Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards
by Gavin Bonshor on July 31, 2018 8:00 AM ESTMSI B450 Tomahawk
The MSI B450M Tomahawk is a direct successor to the B350 Tomahawk we previously reviewed, but with a few visual tweaks and the introduction of RGB LED lighting to the mix to give it a more ‘popular’ reach to those looking to customize their system to fit their components and mood. The B450 Tomahawk sports the same Realtek ALC892 audio codec and the same Realtek 8111H Gigabit LAN controller as the B350 model, and on paper, look very similar.
The main differences come through a new PCIe layout consisting of a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot featuring MSI Steel Armor, with a second full-length slot running at PCIe 2.0 x4 and a trio of PCIe 2.0 x1 ports; these replace the legacy PCI slots featured on the previous B350 Tomahawk. One of the advantages of the B450 chipset over B350 is the memory speeds supported, more specifically due to the refined firmware possessed by the B450 Tomahawk, which allows support for DDR4-3466 with a total of 64 GB of system memory supported over the four available slots. The use of both ECC and non-ECC memory is permitted, although the ECC memory will run in non-ECC mode. The main visual difference is the B450 comes with new but svelte looking heatsinks and the power delivery heatsink has the MSI Arsenal Gaming logo to signify the entry-level gaming range this board represents. MSI also seem to have kept the same 6-phase power delivery running in the same 4+2 configuration as the previous B350 Tomahawk.
Storage wise, the B450 Tomahawk has a total of six SATA ports with four featuring right-angled connectors and two having a straight angled design; RAID 0, 1 and 10 arrays are supported. A Single M.2 slot capable of supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA drives up to a size of M.2 22110 (22 x 110 mm).
On the rear panel, the B450 Tomahawk includes a BIOS Flashback+ button with two USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A ports, two USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.1 10 Gbps Type-A and Type-C port. Also included is a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port, six 3.5mm audio jacks powered by a Realtek ALC892 audio codec, a single LAN port controlled by a Realtek 8111H Gigabit networking chip, and two video outputs consisting of an HDMI 1.4 port and a DVI-D port.
While the B450 Tomahawk offers improved memory speeds, classier heatsinks and a small customizable RGB LED strip in the top right corner of the board, the price is likely to reflect this with a touted price of $109.99 at launch; around $20 more than the B350 Tomahawk. Whether or not the new refreshed Tomahawk matches specification and visual aspirations of users, the extra integrated RGB lighting and new style MSI Arsenal Gaming heatsinks on the B450 chipset come at a more expensive premium.
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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?