Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards
by Gavin Bonshor on July 31, 2018 8:00 AM ESTASUS Prime B450M-K
Rounding off our ASUS B450 launch day overviews is the microATX alternative to the ASUS Prime B450-Plus motherboard, the Prime B450M-K. This smaller form factor motherboard uses a lot of the same components as the ATX sized Prime B450-Plus such as Realtek’s ALC887-VD2 audio codec and RTL8111H Gigabit networking chip, as well as featuring the same level of memory compatibility with DDR4-3200 being supported out of the box.
The style and design run in symmetry with the ATX sized version (Prime B450-Plus) and has a clean and clutter free black PCB, with a grey triangle shaped pattern. The B450M-K omits any integrated RGB backlighting on-board, instead, users can make use of lighting emanating from the PCIe slot and audio trace paths which gives the impression the audio area of the PCB has separation.
Due to the microATX form factor, the Prime B450M-K features a single full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with a further two PCIe 2.0 x1 slots. Memory wise, the board has support for DDR4-3200 with a total capacity of up to 32 GB of system memory over the two provided slots. The Prime B450M-K represents one of the most basic B450 motherboards at launch, but this is reflected in the pricing ASUS gone with for this Prime branded board.
To provide power from the PSU to the motherboard, a 24-pin ATX input can be found on the right-hand side of the board, with an 8-pin ATX 12 V power input dedicated for providing power to the CPU. Aside from the ROG Strix branded B450 pairing, the Prime B450M-K from the images looks as though it has a 6-phase Digi+ power delivery; albeit without any heatsink to help with dissipating heat from the MOSFETs and other phase componentry.
Focusing on the storage options available on the B450M-K, a total of four SATA 6 Gbps ports supporting RAID 0, 1 and 10 arrays is present. All four SATA 6 Gbps ports sit around the edge at the bottom right-hand corner of the board and feature straight angled connectors. In addition to these, is a single PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA compatible M.2 slot which supports drives up to a sizing of M.2 2280 (22 x 80 mm).
The sizing and budget-friendly nature of the Prime B450M-K allows for only two 4-pin fan headers throughout the board, with one dedicated to the CPU fan and the other to a single case fan; fan splitters could be used to increase the number of support fans, although it would depend on the voltage of the headers which is currently unknown. In addition to the six USB Type-A ports on the rear and additional four USB 2.0 ports can be had from using the internal headers.
On the rear panel, there are a total of two USB 10 Gbps Type-A ports as well as a further four USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A ports. Powering the three 3.5mm audio jacks is the Realtek ALC887-VD2 audio codec and the single LAN port is controlled by the Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit networking chip. Unlike every other ASUS B450 motherboard, the Prime B450M-K has a separate PS/2 port for both a keyboard and mouse, with a single DVI-D and VGA output provided to allow use with the AMD Ryzen APUs.
While the ASUS Prime B450M-K is one of the most basic and featureless of all the B450 chipset laden boards at launch, this is reflected in the pricing. The pricing of the B450M-K is currently unknown, but it's expected to cost below $79.99.
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bi0logic - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
It looks like the price link to the "TUF B450-Plus Gaming" is going to an amazon search for "ASRock B450M Pro4"eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Thanks Gavin, I know this is a lot of information to go through and present. I would love to see a follow-up on these questions:1. Especially for these compact boards, any problems with stock processor heat sinks blocking DIMM slots, i.e. do DIMMs with heat spreaders still fit with a Wraith or Spire cooler, respectively?
2. I have my eye on the Aorus Pro WiFi or something similar, but am wary of the placement of the WiFi antenna connectors right next to two of the USB 3 connectors. I frequently use 3-4 USB 3 devices at the same time frequently, and am wary of the USB 3 - WiFi interference with that placement. Any chance Gigabyte could state if/that they got that taken care of?
Thanks!
Also, still looking forward to your Ryzen 2200/2400 GPU overclock chapter on that duo. Any chance we'll see it soon?
sonofgodfrey - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Second to last table is labeled X470 Motherboards.PingSpike - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
It looks like the ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING inherits some of the layout features of the (much more expensive) x470 Crosshair 7 in that it steals some of the CPU lanes to get a second full PCI-e 3.0 M.2 slot. Then 8x goes to PCI-e 16 1, the remaining 4x to PCI-e 16 2 and finally a chipset PCI-e 2.0On the surface, this seems like it has totally ignored the bifrucation limitations that supposedly are inherent to the B450 chipset.
In other words, I thought you couldn't get that on this chipset.
Dragonstongue - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
well at least the pricing is "more inline" with the pricing they should be, newer boards, better componentes that actually save the maker a bit of coin per board made, so they keep the same "launch price" is acceptable in my books coming from gen 1 (I so hate the naming AMD used for Ryzen 1xxx and 2xxx needless confusion for nothing)x3xx to x4xx same concept, reduced price to produce so they save some money, but the vast majority of vendors used these "savings" to cram more disco light show RGB on the boards to jack the price up some instead.
seems at least with the B4xx boards the vendors took a "better" approach beyond a few more "premium" boards which rightfully have an increased price (justifiable, maybe, but I myself have zero need of RGB and would only buy a more expensive board that offered them at the increased price if they were WORTH it as far as just overall better then lower cost boards, sadly, there seems to be little difference in more "premium" beyond a butt load of extra RGB little better in VRM etc which are much more useful and required IMO)
they could almost have a market for the premium boards RGB free, so pay a bit less for people like me who do not want all the RGB crud but still get the increased premium sound/VRM/BIOS etc ^.^
WasHopingForAnHonestReview - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Nice review. Good work.Im amazed that almost every comment is a nitpick. Rough life, Ian.
Flappergast - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Nice overview on the last page. I’m looking for mITX WiFi - nice to see some good boardsSakkura - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
As documented by Buildzoid, the Asrock B450 Pro4 does not have the claimed 6+3-phase VRM. It is a pure 3+3-phase. Same probably applies for the B450M Pro4.https://youtu.be/yWAwOH-egFs?t=2104
JohanPirlouit - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Hi everyone,Am I the only one to see that on the AMD picture:
- CPU: 2x SATA 3Gbps
- Chipset: 6x SATA 3Gbps
What do AMD talks about: SATA "3" (known as "6Gbps") or SATA 3Gbps (aka SATA II)?
Sakkura - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
They mean SATA3 = SATA 6Gbps. Annoying that we keep running into these easily confused naming schemes (see also: USB 3.1 Gen1 and Gen2). At least SATA is getting old enough that we should soon be able to just drop the version number (unlike USB 2.0 there's really no reason to make modern hardware with SATA2).