What is the best X370 AM4 board right now for the money? Best feature set, NVMe, 3200Mhz, Excellent VRMs, high # of power phases, etc. Great quality and reliability. Low defect number. Price is not really an issue at the moment.
I love the taichi. I am currently using 2666 RAM but I am sure that it supports 3200. 2 m.2 slots, but only one is keyed to work with NVMEs. What size motherboard are you looking for?
Pricing has more than likely changed but the overall opinions still stand I’d think:
edit: also don’t forget that x470 mobos are on their way…
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Very fair point. It is rumored to have even better feature list and connectivity than the X370…
And in some cases, they have propper heatsinks on the VRMs
bias and not revelent How many people are gonna use Ln2
That’s not aHCOC video - it’s a gamers nexus video, and while I do expect some of his personal bias to come through I also expect him to count on viewers not OC-ing with ln2. The video does assume OC-ing though, sure.
He had issues from the early bios days… things are not that way any longer for most of the vendors.
I have several misgivings about his choices. All i can say is do your research in relation to how you intend to use your product.
Another fair point.
However, did you watch the entire video?
He was talking about my B350 Pro4 and the identical red one being B350 boards with somewhat proper heatsinks, he was talking about VRM phases, clock generators, etc. It was relevant for LN2 overlooking, but then he talked about stock 8 cores, and that puts it in the non LN2 category.
Anyways, I would agree with that:
My B350 Pro4 have crazy hot VRM heatsinks under Prime95 stress on stock 1700X, no matter the 3 intake 3 exhaust setup I have. If that is semi-decent I can’t imagine what an indecent VRM cooling will be.
PS: I don’t really like GN so I’m not defending them. I just think the video is fairly… Well… Fair…
I have my own Bias 
Like buying overclocking gear to run 24/7 till it dies … all while not overclocking it. Mostly for the better power delivery and vrm cooling solutions ect… Just a little dusting and some new tim here and there during a 5 year run.
I am running the Gigabyte K7 with Flare X 3200 @ 3.9 Ghz
ASRock Taichi
ASRock Fatality Professional Gaming
Gigabyte Aorus GA-AX370-Gaming 5
Gigabyte Aorus GA-AX370-Gaming K7
MSI Gaming M7 ACK
Overall the Taichi is probably the best bang for the buck for an ATX X370 motherboard.
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Having tried 3 x370 boards, I vote the Taichi best for any money.
It really depends on what you are looking for in terms of feutures.
Wenn it comes to vrm implementations,
Most higherend X370 boards (except Msi) have a pretty overkill vrm for Ryzen.
The Asus Crosshair VI Extreme has the best vrm of all X370 boards.
But its also the most expensive board out there.
The only problem is that the Asus Crosshair VI Extreme´s vrm is just totally rediculous overkill for RYzen.
And that being said, i personally dont really see the added value of the Extreme over the Asus Crosshair VI Hero.
Because the vrm of the Hero is allready more then enough for Ryzen 8 cores.
So unless you really need the extra feutures that the Asus Crosshair VI Extreme offers over the the Hero.
But otherwise the Hero offers a vey nice package.
The only downside of the Hero is that it only comes with a single lan port.
And i would have liked to see two for its price point.
Simmilar things can be said about the Asrock Taichi vs the Asrock X370 Professional.
They both are exactlly the same board with the same vrm implementation.
Its just that the Professional offers a bit more connectivity options.
So unless you would really need those extra feutures that the Professional offers over the Taichi.
Otherwise the Taichi is cheaper but still decent choice.
It really depends on your personal needs.
But in my opinion the Asrock X370 Taichi or the Asus Crosshair VI Hero are pretty decent choices.
Great vrm´s and overall decent boards with all the basic feutures you would need.
So those would be my pick of the bunge.
Another honnerable mention for the Aorus X370 Gaming K7.
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One board is an ATX. It is for a build Im putting together for a friend. Im trying to get him to hold off for X470 but he is an impatient bastard.
Here is the pcpartpicker list I have sofar:
Build #1 Summary
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 1700X 3.4GHz 8-Core Processor | $339.49 @ Amazon |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua - NH-D15 SE-AM4 140.2 CFM CPU Cooler | $89.90 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASRock - X370 Taichi ATX AM4 Motherboard | $165.98 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $229.99 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $229.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $127.99 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $239.29 @ Newegg |
| Video Card | XFX - Radeon RX 580 8GB GTS Black Video Card | - |
| Case | be quiet! - Silent Base 800 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case | $153.97 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 750W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $169.90 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1766.50 | |
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00 | |
| Total | $1746.50 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-09 00:54 EST-0500 |
The second, is preferably a Mini-ITX for my Media server that runs Ubuntu Server and Emby/Sonarr/Sabnzbd.
Sample Media Server Build
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor | $109.99 @ Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard | $117.80 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $108.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | OCZ - RD400 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $179.87 @ OutletPC |
| Video Card | Asus - Radeon RX 550 4GB Video Card | $124.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Case | Fractal Design - Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case | $84.99 @ SuperBiiz |
| Power Supply | SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $79.59 @ SuperBiiz |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $811.22 | |
| Mail-in rebates | -$5.00 | |
| Total | $806.22 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-01-09 00:52 EST-0500 |
The 3rd, which I am more than willing to wait for X470 is to replace my 4770K that I hate with a passion. I used to like it before I found out it has VT-d disabled by default. I can not enable VT-d. I have to buy the 4790K to get VT-d. So there goes my dream of PCI-passthrough Linux/Windows setup. Switch to Ryzen 2 and my dream can become a reality again. I would love to go Threadripper but cost prohibitive. Especially RAM. I really want to downsize my media server since right now it takes up a midtower case. I need to replace the PSU too. I plan to drop in a Seasonic Titanium 550W or something along those lines. My current storage capacity is 11TB in LVM2 configuration. I have forgone RAID at this time. RAID went from a Redundant Array of INEXPENSIVE Disks to an Array of EXPENSIVE disks. so until I can realistically afford the cost of a good RAID card and the drives to go with it, Im just using LVM2 and making backup copies.
I have a question I would like an answer, For my new desktop build I can make up my mind if I should go with the Asrock - X370 Taichi ATX AM4 Motherboard, or Gigabyte - GA-AX370-Gaming K7 ATX AM4. I have heard I would have an easier time getting my ram sticks to run at there rated speed with the Gigabyte Gaming K7. What has been your experience, is what I have heard true? Also between the two boards which has better support for IMOU groups and GPU passthrough?
I have included the information from the post I started a few days to give everyone more information, so they could better understand what I am trying to accomplish.
Replacing Desktop Damage by Electrical Spike
I would assume you would actually find more information on this in the Linux GPU passthrough threads actually. Not saying it wouldnt show up here but I would assume it is more readily available there.
I’m currently using the MSI x370 Gaming Pro Carbon, absolutely love it and not to pricey for a higher end board
I quite like my Asus Prime X370 Pro, but it’s not the fanciest board. Affordable quality though, and that’s what I was looking for (plus it was the first one to enter in-stock inventory when I was trying to buy right after the Ryzen launch) 
.
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