Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards
by Gavin Bonshor on July 31, 2018 8:00 AM ESTMSI B450I Gaming Plus AC
The MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC is an Mini-ITX motherboard from MSI’s Gaming range and just like the bigger sized ATX B450 Gaming Plus it shares a similar feature set in terms of controllers and available connections. The main differences aside from the form factor come from the inclusion of an Intel Dual-Band Wireless-AC 3168 Wi-Fi module.
The limitation of Mini-ITX means the B450I Gaming Plus AC has a single full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, with storage options provided by the B450 chipset via four SATA ports; all of the SATA ports feature straight angled connectors which are located just below the 24-pin ATX motherboard power input. Also included is a single M.2 slot capable of supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA drive up to a size of M.2 2280 (22 x 80 mm). Providing power to the CPU is an 8-pin ATX 12 V input with the B450I Gaming Plus AC seemingly sporting an 8-phase power delivery running in a 6+2 configuration.
Aesthetically speaking, the B450I Gaming Plus AC has an all-black PCB with heatsinks which follows the red and black MSI Gaming theme; the red pattern on both the black power delivery and chipset heatsink resembles a lightning bolt. Looking at memory support, the board has two slots capable of supporting DDR4-3466 with a maximum of 32 GB of memory allowed. The MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC has support for both non-ECC and ECC DDR4 memory, although installed ECC memory will operate in non-ECC mode.
On the rear panel, the B450I Gaming Plus AC has a total of six USB Type-A ports split between four USB 3.1 5 Gbps and two USB 2.0 ports; this board omits any USB 3.1 10 Gbps ports at all and lacks any Type-C connectivity. A single PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port is present, with the Intel 3168 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter commanding some space for the two included antennae’s to be installed. Finishing off the rear panel is a pairing of video outputs, an HDMI and DisplayPort, with the three 3.5mm audio jacks being provided by the budget-friendly Realtek ALC887 audio codec and the single LAN port being controlled by the Realtek 8111H Gigabit LAN controller.
MSI has clearly gone the more wallet-friendly approach with the B450I Gaming Plus AC with a host of relatively affordable controllers and offering a smaller form factor Mini-ITX gaming themed alternative. Users looking to customize the look of their system will be pleased to know that MSI has included two 5050 RGB LED strip headers but does lack any integrated RGB capabilities under the heatsinks. The launch price of $119.99 is set to make the ITX AM4 market competitive.
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tonecas1 - Tuesday, October 30, 2018 - link
Asus Prime 450M-K has only 4 Sata ports, audio is Realtek’s ALC887 only, and memory support goes to 3466 (OC)tonecas1 - Tuesday, October 30, 2018 - link
Asus Prime 450M-K has 2 PCIe 2.0x1 and 1 PCIe 3.0 x16 by CPU supporttonecas1 - Tuesday, October 30, 2018 - link
MSI B450M Pro-M2 only supports 2x DIMM slotstonecas1 - Wednesday, October 31, 2018 - link
ASRock B450M Pro4 is not a 6+3 power system but a 3+3. You have to remove the heat sink to see the MOSFET Hi and Lo combos and IC controlersQuarterPunder - Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - link
So if i buy this motherboard do i still need to buy a wifi card/Bluetooth receptor???msroadkill612 - Wednesday, March 20, 2019 - link
"Strix B450-F Gaming ..... Also present is a duo of M.2 slots with both having support for PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 drives, while the top slot which supports both PCIe and SATA drives up to a size of M.2 2280 (22 x 80 mm), the bottom slot only supports PCIe 3.0 x4 drives with a sizing up to M.2 22110 (22 x 110 mm)."ALARMINGLY WRONG!
Newegg:
"AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation / Ryzen 1st Generation Processors: *
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)**
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)***"
msroadkill612 - Wednesday, March 20, 2019 - link
edit - to remove any doubt - in full, the specs are:"AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation / Ryzen 1st Generation Processors: *
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)**
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)***
AMD Ryzen with Radeon Vega Graphics Processor: *
1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)**
* Support StoreMI and NVMe RAID.
** When the M.2_1 Socket 3 is operating in SATA or PCIE mode, SATA6G_5/6 ports will be disabled.
*** When the M.2_2 is occupied by M.2 device, PCIe x16_1 will run at x8 mode."
g0rnex - Sunday, June 23, 2019 - link
I run windows from external SSD so I need fast USB ports for it to run smooth. Can I replace the USB ports by 3.2 gen2 when needed?g0rnex - Sunday, June 23, 2019 - link
I run win10 from an external SSD. for that I need a fast USB connection for windows to run smooth.Would it be possible to change the USB ports in the future? OR even now already by a 3.2 gen2. Or wouldn't replacing the ports speed up my connection with the external SSD?
Also I would like a good bluetooth connection. Do I need to use an adapter?
looking into making this build:
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/hXzKHx/entry-level-...
GayCock69 - Monday, August 19, 2019 - link
ryzen 3700x + aorus pro wifi b450 + radeon rx5700xt, will it work optimally?