Choosing the Right B450 Motherboard

While there are over twenty-five motherboards to select from on the B450 chipset, finding the right one with the right balance of features can be somewhat confusing. Selecting based on certain criteria can help narrow down between features such as dual M.2, integrated WiFi and pricing; some shine above others in the specifications whereas others may not have a specific desired feature.

Prices given from July 31st

B450 Motherboards
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Key Features Current Options  Size Price (Amazon) Price (Newegg)
Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec

(vs. ALC892 / ALC887)
ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming
ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
ATX
mITX
mITX
ATX
ATX
ATX
$130
N/A
N/A
N/A
$120
N/A
$130
N/A
$130
N/A
$120
N/A
Intel Gigabit LAN

(vs. Realtek)
ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming
ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
ATX
mITX
mITX
ATX
ATX
ATX
$130
N/A
N/A
N/A
$120
N/A
$130
N/A
$130
N/A
$120
N/A
WiFi

(vs. non-WiFi)
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming
ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC
mITX
mITX
ATX
ATX
mITX
N/A
N/A
$120
N/A
N/A
N/A
$130
$120
N/A
N/A
6 SATA Ports

(vs. 4)
ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ASUS TUF B450-Plus Gaming
ASUS TUF B450M-Plus Gaming
ASUS Prime B450 Plus
ASRock B450 Gaming K4
ASRock B450 Pro4
ASRock B450M Pro4
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus M
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
MSI B450 Tomahawk
MSI B450 Gaming Plus
MSI B450-A Pro
ATX
ATX
mATX
ATX
ATX
ATX
mATX
ATX
ATX
mATX
ATX
ATX
ATX
ATX
$130
$120
$100
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

$120
$85
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
$130
$120
$100
$110
$100
$90
$80
N/A
$120
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
2 M.2 Ports ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ASRock B450 Gaming K4
ASRock B450 Pro4
ASRock B450M Pro4
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
MSI B450M Mortar
MSI B450M Mortar Titanium
ATX
ATX
ATX
mATX
ATX
ATX
ATX
mATX
mATX
$130
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

$120
N/A
N/A
N/A
$130
$100
$90
$80
N/A
$120
N/A
N/A
N/A
HDMI 2.0 ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ASUS ROG Strix B450-I Gaming
ASUS TUF B450-Plus Gaming
ASUS TUF B450M-Plus Gaming
ASUS Prime B450-Plus
ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
GIGABYTE B450 Aorus M
GIGABYTE B450M DS3H
ATX
mITX
ATX
mATX
ATX
mITX
ATX
ATX
mATX
mATX
$130
N/A
$120
$100
N/A
N/A
N/A

$120
$85
$70
$130
N/A
$120
$100
$110
N/A
N/A
$120

$85
$70

The B450 chipset is essentially a B350 first generation refresh which has given manufacturers the opportunity to refine and define; for example GIGABYTE has focused their attention on specifically on defining their Aorus gaming brand to users and has used the B450 chipset to implement the new naming schemes. Other vendors have made slight aesthetic adjustments, while others have added more premium componentry to their offerings in exchange for a slightly higher MSRP; or in a lot of cases, remained with the same pricing structure.

B450 Motherboards
Key Features Price Link SATA M.2 GbE WiFi Audio
ASUS
ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
ROG Strix B450-I Gaming
TUF B450-Plus Gaming
TUF B450M-Plus Gaming
Prime B450-Plus
Prime B450M-K
$130
$120
$120
$100
$100
-
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
6
6
6
6
6
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
I211-AT
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
Intel
-
-
-
-
-
ALC1220A
ALC1220A
ALC887-VD2
ALC887-VD2
ALC887-VD2
ALC887
ASRock
B450 Gaming K4
B450 Gaming ITX/ac
B450 Pro4
B450M Pro4
B450M-HDV
$100
$130
$90
$80
$70
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
6
4
6
6
4
2
1
2
2
1
8111H
I211-AT
8111H
8111H
8111H
-
Intel
-
-
-
ALC892
ALC1220
ALC892
ALC892
ALC887
GIGABYTE
B450 Aorus Pro WiFi
B450 Aorus Pro
B450 Aorus M
B450 Aorus Elite
B450M DS3H
$120
-
$85
-
$70
Link
Link
Link
-
Link
6
6
6
?
4
2
2
1
2
1
I211-AT
I211-AT
8111H
?
8111H
Intel
-
-
-
-
ALC1220-VB
ALC1220-VB
ALC892
?
ALC887
MSI
B450 GPC AC
B450 Gaming Plus
B450M Gaming Plus
B450I Gaming Plus AC
B450 Tomahawk
B450M Bazooka
B450M Bazooka Plus
B450M Mortar
B450M Mortar Titanium
B450-A Pro
B450M Pro-M2
B450M Pro-VDH
$130
$100
-
$120
$110
$85
-
-
-
$90
$70
-
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
Link
6
6
4
4
6
4
4
4
4
6
4
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
I211-AT
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
8111H
Intel
-
-
Intel
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
ALC1220
ALC892
ALC887
ALC887
ALC892
ALC892
ALC892
ALC892
ALC892
ALC887
ALC887
ALC892

Each vendor seems to have a good range of products on offer, from $70 to $130, with at least one board in the range with Intel Ethernet, Intel Wi-Fi, and the top end codec. In order to get all three, it looks like the minimum price will be $120.

MSI B450M PRO-M2 and B450M PRO-VDH
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  • T1beriu - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    Gavin, you made a table that shows B350 and A320 don't support PB2 and XFR2. This is incorrect. Raven Ridge (2400G, 2200G, 2X00U) work without a problem on these boards. Yes, Raven Ridge has PB2 and XFR2 from day one. AMD advertised it when they launched RR last year.

    https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/sense-mi
  • Ian Cutress - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    It's not natively enabled from launch - it requires a BIOS update which not all vendors on all boards have provided. The CPUs work sure, but not all features of the CPUs will work in all products.
  • T1beriu - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    PB2 and XFR work on A320 as well.
  • MrbigN - Wednesday, January 23, 2019 - link

    If you buy the boards directly from there amazon store or on there website they should be Stock updated.

    As of, Jan,23 2019
  • bull2760 - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    Please fix your charts. PCIe should be 3.0 not 2.0
  • Ian Cutress - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    The Chipset supports PCIe 2.0 lanes. PCIe 3.0 lanes come from the CPU.
  • chrcoluk - Monday, August 30, 2021 - link

    yeah but the 2nd x16 slot is also from the cpu and thus 3.0, you can even choose to make it a 8x slot in the bios by downgrading the first slot to 8x.

    The review incorrectly states the second full length slot is only 2.0.
  • T1beriu - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    StoreMI can work on 300-series motherboards but comes with an additional fee (I don't think it's BIOS dependent).

    https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/store-mi
  • Ian Cutress - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    The systems support 10 GbE, if you buy the cards. Yes it's picking hairs, but we're speaking native support.
  • jtd871 - Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - link

    What does 10GbE have to do with StoreMI?!

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