Biostar Goes Micro-ATX For Ryzen With Racing B350ET2 Motherboard
Biostar expanded its lineup of AMD Ryzen-compatible motherboards with the Racing B350ET2. The company said that this board and the Racing B350GT3 it announced in February are the first AMD AM4 B350 motherboards in the micro-ATX form factor. (Its other AM4 motherboards are all standard ATX.)
The B350ET2 is the low-end complement to the RGB lighting-capable B350GT3. It has fewer storage connectors and memory slots than its slightly more expensive sibling, and unlike the B350GT3 and its bundled Vivid LED fan, the B350ET2 doesn't come with any other hardware. If you live in Asia, however, both motherboards come bundled with some "premium gifts" for the popular World of Tanks free-to-play online action game.
Here's what Biostar said about the B350ET2 in its announcement:
BIOSTAR RACING B350ET2 sets itself apart from the competition by introducing 1.5V USB charger functionality and SATA POWER characteristics, perfect for iCafe owners who want to feature LED-equipped gaming headphones from the USB.The new BIOSTAR RACING Series motherboards for AMD AM4 sockets support the latest AMD RYZEN 7 8-core processors and feature support for DDR4-2667 memory via the B350 chipset which offers plenty of connectivity for upgraders. BIOSTAR uses 100% solid capacitors on both motherboards for guaranteed durability and Hi-Fi audio for a great entertainment and listening experience.
Biostar didn't announce a release date for the B350ET2 or the B350GT3, but it did say that their MSRPs are $79 and $109, respectively. You can learn more about Biostar's other AM4 motherboards and other Ryzen-ready boards from Asrock, Gigabyte, MSI, and Asus, as well. And, if you want to shop around for an AM4 B350 board, you can check out our price list.
| Model | Racing B350ET2 | Racing B350GT3 |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | AMD B350 | AMD B350 |
| Form Factor | Micro-ATX | Micro-ATX |
| CPU Support | AMD A-series APU / RYZEN CPU / NPU for Socket AM4Maximum CPU TDP (Thermal Design Power) : 95Watt | AMD A-series APU / RYZEN CPU / NPU for Socket AM4Maximum CPU TDP (Thermal Design Power) : 95Watt |
| Memory Support | Dual Channel DDR4 2,667 / 2,400 / 2,133 / 1,866MHz2 x DDR4 DIMM Memory SlotMax. Supports up to 32GB Memory | Dual Channel DDR4 2,667 / 2,400 / 2,133 / 1,866MHz4 x DDR4 DIMM Memory SlotMax. Supports up to 64GB Memory |
| Expansion Slot | 1 x PCI-E x16 3.0 Slot(x16 for RYZEN CPU only, NPU/APU run at x8 speed)2 x PCI-E x1 3.0 Slot | 1 x PCI-E x16 3.0 Slot (x16 for RYZEN CPU only, NPU/APU run at x8 speed)1 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot(x4)(share bandwidth w/ PCI-E x1 slot, when PCI-E x1 is occupied, PCI-E x16(x4) will run at x1 speed)2 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot |
| Storage | 4 x SATA3 Connector Support SATA RAID: 0,1,10 | 4 x SATA3 Connector Support SATA RAID: 0,1,10 1 x M.2 Key M 32Gb/s Connector, support M.2 type 2242/ 2260/ 2280 SATA 6Gb/s & PCI-E Storage* M.2 (32Gbps) : The bandwidth is depended on CPU, RYZEN is 32Gbps ; APU & NPU is 16Gbps. |
| USB | 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Port1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Header2 x USB 2.0 Port2 x USB 2.0 Port(only 5V power, up to 1.5A)2 x USB 2.0 Header | 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Port4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Port1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Header2 x USB 2.0 Header |
| LAN | Realtek RTL8118AS - 10 /100 / 1,000 ControllerSupport Super LAN Surge Protection | Realtek RTL8111H - 10 / 100 / 1.000 ControllerSupport Super LAN Surge Protection |
| Integrated Video | By CPU modelSupports DX12Supports HDCP | By CPU modelSupports DX12Supports HDCP |
| Audio Codec | Realtek ALC887 8-Channel HD AudioSupport BIOSTAR Hi-Fi | Realtek ALC887 8-Channel HD AudioSupport BIOSTAR Hi-Fi |
| Release Date | TBD | TBD |
| MSRP | $79 | $109 |
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Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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PancakePuppy I'm guessing the Biostar press release should say "1.5A USB charger" instead of "1.5V"Reply -
chile7236 Reply19403355 said:that is fine and all, but when can we get mini itx mainboards for ryzen cpus?
true -
ravewulf What I want to know is why all the uATX AM4 boards so far only have three rear audio jacks. My current (old) uATX AM3 board has six (front, rear, side, center/sub, line in, and mic).Reply -
atljsf optical conenction spdif and pray for the unit has that and replicates or buy a external sound card with the outputs you mention?Reply -
ravewulf Reply19406624 said:optical conenction spdif and pray for the unit has that and replicates or buy a external sound card with the outputs you mention?
Unfortunately spdif hasn't been updated to support lossless multi-channel audio and (like HDMI) would require buying and using a receiver. A USB device would be easiest, but it's still a hassle for something that can be built into the board.