6/22/2023 0 Comments Msi b450 tomahawkThe ~20% premium doesn't sound too unreasonable given those upgrades. The VRM heatsinks are also larger and you get a better quality PCB with 2 ounce thickened copper. Again, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe 4.0 are included, there's two additional USB ports on the I/O panel and you get front USB Type-C support. The VRM uses many of the same components, there's just more of them and doublers are now included, creating a 10-phase vcore VRM with 25% more current capacity. That means the closest ATX model to the B450 Tomahawk would be the B550-A Pro, it costs $140, or ~20% more, but again you're getting more motherboard. There's really no comparing the two generations as they're in completely different tiers, and pricing reflects that. Other features include USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2.5 Gigabit LAN, front USB Type-C, M.2 shields, better PCB, pre-installed I/O shield, much larger VRM cooling to go with the bigger VRM, a better board layout and just a higher quality motherboard in general. Then in terms of features, you're getting an additional M.2 slot which supports PCIe 4.0 SSDs, and of course, the primary PCIe x16 slot supports PCIe 4.0 as well. So in theory the B550 Tomahawk has 83% of the X570 Tomahawk's current capacity. The B550 Tomahawk, on the other hand, has been upgraded beyond any B450 board with a massive 10-phase vcore VRM featuring 60A Intersil powerstages – the same you'll find on the excellent X570 Tomahawk, which packs two more powerstages for a 12-phase vcore VRM. That same VRM can be found on the $130 B550M Bazooka. So what are some of the reasons why the B550 version of the Tomahawk costs ~$60 more than the B450 version?Īlthough it was one of the best B450 boards in terms of VRM quality, the Tomahawk was still a basic board, featuring a 4-phase vcore with doubled up On Semiconductor discrete mosfets. The Z490 Tomahawk costs $180, the X299 Tomahawk is around $250, and the X570 Tomahawk is meant to be $200. This is where branding can get a little tricky as the Tomahawk name doesn't target a certain price point. The B550 Tomahawk, for example, isn't just the B450 Tomahawk with the newer chipset. The main reason why the B550 range costs more than the B450 is simple: it's way better. Now, we're not trying to defend any price hikes, we're always pushing for better pricing, but we like to do so while being realistic in our demands. On the surface those prices are quite shocking, but when you start to dig into what these boards offer, you may realize the price increases aren't nearly as extreme as they first appear. The B550M Mortar which we have on hand costs $160, the Gaming Plus $150, the A Pro $140 and the Bazooka $130. This is why pricing for the new B550 boards wasn't well received: the B550 Gaming Carbon WiFi is coming in at an eye watering $220, while the new B550 Tomahawk will set you back $180. The most expensive MSI B450 board was the Pro Carbon and it sold for around $130 - $140. The previous-gen B450 Tomahawk hit shelves at around $110 and through the course of its life typically sold for somewhere between $110 - $120. For this discussion we'll use the MSI B550 range as a point of reference for a number of reasons: they had some of the best quality B450 boards with the Tomahawk and Pro Carbon, we have two of their new B550 boards for testing, and they also provided us with a detailed breakdown of their entire B550 range, including VRM configurations and pricing. Unfortunately for now we don't have any of the more entry-level B550 boards, but those will come eventually.īefore we get into testing, let's briefly discuss why B550 motherboards are more expensive than what most were expecting. On hand for testing today we have the MSI B550M Mortar, MSI B550 Tomahawk, Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro and Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master.Īs we've done before, our focus will be testing VRM thermal performance with the goal of finding the best B550 boards that can comfortably support the Ryzen 9 3900X and 3950X, as those processors will make for nice second-hand upgrade options down the track. There's been plenty of talk about the B550 chipset and all the supporting boards for weeks, and we're now able to share our results with you. At long last AMD more budget-oriented B550 motherboards will finally go on sale.
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