b450 Tomahawk x B550 Bazooka, which one should I get for audio-production?

Discussion in 'Computer Hardware' started by Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021.

Tags:
Page 1 of 2
  1. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Hey guys, so, last day I was looking for a good motherboard and processor for audio, I found the best processor for my budget, that is the Ryzen 5 3600x, but now I am on a pretty hard doubt, which one should I get? B550 Bazooka or B450 Tomahawk? I have no money for getting the B550 tomahawk... Also, is Bazooka any better than B450 Steel Legend?

     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    1
  2. Ads Master

    Ads Master

     
  3. Arabian_jesus

    Arabian_jesus Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2019
    Messages:
    979
    Likes Received:
    760
    Clicked the title because I thought you were asking whether a missile or bazooka is best for audio production :rofl:

    Which motherboard is best I can't answer though... sry for OT!
     
    • Funny Funny x 2
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • List
    Arabian_jesus, Mar 2, 2021
    2
  4. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    LMFAO kfasjfksjafksadkfasfjaksgasjmfnajhruiqwrufasfg
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    3
  5. Maverick

    Maverick Newbie

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2020
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have the B550 Tomahawk (got it on the $20 off sale on newegg) and the only difference I see is the heatsink at the top, more fan headers and extra storage/ expansion . As long as you have proper cooling you should be fine. I've seen people game on micro atx without faults. Either b450 tomahawk is good or the b550 .

    The only thing is the b450 is not future after this year. The sales comes around about every 2 to 3 weeks.
     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    Maverick, Mar 2, 2021
    4
  6. The Pirate

    The Pirate Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2018
    Messages:
    5,172
    Likes Received:
    4,398
    Location:
    NOYMFB
    • Like Like x 2
    • Love it! Love it! x 1
    • Useful Useful x 1
    • List
    The Pirate, Mar 2, 2021
    5
  7. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    6
  8. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Thats nice, I heard someone saying that for audio production the motherboard is one of the most important parts because of real-time processing, but I couldnt figure out where should I check if a motherboard is proper for audio
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    7
  9. Olaf

    Olaf Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2011
    Messages:
    570
    Likes Received:
    244
    It also depends on your computer case. One of the boards is ATX, the other one is µATX. If you need all the expansion slots of ATX, you should make sure it's one of the "MAX" versions with a 256Mb BIOS. Else you might get problems when upgrading the CPU in the future.
     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    Olaf, Mar 2, 2021
    8
  10. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Ehh, why would I have problems?
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    9
  11. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    I actually have 1 HDD and 2 SSD (and I plan to buy another one in the future) is this a problem?
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    10
  12. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2016
    Messages:
    2,297
    Likes Received:
    2,412
    Location:
    Studio 54
    Best Answer
    The biggest advantage of most of the B550 mobos is pci-e gen.4 support and better VRMs than their older B450 equivalents.
    Still, the B550 being a cut down version of the X570 chipset supports pci-e 4 only for the first pci-e x16 slot (reserved typically for connecting your GPU) and the main m.2 nvme slot. The rest of the pci-e and m.2 slots (if there are more than 1) are pci-e gen.3.
    Nevertheless, the B550 boards have an edge since:
    1. You can connect an nvme ssd with speeds up to 7gb/s whereas with pci-e gen.3 you are "limited" to 3.5gb/sec maximum.
    2. You can connect a pci-e gen.4 GPU like a Geforce 3xxx series or Radeon 5xxx and 6xxx series, although tbh, the gain of the more advanced connection won't be really visible, not even when gaming and these gpus are back compatible with pci-e gen.3 slots anyway.
    3. Most of the B550 are continuations of previous B450 models. As such, the newer boards have much better VRMs in order to support the more demanding pci-e gen.4 devices, so even if you use such a board with a Zen2+ cpu (which only supports pci-e gen.3), the benefit will be a longer lasting mobo with better thermals and better future upgrade ability.
    So, B550 Bazooka or B450 Tomahawk ? Neither.
    For about the price of the B550 Bazooka, which as correctly mentioned is a micro ATX mobo, you should go for the MSI B550-A Pro, which is a more featured full ATX mobo and sells for about 120 euros. Oh and just for the record, for their B550 boards name scheme, MSI has ditched the "MAX" suffix.
    The MSI B550-A Pro, is the best budget B550 mobo atm and the most feature-rich at this price range.
    https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B550-A-PRO
    Obviously you didn't understand what he was saying, but it's fine, he was refering to the Tomahawk mobo and suggesting if you selected that to get the B450 Tomahawk Max edition. The B450 Tomahawk Max was the best budget AM4 board up to about a year ago. It still is very good for 100 euros price. But for a little more money, you get much better cpu compatibility (much stronger VRM), better future upgrade path (pci-e gen.4) and more features (more usb, usb 3.2/usb-C) support with the MSI B550-A Pro.
    Cheers:)
     
    taskforce, Mar 2, 2021
    11
  13. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    wow, your explanations are the best!! I feel like I got it, so its more about extra features than real performance in-daw right? I don't want anything for gaming, just the best performance x price on DAW, I couldnt find this A Pro here in Brasil, but I did found the standard A Placa-Mãe Asus Prime B550M-A, AMD AM4, mATX, DDR4 | KaBuM!

    If thats not bothering you, could you tell me whats the best one that fits my budget? Thanks :) (under 1000 BRL, about 200U$D)
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    12
  14. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    13
  15. Olaf

    Olaf Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2011
    Messages:
    570
    Likes Received:
    244
    If the flash memory for the BIOS is too small, the manufacturers need to drop features to include new microcodes: https://www.techpowerup.com/257201/...ail-amds-zen2-backwards-compatibility-promise

    If even affects Ryzen 3000 series CPUs (so same problems with your 3600X).
    MSI re-released the same boards with doubled flash memory to avoid this issue and labeled them with "MAX" in the name.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2021
    • Agree Agree x 1
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    Olaf, Mar 2, 2021
    14
  16. Torrao

    Torrao Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2015
    Messages:
    283
    Likes Received:
    188
    I would advice against getting a mATX.

    Best B550 boards under 200$ are the Gigabyte Aorus Pro and the Msi B550 Edge. Other wortthy contenders (if you prefer other aesthetics) are Asus Strix B550-F and Asrock Extreme4/Steel Series.

    I did this for a friend's build. It might be useful to you. Adjust prices of your country accordingly:


    Tier 1 (200€ tops)
    1 - Msi Edge (190€)
    2 - Gigabyte Aorus Pro (190€)
    3 - Asus Strix B550-F/A (175-185€)
    4 - Asrock Extreme4 (180€)

    Tier 2
    1 - Msi MAG Tomahawk (170€)
    2 - Gigabyte Aorus Elite V1 (165€)
    3 - Asus TUF Pro (190€)
    4 - Asrock Steel Legend (190€)

    Tier 3
    - Asrock Pro4 (130€)
    - Msi A-Pro (135€)
    - Gigabyte Aorus Elite V2 (145€)
    - Asus TUF Plus (150€)
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2021
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    Torrao, Mar 2, 2021
    15
  17. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    The problem with these is that they go above my budget thats is 200 U$D, here in Brasil I cant find any of these for less than 1200 brl (250U$D)
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    16
  18. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Kuuhaku, Mar 2, 2021
    17
  19. 5teezo

    5teezo Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Feb 2, 2012
    Messages:
    2,062
    Likes Received:
    1,175
    I would have gotten a Gigabyte X570 before I decided to stay with Intel due to better compatibility with audio on macOS.
     
    • Interesting Interesting x 1
    • List
    5teezo, Mar 2, 2021
    18
  20. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

    Joined:
    Jan 27, 2016
    Messages:
    2,297
    Likes Received:
    2,412
    Location:
    Studio 54
    taskforce, Mar 3, 2021
    19
  21. Kuuhaku

    Kuuhaku Platinum Record

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2019
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    203
    Nice!! And its 1.0, whats the difference between 1.1 and 1.0?
     
    Kuuhaku, Mar 3, 2021
    20
Page 1 of 2
Loading...