Suggestions for AM4 Ryzen mATX mainboard

Hello everyone,

I’m planning to replace my existing server with a new AM4 Ryzen 3rd Gen build, but got stuck at choosing a mainboard and hope for some suggestions.

I read a lot of threads (x570 boards) about cooling issues, bad/cheap VRM ICs - BIOS settings not applied due to fixed resistor, iommu group compatibility and so on, but that was more confusing than helped to make a decision.

That is my current server:

  • Fractal Design Node 804
  • SuperMicro X10SL7-F
  • Intel Xeon E3-1220 v3
  • 32 GB DDR3-ECC (4 x 8 GB)
  • 8x Western Digital Green 3TB (WD30EZRX)
  • (RAID controller flashed in IT Mode)
  • 1x SATA SSD for host system
  • AMD Radeon RX 480 (8 GB)

I’m running Debian with Proxmox on it and use it for the following:

  • running VMs/Container
  • NAS (ZFS)
  • VM gaming with GPU passthrough

Here are the requirements for the new mainboard:

  • mATX/mITX form factor (want to keep my old case)
  • AMD Ryzen™ 3rd Generation Series and higher
  • support for min. 64 GB DDR4 ECC or non-ECC memory
  • 1x PCIe 4.0/3.0 x16 slot (for GPU)
  • 8x SATA3 ports (1)
  • 2x 1/10Gbit NIC (1)
  • (1) or 1 additional PCIe slot for network card/storage controller

I found some candidates but as I said, also found posts about the described issues.

  • ASRock X570M Pro4 (cheap VRMs ?)
  • ASRock Rack X570D4U-2L2T (IPMI not required - additional 7-8 watt, cheap VRMs ?)
  • Biostar B55M Silver (not enough ports)
  • Gigabyte Aorus Pro P (not enough ports)

There are several options of course, one is an AMD SoC system (current gen Epyc) in the form of the Gigabyte MJ11-EC0. Asrock has a similar board on offer (better SoC): link. (note these are not equal so should not be compared outright!)

I’m not sure on availability and pricing, but I did see the Gigabyte board with a Polish (!!) supplier for about 500USD. I have yet to find a supplier in the eurozone (where I am) or the US/Canada market offering any of these or similar boards.

HTH!

Thanks for the reply.

My main issue with embedded boards are the initial costs and costs per upgrade.

To be fair, one year ago, when SuperMicro announced its AMD EPYC boards, I would have bought a M11SDV-8C-LN4F (AMD EPYC 3251).
But starting at around 700-800€ without RAM and not be able to only swap CPU, it was a no-go.

The MJ11-EC0 seems reasonable priced for the given features.
I will keep it in mind as a fallback or temporary solution.

The main reason is the upgradability (or the promise of it), why I’m switching from Intel to AMD.

Sizeable portion of list, would be a non-issue options, since the 400 series of chips
But likely need to pick your battles of what be on-board [and what be an add-on]
But yes, some 570 boards don’t have the most colourful legacy [thermally / BIOS].
One predicament I’ve gone to grips on, is never seeing a std. mATX 570 board.
550 chipset would be your best bet, for that form factor [mATX], selection wise
… IF you need all those ports natively on board, you’d have better luck in ATX form factor

While I see your point, I also know the AM4 platform has an expiry date in the not-so-distant future. AM5 is around the corner, so your upgrade cycle has to be rather fast or really slow (if you want to take advantage of low priced and/or used CPU’s). The SoC boards are meant to be ‘install & run until dead’ hardware and yes, I agree there’s a steep initial cost in purchase. But you should compare that to a comparable mainboard+CPU combo and frankly, those SoC’s are actually pretty good value then. TBH, I’m eyeing up the Gigabyte board as upgrade for my socket FM2-based file server, so maybe I’m a little biased :wink:

In case you really want to go with yATX for your server, the ASRock Rack X570D4U-2L2T is propably your best bet.

I would really consider upgrading your case however, as there are much better boards available for the ATX Form Factor, such as the ASUS Pro WS X570-Ace. Thats also the board, I would personally go with, if I would build a server on the AM4 Platform.

Thanks for the hint to the 550 boards.

I totally ignored them, because everyone/every news site stated them as the newer, but lower spec models which should be skipped in favor for the 570 ones.

Yeah, maybe I fell for the promises from Lisa Su (5+ years support) this time :smile:.
But after staying on the Intel side for too long, which meant forced socket changes every two years, I was ready for a change.

Your are right about the ready to run/issue free part which goes along with embedded boards, but if I compare the initial cost of them with a board + cpu combo (desktop branch), they are a few hundreds bucks more expensive.

As a server only board, that would not be a problem, but I want to be able to swap the cpu, if the gaming performance is decreasing. Not really sure if it will work out with AM4, since I failed last time with Intel (1150).

The X570D4U-2L2T was my first choice, but due to bad thermal solution and cheap VRM as described by data_destroyer in his post, it is not worth the money.

It seems a lot of boards have bad components as described here.

In hindsight, my case is not ideal for new boards, but was the perfect solution as a storage solution with space for 8x 3,5" and 4x 2,5" disks and a neat dimensions.


@all:
Thank you for all the suggestions and comments.
I think I found a good solution with a little compromise:

MSI MAG B550M Mortar

  • 6x SATA3 ports
  • 1x 2,5Gbit NIC
  • enough PCIe ports for additional storage controller/network card
1 Like

nice pick

This topic was automatically closed 273 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.