this was discussed a few weeks ago. They ran out of room for additional hardware profiles in the BIOS and were forced to choose between using bigger and more expensive chips, or dropping the oldest CPUs from compatibility lists. Unsurprisingly for a budget product they're choosing to drop support rather than spend more for a niche case.
That and Gavin has started using Google Translate to convert from his apparently native Chinese to English, without any form of grammar checking afterward.
Good question! This non-utilization of the B350/B450 on-chip "2 x USB 3.1 Gen2" ports has been a pet peeve of mine. Theoretically, it seems that Gen 2 ports could be added to B450 motherboards for minimal cost...
I give credit to Gavin Bonshor for mentioning how the motherboard USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports are implemented. His description "the inclusion of a pairing of USB 3.1 10 Gbps (Type-A and Type-C) port; the Type-A comes native to the B450 chipset" indicates that at least one of the B450 Gen 2/10 Gbps ports can be made to work is good to read.
Just curious, what is it about Killer NICs that people seem to not like? My MSI laptop has a Killer NIC and it works fine, at least for the uses I've put it to. So when is it where Killer NICs can or do let one down?
Their drivers have historically been much less stable than Intel or even Realtek's, and I've never seen a 3rd party review from a trusted site able to show any actual benefit for killer's alleged optimization for gaming other than generating fodder for their marketing dept.
Can we please get some relevant information on motherboards like in the old days of Anandtech? Hard drive speed tests, lan and wireless tests, sound tests, memory tests, an analysis on why fps is so much lower. You know, the reasons people look at getting one motherboard over another. Plus get a new processor in there. You are using a new generation motherboard.
I'm planning on building a SFF PC with the ITX B450 board and a Ryzen 5 2400G. I've not built a PC for about 8 years so I'm a bit rusty so any help is appreciated. Can anyone recommend which RAM to use? I'd like to go as fast as is supported without overclocking (to start with). Cheers Langers
A thing that was missed in the article when comparing the Gaming B450-ITX/ac to the X470 version of the same board was that the later has Bluetooth 5.0 while former only has Bluetooth 4.2. Could be significant to some buyers.
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29 Comments
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ToniCipriani - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Does anyone know if the M.2 slot below supports double-sided drives, or is it single-sided only?leexgx - Thursday, August 16, 2018 - link
cant see why not its not a laptopET - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
It's interesting how the ASRock B450 K4 is significantly worse than the B350 version in many tests.I wonder if this result will change if a Ryzen 2000 series CPU is used.
hyno111 - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Seems they dropped the support for Bristol Ridge on all B450 boards.Actually I have yet to find any B450 board with Bristol Ridge support.
DanNeely - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
this was discussed a few weeks ago. They ran out of room for additional hardware profiles in the BIOS and were forced to choose between using bigger and more expensive chips, or dropping the oldest CPUs from compatibility lists. Unsurprisingly for a budget product they're choosing to drop support rather than spend more for a niche case.https://www.anandtech.com/show/12971/amd-bios-limi...
Death666Angel - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Who in their right mind would go over a Bristol Ridge APU vs a Ryzen APU in a new bought system?StrangerGuy - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
There are plenty of Ebay penny pinchers who can't be bothered to think about what "price/performance" means.DPete27 - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Poor Gavin. He's so tired his bloodshot eyes are making him see red heatsinks and RAM slots on the B450 ITX board.linuxgeex - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
That and Gavin has started using Google Translate to convert from his apparently native Chinese to English, without any form of grammar checking afterward.u.of.ipod - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
You keep mentioning the red heatsinks and RAM slots on the ITX board, yet the photos do not show red heatsinks or RAM slots.u.of.ipod - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Why does the USB-C port need to use an additional ASMedia chipset? I thought B450 could support two 3.1 10GBS ports?vkristof - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Good question! This non-utilization of the B350/B450 on-chip "2 x USB 3.1 Gen2" ports has been a pet peeve of mine. Theoretically, it seems that Gen 2 ports could be added to B450 motherboards for minimal cost...I give credit to Gavin Bonshor for mentioning how the motherboard USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports are implemented. His description "the inclusion of a pairing of USB 3.1 10 Gbps (Type-A and Type-C) port; the Type-A comes native to the B450 chipset" indicates that at least one of the B450 Gen 2/10 Gbps ports can be made to work is good to read.
linuxgeex - Thursday, August 2, 2018 - link
Probably so that it can support more USB-C features than the mobo chipset does. ie perhaps thunderbolt and enhanced power delivery.AdrianB1 - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
So Asrock was not able to spend the extra 50 cents to put an Intel LAN on the ATX and mATX boards? In those $100 there was no room for it?PeachNCream - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
An Intel NIC would have been nice, but at least it's a RealTek and not a Killer so ASRock deserves credit where its due.mapesdhs - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Just curious, what is it about Killer NICs that people seem to not like? My MSI laptop has a Killer NIC and it works fine, at least for the uses I've put it to. So when is it where Killer NICs can or do let one down?hyno111 - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Bloated driver.DanNeely - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Their drivers have historically been much less stable than Intel or even Realtek's, and I've never seen a 3rd party review from a trusted site able to show any actual benefit for killer's alleged optimization for gaming other than generating fodder for their marketing dept.PhrogChief - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Only the b350 itx ASRock board has red heatsinks. Is this some copy pasta?PhrogChief - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
And frankly, just using stock photos in a review is just lazy...Flappergast - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
Again I’m looking at the msi b350 just kicking ass. Can anyone tell me why?mapesdhs - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
"... so while technically there is a 6+3 phase count there, ASRock’s marketing is somewhat misleading."Is this by any chance the same issue that Buildzoid talked about re a particular Gigabyte board?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjWCOXSuKU
ipkh - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link
There is no doubler chip on the board. Linking/Shorting is not the same and shouldn't be conflated with what a doubler actually does.ZolaIII - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
Why on earth would you pair this with an old first gen Ryzen? Long anticipated chipset to drive second gen Ryzen 5's... Very disappointing review.plonk420 - Wednesday, August 1, 2018 - link
thanks for the K4's VRMs!walmart32 - Saturday, August 4, 2018 - link
Please tell us about https://www.walmartnearme.co/Dug - Monday, August 6, 2018 - link
Can we please get some relevant information on motherboards like in the old days of Anandtech? Hard drive speed tests, lan and wireless tests, sound tests, memory tests, an analysis on why fps is so much lower. You know, the reasons people look at getting one motherboard over another. Plus get a new processor in there. You are using a new generation motherboard.Langers - Thursday, August 9, 2018 - link
I'm planning on building a SFF PC with the ITX B450 board and a Ryzen 5 2400G. I've not built a PC for about 8 years so I'm a bit rusty so any help is appreciated. Can anyone recommend which RAM to use? I'd like to go as fast as is supported without overclocking (to start with).Cheers
Langers
bjocan - Saturday, August 25, 2018 - link
A thing that was missed in the article when comparing the Gaming B450-ITX/ac to the X470 version of the same board was that the later has Bluetooth 5.0 while former only has Bluetooth 4.2. Could be significant to some buyers.