# AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Tested on Cheap B350 Motherboard



## W1zzard (Jul 9, 2019)

We're testing AMD's 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 3900X flagship on a cheap B350 motherboard. Performance results are good, even overclocking works as well as on X570. Special attention is paid to VRM temperatures, which we measure using a FLIR thermal camera.

*Show full review*


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## ZoneDymo (Jul 9, 2019)

this is good to know, good stuff


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## GoldenX (Jul 9, 2019)

Good to see that the only problem is the VRM temp.
Thanks!


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## Midland Dog (Jul 9, 2019)

next article, tpus test location burns down due to a poor vrm getting absolutely raped by a 12 core, overclocking on that board was a bold move, i would trust putting my knob in a blender over using that setup 24/7


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## W1zzard (Jul 9, 2019)

Midland Dog said:


> next article, tpus test location burns down due to a poor vrm getting absolutely raped by a 12 core, overclocking on that board was a bold move, i would trust putting my knob in a blender over using that setup 24/7


all for science


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## btarunr (Jul 9, 2019)

Midland Dog said:


> next article, tpus test location burns down due to a poor vrm getting absolutely raped by a 12 core, overclocking on that board was a bold move, i would trust putting my knob in a blender over using that setup 24/7



Oh just you wait until we get a 3950X sample.


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## Tsukiyomi91 (Jul 9, 2019)

sounds like a golden B350 board. I'm impressed that the VRM managed to handle the beastly R9 3900X without making the magic smoke or sparkles.


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## Xuper (Jul 9, 2019)

I put fan at low rpm above VRM when i do OC.


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## Zareek (Jul 9, 2019)

Excellent analysis as always, I'm surprised the system was smart enough to throttle and keep the VRMs from burning up. How far we have come since the old days when even CPUs would cook themselves.


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## XL-R8R (Jul 9, 2019)

Xuper said:


> I put fan at low rpm above VRM when i do OC.


@W1zzard can we get an additional test with a fan mounted someplace for cooling?


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## z1n0x (Jul 9, 2019)

I wonder how many people will click on this article, thinking they will read something disastrous about Ryzen, but left disappointed?


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## kings (Jul 9, 2019)

Actually, not too bad, the board held up very well! Using the CPU at stock, it can be a durable system.


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## xorbe (Jul 9, 2019)

> ASUS Prime B350 Plus is as cheap as it gets.


TPU throwing shade at my motherboard!  Wait, mine's B350M-A not Plus.  Same price though ... I've got a 2700X wedged in there currently.


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## Midland Dog (Jul 9, 2019)

btarunr said:


> Oh just you wait until we get a 3950X sample.


rip vrm, rip hard


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## Nkd (Jul 9, 2019)

Why don’t you guys use a better cooler? It’s a 12 core chip with dense area. Why limit it with a 240mm. I have a 360mm thermaltake rgb 360. I have it over locked to 4450 all core with temps in the 70s at 1.328v under load set at 1.375 in ryzen master. Passed 6 hours stress test with Aida 64. After which I stopped it.


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## Vya Domus (Jul 9, 2019)

You can still use watercooling, just place a fan over the VRMs, it'll better than anything else.


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## Midland Dog (Jul 9, 2019)

W1zzard said:


> all for science


i hope u dont need a large quantity of samples (victims) for accurate results


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## Joss (Jul 9, 2019)

Interesting test, thanks.


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## catulitechup (Jul 9, 2019)

Very good article

however can add R5 3600X / R7 3700X

thanks


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## Midland Dog (Jul 9, 2019)

catulitechup said:


> Very good article
> 
> however can add R5 3600X / R7 3700X
> 
> thanks


no point, they will probs use less power than the parts they replace


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## Wavetrex (Jul 9, 2019)

Fantastic !

I have an Asus Prime X370 which is somewhere middle of the pack for that generation, right now with an R7-1700 on it, I think I'll save some cash and put a 3700X or 3800X on it, jerry-rig a fan to blow air on the VRMs and be done with it.
Initially wanted to go all-in with 3900X and X570, but tbh it feels kinda overkill and not worth paying double (CPU+new mobo) to get very similar results on what I do.

I do encode 4K videos, but it's not THAT often, and I have two other recent computers in the house if the workload becomes too much for a 3700X









						PRIME X370-PRO｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA
					

ASUS Prime motherboards are expertly engineered to unleash the full potential of AMD and Intel processors. Boasting a robust power design, comprehensive cooling solutions and intelligent tuning options, these ASUS motherboards provide daily users and DIY PC builders a range of performance tuning...




					www.asus.com
				





AMD Ryzen7 3700X (3.6GHz,65W,L3:32M,8C,B0)ALL4801

Looks like it works.
Great !

p.s.
When the time comes to actually benefit from PCIe-4, it's just a matter of moving the CPU from one mobo to another (and plugging back that "old" 1700 in it's original board). WIN WIN


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## Vayra86 (Jul 9, 2019)

W1zzard said:


> all for science



I love the marriage of clickbaity title and even Youtuber lookalike thumbnail for this review, with the actual content. This is some really good stuff, very useful, to the point, and not forcing me to watch your face for 15 minutes 






W1zzard's gonna take over the world like this. I feel it. Steve is toast!  (just like that VRM under water...)


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## catulitechup (Jul 9, 2019)

Midland Dog said:


> no point, they will probs use less power than the parts they replace



For vrm temps because 3600X and 3700X have less cores


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## Mistral (Jul 9, 2019)

A neat and informative test, many thanks!

The graph for the performance results is a bit confusing, especially for people that don't carefully read the explanation paragraph written under it. Might I suggest putting the explanation above, or changing it the chart name from "Ryzen 9 3900X Running on B350 vs X570" to "Water and Air cooled Ryzen 9 3900X on B350 vs X570 baseline", or simply including said 0% baseline in the chart label?

Also, and I'm not sure how much of a difference that'll make, was the X570 air or watercooled?


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## BoiseTech (Jul 9, 2019)

I'm planning on doing a 3950x in a Asus ITX B350 board, however I'm using a top down cooler, I wonder what my VRM temps will be.


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## HD64G (Jul 9, 2019)

VRM needs cooling with a fan pointing on it when the cpu is watercooled, or else...


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## WaraiOtoko (Jul 9, 2019)

Thanks for the test, that board handled it quite well.

I know you must be overwhelmed with all the testing right now but I would love similar test down the line with better vrm-per-buck board, something like MSI B450 Tomahawk.

Another interesting data point would be how these low-end vrms affect PBO as vrm temps seem to be part of that algorithm.


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## _Flare (Jul 9, 2019)

Nice to know that the whole throttling and temperature-treadment works even on the older 50$ boards.
thanks @W1zzard

Maybe you can write something about the VRM-Cooling-Problem directly in the X570 vs. B350 diagram,   to better the TL,DR-efficiency.
Like " VRM-throttling because no airflow around socket." @W1zzard

good job AMD


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## Dyatlov A (Jul 9, 2019)

Now just test if Windows 7 ok for this beast!?


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## W1zzard (Jul 9, 2019)

Vayra86 said:


> I love the marriage of clickbaity title and even Youtuber lookalike thumbnail for this review, with the actual content. This is some really good stuff, very useful, to the point, and not forcing me to watch your face for 15 minutes
> 
> View attachment 126487
> 
> W1zzard's gonna take over the world like this. I feel it. Steve is toast!  (just like that VRM under water...)


I didn't know what else to use for the title and small image. Not a fan of these clickbaity images


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## _Flare (Jul 9, 2019)

but ... just works


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## W1zzard (Jul 9, 2019)

_Flare said:


> but ... just works


bah I wanted to use the in my conclusion, but forgot, added now


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## XtremeCuztoms (Jul 9, 2019)

Very interesting....


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## gasolina (Jul 9, 2019)

msi still not release any bios for their b350/x370....i'm still holding x370 titanium and gaming pro carbon ( cross finger)


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## 50eurouser (Jul 9, 2019)

Most B350 use uber crap mosfet, MSI/Asrock used Nikosem fire-fet and Gigabyte similar junk as Asus (4C09B/N+4C06B/N). Best part is that both Gigabyte/Asus went the same root for B450, out of 10 people who buy B450 8 are buying MSI due to the fact that they switched to better Mosfet and bigger heatsinks. Even one of the worst MSI B450 the B450M PRO-VDH Plus will be miles ahead Vs the other manufacturers B450's.


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## Imsochobo (Jul 9, 2019)

W1zzard said:


> all for science



3950X in september on a B350 ?
I'm just amazed, I went out and bought the absolute cheapest board I could find on b350 around zen1 launch.. yet now a 3900x is chugging along on one...
also the same motherboard people said doesn't handle the 8 cores but 3.9 1700 for almost two years... it does 4050 on a x370 so I assume it ripples worse than the north sea.


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## DeyEatDaPooPoo (Jul 9, 2019)

Thank you so much for all the work you put into this.    I've been reading your reviews for over a decade now and you guys are consistently the best when it comes to how thorough and consistent you are, and I love that for people that want to get a performance or power efficiency overview you always have a performance summary.

I have a question that many of us with X370 and B350 motherboards have been wondering about upgrading to Ryzen 3rd gen: does installing one of these CPUs onto these motherboards present the option of enabling Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) and PBO options like Auto OC? If they do, are they working as intended/just like X570 as long as temps are within spec? The reason I ask is because Robert Hallock from AMD stated PBO should be an option that is presented by the motherboard if it detects there's a Ryzen 3rd gen CPU installed and some people wanted clarification into whether that was the case or if it's something that's still up to the motherboard manufacturers--in which case we won't get it.

Again, thank you so much for all your amazing work!


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## CounterSpell (Jul 9, 2019)

@W1zzard how does the bios worked considering this news: https://www.techpowerup.com/257201/...ail-amds-zen2-backwards-compatibility-promise ?


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## tony359 (Jul 9, 2019)

Great test, thanks!
I'd be curious to see the same tests on an A320 MB


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## neatfeatguy (Jul 9, 2019)

Good to know things don't appear much different on the lower end MBs when pairing the Zen 2 chips. I'm sitting here reading through all these reviews, wishing I had a good $400-500 to spare to get a new CPU/MB/RAM.......I can dream.....I can dream.


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## _Flare (Jul 9, 2019)

tony359 said:


> Great test, thanks!
> I'd be curious to see the same tests on an A320 MB


probably wont work ever

BTW X570 is incompatible with 1st Gen Ryzen and its APUs ... and Bristol Ridge ... i never thought about that till a few seconds ago.





						MSI  Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation
					

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops.




					www.msi.com


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## tvamos (Jul 9, 2019)

Now I feel kinda proud of my mobo!


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## DeyEatDaPooPoo (Jul 9, 2019)

CounterSpell said:


> @W1zzard how does the bios worked considering this news: https://www.techpowerup.com/257201/...ail-amds-zen2-backwards-compatibility-promise ?



The only thing the ROM size limitation changed was that to obtain Matisse/Ryzen 3rd gen support in 300-series boards Bristol Ridge (which no one bought anyway) support was removed, so that's what all the board manufacturers opted to do.


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## phanbuey (Jul 9, 2019)

so a nice B450 is a good way to go then


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## tony359 (Jul 9, 2019)

_Flare said:


> probably wont work ever



Oh not again please. There is nothing magic on this subject and nothing wrong with ‘cheaper’ chipsets. 






						MSI  Global - The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation
					

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We stand by our principles of breakthroughs in design, and roll out the amazing gaming gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops and desktops.




					www.msi.com


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## Wavetrex (Jul 9, 2019)

phanbuey said:


> so a nice B450 is a good way to go then


B450 was already a good way to go.

What is interesting is that even B350 boards can hold these CPU's just fine !
(And they are dirt cheap today... I don't think they will last long, if everyone and their dog buys 3600, 3700X and some 300 generation chipsets)


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## Metroid (Jul 9, 2019)

Tsukiyomi91 said:


> sounds like a golden B350 board. I'm impressed that the VRM managed to handle the beastly R9 3900X without making the magic smoke or sparkles.



Not at all, 105w back then was quite normal on 1700x, 1800x.



HD64G said:


> VRM needs cooling with a fan pointing on it when the cpu is watercooled, or else...



Exactly, that is something I did not understand. Why change the cpu cooling while the vrm was the thing was very hot hehe



phanbuey said:


> so a nice B450 is a good way to go then



There is nothing better for the price than a b450 if going for maximum 3900x undervolt it and keep at stock clocks.


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## xBruce88x (Jul 9, 2019)

Looks like those little stick on heat sinks are gonna start selling again.

$8 for 20


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## GoldenX (Jul 9, 2019)

xBruce88x said:


> Looks like those little stick on heat sinks are gonna start selling again.
> 
> $8 for 20


Heh, I added some I had from a VGA cooler to my motherboard a year ago. Future proofing.


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## Imsochobo (Jul 9, 2019)

Tsukiyomi91 said:


> sounds like a golden B350 board. I'm impressed that the VRM managed to handle the beastly R9 3900X without making the magic smoke or sparkles.



I've been drawing 180 watts through my ab350m pro4 for 20 months now, 24/7, it's never really idle either.
it's so crusty, it was the cheapest board I could find.
you can find them at 75$ and probably cheaper


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## _Flare (Jul 9, 2019)

tony359 said:


> Oh not again please. There is nothing magic on this subject and nothing wrong with ‘cheaper’ chipsets.



I want to agree but maybe some current steering is different, but then, why do 2700X work and boost well and 24/7 on all A320 with VRM coolers and even without coolers?
A 3700X shouldnt be any problem on A320 physics wise ... but well I think sadly it will be product-politics


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## tony359 (Jul 10, 2019)

Flare
You suggested it wouldn’t work. I proved you it would as it’s officially supported by the manufacturer. 
I can’t say for sure the mobo will handle the power perfectly but honestly the A320 was designed to support 95W of the 1800x and the 3900 is only 10W higher. I doubt manufacturers design custom bios to power limit specific (and old!) motherboards. More expensive chipsets were designed for series 1000 as well and the power figures were the same. 

I honestly don’t see the 320 as ‘special’ as some users have claimed on these pages over the past months. It just lacks the specs highlighted by AMD (Raid, overclocking etc). That’s it.


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## Durvelle27 (Jul 10, 2019)

Thanks so much for this @W1zzard 

Now I know my board can handle the 3900X I plan to order once the 5700XT arrives


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## srsbsns (Jul 10, 2019)

At that temp sustained wouldnt the VRM fail after quickly because of the 5k caps it likely uses? Meaning that at 105C or higher it will fail after 5000 hours.


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## Wavetrex (Jul 10, 2019)

srsbsns said:


> At that temp sustained wouldnt the VRM fail after quickly because of the 5k caps it likely uses? Meaning that at 105C or higher it will fail after 5000 hours.


Are you planning to run the CPU at 100% utilization 100% of the time ?

Not only that games and most professional workloads don't use the cpu at max, but whatever job the CPU does eventually finishes and things go back to idle.

Unless intentionally trying to break the VRMs with some power virus software (CPU cryptomining?), this is not an issue.


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## Tsukiyomi91 (Jul 10, 2019)

still, it's an interesting find. With adequate cooling, I don't think the VRMs are gonna get toasty.


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## phill (Jul 10, 2019)

XL-R8R said:


> USER=1]@W1zzard[/USER] can we get an additional test with a fan mounted someplace for cooling?



Just my exact same thoughts, would it be possible to add in an extra test for this please?  
Very nice and impressive review and I agree with the first line in your conclusion about Intel charging us twice...


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## HwGeek (Jul 10, 2019)

So while Intel forced all Z270 owners to buy new Z370 MB for the 8th Gen CPU's because of the lake of power pins, here we see that old Cheap B350 board can run HEDT league 12C monster w/o a problem.
Shame!.


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## Wavetrex (Jul 10, 2019)

HwGeek said:


> So while Intel forced all Z270 owners to buy new Z370 MB for the 8th Gen CPU's because of the lake of power pins


That was a complete rubbish lie, as demonstrated by der8auer:








... who taped almost half of the power pins and the CPU was still working perfectly (and overclock as well)


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## r9 (Jul 10, 2019)

We know W1zz is camera shy, but who want to see at least a time lapse of W1zz at work, the setup and everything  ?
Let it be heard people we might have a chance of convincing him.  
C'mon @W1zzard only thing you have to loose is have to put some pants on.


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## AlexByrth (Jul 10, 2019)

Watercooler is Ok. Just add a  good fan over your motherboard.
Btw, the system below is using a 2600X, it's not a _Ryzen 3000 CPU_.


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## BoiseTech (Jul 10, 2019)

Apparently nobody googled this:

Clickbait title says B350, but he does this on a A320 board.


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## Mistral (Jul 10, 2019)

AlexByrth said:


> Watercooler is Ok. Just add a  good fan over your motherboard.
> 
> View attachment 126524



That's a nicely suspended fan. What's the impact once you close the case?


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## m4gicfour (Jul 10, 2019)

BoiseTech said:


> Apparently nobody googled this:
> 
> Clickbait title says B350, but he does this on a A320 board.


Not in that video he doesn't. He says he's going to try it on A320 in the next video.


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## BoiseTech (Jul 10, 2019)

m4gicfour said:


> Not in that video he doesn't. He says he's going to try it on A320 in the next video.



I stand corrected, Don't youtube while working.


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## xorbe (Jul 10, 2019)

Sticker shock, I just looked at X570 prices.  I can see why we're interested in 300 and 400 series boards.


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## Vlada011 (Jul 10, 2019)

Is it 3950X slower in single threaded applications then 3900X?
I have some bad feeling... maybe I'm wrong but something tell me that investing in AMD PCI-E 4.0 before Intel show up with 10th Gen could be mistake.
Maybe not some huge mistake, but enough to think Why I didn't waited just to see what they offer.
At least for people who have enough strong platform to provide normal performance few months more.
These insanity with motherboard prices... I have feeling that Crosshair VIII Formula will cost 350$ when Intel show up.
I had Crosshair 4 Formula.

Because of that if 3950X performance in single threaded applications are lower then 3900X I would choose Crosshair VIII Hero and 3900X.
Crosshair VIII Hero for 350$ is max best option. Too bad that would be my first "skinny" ATX motherboard after 7-8 years on premium E-ATX.
ASUS ask double more for Formula.... For what, VRM Block? Heatkiller IV PRO Black Copper on CPU, PCH and VRM default cooling.


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## mstenholm (Jul 10, 2019)

Wavetrex said:


> Are you planning to *run the CPU at 100% utilization 100% of the time ?*
> 
> Not only that games and most professional workloads don't use the cpu at max, but whatever job the CPU does eventually finishes and things go back to idle.
> 
> Unless intentionally trying to break the VRMs with some power virus software (CPU cryptomining?), this is not an issue.


Some people do, the crunchers at our WCG team but I doubt that any will attempt this test in a permanent installation, if so we will hear about it


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## Vlada011 (Jul 10, 2019)

Two guys with X99 platform who bought PC after me 2-3 months agree to delay switch to AMD. I couldn give them better advice before week.
Today one of them told me he almost decide to switch to 3900X.
Later I saw information that Intel even with new generation want to go with obsolete PCI-E 3.0 directly connected with OS speed on new systems.
Same thing was on mind and to me in that moment, I afraid information about Intel 10th Gen will only increase number of people who buy AMD Zen 2.

One thing is sure, difference between single threaded performance on Intel and AMD can't be any more excuse.
It's insane if someone buy Intel because of that. i9-9980XE is faster then 3950X 5800 vs 5300 single thread Geekbench.
Multithread is 61.000 AMD 3950X vs 46.000 Intel i9-9980XE.
People who decide to buy Intel because of that is abnormal person.
That could be move of someone who need i3. Not enthusiast who want hard core PC Machine.


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## mcraygsx (Jul 10, 2019)

INTEL would've charged us more then twice in same duration. Excellent coverage as always.


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## Assimilator (Jul 11, 2019)

@W1zzard great work as usual, would be useful IMO if the article mentioned what temps these VRMs are rated to handle versus what they put up with.

Funnily enough, Asus' own specification page for this board states "Supports CPU up to 8 cores", this article is a pretty god advert for them!

Maybe you should consider re-running your Zen 2 watercooling overclocking tests with a fan pointed at the VRMs?


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## Cr@zed^ (Jul 11, 2019)

I' m so glad I can keep my CH6. today my 3700X will arrive, It's like X-Mas when I was a kid


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## kurosagi01 (Jul 11, 2019)

Quite pleased to see W1zzard tested 3000 series on the same motherboard I have,saving me needing to upgrade if I do fancy upgrading to 3000 series.


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## ORLY (Jul 12, 2019)

Asus Prime X470-Pro
MSI X570-A Pro
MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus

Which would be better VRM-wise?


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## bpgt64 (Jul 13, 2019)

So, would it be smart to wait for a mono block for a X570 motherboard then?  Just to make sure temps are reasonable.


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## HTC (Jul 13, 2019)

m4gicfour said:


> Not in that video he doesn't. He says he's going to *try it on A320 in the next video*.



And here it is:


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## Freedom4556 (Jul 17, 2019)

@W1zzard You should really use a k-type thermocouple thermometer and not a FLIR camera for measuring electronics temperatures. The FLIR can be affected by all types of emissivity and reflectivity issues with heatsinks and metals used in and around the component you're trying to measure.

Many techtubers I watch (like GN and Buildzoid) use Kapton tape to stick the thermocouple to the output leg of the choke on the back of the board. That'll give you a direct metal connection to the silicon inside the mosfets.


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## Ryrynz (Jul 23, 2019)

I want to see the performance difference between B350 and B450 when paired with an X series processor. Apparently this was one of the main reasons to be getting the 450..
So how come nobody has done a comparison?


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## Jism (Jul 24, 2019)

I think its safe to say now that the days of FX with throttling or even catching fire on VRM`s are pretty much over now. The reason why this board is lasting is simply due to the fact that AMD wants minimum motherboard requirements for Mobo vendors. By this it means that all boards that are out there should be able to guarantee a bare minimum power delivery up to 125W or so. Many VRM`s and the used components can deliver way more then they are rated for. And even if you had a utterly high end board, the question would still remain with FIT these days in AMD CPU´s if you could even tap in all that offered power. Perhaps on a 16 core but i really doubt it.

Buying a high-end doesnt offer that much benefit apart from the futureset anymore.


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## GoldenX (Jul 24, 2019)

The days of cheap 65w boards are over, thank god.


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## fxtreme (Jan 20, 2020)

if i not use overclock 3900x + *asus prime b450-plus* is ok? i want to use for cinema4d render.


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## RealNeil (Jan 20, 2020)

This speaks to good CPU/Chipset design by AMD, and good power handling components used to build the Mainboard by ASUS.


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