Torn between two AM4 ITX boards

[Shahmatt]

I am planning a 2200G ITX rig. Initially I was going to purchase the ASRock AB350 ITX but now find that the Gigabyte GA-AB350N WIFI is around the same price.

I like the fact that the Gigabyte has the Gen2 ports on the Rear I/O and also a Displayport. But seems like the ASrock has better reviews for o/cing. Layout is not an issue as I will not install a GPU and wire clutter will be a minimum.

Between the two which would you choose and why?

 

[commach]

If you are not into serious overclocking, you don't need to worry about less aggressive (not all motherboard of the same model can scale just as well) overclock on the Gigabyte. I will take Gigabyte for the Display port any time any day compared to 2 x HDMI which is not much different from 1 x HDMI. If you need to daisy chain more display in future, display port is the answer, you can't daisy chain using HDMI.

 

[singupingu]

For me, is MSI b350i pro AC. Do consider

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[Fatfool]

If you are not installing a graphics card, go for the one with a displayport

 

[Shahmatt]

Thanks all for the replies.

In my case I am using a small very cramped case and I am worried about temperatures. I may choose to undervolt and underclock the CPU if I have problems and see how far I can go. At the same time I will try to bump GPU to around 1500MHz to get respectable light gaming performance.

Not much experience with o/c'ing, but recently I was helping to overclock a 2200G on a Gigabyte B350 D3H and noticed that the voltages are set based on 'offset' method for SOC and only positive values, i.e. +0.01 and over. The problem was that the SOC voltage was already 1.25V and highest recommended. It was moving along with the GPU voltage which when reduced caused SOC to also reduce.

For SOC to be set directly it was in another place with option of either 'Auto' or 'Normal'. Difference between the two settings were not clear, but 'Normal' lowered the SOC voltages considerably which allowed us to apply positive offset for stability.

I am not sure how this ITX UEFI will be but the voltage manipulation can be another hurdle. For Asrock seems like you can set the voltage directly no problem. But since Display port is useful (and my current slowly failing display only has Display Port, DVI and VGA) I guess GB is easier for short term.

The MSI board is nice but actually not much forum posts on problems as it is very new. Seems like Raven Ridge have a lot of compatibility issues so community help is useful.

But based on what little reviews are out there the board stays cooler under stress, and specs are similar to the GB also. So will consider seriously. Thanks!

 

[Fatfool]

Btw the MSI one can have its wifi card removed if you wish to change it later. Think the Asrock one doesn't have that. Feature

 

[Shahmatt]

I bought the MSI.

Fixed everything and booted.

Noticed there is no post beep and no speaker. Is this normal for new boards?

 

[singupingu]

I bought the MSI.

Fixed everything and booted.

Noticed there is no post beep and no speaker. Is this normal for new boards?

It's normal. Newer gen board nowadays don't come with beep beep speaker lol

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[Shahmatt]

It's normal. Newer gen board nowadays don't come with beep beep speaker lol

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Then diagnosing problems how? Now have to buy a speaker from Aliexpress.

 

[singupingu]

Then diagnosing problems how? Now have to buy a speaker from Aliexpress.

If there's problem that cannot be determined directly, then ya, likely you will need to buy a speaker to diagnose.

Otherwise, most board have debug LEDs instead, including the MSI B350i PRO AC. Refer to the manual for the Debug LED indicators.

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[royfrosty]

Then diagnosing problems how? Now have to buy a speaker from Aliexpress.

Use the debug led. It serves the same purpose than the speaker.

Many brands are starting to do away with the speaker already. Offering things like status led telling you where the fault lies, and debugging led to show you the fault.

For asus they also come out with an OLED display to show you the code and description.

Some msi board do have running led on each component connected, if there is a fault during post, they will stop the red led at that particular component.

 

[Shahmatt]

Use the debug led. It serves the same purpose than the speaker.

Many brands are starting to do away with the speaker already. Offering things like status led telling you where the fault lies, and debugging led to show you the fault.

For asus they also come out with an OLED display to show you the code and description.

Some msi board do have running led on each component connected, if there is a fault during post, they will stop the red led at that particular component.

Ok thanks. Yes there are leds on the board. Will look at them more closely when I get back home.

 

[jtjt00]

Is the motherboard BIOS update to support 2200G?

 

[Shahmatt]

Is the motherboard BIOS update to support 2200G?

Yes cpu detection was no problem. Did not detect m.2 ssd but BIOS update fixed issue.