Hello everyone and happy holidays!
Here are my specs:
Ryzen 5700x
AsRock B450M-HDV R4.0 https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450M-HDV%20R4.0/index.asp#Specification
G.Skill 1x16GB F4-3000C16S-16GISB
Cooler: DeepCool GAMMAXX 400 V2(Blue)
Nvidia Gigabyte RTX 2060 OC
Seasonic Core Gold GM 500W
Adata XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280
When I purchased that motherboard, I was pairing it with a Ryzen 1600. Last month on black friday I upgraded that CPU. I was planning to get a 5600G, 5600 or a 5600X, but I found a good deal on a Ryzen 5700X so I went for it. As a result, I now have a motherboard that is kinda bad for my CPU and I am not sure if I should replace it or not. And if I keep it, I don't know if I should keep PBO off in order to protect my VRMs who I assume are very weak, because this was one of the cheapest B450 mobos I could find. I mean, my VRMs don't even have a heatsink, just check out that motherboard, I've provided a link in the specs.
The issues I've had with this motherboard:
I wouldn't say that any of it has been a dealbreaker to be honest. I obviously updated the BIOS before I upgraded to the new CPU and after that I had to lower the RAM speed from 3000 cl16 to 2666 MHz cl18 due to stability issues. I tried 2933 MHz, as 3000 is supposedly not supported, but the PC would still crash while doing RAM-intensive tasks like playing Cyberpunk, Star Citizen or running memtest86 (when it crashed during memtest 86, that confirmed it was a RAM issue). The bigger issue is that I actually had to remove a second 16 GB RAM stick of that same model that I had purchased separately from the first, as an upgrade. I did it because of the same stability issues. Basically I had to remove half my RAM and lower the speed of the other half, to make the PC stable. The thing is, because my RAM wasn't purchased as a kit, I don't know if the issue has anything to do with the motherboard or not. Could be BIOS related too, I think. I tried all 3 BIOS versions that support the 5700X and it was the same. Maybe a future BIOS update will help? I did have a bit of a red flag about the motherboard when I tested the RAM slots. Either one of my 2 RAM sticks works and shows no errors in memtest86, but if I put the RAM in slot B1 (I only have 2 slots, A1 and B1), the PC won't even post. I don't know how to feel about that. With both RAM sticks installed, the PC boots and is stable unless I do RAM intensive things like play very demanding games or run memtest. BTW I've tried many things to fix the RAM issue: updating chipset drivers, clearing CMOS, tried 3 different BIOS versions, loosened timings, but nothing helped.
How the CPU performs with this motherboard:
I think it works fine. According to specs, my max boost clock is 4,6 GHz. When I run Cinebench R23 single core, I can boost to 4,65 GHz without PBO or any overclocking, which is great. When I run Cinebench multi core test, all cores boost to about 4,15 GHz as the PPT and EDC limit both reach 100% and CPU temp doesn't go over 63 C. I think that's normal too?
What I think about my system's performance at the moment:
I'm not too happy because of the RAM issue, but I can live with it. I only need 32 GB RAM for Star Citizen. I do some competitive racing there and having the extra 16 GB RAM can help, but right now the game still runs much better than it did when I had the 32 GB RAM with the Ryzen 1600. This is the main reason why I upgraded my CPU, so I guess I'm fine with the way things are right now.
What I am asking:
I guess I have 3 options right now and I'm asking what to do.
Option 1: Buy a new motherboard. B550 motherboards are a bit overpriced. Because there is no way to tell if buying a decent mobo would fix my RAM issue, I would only do that if people tell me that using my current motherboard would be dangerous to my system.
Option 2: Continue with my motherboard and enable PBO. Single core performance is very important for Star Citizen, so if I can get away with enabling PBO on this mobo, it will probably make a difference for me. I checked in Ryzen Master and saw that enabling PBO would increase my PPT/TDC/EDC limits from 76W/60A/90A to 95W/80A/90A. This is my preferred option but I'm a little worried that it would push my mobo too far.
Option 3: Continue with my mobo and keep PBO off. In case people think that there is no danger with PBO off, but enabling it would be too much for the mobo, or simply not worth it.
What do you think I should do?
