Intel NUC 13 Pro (Arena Canyon) review
Endorfy Arx 700 Air chassis review
Beelink SER5 Pro (Ryzen 7 5800H) mini PC review
Crucial T700 PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD Review - 12GB/s
Sapphire Radeon RX 7600 PULSE review
Gainward GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GHOST review
Radeon RX 7600 review
ASUS GeForce RTX 4060 Ti TUF Gaming review
MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X TRIO review
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB (FE) review
AMD X370 B350 A320 X300 and B300 / A300 Compared - Only SLI for X370
AMD announced six chipsets for Ryzen based on AM4: X370, B350, A320 and the mini ITX X300, B300 and A300 with the X370 and B350 already in pre-order and availability next week.
The lads over at ComputerBase compiled an overview chart to demo the chipsets differences in a better to understand manner features wise. First off, it looks like only the X370 chipset is going to support SLI. That means the B350 would not support SLI (but does support Crossfire). THis information has been confirmed. We are not sure why but Nvidia might still be licensing SLI functionality and thus SLI supports adds a charge per sold motherboard. The B350 series is a more budget aimed one so the choice makes sense.
You'll notice there are 20 PCIe 3.0 lanes pulled from the Ryzen processor. Ryzen has 24 of them yet 4 are being used to interface with the chipset. Then depending on the chipset used it adds gen 2.0 PCIe lanes through the chipset. The X370 will add 8 lanes, B350 6 lanes and onwards. Have a peek at the chart for more details.
X370 B350 A320 X300 / B300 / A300 Ryzen (CPU) Bristol Ridge (APU)
PCIe 3.0
0
0
0
4
20 *
10
PCIe 2.0
8
6
4
0
0
0
USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbit/s)
2
2
1
1
0
0
USB 3.0
6
2
2
2
4
4
USB 2.0
6
6
6
6
0
0
SATA 6 Gbit / s
4
2
2
2
2
2
SATA-Raid
0/1/10
0/1/10
0/1/10
0/1
-
-
Overclocking
Yes
Yes
-
Yes **
-
-
CrossFire / SLI
Yes / Yes
Yes / -
-
-
-
-
* 18 when 2 x SATA is running
** Only X300
Each chipset will add USB ports, but the Ryzen processor also offers four native USB 3.0 ports. There is support for RAID 0/1/10 configurations as well as Overclocking support on the X370, B350 and X300 chipset. Obviously the motherboard partners can add 3rd party chips to increase USB 3.0 and so on. The four PCIe 3.0 links for X300 / B300 / A300 seem to be a bit odd, we'll try and confirm that soon.
Fox2232
Senior Member
Posts: 11808
Joined: 2012-07-20
Senior Member
Posts: 11808
Joined: 2012-07-20
#5398120 Posted on: 02/26/2017 12:16 AM
Well, I see a lot of port types and numbers around. Why compare them in way so hard to read?
Just translate it into bandwidth and that into PCIe 3.0 lanes.
CPU has:
- 16*PCIe 3.0 for GPUs
- 4x USB 3.1 g1 = 20Gbps = 2.5*PCIe 3.0
- 2x SATA3 = 12Gbps = 1.5*PCIe 3.0
- 1x M.2/U.2 full speed = 4*PCIe 3.0
- 4x PCIe 3.0 to chipset (because x370 provides 8*PCIe 2.0 lanes and all that is connected to chipset is shared)
So it is: 16 + 2.5 + 1.5 + 4 + 4 = 28 * PCIe 3.0 right on CPU. And that's all that matters as it is question of sharing bandwidth or dedicating it.
Well, I see a lot of port types and numbers around. Why compare them in way so hard to read?
Just translate it into bandwidth and that into PCIe 3.0 lanes.
CPU has:
- 16*PCIe 3.0 for GPUs
- 4x USB 3.1 g1 = 20Gbps = 2.5*PCIe 3.0
- 2x SATA3 = 12Gbps = 1.5*PCIe 3.0
- 1x M.2/U.2 full speed = 4*PCIe 3.0
- 4x PCIe 3.0 to chipset (because x370 provides 8*PCIe 2.0 lanes and all that is connected to chipset is shared)
So it is: 16 + 2.5 + 1.5 + 4 + 4 = 28 * PCIe 3.0 right on CPU. And that's all that matters as it is question of sharing bandwidth or dedicating it.
HeavyHemi
Senior Member
Posts: 6952
Joined: 2008-10-27
Senior Member
Posts: 6952
Joined: 2008-10-27
#5398125 Posted on: 02/26/2017 12:38 AM
This only compares the i7, so it's not that useful unless you are specifically looking at an i7, and seeing how a lot of people have i5s in this forums, if they do not notice this is only for i7, they will be mislead
But either way it does not compare the full range of the Z270 since the Z270 does support i5's and lower
And it's not clear on the USB ports again either, as it's up to a total of 14 USB ports, all of them can be USB 2.0, but then there would be no 3.0, it's not 10+14
What? That's the chart for the Z270 capabilities. I don't get your argument. I'd be surprised if nobody was aware it's i5/i7 compatible. I mean the 'up to' and optional blocks should be a hint. How about a link to a Z270 block diagram from intel that only shows the i5? The point was comparing essentially the 'maximum' capabilities regarding each. Sheesh....
This only compares the i7, so it's not that useful unless you are specifically looking at an i7, and seeing how a lot of people have i5s in this forums, if they do not notice this is only for i7, they will be mislead
But either way it does not compare the full range of the Z270 since the Z270 does support i5's and lower
And it's not clear on the USB ports again either, as it's up to a total of 14 USB ports, all of them can be USB 2.0, but then there would be no 3.0, it's not 10+14
What? That's the chart for the Z270 capabilities. I don't get your argument. I'd be surprised if nobody was aware it's i5/i7 compatible. I mean the 'up to' and optional blocks should be a hint. How about a link to a Z270 block diagram from intel that only shows the i5? The point was comparing essentially the 'maximum' capabilities regarding each. Sheesh....
dudecat64
Senior Member
Posts: 3783
Joined: 2005-08-18
Senior Member
Posts: 3783
Joined: 2005-08-18
#5398133 Posted on: 02/26/2017 12:59 AM
B350 is good enough for me.
B350 is good enough for me.
ChicagoDave
Member
Posts: 46
Joined: 2014-06-07
Member
Posts: 46
Joined: 2014-06-07
#5398146 Posted on: 02/26/2017 02:02 AM
Not exactly correct
one, if you have an X370 motherboard, you'll have to have a CPU which will increase the USB 3.0 to 10, so effectively, the x370 has 10 USB 3.0 as it is literally impossible to have any configuration be less then 10
For two, the Z270 has a max number of USB of 14, and you can have a selection of up to 10 3.0 and up to 14 2.0. Now, does this mean you could have 10 3.0 and 4 2.0? i'm not sure, using the 10 3.0 might take up all of the what the chipset has set aside bandwidth wise for all i know, but lets just say at most if you had 10 3.0 you could only have 4 2.0.
Lets be clear though
X370 chipset total USB (between 3.1, 3.0 and 2.0) = 18
Z27- chipset total USB (between 3.1, 3.0 and 2.0) = 14, not 24 which is what your post implies
Intel's ARK is pretty clear - 14 USB ports total, of which 10 can be 3.0. So if you were willing to drop basically all other I/O, you could have 10 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0. That'd be a pretty dumb way to allocate your I/O resources though, so doubt anyone really cares about being able to plug in 10 or 14 USB devices (and if they do, buy a hub). In any event, I was simply trying to make a quick comparison per the OP's request.
https://ark.intel.com/products/98089/Intel-Z270-Chipset
Honestly, looking at your "comparison", it's not a useful comparison as it does not include anything that the processors give and you can't run a motherboard without a processor, except you included the PCI-Express aspect of the processors, but didn't include the intel processors that do not provide PCI-Express
A correct version of x370 comparison would be:
PCIe 3.0 Lanes - X370 = 10-20 (APU vs Ryzen) | Z270 = 24-40
PCIe 2.0 Lanes - X370 = 8 | Z270 = 0
PCIe express lanes max - x370 = 18-28 (APU vs Ryzen) | Z270 = 24-40(i3/i5 vs i7)
USB 3.1 Gen 2 - X370 = 2 | Z270 = 0
USB 3.0 - X370 = 10 | Z270 = Up to 10
USB 2.0 - X370 = 6 | Z270 = Up to 14
Total USB - x370 = 18 | Z270 = 14
SATA 6GBit - X370 = 4 | Z270 = 6
SATAe 12GBit - X370 = 2 | Z270 = 0(?)
RAID Configuration - X370 = 0/1/10 | Z270 = 0/1/5/10
Sorry my "comparison" isn't up to your standards. I was doing a favor for someone else, and they asked specifically for a comparison to z270, not a z270 plus CPU combination. Adding in the CPU brings in a ton of new variables that would make the comparison difficult to parse.
Also I did not include super low end CPUs, nor did I include the "E" class chips and chipsets. Even the lowly i3-7350k has 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 on the CPU.
I'm not going to bother looking at all i3's and Pentiums...but again the "K" series i3, i5 and i7 all have 16 lanes on the CPU (used for dGPU to avoid flooding the DMI. Ryzen is better in this aspect with 20 lanes of PCIe 3.0 from the CPU - you get x16 for your GPU plus 3.0 x4 for an NVME drive. On all current non enthusiast Intel systems, your NVME drives will have to pass through the chipset if you have a discrete graphics card.
Next time someone asks for a comparison between two architectures I'll leave it up to you to do. Sorry, "comparison"
Not exactly correct
one, if you have an X370 motherboard, you'll have to have a CPU which will increase the USB 3.0 to 10, so effectively, the x370 has 10 USB 3.0 as it is literally impossible to have any configuration be less then 10
For two, the Z270 has a max number of USB of 14, and you can have a selection of up to 10 3.0 and up to 14 2.0. Now, does this mean you could have 10 3.0 and 4 2.0? i'm not sure, using the 10 3.0 might take up all of the what the chipset has set aside bandwidth wise for all i know, but lets just say at most if you had 10 3.0 you could only have 4 2.0.
Lets be clear though
X370 chipset total USB (between 3.1, 3.0 and 2.0) = 18
Z27- chipset total USB (between 3.1, 3.0 and 2.0) = 14, not 24 which is what your post implies
Intel's ARK is pretty clear - 14 USB ports total, of which 10 can be 3.0. So if you were willing to drop basically all other I/O, you could have 10 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0. That'd be a pretty dumb way to allocate your I/O resources though, so doubt anyone really cares about being able to plug in 10 or 14 USB devices (and if they do, buy a hub). In any event, I was simply trying to make a quick comparison per the OP's request.
https://ark.intel.com/products/98089/Intel-Z270-Chipset
Honestly, looking at your "comparison", it's not a useful comparison as it does not include anything that the processors give and you can't run a motherboard without a processor, except you included the PCI-Express aspect of the processors, but didn't include the intel processors that do not provide PCI-Express
A correct version of x370 comparison would be:
PCIe 3.0 Lanes - X370 = 10-20 (APU vs Ryzen) | Z270 = 24-40
PCIe 2.0 Lanes - X370 = 8 | Z270 = 0
PCIe express lanes max - x370 = 18-28 (APU vs Ryzen) | Z270 = 24-40(i3/i5 vs i7)
USB 3.1 Gen 2 - X370 = 2 | Z270 = 0
USB 3.0 - X370 = 10 | Z270 = Up to 10
USB 2.0 - X370 = 6 | Z270 = Up to 14
Total USB - x370 = 18 | Z270 = 14
SATA 6GBit - X370 = 4 | Z270 = 6
SATAe 12GBit - X370 = 2 | Z270 = 0(?)
RAID Configuration - X370 = 0/1/10 | Z270 = 0/1/5/10
Sorry my "comparison" isn't up to your standards. I was doing a favor for someone else, and they asked specifically for a comparison to z270, not a z270 plus CPU combination. Adding in the CPU brings in a ton of new variables that would make the comparison difficult to parse.
Also I did not include super low end CPUs, nor did I include the "E" class chips and chipsets. Even the lowly i3-7350k has 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 on the CPU.
I'm not going to bother looking at all i3's and Pentiums...but again the "K" series i3, i5 and i7 all have 16 lanes on the CPU (used for dGPU to avoid flooding the DMI. Ryzen is better in this aspect with 20 lanes of PCIe 3.0 from the CPU - you get x16 for your GPU plus 3.0 x4 for an NVME drive. On all current non enthusiast Intel systems, your NVME drives will have to pass through the chipset if you have a discrete graphics card.
Next time someone asks for a comparison between two architectures I'll leave it up to you to do. Sorry, "comparison"
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
Senior Member
Posts: 241
Joined: 2005-10-08
From what has been said about x300 chipset, an ATX (full) MB based on it would be close to perfect with almost no components on it, hence much less EMI.