Desktop Computers

Scooby

Trakanon Raider
117
304
Anyone have opinions on B550 ITX boards ? From what I have read up on them they all have issues ... usb, lan, etc. Is there one that really stands out as the best / most reliable?
 

jsquirrel

Molten Core Raider
74
44
Anyone have opinions on B550 ITX boards ? From what I have read up on them they all have issues ... usb, lan, etc. Is there one that really stands out as the best / most reliable?
I've been trying to build an ITX system in an NR200 the past few months and faced the same question. The popular opinion, stemming from Buildzoid over at Gamers Nexus, then all through reddit /r/sffpc is the Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX. (Or the Asus X570-I Rog Strix for x570, for much much better rear I/O.) Both boards are impossible to get at the moment though, of course.

 
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Scooby

Trakanon Raider
117
304
Ya I've been leaning on the Gigabyte B550 , its seems to have fixed the usb issues with the lastest BIOs, but still has the Realtek 2.5GB lan issues, Guess I can just get a usb 3 lan dongle and deal with it that way.

I'm building in a NR200 too , if you haven't already check out Machines and More YouTube channel he has multiple videos on the NR200 with alot of good info.

 
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Leadsalad

Cis-XYite-Nationalist
5,974
11,958
I'm using the Asus B550-I.

The rear IO is ass, yes, but it has flashback where the X570-I doesn't. And yes, the VRMs aren't a beast as compared to anything else, but a 5950 on PBO seems fine so far in the hand full of looped Cinebench r23 tests I've done to get the CPU to peak at 230watts for 30 minutes or so.
 

jsquirrel

Molten Core Raider
74
44
Ya I've been leaning on the Gigabyte B550 , its seems to have fixed the usb issues with the lastest BIOs, but still has the Realtek 2.5GB lan issues, Guess I can just get a usb 3 lan dongle and deal with it that way.

I'm building in a NR200 too , if you haven't already check out Machines and More YouTube channel he has multiple videos on the NR200 with alot of good info.

Yes, it was Machines & More that finalized my decision to build in the NR200. Almost considered getting the Gigabyte x570 ITX mb since he was using that initially, but I want those two extra USBzzz. And maybe I didn't like the way the cooling fan on the motherboard was over the M.2 slot and using one of the fan connectors. But then I saw the ASUS board only has one fan connector as well. I don't know. There must be *some* reason it's still in stock at Microcenter. :>
 

Scooby

Trakanon Raider
117
304
Yes, it was Machines & More that finalized my decision to build in the NR200. Almost considered getting the Gigabyte x570 ITX mb since he was using that initially, but I want those two extra USBzzz. And maybe I didn't like the way the cooling fan on the motherboard was over the M.2 slot and using one of the fan connectors. But then I saw the ASUS board only has one fan connector as well. I don't know. There must be *some* reason it's still in stock at Microcenter. :>

Did you go with the Noctua NH-U12A for cooling ? I am seriously considering going this way to cool my 3800x I picked up used locally for $225.
 

jsquirrel

Molten Core Raider
74
44
Did you go with the Noctua NH-U12A for cooling ? I am serious considering going this way to cool my 3800x I picked up used locally for $225.
I actually have a Noctua NH-U9S, that I bought for a previous build based in a Thermaltake Core V1 Snow (and was only going to cool an i7-9700K). I'm currently using it to cool my i5-2500K, but Noctua's site for it says it'll be good enough to run a Ryzen 5900X at a 'slight' overclock.

This is my current plan, hoping to get the cpu and motherboard together at Microcenter both for their good price, half tax, and $20 off for getting a cpu/motherboard combo, but the likelihood of them both being in stock at the same time now seems slim.
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor ($596.39 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler (Purchased For $60.98)
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($415.82 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory (Purchased For $165.29)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $152.95)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (Purchased For $234.52)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB XC3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($691.35 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200 Mini ITX Desktop Case (Purchased For $85.27)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply (Purchased For $83.91)
Case Fan: Noctua A12x15 PWM 55.44 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $21.27)
Case Fan: Noctua A12x15 PWM 55.44 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $21.27)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 62 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow 62 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $8.52)
Total: $2537.54
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-02-04 21:49 EST-0500


As for the gpu I'll be using my GTX 970 for a while.
 
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Scooby

Trakanon Raider
117
304
Got lucky and nabbed some open boxed loot from Micro Center, got a Asus 1660 super for $200 and a set of Gskill Ripjaws 32GB 3600 (2x16) CL 16 for $100. Dont know about your local Micro Center but mine, Sharonville OH updates its open box listings after midnight every night. If you are looking to pick up some deals.
 
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Kuriin

Just a Nurse
4,046
1,020
Finally got the computer up and running. Wasn't originally my computer - my brother's - was completely damaged in transit via FedEx, so had to take it completely apart and repair.

Intel i9-10900X
64GB of G.Skill DDR4-2666
nVidia GeForce RTX 3090
Samsung 980 Pro (OS)
Seagate Cuda 2TB SSD x2
Samsung 970 Evo 230GB (Was originally the OS)
Asus Rampage Extreme VI Encore
 
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slippery

<Bronze Donator>
7,894
7,708
Finally got the computer up and running. Wasn't originally my computer - my brother's - was completely damaged in transit via FedEx, so had to take it completely apart and repair.

Intel i9-10900X
64GB of G.Skill DDR4-2666
nVidia GeForce RTX 3090
Samsung 980 Pro (OS)
Seagate Cuda 2TB SSD x2
Samsung 970 Evo 230GB (Was originally the OS)
Asus Rampage Extreme VI Encore
Why not higher clocked RAM?
 

Blitz

<Bronze Donator>
5,668
6,191
Forgot to update on my new build (it's been done for about a month and a half now):

B550 - Asus Tuf Gaming Plus
AMD Ryzen 5600x
EVGA 3060ti FTW3
G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16gb 3600mhz (C18)
WD Black SN750 1TB NvME
Samsung 970 1TB NvME
An old 250gb Samsung 850 SSD & 1TB Seagate HDD as well (that will be upgraded eventually)
Fractal Meshify C (still waiting glass window replacement)
NZXT Kraken Z53 240mm - I fought with this a ton because there was not supposed to be enough clearance for the RAM with that AIO. Took a chance, and it fits perfectly with rolm to spare.
Noctua NF-A14 PWM (Black) 140mm x2 intake, Noctua NF-S12A PWM (Black) x1 exhaust. I can't believe how silent these are. Just incredible how much better they are than other fans.
Cablemod white extension psu cabling pack (waiting for a MB cable replacement, the one I received pushed out of the casing).

I'm still using an old Silverstone 750w Silver Plus PSU, which unfortunately has a low level buzz/coil whine going on. I'll probably replace the PSU before long, but with the current living setup I game with headphones almost exclusively.

This new PC paired with the Alienware AW3420DW monitor has absolutely rekindled a love for gaming again. Now I just need to replace my super quiet Modmic 4...

I still need to setup the RGB lighting so it doesn't look stupid on the RAM & the gpu...

20210206_133357.jpg
 
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mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,410
37,503
So ive been behind the times with the whole usb and no optical drive thing. And im wondering how the fuck do you guys install all the motherboard drivers without a dvd drive? Last time I bought one it did not come with a USB stick with that shit on it.

Also why are you guys using B550 boards instead of the newer X570 which have better and faster PCI lanes (4.0)?
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,799
134,169
So ive been behind the times with the whole usb and no optical drive thing. And im wondering how the fuck do you guys install all the motherboard drivers without a dvd drive? Last time I bought one it did not come with a USB stick with that shit on it.

Also why are you guys using B550 boards instead of the newer X570 which have better and faster PCI lanes (4.0)?
just goto the mb website after you plug everything in, win 7+, support all onboard nics

hell i don't believe the gigabyte or msi boards i got even came w/ a dvd lulz, just go online.
 

Kais

<Gold Donor>
850
1,526
So ive been behind the times with the whole usb and no optical drive thing. And im wondering how the fuck do you guys install all the motherboard drivers without a dvd drive? Last time I bought one it did not come with a USB stick with that shit on it.
pre-download all the most updated drivers to a thumb drive. Beats the pants off of DVD install times, not to mention the DVD drivers that ship are usually many many months out of date.
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,410
37,503
just goto the mb website after you plug everything in, win 7+, support all onboard nics

hell i don't believe the gigabyte or msi boards i got even came w/ a dvd lulz, just go online.
Yeah, I dont think so unless this is some new shit within the past 2 yrs. Ive always had to install the lan drivers to get online.
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,410
37,503
Yeah, I dont think so unless this is some new shit within the past 2 yrs. Ive always had to install the lan drivers to get online.
Shuit not even 2 yrs, last year I upgraded my kids PC with a brand new MSI board and it did not connect to net until I installed the LAN drivers from the DVD which it came with.