Joined on 05/27/17
Best consumer-grade workstation processor on the market.
Pros: With stock settings on a x470 Taichi I get 15% more performance than a stock 1800x and 10% more than a stock 8700k. You need fast ram to achieve this (Samsung B Die). Also, I gained 10% more performance by tightening my secondary ram timings. My primary timings are still at 3200 14-14-14, and by only tweaking the secondary ones using Ryzen Timing Calculator I was able to get a significant CPU performance boost! No need to overclock this baby, xfr2 is awesome!
Cons: Absolutely none. Best purchase I have ever made.
Overall Review: Don't buy this with slow ram. Get Samsung B Die at 3200 14-14-14 minimum or you won't get the most out of your investment. I know the RAM prices are crazy right now, but trust me... it makes a big difference. This processor will tear through anything. I am a music producer. With this thing, I can run massive 30-track orchestral projects with zero latency and live-record on top without any underruns! It's a dream come true!
A great HTPC board with all the basic features.
Pros: - Has 4 PWM fan headers! This is more than even the most expensive boards. Also, they are all conveniently aligned at the top, along with two RGB headers. - VRMs don't get too hot even tho they have no heatsink (I am going to use thermal epoxy to stick some custom heatsinks on there anyways) - BIOS is what you would expect from Asus. - No weird VRM electric noises like the Gigabyte ITX card. Runs 100% silent. - Conveniently priced for a small HTPC build.
Cons: - The two RGB headers are linked together, meaning you cannot control them independently. Whatever you plug into them will have the same RGB colors and effects. - The metal plate with the ASUS branding is NOT an NVMe heatsink. It stays behind your NVMe drive and does not cover it. If aesthetics are important to you, you might need to buy an off-market NVMe heatsink to cover it up. - You cannot overclock your CPU with A320 boards. If you plan on overclocking, get a B450 or X470 (or the equivalent in other generations). However, you can still overclock your RAM.
Overall Review: I used this MoBo for a HTPC using a Ryzen 5 2400G APU. The build POSTed first shot with RAM and NVMe that weren't on the QVL list. This board doesn't seem too difficult with RAM compatibility. Overall the board is amazingly priced for the value (especially with the 4 PWM headers). No overheating issues, no POST issues, no compatibility issues so far. However, I ran through a small issue with material/build quality. One of the RAM retention clips snapped off while I was trying to remove a stick. It didn't break tho. I was able to just snap it back in place, and it was like new again. Even tho the board is not perfect, I still give it 5 eggs because at this price point for an ITX it's hard to beat.
Awesome little case
Pros: - Probably the mATX case with the smallest footprint on the market - Sturdy materials - Looks great - Can hold a 3.5 inch drive with low profile RAM
Cons: See other
Overall Review: I used one of the smallest B450 mATX boards available (Asrock B450M-HDV R4.0). The board is only 7.9 inches wide, and even then I had a hard time plugging in the SATA cable for my SSD because the SATA ports were too close to the edge of the case. I ended up using an L shaped SATA cable and tucked it under the motherboard and it worked fine. The edge of the I/O hole is really close to the PSU. Because of this, I struggled to get the I/O shield to fit properly, but it ended up working with a bit of force. The included vertical stands don't hold very well to the chassis. You will need to use an adhesive such as double-sided gel tape if you want it to hold still. The included rubber feet for the horizontal position are nice and hold well. It gives you about a centimetre of height for airflow, which doesn't seem to affect the thermals negatively (I am using a very low TDP chip tho). If you are wondering about the max cooler height allowance, it is 50mm (I contacted the company since it is not mentioned in the specs). All in all, this is a wonderful little case for a cheap APU build. I used an Athlon 200GE. It idles around 7 degrees over ambient. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes SFF builds and doesn't need a discrete GPU. The PSU is weak, but it can be easily upgraded if needed. Building in it is a bit tricky. Just be aware of the limitations of the case and you will be fine.
The price is right!
Pros: - Cheap - Supports NVMe - VRMs don't get too hot even without a proper heatsink - Small footprint for a mATX (Fits in the CUK Axiom case) - Out-of-the-box BIOS / UEFI version supports all current AMD processors
Cons: - Only two DIMM slots - No error code display or speaker beep for debugging
Overall Review: Other reviewers said it didn't work with the Athlon 200GE. That is NOT true. The processor works out-of-the-box with BIOS version 1.0 (the first version). Those other reviewers either received a faulty unit (improbable) or had faulty RAM that wasn't on the QVL list, or they are even dumber and plugged their screen in the MoBo I/O with a discrete GPU plugged in. If you want a small footprint / low-cost Ryzen APU build, this is the MoBo you should get.
Amazing little APU for the price.
Pros: I didn't expect that much performance from such a cheap chip. I got this for a minimal cost office build and the performance is more than adequate. It breezes through everything and can even run some games at a decent framerate!
Cons: None
Overall Review: I paired it with an Asrock B450M-HDV R4.0 motherboard and it worked out of the box without having to update the BIOS at all. That MoBo is a bit finicky with memory tho, so make sure you check the QVL list.
More than what you pay for.
Pros: In my review I will be comparing these fans to my old RGB kit which was horrible (Enermax T. B. RGB). - Relatively silent and push more air than other cheap RGB kits. - Addressable RGB for more awesome color modes. - Remote is a lot more responsive than my older kit. - They look great and feel premium. - Fan cables are long enough to route anywhere. Cable management is easy. - Magnets to hold the hub are a lot stronger than my old kit. No velcro needed. - Syncs with motherboard. - Possibility to daisy chain more hubs.
Cons: - Not PMW, but fan speed control with remote is good enough. - Individual LEDS create visible hot spots unlike the Enermax kit which had smooth illumination, but barely noticeable. - No instructions in the box, but manual is downloadable online. - Has extra slots for RGB strips but they are not standard 4-pin RGB outputs, so had to re-route my CPU cooler's RGB cable to a RGB header on my motherboard.
Overall Review: Definitely the best RGB kit you can get for this price. A lot better than the Enermax equivalent. My Enermax kit started making some grinding noises after two months (twister bearings). Usually rifle bearings last longer, especially on fans mounted horizontally. Only time will tell how long these fans will last. I will update my review if they go bad early.