450 motherboards offer ample performance for content creation tasks, with support for high-speed storage, powerful CPUs, and robust power delivery.

5. Are B450 motherboards worth the investment? Yes, B450 motherboards offer a great value for money, providing a balance between performance and affordability. They are a popular choice among PC enthusiasts and gamers alike.

Conclusion

The above were some of the best B450 motherboard chipsets that you can invest in for your second-gen AMD Ryzen processors.

However, you need to remember that most B450 motherboards are fitted with almost the same features. Hence, what sets them apart comes down to the differences among OEMs.

We certainly hope that this article will help you choose the best B450 motherboard. If you are looking for more guidance or help, you can let us know via the comment section; we will reply as soon as we can.

Jack
Jack

Ten years of experience in information and computer technology. Passionate about electronic devices, smartphones, computers, and modern technology.

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