B350 ryzen 3900x: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Tested on Cheap B350 Motherboard : Amd

Let’s Test This: Ryzen 9 3900X on a B350 Motherboard

Surely you’ve read our 3rd-gen Ryzen review by now, including our look at the budget $200 Ryzen 5 3600 model. While testing that we posed the question, how well will these processors work on a really affordable B350 motherboard? The test subject for this experiment is the Asrock AB350M Pro4. Why this particular Micro-ATX motherboard, you ask? It’s simple, this was one of our top picks for the best ‘ultra cheap’ B350 motherboard, coming in at just $75… it was a steal back in 2017.

It’s also a great candidate for our 3rd-gen Ryzen testing on a B350 board because it is as bare as they come. It packs a 3-phase vCore VRM using the 4-phase ISL95712 controller, but we do get a doubling of components, so each phase features two high-side MOSFETs and two low-side MOSFETs. In that sense it’s pretty decent for a sub-$100 AM4 motherboard.

Now in this article we want to investigate mainly two things: Can a budget B350 motherboard safely support the Ryzen 9 3900X? For example, how hot does the VRM get during a torture test? We’ll be strapping on a few k-type thermocouples to find out.

Then assuming we don’t cook the board, what’s the performance like? Are there any thermal issues, power limitations, or anything else that may be limiting performance? We’ll be testing the 3900X, 3700X and the vanilla 3600 on the Asrock board and then compare the results to those gathered on the MSI X570 Creation.

Using BIOS version 5.90 the Asrock AB350M Pro4 supports Zen 2 processors using AGESA version 1.0.0.1. The MSI X570 Creation was tested using the latest BIOS which uses AGESA version 1.0.0.3. This version was used for all previous testing and performs as expected.

Benchmarks

First up we have VRM temperatures and we’ll look at a worst case scenario first — at least until the Ryzen 9 3950X is released. We don’t expect many will be looking at pairing the 3900X with an entry-level B350 board, but it’s useful information for a few years down the track, at which point you’ll likely be able to snag the 12-core part for peanuts.

All this testing has been conducted on an open test bench with no additional cooling, however it’s not that unrealistic as we’re using the box cooler which directs air over the VRM heatsink, at least one of them anyway. This setup has the advantage of cool air circulation as it’s not stuffed in a poorly ventilated case, with the disadvantage that there’s no direct air-flow from case fans.

Stock the Ryzen 9 3900X sucked down 145 watts and this pushed VRM temps to peak at 65 degrees for the underside of the PCB where most of the heat is dissipated while the top side of the MOSFET driver peaked at just 51 degrees. Both are very safe operating temperatures for these components and with 8 sensors we covered the board very well, what you see here are the hot spots.

Enabling PBO with the box cooler is rather pointless, all it does is increase power consumption while resulting in almost no extra performance. Still, it does stress the VRM more, so for this test we are interested in doing exactly that. This increased the package consumption to 185 watts, a 28% increase in power draw. The peak temperature on the underside of the PCB increased by 22% and we see the board get up around 80 degrees.

Although these temperatures aren’t dangerous, they’re getting a bit too hot to sustain for long periods of time. The board is also right on the edge now and with PBO+AutoOC enabled in the Ryzen Master software, the Asrock AB350M Pro 4 did come unstuck.

The board didn’t suffer a major failure or crash, but the Blender 1-hour stress test closed down to the desktop after about 20 minutes, this happened 3 times in a row, so we took the hint and gave the little B350 board a rest.

In short, it looks like the Asrock AB350M Pro4 can comfortably deliver 150 watts but once you start pushing up over 180 watts, it wants to pack it in.

Moving over to the 65 watt TDP Ryzen 7 3700X, the B350 board didn’t break a sweat. Sadly, we didn’t measure package power consumption with this processor, we simply didn’t think of it at the time and this was before we tested the 3900X. But even with PBO+AutoOC enabled the 3700X ran flawlessly on the Asrock B350 board and VRM temps only peaked at 46 C which is very safe. That being the case, we didn’t waste time testing the Ryzen 5 3600 as it’s not going to stress the VRM.

Actually, we did encounter one issue with the R5 3600: memory support was a bit flaky. Whereas the Ryzen 5 processor works with DDR4-3600 memory on the X570 boards, it only worked up to DDR4-3000 on the Asrock B350 board. This is interesting as both the 3700X and 3900X worked fine with DDR4-3200 on the Asrock board, though DDR4-3600 didn’t.

In other words, memory support isn’t nearly as good as on X570, but that was almost certainly going to be the case. It’s possible future BIOS revisions will enhance memory support, but it’s just as likely the signal quality on the AB350 Pro4 isn’t good enough to go beyond DDR4-3200 and for lower quality binned CPUs even 3200 is out of the question.

This means for the benchmarks you’re about to see the 3900X and 3700X were tested using DDR4-3200 CL14 memory, while the 3600 was tested with DDR4-3000 CL14 memory.

Despite the change in memory frequency, the R5 3600 sees the smallest performance discrepancy between the two boards tested. The X570 boards were just under 1% faster, so chalk that up to margin of error.

The 3700X was 3% faster on the X570 board, not a big margin, but it was consistently 2-3% faster. Then we see the 3900X was 4% faster on the X570 board… which also costs around 7 times more.

When testing with Blender we noted the typical all-core clock frequency jumped around a little, but after half an hour it settled into the clock speeds you see reported here. Basically the 3900X clocked 2.5% higher on the X570 board, the 3700X clocked 2.7% higher and the R5 3600 clocked 0.1% higher.

In short, performance was the same for the R5 3600, the 3700X took 2% longer to complete the test and the 3900X took 4% longer, much in line with the margins seen in Cinebench.

This time when testing with V-Ray the 3900X was 5% faster on the X570 board while the 3700X was just 3% faster and we see the R5 3600 performing 1% better on the B350 board. Anything around 3% or less is within the margin of error.

Gaming Tests

As for gaming performance the R5 3600 was again able to deliver the same level of performance on both boards, the same was true for the 3700X, while the 3900X dropped a few frames.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a much more demanding game on the CPU and here the 3900X and 3700X were 4% faster on the X570 board, while the R5 3600 saw no real difference.

Power Consumption

Finishing up the benchmarks we have total system power consumption while running the Blender test. The 3900X saw total system consumption drop by 10%, 16% for the 3700X and 11% for the 3600.

There are likely a few reasons for this. The high-end X570 boards might waste more power due to their extreme VRM implementations, we know the X570 chipset uses quite a bit more power and these boards are generally littered with RGB LEDs, though the MSI Creation is good in that regard. Either way it seems AMD’s Zen 2 CPUs are more power efficient on 300 and 400 series boards.

Closing Notes

The good news for those who own entry-level AM4 motherboards is that they can easily handle the new 3rd-gen Ryzen processors, from the R5 3600 all the way up to the Ryzen 9 3900X. We observed no issues with the exception of questionable memory support, though that wasn’t new from 1st and 2nd-gen Ryzen parts.

The Ryzen 9 3900X works fine in its out of the box configuration, but don’t expect you’ll be able to go overclocking the 12-core CPU. Again, memory support on this particular B350 board was limited to DDR4-3200, but that’s all you need to get maximum performance anyway, assuming you’re using low latency memory. We don’t believe 3900X support is relevant right now, but in a few years’ time when you can buy these CPUs second hand for what we’re guessing will be around $100-$200, then getting one and sticking it on a cheap B350 board will be a nice option.

As for higher-end B350 boards, we’ve yet to test any but those with a beefier VRM should be even better, assuming BIOS support is there. We’re also in the early days of support on older motherboards, so things could improve. No performance difference should be seen between AGESA 1.0.0.1 and 1.0.0.3, but memory compatibility could be improved, along with stability in general.

We are aware of the challenges AMD and its board partners face due to the promise of backwards-compatibility. For example, the storage capacity of the SPI flash EEPROM chip that stores the motherboard UEFI firmware isn’t big enough to fix the latest AGESA microcode, and this is a problem for a number of entry-level and mid-range boards that only use a 16MB EEPROM.

Asrock has made a lite-version of the BIOS that doesn’t feature any colors and has a very basic layout. The X570 motherboards have been upgraded to a 32MB EEPROM, no doubt to combat this issue moving forward, though they do drop support for first-gen parts anyway.

The bottom line is AMD’s AM4 upgrade path is there to be taken advantage of, sooner or later, your choice.

Shopping Shortcuts:

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X on Amazon, Google Express

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X on Amazon, Google Express

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 on Amazon, Google Express

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X on Amazon, Google Express

Intel Core i5-9600K on Amazon, Google Express

Intel Core i5-9400F on Amazon, Google Express

GeForce RTX 2070 Super on Amazon, Google Express

GeForce RTX 2060 Super on Amazon, Google Express

GeForce GTX 1660 Ti on Amazon, Google Express

Here’s AMD’s Flagship 16 Core Ryzen 9 5950X CPU Perfectly Running On An Entry-Level $60 A320 Motherboard

Our friend, TechEphiphany over at Twitter, has shared some interesting information regarding AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPU and entry-level AMD A320 chipset-based motherboards. As you know, it was only recently that a few motherboard vendors decided to start offering Ryzen 5000 support aimed at 300-series motherboards but after looking at the video published by TechEpiphany, it’s looking like even the cheapest motherboards can support the highest-end Ryzen chips without major issues.

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core Flagship CPU Runs Perfectly Fine On A $60 A320 Motherboard, Proves That AMD Should Allow Zen 3 & Zen 3+ Support on Its First-Gen Ryzen Motherboards

There has been a lot of debate going on whether AMD should or shouldn’t allow Ryzen 5000 CPU support on older platforms such as its first-generation 300-series boards including X370, B350 & A320. Consumers won huge time when they made their voices heard during the Ryzen 5000 CPU launch and prompted AMD to allow motherboard makers to open up Ryzen 5000 CPU support on 400-series motherboards which would otherwise have been locked down to just 500-series boards.

But for the 300-series motherboards, the battle rages on as motherboard vendors have and then backed out of supporting the platform due to warnings from AMD. There are certain boards that did receive a silent BIOS upgrade to support AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs but these links were quickly taken off. It’s not like you can’t find these BIOS on tech forums or several online repositories but having them announced in an open fashion is still what most companies avoid or to face the wrath of team red.

So what’s the issue? Well, AMD has several reasons to move its consumer base to a new platform just so they could utilize the new features of the Ryzen processors or is to virtually lock each CPU lineup behind a new series of motherboards, not forcing but making consumers desperate and willing enough to upgrade to the next great thing? It’s actually a bit of both and both AMD & board makers want their newest and greatest things to sell to make profits. But that comes at the cost of depriving the older generation users. It’s not like Intel doesn’t do that either, they are well known for this, and their 400-500 series platforms were a recent example.

Sometimes, the platform & the motherboard jump is necessary and that’s when something truly revolutionary comes. It was Ryzen 1000 on AM4 and it will be Ryzen 7000 on AM5, same with Alder Lake which warrants a new board platform. But the likes of Rocket Lake, Coffee Lake, and the past three iterations of Zen didn’t offer that much to make users say, ‘Oh boy, I need to upgrade my PC’. PCIe Gen 4, PBO, SAM, all these features are great but they also aren’t as big of a deal to kill off an entire past generation of motherboards.

TechEpiphany proved that the first-generation AMD AM4 motherboards still have live in them and demonstrated an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, a 16 core top-of-the-line, flagship CPU which has a TDP of 105W, running on an entry-level $60 US, ASUS A320M-K motherboard. For reference, the A320M-K received Ryzen 5000 support from ASUS very recently Again this was just from a recent wave of board makers offering Ryzen 5000 support on older 300-series boards.

AMD RYzen 9 5950X won ASUS A320M-K with 5Ghz+ PBO spikes ? Please share the word. The fight is not over ?#AMD #AMDRyzen #AMDNews #AMDPC #ASUS pic.twitter.com/SQJkCZsoY8 — TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphany) January 8, 2022 </blockquote> <blockquote data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> The funny thing is that my Ryzen 9 3900X worked well for a year in this board is a bigger power hog than the 5950X https://t.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QxsRNMPCpZHGxL6XhXeL7Y-1024-80.jpeg' /> co/gJ84gQ4Elp — TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphany) January 8, 2022 </blockquote> <blockquote data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> Btw, I can touch and stay on the VRMs with my fingers under load… https://t.co/UlZy4aUow8 — TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphany) January 8, 2022 </blockquote> That is incredible of an entry-level board and what’s more impressive is that the VRMs on this entry-level motherboard are bare of any heatsinks but despite that, TechEpiphany can touch them during lead and barely feel the heat. And what’s important here is not the Ryzen 5000 compatibility with a 300-series motherboard but an A320 motherboard. This video proves that there is a whole range of motherboards featuring the B350 & X370 chipset out there that can do the same & better thanks to their higher-quality VRM and cooling design. Now while users have found a way to bypass this restriction through Bootleg, it is still an unofficial and more dangerous route to go as installing the incorrect BIOS version on your motherboard can simply brick it as most of these boards lack a dual BIOS chip.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/img1.kakaku.k-img.com/images/maga/14064/1200x630.jpg' /> So we will ask all of you to avoid that unless you (possibly) want to kill off your old and trusted 300-series partner. It looks like the voices have started reaching AMD though as in a recent interview with tech outlet, Tom’s Hardware, AMD’s CVP & GM of Client Channel Business, David McAfee, told that the Ryzen 5000 and AMD 300-series board compatibility is something that they are trying to figure out. <blockquote> «It’s definitely something we’re working through. And it’s not lost on us at all that this would be a good thing to do for the community, and we’re trying to figure out how to make it happen,» «I know that this has been a topic that, honestly, gets a lot of attention and a lot of discussion within AMD. I’m not joking when I say that — I’ve literally had three conversations on this very topic today. And I’m not talking about with members of the press; I’m talking about internal conversations within our engineering teams and planning teams to understand what options we have and what we can do, and how can we deliver the right experience for a 300-series motherboard user who wants to upgrade to a 5000-series processor,» «So, it’s certainly something that we’re not just leaving on the side and ignoring; we definitely understand there’s a vocal part of the community that’s passionate about this.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/csl-computer.eu/cdn/bb/media/catalog/product/cache/3/small_image/600x750/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/a/mainboard_bundle_amd_ryzen-9_prime_x570-pro_2.jpg' /> And we want to try to do the right thing. So we’re still working through it.» AMD’s CVP & GM of Client Channel Business, David McAfee — Tomshardware </blockquote> I mean, opening up support for AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs on 300-series motherboards will do the red team better than harm. Intel’s entry-level and mainstream lineup with its 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs is coming out really strong and AMD desperately needs some action in this segment. Several AMD users who were running older AMD platforms have been noted to be planning to switch to the blue team only because of these support issues. If Ryzen 5000 support comes sooner then these users might just stick to their current PCs for another year by upgrading to a Ryzen 5000 or Ryzen 5000G chip. This would mean that AMD can maintain its market share and not give it away to Intel before AM5 launches. Overall, we expect AMD to make a decision that’s in the interest of its consumer base. Is it a good decision by AMD to prevent motherboard makers from offering Ryzen 5000 support on older 300-series boards? <ul> <li data-aid="4559"> Yes </li> <li data-aid="4560"> No </li> </ul> Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/a.zdmimg.com/201907/11/5d26fc5e7fb9f2537.jpg_fo710.jpg' /> <h2> Finding out the wisdom of upgrading from B450 to B550 motherboards for Ryzen 5000 processors with Hardware Unboxed </h2> In light of the imminent release of the Ryzen 5000 processor line, many owners of current AM4 platform motherboards based on the B450 chipset faced a difficult dilemma: is it worth upgrading to a newer model on the base B550 or stay on the existing board? Specialists from the Hardware Unboxed channel decided to analyze all the advantages of a more recent chipset, and at the same time test the VRM of popular motherboards of both generations. First of all, it is worth noting that older motherboards will receive much-desired support for the latest processors much later than representatives of the B550/X570 chipsets. Their release is expected only in January 2021. Another important advantage of the B550 is the support for PCIe 4.0. But this support is provided not by the chipset (which is not very different from the B450), but by the processors, starting from the Ryzen 3000 line.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/img.youtube.com/vi/D7gdFo9XWrc/0.jpg' /> Initially, even some B450 boards had the ability to support PCIe 4.0, but then this possibility was covered. In addition, this support only applies to PCI-Express x16 slots for video cards and M.2 slots for ultra-fast drives. Modern graphics cards with large video buffers will not benefit greatly from PCIe 4.0. For example, the RTX 3090 only receives a couple of extra frames from it (about 3%). The same goes for SSDs, which get a serious performance boost from PCIe 4.0 in benchmarks, and perform on equal terms with their more affordable counterparts in gaming tasks. Another thing worth mentioning is the number of PCIe lanes available for use by the chipset itself. In the case of the B450, this is 8 PCIe 2.0 lanes, and the B550 is 10 PCIe 3.0 lanes, which undoubtedly affects the throughput and allows you to use faster network equipment. However, this involves additional costs and will not be used by most users. As for VRM, most B550 models are equipped with much more advanced power systems than their predecessors.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/db/c5/efdbc5c370c87447a12d00eda7ebc079.png' /> But this has a downside in the form of significantly increased prices. If the MSI B450 Tomahawk Max cost about $110-120, then the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk already costs $180. In tests, the new boards perform at their best, but this only matters with top processor models, like the 12-core Ryzen 3900X with PBO enabled. <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> At the same time, by adding additional airflow to the VRM zone, you can achieve quite acceptable temperatures on B450 boards. If you plan to take a 6 or 8-core Ryzen 5000, then you will not notice the difference at all. The conclusions are as follows: if you already own a board based on the B450 chipset, use your computer mainly for games, and want Ryzen 5600X/5800X as a new processor, then there is almost no point in upgrading for you. The B550 is suitable for those who build a computer from scratch and want to put in it 12 and 16-core overclocked CPUs used in heavy workloads. recommendations <iframe src="https://www.<img loading='lazy' src='/800/600/http/static.onlinetrade.ru/img/items/b/materinskaya_plata_msi_b350_gaming_plus_am4_atx__4.jpg' /> youtube.com/embed/BUBhGSZEaQg?&wmode=opaque» frameborder=»0″>

This content was written by a site visitor and has been rewarded.

AMD Ryzen 9 3900 processor with 65W TDP breaks records

We are still waiting for the official release of the Ryzen 9 3900 processor with 65W TDP. Rumors about such a processor have been around for a long time. In the case of the Ryzen Pro line, the corresponding model has already appeared, so the new CPU should appear in the consumer segment very soon.

Allen Golibersuch (Splave), a well-known overclocker from the USA, published the first tests of Ryzen 93900. Unlike the Ryzen 9 3900X, the Ryzen 9 3900 runs at a reduced TDP from 95W to 65W. Apparently, the CPU clock speeds for the consumer market and the Pro processor do not differ. The base frequency is 3.1 GHz, in Boost mode it reaches 4.3 GHz.

processors

Overview of the new Ryzen
	Cores/Threads	Base frequency/Boost	L3 cache	L2 cache	TDP	Price
Ryzen 9 3950X	16 / 32	3. 5 / 4.7 GHz	64MB	8MB	105 W	749 USD
Ryzen 9 3900X	12 / 24	3.8 / 4.6 GHz	64MB	6MB	105 W	from 48.800 ₽ 529 euros
Ryzen 9 3900	12 / 24	3.1 / 4.2 GHz	64MB	6MB	65 W	?
Ryzen 7 3800X	8 / 16	3.9 / 4.5 GHz	32MB	4MB	105 W	from 28.300 ₽ 429 euros
Ryzen 7 3700X	8 / 16	3.6 / 4.4 GHz	32MB	4MB	65 W	from 22.400 ₽ 349 euros
Ryzen 5 3600X	6 / 12	3.8 / 4.4 GHz	32MB	3MB	95 W	from 14. 800 ₽ 265 euros
Ryzen 5 3600	6 / 12	3.6 / 4.2 GHz	32MB	3MB	65 W	from 13.000 ₽ 209 euros
Ryzen 5 3500X	6 / 6	3.6 / 4.1 GHz	32MB	3MB	65 W	?
Ryzen 5 3400G	4 / 8	3.7 / 4.2 GHz	4MB	2MB	65 W	from 9.000 ₽ 159 euros
Ryzen 3 3200G	4 / 4	3.6 / 4.0 GHz	4MB	2MB	65 W	from 5.600 ₽ 106 euros

The table also contains the Ryzen 5 3500(X) processor, information about which has repeatedly surfaced in recent weeks. Here AMD offers six cores without SMT support, but also with a TDP of 65W. Clock frequencies are also known — 3.6 GHz and 4.1 GHz, respectively.

In tests, the Ryzen 9 3900 achieved clock speeds of 3.95 to 4.05 GHz under Cinebench R20 load. Power consumption at the peak was 160 watts. But since Splave is an overclocker, he tried to squeeze out more. The ASRock X570 Taichi motherboard with the Enermax LiqTech II 360 White cooling system managed to achieve an All Core Turbo frequency of 4.35 GHz at 1.375 V.

The next batch of tests was performed with liquid nitrogen cooling. The voltage was increased to 1.75 V, which allowed for higher clock speeds. Namely 5.5 GHz for all cores. The Geekbench 3 test of the processor passed at a frequency of 5.475 GHz.

High performance with low power consumption

12 cores, 24 threads and 65W TDP is a great platform for the enthusiast. And for regular operation of the Ryzen 9 3900, liquid nitrogen cooling is not required. The boost frequency will be slightly lower than the Ryzen 9 3900X, but the difference in practice is not so big.

However, keep in mind that the Ryzen 9 3900 processors will be slightly cheaper than the X model.