A520m vs b550m
A520m vs b550m
Hey there! I’m just starting out with PC building and I’m a bit confused about the differences between these motherboards. Could anyone help me understand the options? Here’s what I have in mind for my budget: B550 models, Gigabyte B550 DS3H, Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite, Asus Prime B550 (or K), Msi B550 A or Pro VDH WiFi, ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4-A520M, MSI A520M DS3H v2.
The main question is which one fits best. If I pick a B550 board, I’d likely need to lower my RAM from 16GB to 8GB and might not be able to find a suitable case. I already have a case, but it’s pretty basic with only two 80mm fans. I’m planning to use a Ryzen 5 3600 and an RX 590 graphics card, so I’m wondering if the upgraded VRM on the B550 would really make a difference. I’m not aiming for a big upgrade soon, so maybe I’ll stick with the next socket type.
As for the B450 model, I haven’t explored it much yet—I read that A520M boards are basically just B550 boards but with a lower VRM. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I’d like to confirm. For my use case, I’m more interested in casual gaming and maybe some light content creation, so I don’t think heavy overclocking is necessary.
Thanks for your help!
In reality, both generations seem quite similar when you look back. Of course M2 slots work better with the 5xx chipsets, but many budget builds stick with the B450 because of the PCIe 3.0 cap. The problem here is that most low-cost cards still use PCIe 3.0, so it doesn’t really change much. Let me know what’s available in the market for that board. Also, consider broadening your search to ATX boards and cases—sometimes a single or two cheaper ATX options are worth more than what you expect.
If you want to reduce the RAM to 8GB, stick with the 520 model. There are likely better alternatives such as the B450. Could you share your budget and location? (Any general country is acceptable) Please avoid using 8GB—it will cause significant issues.
In my area the prices sit between an a520m and b550m, with the gigabyte b450m costing 5 to 8 dollars more than the msi a520m. Compared to the b550m they’re roughly 15 USD cheaper than the cheapest matx phantom gaming 4. At the same time, atx b550s such as the phantom gaming 4 can be as pricey as they are on Amazon (130$), though sometimes they drop about 15 dollars.
I resided in the Philippines with a budget of roughly 17 to 18 thousand pesos, which translates to about 290 to 310 USD. For a 8GB RAM setup, it would be around 15 USD for 30 to 35 USD if you opt for an 16GB motherboard costing 107 USD. The GPU choice was an RX 590 Sapphire Pulse at approximately 100 USD used. The CPU was a model priced near 50 USD. Total before shipping was about 15 USD, plus shipping costs around 15 USD.