Introduction

AMD trolled Intel's approach to PC enthusiasts on two fronts: all of its Ryzen processors feature an unlocked base-clock multiplier, and not just for select ones (Intel restricts this to its "K" SKUs), and, secondly, CPU overclocking isn't just accessible to its premium X370/X470/X570 chipsets, but also the mid-range B350 and B450 chipsets. You're out of luck if you just bought an Intel Core i9-9900K and decided to pair it with a B360 chipset motherboard. This extension of CPU overclocking to the mid-range chipset allows buyers to pair expensive processor models while cutting costs on the motherboard front. The B350 and B450 are very cheap chipsets and enable motherboards to be priced well under the $100 mark. Consider that in comparison to the latest AMD X570 motherboards that cost upward of $170.



AMD just launched its 3rd generation Ryzen "Zen 2" processors and has extended support for them to even the B350 and B450 chipsets. Quite a few B350 motherboards have received beta BIOS updates that enable 3rd generation Ryzen to run on them, including support for the mighty Ryzen 9 3900X 12-core processor that painted the wall with Core i9-9900K on Sunday. We wondered what would happen if we paired a cheap B350 chipset motherboard with this chip.



The ASUS Prime B350 Plus is as cheap as it gets. Priced at $70, this board provides the bare necessities and is targeted at gaming iCafes and light office usage scenarios. We updated it to the latest 5007 BIOS dated 1st July 2019 and dropped in our 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 3900X processor. The board came to life without issues. We then decided to put it through our entire selection of tests from the CPU test suite. We did something similar with the AMD X470 chipset in a feature article posted on th 7th of July. In this review, we will be exploring performance, stability, and VRM temperatures of the Ryzen 3900X on B350.