Asus Refreshes B450 Motherboards For Upcoming AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs

(Image credit: ASUS)

In a surprise move, as spotted by VideoCardz, Asus has refreshed its entire B450 product stack (opens in new tab) with several updates to keep them relevant for the current Ryzen 3000 series and new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs coming soon. (opens in new tab)

The main upgrades include higher memory OC support, a larger firmware/BIOS chip (most likely 32MB), which allows more CPUs to be supported in BIOS without sacrificing BIOS quality or features, and upgraded connectivity such as USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports instead of Gen 1. Finally, a couple of the refreshed models include upgraded power delivery systems with more phases.

Taking a look at the new ROG Strix B450-F Gaming II it has received a new paint job. Upgrades include a new 8+4 phase power delivery system, which matches some of Asus' mid-range B550 boards so it should be able to handle a 3950X without issue. There's a higher memory OC ceiling of 4400 MHz compared to 3600 MHz on the old board as well. There's an upgrade to all USB 3.1 ports from 3.1 to 3.2, and finally BIOS flashback support.

The TUF Gaming B450-Plus II also gets the same treatment, featuring an upgraded power delivery system, from 4+2 phases to 8+2 which is a significant jump in VRM capability for the B450 Plus boards. This should allow you to run higher wattage Ryzen chips without encountering overheating VRMs. Asus has provided two M.2 slots, one Gen 3.0 and an additional M.2 slot that runs at PCI-E Gen 2.0 x4 speeds, while not as fast as Gen 3.0, it is still significantly faster than SATA3. All USB 3.1 ports have been upgraded to USB 3.2. Aesthetically there have been some changes to the design, mainly in the chipset's TUF logo being rotated 90 degrees and the RGB lighting no longer says "TUF Gaming".

Asus' TUF Gaming B450M-Pro II has few changes from its vanilla counterpart, the original board already featured an excellent very good VRM solution and is able to support 4400 MHz memory frequencies out of the box. The only changes are in connectivity, an additional DisplayPort output and all USB 3.1 ports being upgraded to 3.2, plus one additional USB 3.2 port.

Asus' TUF Gaming B450M-Plus II includes upgrades to the DRAM frequency from 3466 MHz to 4400 MHz, which is a huge change for this board SKU. Besides that the only change is (again) an upgrade from USB 3.1 ports to USB 3.2 ports and that's it.

Finally, we reach the PRIME boards, the Prime B450-A II has several beneficial upgrades including a huge change in the memory department, DRAM frequencies can run up to 4400 MHz (from 3466 MHz), and memory capacity has doubled from 64GB to 128GB. The VRM remains unchanged with the exception of a heatsink added to help cool things off. Still, I would limit my CPU choices to 65W TDP models or lower.

Lastly, the Prime B450M-K II gets minor upgrades including 4400 MHz memory frequency support like the B450-A and an additional HDMI output. Both PRIME boards get USB 3.2 support as well.

The changes are a welcome sight to those which require a cheap AMD motherboard, capable of running future Ryzen processors without too many bells and whistles. The higher B450 boards like the STRIX could be a tough sell, however, with entry-level and mid-range B550 boards already under $150. It all comes down to PCI-E Gen 4.0 and how badly you need it, which is a big deal now with new Gen 4.0 capable graphics cards and NVMe SSDs growing in popularity. Availability for these boards is unknown at this time.

Aaron Klotz is a freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering news topics related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

Topics

Motherboards

18 Comments Comment from the forums

logainofhades

Guess they had some excess B450 chipsets lying around, and not getting enough B550?
Reply
salgado18

logainofhades said:
Guess they had some excess B450 chipsets lying around, and not getting enough B550?
Maybe the B450 is cheaper than B550, which would give them a budget place without PCIe 4.0.
Reply
luca1980

I'd not buy a B450 at the end of 2020 anyway.
Reply
Darkbreeze

luca1980 said:
I'd not buy a B450 at the end of 2020 anyway.
I would. There are practically negligible gains to be had from PCIe 4.0 at this point anyhow, and PCIe 4.0 is the only REAL difference between those chipsets in the long run anyway. So far pretty much all testing indicates little to no gains from it in gaming with PCIe 4.0 capable graphics cards or in storage device testing either. It took years for PCIe 3.0 to make a difference, I don't expect it to be any different this time around.
Reply
sizzling

luca1980 said:
I'd not buy a B450 at the end of 2020 anyway.
B550 is an odd chipset. It’s so darn close to X570 in features that it’s nearly the same price. As others have said there is virtually no gain from pcie 4.0 so the cheaper B450’s are a very compelling offer. I’ve seen reviews of B450 boards running 3950X’s as well as a X570 at stock settings. I doubt the majority of Ryzen users would loose anything by going with a high quality B450.
Reply
nofanneeded

Darkbreeze said:
I would. There are practically negligible gains to be had from PCIe 4.0 at this point anyhow, and PCIe 4.0 is the only REAL difference between those chipsets in the long run anyway. So far pretty much all testing indicates little to no gains from it in gaming with PCIe 4.0 capable graphics cards or in storage device testing either. It took years for PCIe 3.0 to make a difference, I don't expect it to be any different this time around.

For some one who upgrades every 4 years PCIe 4.0 is a must today... even if the gains are little at the moment.
Reply
Darkbreeze

Why would something that offers no benefit be "a must"? I keep hearing that it's a "must" but so far I haven't seen a single shred of evidence or any suggestion of proof as to why that would be.

Is there some notation somewhere that says the next generation of Nvidia or AMD graphics cards after Navi and Ampere are going to contain architectural improvements that are positively believed to see gains from the more robust bus? Is there some article indicating that there is going to be a determined effort to revamp the APIs specifically to benefit combinations of PCIe 4.0 graphics cards? Is the next generation of motherboard chipsets KNOWN to be inclusive of multiple PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVME slots, unlike current chipsets that only support a single PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot per board? And when they do, will it even matter, since reviews don't show Gen4 storage blowing up any benchmarks really?

I mean, yeah, I'm sure at some point it will be beneficial, and when it is, it will make sense to want that on any board you choose. And when next I choose a board, maybe later this year, I probably will go with something that IS PCIe 4.0 capable, but it's not going to be BECAUSE of that, and there are certainly a LOT more people out there that won't see any significant benefit from a PCIe 4.0 capable chipset over one that has everything else that board has except for that, than there are people who will. And I imagine it is going to remain that way for a long time.

Even people with the top shelf flagship GX cards aren't going to see much from it, and those people are in the very, VERY small minority of consumers anyhow.
Reply
nofanneeded

Darkbreeze said:
Why would something that offers no benefit be "a must"? I keep hearing that it's a "must" but so far I haven't seen a single shred of evidence or any suggestion of proof as to why that would be.

Is there some notation somewhere that says the next generation of Nvidia or AMD graphics cards after Navi and Ampere are going to contain architectural improvements that are positively believed to see gains from the more robust bus? Is there some article indicating that there is going to be a determined effort to revamp the APIs specifically to benefit combinations of PCIe 4.0 graphics cards? Is the next generation of motherboard chipsets KNOWN to be inclusive of multiple PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVME slots, unlike current chipsets that only support a single PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot per board? And when they do, will it even matter, since reviews don't show Gen4 storage blowing up any benchmarks really?

I mean, yeah, I'm sure at some point it will be beneficial, and when it is, it will make sense to want that on any board you choose. And when next I choose a board, maybe later this year, I probably will go with something that IS PCIe 4.0 capable, but it's not going to be BECAUSE of that, and there are certainly a LOT more people out there that won't see any significant benefit from a PCIe 4.0 capable chipset over one that has everything else that board has except for that, than there are people who will. And I imagine it is going to remain that way for a long time.

Even people with the top shelf flagship GX cards aren't going to see much from it, and those people are in the very, VERY small minority of consumers anyhow.

You are focusing in GPU only , GPU does not need Gen 4 , 16 lanes Gen 3 is still enough and not saturated .

Gen 4 PCIexpress are important for add on cards , LAN cards , Nvme cards (not m2 , CARDS) , future Wifi cards , USB 3.2 2x2 cards , thunderbolt cards , etc

You cant manufacture 10Gb/s cards using single lane on Gen3 but on Gen 4 it is possible. and in 4 years we might have 20/40/100Gb lan card as well whhich needs the bandwidth.

Nvme on Gen 4 within 4 years will improve and get cheaper as well .

More over , in entry level non HEDT motherboards , most of the slots are one lane only , and if it is Gen 4 lane this will allow many hardware options for the cheap ..
Reply
Darkbreeze

No, I'm not. I specifically called out storage devices, so obviously you are not even bothering to read the whole post before reacting to it. Which I don't think surprises anyone.
Reply
nofanneeded

Darkbreeze said:
No, I'm not. I specifically called out storage devices, so obviously you are not even bothering to read the whole post before reacting to it. Which I don't think surprises anyone.

I did read it all . and I think it is you who are not getting my points . which surprises me.

when I said you are focusing on GPU i was right 85% of your post was about GPU. and the rest was about having multiple M2 slots , and today Gen 4 NVME speed.

you are focusing on one year interval , and I said from the beginning "for people who upgrade every 4 years"

I said that storage CARDS and not NVME M2 will appear soon and will need the more bandwidth . that is 4 lanes gen 4 cards will replace 8 lanes Gen3 SSD cards which is HUGE because 8 lanes slots are rare to find at entry level unlike 4 lanes slots.

and I said yes today nvme m2 in Gen4 are not big but within 4 years they will be. and will be cheaper and faster.

dont assume other people dont read it all if you cant see my points meanings.
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