# Asus Tuf Gaming B550m vs Msi Mag B550m Mortar



## poorsod (Nov 28, 2020)

Guys which one is better in terms of vrm performance? They're about the same price in my country. I'm thinking of pairing it with a ryzen 5 5600x.


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## oxrufiioxo (Nov 28, 2020)

Both can easily handle any Ryzen cpu this really just comes down to the other features the boards offer and which ones are important to you.


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## tabascosauz (Nov 28, 2020)

I have the B550M TUF with AX wifi and it's great. For most respects, I'm sure the B550 Mortar would have been similarly excellent, but the clear CMOS header is in such a place (buried underneath the graphics card) that it just wasn't a real contender for me.

The Mortar has the slightly better VRM on paper, but the Asus has excellent spacing in between the power stages so thermally they're the same. Not that VRM performance is even remotely a problem, both are comfy even with a 3950X.

That's the only thing, really. That, and if you really care about having a front USB-C, only the Mortar has one.


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## poorsod (Nov 28, 2020)

tabascosauz said:


> I have the B550M TUF with AX wifi and it's great. For most respects, I'm sure the B550 Mortar would have been similarly excellent, but the clear CMOS header is in such a place (buried underneath the graphics card) that it just wasn't a real contender for me.
> 
> That's the only thing, really. That, and if you really care about having a front USB-C, only the Mortar has one.


Thanks for replying. Front usb c as in on the case? I dont think my case has a usb port type c on the front.


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## tabascosauz (Nov 29, 2020)

poorsod said:


> Thanks for replying. Front usb c as in on the case? I dont think my case has a usb port type c on the front.



Yeah, then you don't really stand to lose out on much with the Asus board. Unlike some higher end boards, the Mortar's USB-C header is also 5Gbps USB 3.0 bandwidth, not 10Gbps USB 3.2Gen2 bandwidth.

The x16 slot on the Asus is the second position down, whereas the x16 on the MSI is a slot higher. Personal preference really, I prefer the Asus for better clearance with my large coolers (Dark Rock Pro 4) and downdraft coolers (C14S). But you might have a case where the Asus places your graphics card a little too close to the bottom of the case, so it's your call.

If you care about the placement of the CMOS header (if you care about doing some CPU or RAM overclocking down the road), then get the TUF, because the Mortar will have you removing your graphics card every time you need to clear your BIOS. If you don't think you'll ever need access to the two-pin CMOS jumper, then get whichever is the cheaper board.


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## poorsod (Nov 29, 2020)

tabascosauz said:


> Yeah, then you don't really stand to lose out on much with the Asus board. Unlike some higher end boards, the Mortar's USB-C header is also 5Gbps USB 3.0 bandwidth, not 10Gbps USB 3.2Gen2 bandwidth.
> 
> The x16 slot on the Asus is the second position down, whereas the x16 on the MSI is a slot higher. Personal preference really, I prefer the Asus for better clearance with my large coolers (Dark Rock Pro 4) and downdraft coolers (C14S). But you might have a case where the Asus places your graphics card a little too close to the bottom of the case, so it's your call.
> 
> If you care about the placement of the CMOS header (if you care about doing some CPU or RAM overclocking down the road), then get the TUF, because the Mortar will have you removing your graphics card every time you need to clear your BIOS. If you don't think you'll ever need access to the two-pin CMOS jumper, then get whichever is the cheaper board.


Alright thank you, I will go for the asus tuf then.


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## Buftor (Nov 30, 2020)

You may also want to look into Gigabyte B550M Aorus PRO-P motherboard. This model came out a little later than the original wave of B550 boards, so no one reviewed it yet. However, it seems to have similar VRAM components to the Asus. It's $30 cheaper than the Asus and MSI. 
According to reviews (Hardware Unboxed), the Mortar runs the coolest of all mATX boards. I got the Mortar and quite happy with it. MSI is definitely releasing BIOS updates quickly so far. I am using it with Ryzen 5 3600, but plan to upgrade the CPU to series 5000 down the road. One thing I did not like about the Asus was that they put the M.2 heatsink over the slower secondary slot, instead of the main slot, which runs faster.


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## tabascosauz (Nov 30, 2020)

Buftor said:


> You may also want to look into Gigabyte B550M Aorus PRO-P motherboard. This model came out a little later than the original wave of B550 boards, so no one reviewed it yet. However, it seems to have similar VRAM components to the Asus. It's $30 cheaper than the Asus and MSI.
> According to reviews (Hardware Unboxed), the Mortar runs the coolest of all mATX boards. I got the Mortar and quite happy with it. MSI is definitely releasing BIOS updates quickly so far. I am using it with Ryzen 5 3600, but plan to upgrade the CPU to series 5000 down the road. One thing I did not like about the Asus was that they put the M.2 heatsink over the slower secondary slot, instead of the main slot, which runs faster.



The currently released PCIe 4.0 SSDs except for the 980 Pro come with their own heatsinks, because they like to run hot. In that sense, it makes sense to not have a heatsink on the one 4.0 slot, to avoid interfering with most 4.0 drives. There's no issue with using the heatsinked secondary slot if you don't have a 4.0 drive, it's still 3.0x4 and works as expected.


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## umanpixel (Dec 3, 2020)

tabascosauz said:


> I have the B550M TUF with AX wifi and it's great. For most respects, I'm sure the B550 Mortar would have been similarly excellent, but the clear CMOS header is in such a place (buried underneath the graphics card) that it just wasn't a real contender for me.
> 
> The Mortar has the slightly better VRM on paper, but the Asus has excellent spacing in between the power stages so thermally they're the same. Not that VRM performance is even remotely a problem, both are comfy even with a 3950X.
> 
> That's the only thing, really. That, and if you really care about having a front USB-C, only the Mortar has one.




Hey!
I'm really struggling to pick between these two as well. Especially since this will be my first time building my own PC.
My system has a 3700x and a Gigabyte RX 5700 XT.

I was going to go for the Asus TUF, but I'm not sure the GPU will fit that great. 
Can you give me an opinion on that? 
Thanks in advance


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## tabascosauz (Dec 3, 2020)

umanpixel said:


> Hey!
> I'm really struggling to pick between these two as well. Especially since this will be my first time building my own PC.
> My system has a 3700x and a Gigabyte RX 5700 XT.
> 
> ...



I'm not sure what you mean. The Asus' x16 slot is just one position lower than the Mortar. Neither board will allow you to fit a longer/wider/larger GPU than you would be able to on any other board.

The only consideration is that if your case doesn't have a lot of space below the board (e.g. case has strictly 4 PCIe slots, has a power supply shroud directly below the board, etc.), the Mortar may be a better choice for a 3-slot GPU or if you need extra PCIe add-in cards. Can't say much without knowing what your case is, or which additional NIC/storage/wifi/sound cards you need to fit alongside the GPU.


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## umanpixel (Dec 3, 2020)

tabascosauz said:


> I'm not sure what you mean. The Asus' x16 slot is just one position lower than the Mortar. Neither board will allow you to fit a longer/wider/larger GPU than you would be able to on any other board.
> 
> The only consideration is that if your case doesn't have a lot of space below the board (e.g. case has strictly 4 PCIe slots, has a power supply shroud directly below the board, etc.), the Mortar may be a better choice for a 3-slot GPU or if you need extra PCIe add-in cards. Can't say much without knowing what your case is, or which additional NIC/storage/wifi/sound cards you need to fit alongside the GPU.



I'm not planing on fitting any of those under the GPU.
I'm just worried about it being cool (enough air flow), as you mention.

The Thermaltake S100 TG is the case I was going for.








						S100 Tempered Glass Micro Chassis
					

S100 TG Micro case comes with one tempered glass panel on the left, one preinstalled 120mm standard fan at the rear and supports motherboards up to Micro-ATX.




					www.thermaltake.com
				




You think I may have air flow issues with that one?

Sorry, I have bad hardware knowledge.
Thanks again


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## tabascosauz (Dec 3, 2020)

umanpixel said:


> I'm not planing on fitting any of those under the GPU.
> I'm just worried about it being cool (enough air flow), as you mention.
> 
> The Thermaltake S100 TG is the case I was going for.
> ...



Maybe, maybe not. I have mine in the Cerberus (link), so I don't have to deal with a pesky PSU shroud, and have direct 2 x 140mm airflow from below to my GPU regardless of its placement on the motherboard. If you have strong airflow coming in through the front (3x120mm or 2x140mm with good fans), and your PSU is face down as it should be so it isn't fighting your GPU for air, you might be fine with either board.

I haven't read any reviews on that case but the front panel design looks like case airflow could be a potential concern regardless of what board you choose or where you put the GPU. You'd have to look into case reviews further. Regardless, the GPU position honestly has a bigger impact on your ability to plug in connectors at the bottom of the board and add other x1 cards, than your temperatures.

I'm looking at the Gigabyte triple-fan Windforce 5700XT; it looks like slightly more than 2-slot. You could play it on the safe side with the Mortar; just keep in mind that you _will_ have to remove the graphics card if you ever need to reset CMOS; the 2-pin header is buried under the graphics card.


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## umanpixel (Dec 4, 2020)

tabascosauz said:


> Maybe, maybe not. I have mine in the Cerberus (link), so I don't have to deal with a pesky PSU shroud, and have direct 2 x 140mm airflow from below to my GPU regardless of its placement on the motherboard. If you have strong airflow coming in through the front (3x120mm or 2x140mm with good fans), and your PSU is face down as it should be so it isn't fighting your GPU for air, you might be fine with either board.
> 
> I haven't read any reviews on that case but the front panel design looks like case airflow could be a potential concern regardless of what board you choose or where you put the GPU. You'd have to look into case reviews further. Regardless, the GPU position honestly has a bigger impact on your ability to plug in connectors at the bottom of the board and add other x1 cards, than your temperatures.
> 
> I'm looking at the Gigabyte triple-fan Windforce 5700XT; it looks like slightly more than 2-slot. You could play it on the safe side with the Mortar; just keep in mind that you _will_ have to remove the graphics card if you ever need to reset CMOS; the 2-pin header is buried under the graphics card.



Great stuff mate. Thanks for the input.
Just posted on the System builders advice forum, asking for feedback on this and the rest of my build.
Cheers


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