horaciob92 :
Which one to choose between these motherboards? Together with a ryzen 5 1400 and upgradeability
MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard
Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard
ASRock - Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 ATX AM4 Motherboard
MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard
ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
Thanks
The five (5) motherboards you are considering only has the following
similarities:
All support
overclocking the AMD Ryzen CPUs
All have
4x RAM slots supporting
up to 64GB capacity and
up to 3200MHz+ speeds
All have
2x USB2.0 (9-pin) internal headers (supports
up to 4x additional USB2.0 ports)
All may be able to support
up to 2-Way AMD CrossFire, depending on the use of some PCIe slots
All use
Realtek LAN Controllers (RTL8111H or RTL8111G)
All require a
24-pin ATX power cable and an
8-pin ATX12V/EPS power cable from your PSU
Their
main differences are the following:
POWER PHASES (CPU VCC + SoC VCC):
Tomahawk:
6 (4 + 2) |
Gaming 3: 7 (4 + 3) |
K4:
9 (6 + 3) |
PC Mate:
6 (4 + 2) |
Pro4:
9 (6 + 3)
SATA PORTS (and NUMBER OF SATA PORTS IN 90-DEGREE ORIENTATION):
Tomahawk:
4 (
2/4) |
Gaming 3:
6 (
2/6) |
K4:
6 (
4/6) |
PC Mate:
4 (
2/4) |
Pro4:
4 (
4/4)
M.2 SOCKETS (PCIe3.0 x4 / SATAIII):
Tomahawk: 1 |
Gaming 3: 1 |
K4:
2 (1x PCIe + 1x SATA) |
PC Mate: 1 |
Pro4:
2 (1x PCIe + 1x SATA)
AUDIO CODEC (and NUMBER OF 3.5MM AUDIO JACKS AT REAR PANEL):
Tomahawk:
ALC892 (
6) |
Gaming 3:
ALC1220 (
5) |
K4:
ALC892 (
3) |
PC Mate:
ALC892 (
6) |
Pro4:
ALC892 (
3)
NUMBER OF INTERNAL USB3.0 (19-PIN) HEADERS:
Tomahawk:
2x |
Gaming 3: 1x |
K4: 1x |
PC Mate:
2x |
Pro4: 1x
TOTAL NUMBER OF USB PORTS AT REAR PANEL:
Tomahawk:
6x Total USB Ports =
0x USB3.1 + 4x USB3.0 (1x Type-C, 3x Type-A) + 2x USB2.0
Gaming 3: 7x Total USB Ports =
2x USB3.1 (all Type-A) + 4x USB3.0 (all Type-A) +
1x USB2.0
K4:
8x Total USB Ports =
0x USB3.1 +
6x USB3.0 (1x Type-C, 5x Type-A) + 2x USB2.0
PC Mate:
6x Total USB Ports =
0x USB3.1 + 4x USB3.0 (1x Type-C, 3x Type-A) + 2x USB2.0
Pro4: 7x Total USB Ports =
0x USB3.1 +
5x USB3.0 (1x Type-C, 4x Type-A) + 2x USB2.0
TOTAL NUMBER OF FAN HEADERS:
Tomahawk:
6 |
Gaming 3: 5 |
K4:
4 |
PC Mate:
6 |
Pro4:
3
TOTAL NUMBER OF LED STRIP EXTENSION HEADERS:
Tomahawk: 1 |
Gaming 3: 1 |
K4:
2 |
PC Mate: 1 |
Pro4:
2
PCIE x16 SLOT QUANTITY AND SPEEDS:
Tomahawk: 1x PCIe3.0 + 1x PCIe2.0 which runs in
x16/
x4* speeds (
*runs in x2 if any PCIe x1 is used)
Gaming 3: 1x PCIe3.0 + 2x PCIe2.0 which runs in
x16/
x4*/x1 speeds (
*runs in x2 if some PCIe x1 slots is used)
K4:
2x PCIe3.0 which runs in
x16/
x4* (
*disables an M.2 socket if used)
PC Mate: 1x PCIe3.0 + 1x PCIe2.0 which runs in
x16/
x4* speeds (
*runs in x2 if any PCIe x1 is used)
Pro4: 1x PCIe3.0 + 1x PCIe2.0 which runs in
x16/
x4 speeds
NUMBER OF REINFORCED PCIE x16 SLOTS:
Tomahawk: 1/2 |
Gaming 3:
2/3 |
K4: 1/2 |
PC Mate: 1/2 |
Pro4:
0/2
PCIE x1 SLOT QUANTITY:
Tomahawk: 2 |
Gaming 3: 2 |
K4:
4 |
PC Mate: 2 |
Pro4:
1
DEBUG LED / STATUS LEDS:
Tomahawk:
Yes |
Gaming 3:
Yes |
K4:
None |
PC Mate:
Yes |
Pro4:
None
LED AMBIENT LIGHTING:
Tomahawk: Red |
Gaming 3: RGB |
K4: RGB |
PC Mate: None |
Pro4: None
COLOR SCHEME:
Tomahawk: Black/Gray |
Gaming 3: Black/Red |
K4: Black/Red |
PC Mate: Black/Gray |
Pro4: Black/White
SIZE:
Tomahawk: ATX |
Gaming 3: ATX |
K4: ATX |
PC Mate: ATX |
Pro4: mATX
COST/PRICE:
Tomahawk:
$86.98 (
Newegg) |
Gaming 3:
$93.98 (
Newegg) |
K4:
$93.98 (
Newegg) |
PC Mate:
$99.99 (
B&H) |
Pro4:
$77.98 (
Newegg)
So, with the above differences, you can check which features you need, want, and like for your build.
Best price/performance among the motherboards above is the
Asrock AB350M Pro4, that is, if you like an mATX sized Black+White board with no LED lighting, has generous USB ports, but only 3x fan headers (which you can resolve by using splitters if you have more than 3x fans needed to be installed), only 4x SATA ports but has 2x M.2 sockets, an 'okay' audio codec and jacks but has a very high number of power phases for better OC voltage regulation.
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