What non x570 AM4 ITX board with bifurcation + VRMs for 3900X?

marcosscriven · 3 Dec 2019 at 17:00

I currently have an MSI b450 Gaming Plus ITX, which apparently has VRMs good enough for the 3900X.

However, I also want bifurcation, which this board doesn't officially support. Oddly though the latest BIOSes do contain the x8+x8 option - but maybe it's a mistake as it doesn't seem to work.

My next bet is the ASRock b450 itx, as that does officially support bifurcation - but then I'm worried the VRMs will get too hot for my 3900X.

I really don't want active cooling so the x570 is out.

pandem0nium · 4 Dec 2019 at 10:27

I'm just interested in what you plan on using bifurcation for?

Two cards in a sff build? Or more storage?

marcosscriven · 4 Dec 2019 at 12:39

pandem0nium said:
I'm just interested in what you plan on using bifurcation for?

Two cards in a sff build? Or more storage?

yes two cards - the second one is a low profile GT1050 - it’s so I can get decent performance in a Windows VM for things like Fusion 360 which refuse to play well with Wine.

LePhuronn · 4 Dec 2019 at 14:42

marcosscriven said:
I really don't want active cooling so the x570 is out.

The fans are a total non issue, I wouldn't worry.

marcosscriven · 4 Dec 2019 at 14:46

LePhuronn said:
The fans are a total non issue, I wouldn't worry.

If that’s the case tempted by the Aorus X570 ITX as that has bifurcation support and 2x m.2

LePhuronn · 4 Dec 2019 at 14:49

The fans really only spin up when you RAID those PCIe 4 SSDs (or MSI have borked their BIOS

) so without that use case the PCH doesn't get all that hot.

THAT BEING SAID

Bit Tech's review of the Aorus ITX wasn't glowing
https://bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/gigabyte-x570-i-aorus-pro-wifi-review/1/

marcosscriven · 4 Dec 2019 at 14:56

Arghh. Is the asrock b450 going to struggle with a 3900x? Ideally that’s all I need.

LePhuronn · 4 Dec 2019 at 15:53

Apparently the ITX doesn't even like the 3900X. Granted this is from June

http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11875&title=difficulty-to-post-on-b450-itx-ac-with-3900x

But who knows if Asrock have sorted the BIOS. Hell, I've seen people on these forums having issues with the X570 boards so that doesn't instil confidence they've sorted last-gen boards out. This seems to be a bigger issue than just drafting a fan over the VRMs.

I know I said the Aorus review wasn't glowing, but it didn't seem to be a bad board. What's in the review that's turned you off??

marcosscriven · 4 Dec 2019 at 16:32

LePhuronn said:
Apparently the ITX doesn't even like the 3900X. Granted this is from June

http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=11875&title=difficulty-to-post-on-b450-itx-ac-with-3900x

But who knows if Asrock have sorted the BIOS. Hell, I've seen people on these forums having issues with the X570 boards so that doesn't instil confidence they've sorted last-gen boards out. This seems to be a bigger issue than just drafting a fan over the VRMs.

I know I said the Aorus review wasn't glowing, but it didn't seem to be a bad board. What's in the review that's turned you off??

chiefly the VRM temps still being high, and only on the 3900x at stock. That’s the whole reason for being concerned about the b450.

LePhuronn · 4 Dec 2019 at 17:17

Upgrade the thermal pads and point a fan at the heatsink?

marcosscriven · 4 Dec 2019 at 17:28

LePhuronn said:
Upgrade the thermal pads and point a fan at the heatsink?

Maybe I’ll give it a go.

LePhuronn · 4 Dec 2019 at 17:47

marcosscriven said:
Maybe I’ll give it a go.

It's quite the conundrum, I feel you. Best of luck.