Stuck between two B550 motherboards

[Manpreet]

Between these two motherboards, which would you go for? They're similar prices.

MSI B550 Gaming Plus - £129.98
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...32-gen2-aplusc

OR

MSI B550M Mortar - £124.99
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-...sb-32-gen2-mic

[MrJim]

Well, the obvious difference is that the Mortar is MATX whilst the Gaming Plus is ATX...so it depends on the case you want to use, & the amount of expansion you might need in the future? The Mortar has a better VRM I believe - it uses 60A smart power stages, whereas the Gaming Plus seems to have discreet mosfets instead. The rear IO on the Mortar isn't quite as comprehensive as the Gaming Plus though, but it does have 2.5 Gigabit ethernet whereas the Gaming Plus has 1 Gigabit. For my money, I'd probably go for the Mortar, but it really depends on your needs...

[Manpreet]

Well, the obvious difference is that the Mortar is MATX whilst the Gaming Plus is ATX...so it depends on the case you want to use, & the amount of expansion you might need in the future? The Mortar has a better VRM I believe - it uses 60A smart power stages, whereas the Gaming Plus seems to have discreet mosfets instead. The rear IO on the Mortar isn't quite as comprehensive as the Gaming Plus though, but it does have 2.5 Gigabit ethernet whereas the Gaming Plus has 1 Gigabit. For my money, I'd probably go for the Mortar, but it really depends on your needs...

Thanks very much Jim, that's really helpful. I've been leaning towards the Mortar as well.

The case is going to be a Meshify 2 Compact. What do you mean by expansion in the future?

[MrJim]

Thanks very much Jim, that's really helpful. I've been leaning towards the Mortar as well.

The case is going to be a Meshify 2 Compact. What do you mean by expansion in the future?

Just that by virtue of its larger size, the Gaming Plus has a slightly more flexible expansion slot layout - you can use a two-slot gpu, & still have access to all the remaining slots. With the Mortar, if you use a two-slot gpu you'll lose access to one of the 1X PCIe slots...

[trillo_del_diavolo]

Not to rain on your parade, but B450/B550 MSI boards usually lack proper audio signal isolation, noticeable when you use high speed USB devices. But if that's your budget I doubt there are better boards for the price.

[Jonj1611]

Not to rain on your parade, but B450/B550 MSI boards usually lack proper audio signal isolation, noticeable when you use high speed USB devices. But if that's your budget I doubt there are better boards for the price.

I have a MSI B450 board and haven't noticed any audio issues whether using USB or not, what are you basing that statement on?

[Corky34]

I'd go for the Mortar for the upgraded audio (ALC892/ALC897 on the Gaming vs ALC1200/ALC1220P on the Mortar) and LAN (8111H vs 8125B respectively), unless you've got a need to use a trusted platform module or the size is an issue

EDIT: Also the gaming has 4 rear USB 2.0 ports vs 2 on the Mortar and from what i can make out the Mortar has 3 fan + 1 pump header versus the Gamings 6 + 1 so if you want separate control of more than 3/4 fans then you'd need the Gaming versus having to use a splitter on the Mortar and controlling some as a pair.

[MrJim]

Not to rain on your parade, but B450/B550 MSI boards usually lack proper audio signal isolation, noticeable when you use high speed USB devices. But if that's your budget I doubt there are better boards for the price.

I did a cursory Google search for audio signal isolation issues on MSI B450 & B550 motherboards, but couldn't find anything? There were quite a lot of references to USB disconnection problems on B550 & X570 motherboards, but they're not limited to MSI boards, & from what I can gather, AMD are planning to release an AGESA bios update to address the issue...

[trillo_del_diavolo]

I have a MSI B450 board and haven't noticed any audio issues whether using USB or not, what are you basing that statement on?

Which one? A friend bought a B450 Tomahawk and would complain about poor audio quality/noise when copying things to an external USB drive, plus some (admittedly) scant reports online. Since MSI releases so many boards and reuses the same design for many of them, I'd wager the problem could be more widespread.

The AGESA thing is being fixed, I know, but that's not what I was talking about.

[Jonj1611]

Its in my profile. So you don't have any proof of the issue other than your friend had a problem and a few reports you found? Not really a reason to suggest not to get something I would have thought?

[trillo_del_diavolo]

Quoting from my first post in this thread:

But if that's your budget I doubt there are better boards for the price.

Reviews don't look for this kind of thing as they test everything in isolation, but that doesn't mean it cannot happen. Anyway, if it does happen it's just a matter of RMA'ing it or replacing it with something else.

[Jonj1611]

No one seems to have heard about it though and you are telling someone that you "don't want to rain on their parade but B450/B550 MSI boards usually lack proper audio signal isolation" like its a fact.

[trillo_del_diavolo]

I don't know how sprinkling my sentence with modal verbs would help my case. Again, do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, don't mind me.

[Jonj1611]

I don't know how sprinting my sentence with modal verbs would help my case. Again, do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, don't mind me.

Err what?

[trillo_del_diavolo]

I edited my post after you quoted it.

OK, let's call this off. I shouldn't have posted anything in the first place. Delete my posts if you wish.

[Manpreet]

Thanks for the help everyone. I've decided to go with the Mortar, as recommended in this thread.