These vrm roundups, the revisitations of GPUs, and the monitor response testing will always keep me coming back to reference. Thank you for picking up the areas where the rest of industry lacks So basically right now you're looking at a $10 difference and having to take mATX for Intel. B550A-pro vs B660m-a pro for most, b550 tomahawk vs B660 mortar for high end
Looks like MSI is the winner when it comes to AMD's B550 and Intel's B660 thermal tests. It seems like MSI is the only company out there who is listening to your critiques when it comes to thermals and performance!
MSI cracked the code to making money: make the best product you can so you make money by outselling your competition instead of squeezing margins of single cents out of every single unit
For me, these types of reviews are exceptionally valuable because the consequence of combining a mis-matched cpu/mobo is an absolute pitfall and a real PITA to sort out afterwards. Far more useful than what makes +/-5 fps in whatever the latest game is. I can really appreciate the amount of raw time and effort goes into running these tests - well done Steve!
yeah. MSI have been a consistent top performer for the midrange on both Intel and AMD platform. Their pro, mortar, and tomahawk lines are actually pretty good its price. while, Asrock has been always at the bottom.
@@chronicle_4 yes and no, asrock was actually killing it in the budget segment of AM4 boards with their B450M Pro4, none of their boards are exceptional but they offer decent price performance usually.
i still have the b450 tomahawk max (Ryzen 3000 - not sure about 5000 support) to this day, a very decent one and i think it was the top performer as well in the b450 category, recommended it to all my friends who either got it or the Mortar one.
At least in my region B660 pricing is all over the place and prices change seemingly at random, so this kind of content is extremely useful for bargain hunting. Thanks Steve!
That's why I am happy with my MSI Z690 board that I snagged for a little over $200 at Micro Center when first released and the 12600K for $270 (which has since dropped to $250).
@@Oz-gv5fz Depends on what you want in a board. Generally the Z690 will be better if you plan on doing more OC'ing and need the extra features like more USB ports, more m.2 PCIe 4.0 slots and how you want your PCIe slots arranged. The MSI has proven reliable thus far but I'm pretty sure the Gigabyte is just as good. For an extra $10 though, I'd steer towards the Z690
Had nothing but trouble with the Gigabyte B660 board, freezing and random BSOD's. Have RMA'd it and gone for the MSI B660 M-A Wifi for not much more. Thanks Steve, I wouldn't have been aware of the performance loss's otherwise.
@Hardwareunboxed to when a new video with VRMs, thermals and Performance from the B760 boards? That would be awesome, since are the actual version, everyone's want to see!!!
HardwareUnboxed: Some of the most relevant content on PC-Building, Overclocking and Hardware reviews.! Keep it coming... Greetings from Germany. (PC-Builder since 20 years now).
great video! And perfectly timed: I'm trying to decide between a Z690 and B660 board right now. VRM performance and thermals is the only thing I can't determine from spec sheets so this testing is priceless! Thanks.
This is good info to have. As someone with a 13 year old CPU that I use for gaming most of the time I am interested in vrm quality not just so that it works well but also hopefully lasts a long time by running cool.
0:33 ... is that Tim vaping cannabis in the background? Ever since he grew that moustache, things have been headed that way haven't they ... haha. Anyway, fantastic breakdown as always. Your VRM testing videos, while I'm sure they consume immense amounts of time and effort, are an incredible service to the community. Very happy to be a Patreon supporter. Thanks Steve (and Tim-the-cannabis-vaper).
Can I suggest in the future to make a video showing onboard VRM temp vs temp probe on rear of PCB? In my work we have had to do similar tests for PCB mounted electrical components and have found that the choice of component, the solder used, the PCB layers/thickness all impacted the delta between the rear of PCB temp vs actual component temp. Thats not to say reported VRM temps are more accurate, but ultimately it is used by the BIOS to thermal throttle, so it would be a useful comparison to see what the headroom is for the boards.
That MSI Tomahawk is very impressive. I'm still interested in the H670 chipset for "budget" builds since it and the z690 are the only two LGA 1700 chipsets to support DMI 4.0 @ x8 speed as opposed to 4.0 @ x4 with the others...but those boards are a little expensive to be considered "budget" for some users. Thank you for the continued testing. Really helps with decision making. It's such a toss up with what you're getting with boards these days unless you shell out an arm and a leg.
@@jopyeap I just can't trust H670 mobos. Some models are cheaper than the MSI mortar B660 while some are almost exact same price as some decent Z690 boards. It's confusing as a first time PC builder so I just stuck with the MSI model I mentioned.
Man what an absolute mess. Thanks for all the work Steve. That being said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the current DDR5 issues where 4 sticks and XMP are seemingly causing boot loops and failure to post. I saw JTC did a video on it but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
I just love the MSI "Make America Great" boards... I have two older ones that I built for myself and my daughter for our 10th Gen Comet Lake builds; the MSI Make America Great B460M Mortar. Awesome boards!
Thanks a lot! You saved me from buying the Asus Prime B660-Plus D4. I would've spent money on a CPU and a good cooler to keep it from throttling, having no idea that my motherboard would be robbing me of some of the performance I paid for. I appreciate all the work you put into this, keep it up! Liked & subscribed. (I'm gonna go with the MSI B660 Tomahawk WiFi, it's about the same price as the Asus + a WiFi card)
I just ordered an MSI B660 Mortar for a build that my Dad will be using. I'm actually watching this review *after* paying the money but I'm glad I won't have to cancel my order to change the Mobo. Happy that my choice is doing well in price vs performance & features.
Best information i found after days of research. That seals it for me. I have an MSI board for my Skylake (my least troublesome motherboard i've had in the last 15 years), and my Raptor Lake upgrade will be on MSI as well. Subscribed.
damn, ive never known that motherboards could make such a different on processor performance. thanks for this informative vid. by the way i had those tuf b660m plus wifi because of aesthetic and aura sync, what a relieve to see that it was ok if for i7-12700
I struggled for the whole past week to figure out which board should I buy and this video helped me a lot. In the end I bought outlet ASUS TUF Gaming B660M-Plus wifi d4 for around 150 dollars because of the great IO and thanks to seeing results of your tests. Thanks!
Thank you for your extremely thorough investigation. The next time I buy a motherboard I am for sure checking this channel first to see if it meets HU's expectations.
Thanks for another useful test. I agree that it's a mess that Intel might have been able to avoid. I'd like to add that not all the boards have a PCIe 5.0 slot. I'm not sure how relevant it is going to be, but I went with that, and at the time the cheapest option was the TUF B660M-PLUS. While it might not be the very best, at least it performs okay. It's a relief that the board can handle a beefier processor if I choose to upgrade later.
And also has rear USB-C port. Where i live the ASUS TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS D4 also 10€ cheaper than the MSI Pro B660M-A DDR4, then for me the no brainer option would be the ASUS one.
Would be interesting to see if the absolute cheapest b660 motherboards would run a i5 12400 without any issues. Those motherboards does not even have cooling for the VRM, which is quite concerning.
Look at the cheap B660 review, despite HUB bashing the $95 Asrock board, when paired with the 12600k it wasnt very far behind, if they actually paired it with a 12400 it wouldve been fine, but they refused to do that because they have a grudge against Asrock for blacklisting them.
I took a gamble and bought the B660 Tomahawk D4 to pair with a 12700F as an stopgap upgrade after seeing HWB's Mortar's review and it is worked out great for all core render workloads since MSI was showing it to exceed PL2 limits with adequate cooling. That said, I'm not really happy about the pricing since it was only slightly cheaper than the best budget MSI Z690-A D4 board which was out of stock locally at the time and I needed the extra connectivity. It's really annoying that you need to spend this much to get the boosted all core performance out of a i7 CPU.
With your experience do you suggest using MSI Pro B660M-A board with i7 12700f with full potential performance or drop to i5 12600k with the same Mobo? Not a hardcore gamer or creator.
@@kaustubhx5452 getting a 12600K might be a bit wasted on that motherboard since paying the same price and getting the Z690 PRO-A means you can overclock to 5 GHz+ if you are willing to get a bigger cooler. I just didn't want to spend too much now since a DDR5 platform next year is probably going to blow the current gen out of the water.
My case is a mATX case, so needing a micro-atx board I swung for the MSI B660M Mortar to pair with a 12600k. Thanks for all the hard work Steve, you helped me make a good decision on my MB. I love my system and have absolutely no regrets!
Great video! I was wondering, assuming all would have the same price, which one should I get? - MSI PRO B660M-A - Asus TUF Gaming B660M-PLUS - Gigabyte B660M Gaming X
@@MarcinTrybus no, the gigabyte z690m ds3h is far worse than the tomahawk and is absolute garbage trash, just should never have been put on sale it's that bad. Asrock's Z690 boards aren't as terrible as that awful Gigabyte board, but the Z690(M) PG4 and ITX-AX have much worse specs than the Tomahawak. Even MSI's own Pro Z690-P is worse than the Tomahawak (albeit it's not terrible like the Gigaturd). Maxsun/Soyo's Z690 board is identical to their B660 board and will perform worse than the Tomahawk.
Not that this is a huge factor at this point in time, but the TUF is unique around the mid range B660s in this roundup with PCIe 5. I think most would prefer the MSI options around the same price, but it is worth noting, especially if there is a sale on the TUF.
I got 13700k and as a temporary board I got gigabyte b660 and at start I noticed 14k cinebench r23 score. After lots of struggle I could make it higher up to 27k which goes lower and lower after each round while temps look fine except VRM.
Gigabyte also had an expensive B660, B660 Aorus Master. The B660AM got 16 phases (probably 8 doubled), which 'advertised 60A phase' (the Aorus Pro also get that 'advertised 60A phase' and gets 55A instead). But the price is reaching entry-level Z690 like the Z690 UD DDR4. TUF Plus, Mortar, Aorus Pro also exist in non-WIFI (with $10-20 price cut, depending on the region).
I can recommend one more motherboard - Gigabyte B660/B660M Gaming X. It has very good VRMs (very cool with 12700K and enough for 12900K), 8xUSB ports on the back (most B660 boards have 6), available in ATX format and costs as much as Asus Prime Plus.
Thanks I been looking at the MSI boards and wanted one with us c type Soni been looking ant the mag motor but then remembered your review that the MSI pro was the best... At that time so came back and found this.
A similar video for itx boards please (h610/b660/h670), would like to see how most likely poor performers like ASRock 's ones can deal with a 12400 and below cpu for small itx builds.
I bought the Asus Prime B660M-A D4 and have regret it since day one. No LAN drive until in the Windows environment. Small M.2 compatibility, Armoury Crate is a pain. I will be purchasing the MSI Pro asap! This was my first Asus board and I am not happy. ( I would still be on my MSI board but my daughter needed a rework so she got mine! Kids gotta come first!) I will be getting a new board when I can!
This is nuts! Thank you for this videoes. Ordered Ryzen 5600. It is much cheaper than 12400 because you can get a normal mainboard for it with good thermals.
I was looking for a decent B660 motherboard for i5 12500. Thanks Steve for helping me to get rid of any confusion regarding the matter. Keep up the good work. Love from Bangladesh. 👍
Thanks for this review Steve. Tomahawks are generally ~50 euros more expensive than the rest, imo not worth it for a couple of degrees cooler vrms. I got TUF B660M-Plus D4 two months ago and paired it with 12400f. And im really satisfied with it. Also have room for upgrade to 13400 or 13600 in the future. After that i hope DDR5 will come out of the beta state and new board will be a must...
Thank you steve. looking forward for the review of the cheaper msi board. As msi have created a good image with their b560 and b660 motherboards, i am curious how well the cheaper boards do. Also i didn't understood the direct air flow thing, Where exactly , the fan is placed for that because the temperatures are amazing.
Thank you for telling us which board is best right off the bat..also out of all the boards list which in your opinion is the best ddr4 compatible bord?
Hi! I dont understand the difference between standard and direct airflow. You showed the standard back fan in the case. I googled direct vrm fan, but its something differnt? idk. Anyway, lot of work in this video! Really cool! Helped me choose better! Thanks!
Just today I finally built my rig using a B660 Mortar, running benchmarks on par with your results (conebenchr23 21842). You should definitely spread the info about CPU Lite Load Modes, running my 12700 on Mode 1 which resulted in 30W less power-draw and 10 degree less on the package and 5 less on the VRMs 👍🏻 (Just look for Mike Miller here on TH-cam)
@@kaustubhx5452 I have no idea about the model you asked but I wouldn‘t hasitate and give it a shot, if benchmarks are provided by trustworthy sources 👍🏻
I bought Gigabyte b660m DS3H , started conebench test and wow, such a bad results. I5 12600k doesnt go well with that motherboard! I checked your video returned the mbo and bought MSI PRO B660, and its all great now. Thanks for help!
I believe someone might have already mention it but the B660m Mortar has DDR4 version with and without Wifi and the non Wi fi version is all black themed, also, it has a nice audio codec the ALC1200. Edit: The most absurd B660 board I've seen so far is the Asus Rog Strix b660-g gaming wi fi.
It looks like the "Buy relevant products from Amazon, Newegg and others below: " section of the description was copied from the budget boards video and contains links to the wrong products.
Would have liked if you would include the power consumption as well. This shows the efficiency of the VRM compartment and is in my opinion an indicator for the quality of the vrm.
i really loved your vids btw i am getting the MSI b660m-a and the MSI mag b660 bazooka for the same price they both are the same motherboard but look different which one should i go for??
thank you so much for your great videos🙏😍, please make videos about best h610, h510 and A520 motherboards from vrm performance perspective as well, thanks again🙏🙏
Can you make a video discussing VRMs nomenclature? What is a phase? What is the difference between a high & low phase? How do you judge VRMs when looking at specs? Thanks
As much as I'd like to see more motherboard comparisons like this, I don't think I'll ever pick up a B-series board for my future builds since there have been less and less full size ATX boards each generation. And now that more and more boards are cutting SATA and PCIE boards, it looks like there are even less options for niche users like myself, who don't OC but have a bunch of drives and expansion cards to use for daily needs. Seeing B660 with messed up VRM performance like this makes these mid range boards look even worse. I never thought one day I'd have to look at Z-series just to get enough ports, something that you take for granted with much cheaper boards years ago.
These vrm roundups, the revisitations of GPUs, and the monitor response testing will always keep me coming back to reference. Thank you for picking up the areas where the rest of industry lacks
So basically right now you're looking at a $10 difference and having to take mATX for Intel. B550A-pro vs B660m-a pro for most, b550 tomahawk vs B660 mortar for high end
Looks like MSI is the winner when it comes to AMD's B550 and Intel's B660 thermal tests. It seems like MSI is the only company out there who is listening to your critiques when it comes to thermals and performance!
Yeah just wanted to say that as well, good to see but lets hope they don't become compliant.
@@TestarossaF110 I agree 100%. Though I am sure Steve will keep them on their heels. ;)
quite the redemption after their disastrous x570 lineup!
What bought b450i
Found one from msi for $80 in my country
MSI cracked the code to making money: make the best product you can so you make money by outselling your competition instead of squeezing margins of single cents out of every single unit
For me, these types of reviews are exceptionally valuable because the consequence of combining a mis-matched cpu/mobo is an absolute pitfall and a real PITA to sort out afterwards. Far more useful than what makes +/-5 fps in whatever the latest game is. I can really appreciate the amount of raw time and effort goes into running these tests - well done Steve!
THIS 👍
well said !
Perfect, at least one comprehensive source of info on these... thank you! And keep up the good work! :)
MSI really got their shit together after the fiasco we've seen 4 years ago
yeah. MSI have been a consistent top performer for the midrange on both Intel and AMD platform. Their pro, mortar, and tomahawk lines are actually pretty good its price.
while, Asrock has been always at the bottom.
@@chronicle_4 msi did really well with their b450 and b550 lineup
@@chronicle_4 yes and no, asrock was actually killing it in the budget segment of AM4 boards with their B450M Pro4, none of their boards are exceptional but they offer decent price performance usually.
Remember the X570-A PRO and GAMING EDGE VRM debacle?
i still have the b450 tomahawk max (Ryzen 3000 - not sure about 5000 support) to this day, a very decent one and i think it was the top performer as well in the b450 category, recommended it to all my friends who either got it or the Mortar one.
At least in my region B660 pricing is all over the place and prices change seemingly at random, so this kind of content is extremely useful for bargain hunting. Thanks Steve!
I don't really understand the current pricing where I live. B660. Z690, it's basically all the same, plus or minus a few 10s of bucks.
That's why I am happy with my MSI Z690 board that I snagged for a little over $200 at Micro Center when first released and the 12600K for $270 (which has since dropped to $250).
@@KindOldRaven same here it actually cheaper to buy a z690 board. I think bcz b660 is newer availability is not as good as z690
I need matx board. So which is better b660m mortar wifi or z690m aorus elite? About $10 price different
@@Oz-gv5fz Depends on what you want in a board. Generally the Z690 will be better if you plan on doing more OC'ing and need the extra features like more USB ports, more m.2 PCIe 4.0 slots and how you want your PCIe slots arranged. The MSI has proven reliable thus far but I'm pretty sure the Gigabyte is just as good. For an extra $10 though, I'd steer towards the Z690
Great video. Very helpful for making good decisions when building sensible gaming PCs for non k Intel parts.
Had nothing but trouble with the Gigabyte B660 board, freezing and random BSOD's.
Have RMA'd it and gone for the MSI B660 M-A Wifi for not much more.
Thanks Steve, I wouldn't have been aware of the performance loss's otherwise.
@Hardwareunboxed to when a new video with VRMs, thermals and Performance from the B760 boards? That would be awesome, since are the actual version, everyone's want to see!!!
Thank you. Was waiting for this comparison. Helped a lot.
HardwareUnboxed: Some of the most relevant content on PC-Building, Overclocking and Hardware reviews.! Keep it coming... Greetings from Germany. (PC-Builder since 20 years now).
great video! And perfectly timed: I'm trying to decide between a Z690 and B660 board right now. VRM performance and thermals is the only thing I can't determine from spec sheets so this testing is priceless! Thanks.
This is good info to have. As someone with a 13 year old CPU that I use for gaming most of the time I am interested in vrm quality not just so that it works well but also hopefully lasts a long time by running cool.
YES! It is here. Been waiting for this video for the whole week
Why no B760 VRM video?
0:33 ... is that Tim vaping cannabis in the background? Ever since he grew that moustache, things have been headed that way haven't they ... haha. Anyway, fantastic breakdown as always. Your VRM testing videos, while I'm sure they consume immense amounts of time and effort, are an incredible service to the community. Very happy to be a Patreon supporter. Thanks Steve (and Tim-the-cannabis-vaper).
Can I suggest in the future to make a video showing onboard VRM temp vs temp probe on rear of PCB? In my work we have had to do similar tests for PCB mounted electrical components and have found that the choice of component, the solder used, the PCB layers/thickness all impacted the delta between the rear of PCB temp vs actual component temp. Thats not to say reported VRM temps are more accurate, but ultimately it is used by the BIOS to thermal throttle, so it would be a useful comparison to see what the headroom is for the boards.
That MSI Tomahawk is very impressive. I'm still interested in the H670 chipset for "budget" builds since it and the z690 are the only two LGA 1700 chipsets to support DMI 4.0 @ x8 speed as opposed to 4.0 @ x4 with the others...but those boards are a little expensive to be considered "budget" for some users. Thank you for the continued testing. Really helps with decision making. It's such a toss up with what you're getting with boards these days unless you shell out an arm and a leg.
H670 are just dumb in my region, you might as well top up 10 - 20 dollars more to get z690, that's how much they cost here.
@@jopyeap I just can't trust H670 mobos. Some models are cheaper than the MSI mortar B660 while some are almost exact same price as some decent Z690 boards. It's confusing as a first time PC builder so I just stuck with the MSI model I mentioned.
Now for TH-cam you are "Harvard Unboxed"! 🤣Such an elite channel! I'm so proud to be here!!
Man what an absolute mess.
Thanks for all the work Steve.
That being said, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the current DDR5 issues where 4 sticks and XMP are seemingly causing boot loops and failure to post. I saw JTC did a video on it but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
i searched for ages a videos or any info like this, this is the only one out there that helped me decided, thanks!
please continue this series in the future, helps a lot.
Bought a Soyo B660M from Ali the other day for $150AUD shipped. Looking forward to trying it out.
I just love the MSI "Make America Great" boards... I have two older ones that I built for myself and my daughter for our 10th Gen Comet Lake builds; the MSI Make America Great B460M Mortar. Awesome boards!
Really appreciate this content, it is invaluable for us and no one else really seems to dive as deep into motherboards.
Really appreciate this series, thanks guys. You all have any plans to check any mini itx board?
I hope you guys are still around for comprehensive tests like these once I get around to making a new build when Meteor Lake or Nova Lake is out.
Glad to see consistent performance from MSI tomahawk! Btw, nice job steve.
Thanks a lot! You saved me from buying the Asus Prime B660-Plus D4. I would've spent money on a CPU and a good cooler to keep it from throttling, having no idea that my motherboard would be robbing me of some of the performance I paid for. I appreciate all the work you put into this, keep it up! Liked & subscribed. (I'm gonna go with the MSI B660 Tomahawk WiFi, it's about the same price as the Asus + a WiFi card)
First time builder and I really appreciate this video
I just ordered an MSI B660 Mortar for a build that my Dad will be using. I'm actually watching this review *after* paying the money but I'm glad I won't have to cancel my order to change the Mobo.
Happy that my choice is doing well in price vs performance & features.
Best information i found after days of research. That seals it for me. I have an MSI board for my Skylake (my least troublesome motherboard i've had in the last 15 years), and my Raptor Lake upgrade will be on MSI as well. Subscribed.
damn, ive never known that motherboards could make such a different on processor performance. thanks for this informative vid. by the way i had those tuf b660m plus wifi because of aesthetic and aura sync, what a relieve to see that it was ok if for i7-12700
great detail review, thank you ! it deserves much more views.
These comparrisons are my favourite reviews you do. Especially on the mobo side as it can make all the difference in a build.
I've been hanging out for this! Thanks mate.
I struggled for the whole past week to figure out which board should I buy and this video helped me a lot. In the end I bought outlet ASUS TUF Gaming B660M-Plus wifi d4 for around 150 dollars because of the great IO and thanks to seeing results of your tests. Thanks!
Nice! Was waiting for this
This was incredibly helpful, thanks!
Amazing video. Great job!
Really appreciate you for the testing, it does helps a lot 🙏🙏❤😊
These are the interesting ones... thank you for making this video
Thank you for your extremely thorough investigation. The next time I buy a motherboard I am for sure checking this channel first to see if it meets HU's expectations.
I am really grateful for that video. Super in depth and super helpful
Thanks Steve, appreciate the work!
This is the one I was looking for. Great work Tim showing us what the boards are actually for capable of
... except that was Steve
Thanks for another useful test. I agree that it's a mess that Intel might have been able to avoid.
I'd like to add that not all the boards have a PCIe 5.0 slot. I'm not sure how relevant it is going to be, but I went with that, and at the time the cheapest option was the TUF B660M-PLUS. While it might not be the very best, at least it performs okay. It's a relief that the board can handle a beefier processor if I choose to upgrade later.
And also has rear USB-C port. Where i live the ASUS TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS D4 also 10€ cheaper than the MSI Pro B660M-A DDR4, then for me the no brainer option would be the ASUS one.
@@olymind1 that asus board cost $10 more than mortar wifi on my region 😶
Would be interesting to see if the absolute cheapest b660 motherboards would run a i5 12400 without any issues. Those motherboards does not even have cooling for the VRM, which is quite concerning.
A cpu cooler that blows across the vrm would help.
It’s fine if you are fine with 80c
Look at the cheap B660 review, despite HUB bashing the $95 Asrock board, when paired with the 12600k it wasnt very far behind, if they actually paired it with a 12400 it wouldve been fine, but they refused to do that because they have a grudge against Asrock for blacklisting them.
I took a gamble and bought the B660 Tomahawk D4 to pair with a 12700F as an stopgap upgrade after seeing HWB's Mortar's review and it is worked out great for all core render workloads since MSI was showing it to exceed PL2 limits with adequate cooling.
That said, I'm not really happy about the pricing since it was only slightly cheaper than the best budget MSI Z690-A D4 board which was out of stock locally at the time and I needed the extra connectivity. It's really annoying that you need to spend this much to get the boosted all core performance out of a i7 CPU.
With your experience do you suggest using MSI Pro B660M-A board with i7 12700f with full potential performance or drop to i5 12600k with the same Mobo?
Not a hardcore gamer or creator.
@@kaustubhx5452 getting a 12600K might be a bit wasted on that motherboard since paying the same price and getting the Z690 PRO-A means you can overclock to 5 GHz+ if you are willing to get a bigger cooler.
I just didn't want to spend too much now since a DDR5 platform next year is probably going to blow the current gen out of the water.
Really appreciate the detailed testing, thanks! Are you planning to cover H670 as well?
please provide VRM thermal guide for B760 & Z790
Recently bought msi mag b660 mortar wifi! Can't express how happy I am 😊😊
My case is a mATX case, so needing a micro-atx board I swung for the MSI B660M Mortar to pair with a 12600k.
Thanks for all the hard work Steve, you helped me make a good decision on my MB. I love my system and have absolutely no regrets!
Hi, how it performs now? is it worth the money?
@@SereBronx Yep
Brilliant content! I appreciate the effort!
Thank you guys for these tests 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Great video! I was wondering, assuming all would have the same price, which one should I get?
- MSI PRO B660M-A
- Asus TUF Gaming B660M-PLUS
- Gigabyte B660M Gaming X
As usual thanks for this.
When are you going to do a Z690 board comparison? Looking forward for that video
Not much point to it. All Z690 are on par with B660 Tomahawk or better.
@@MarcinTrybus sure? This was not the case on previous generations, same for AMD boards..
they already did lol check their videos
@@MarcinTrybus no, the gigabyte z690m ds3h is far worse than the tomahawk and is absolute garbage trash, just should never have been put on sale it's that bad.
Asrock's Z690 boards aren't as terrible as that awful Gigabyte board, but the Z690(M) PG4 and ITX-AX have much worse specs than the Tomahawak. Even MSI's own Pro Z690-P is worse than the Tomahawak (albeit it's not terrible like the Gigaturd). Maxsun/Soyo's Z690 board is identical to their B660 board and will perform worse than the Tomahawk.
@@thelawnet I literally did, they don't have any proper Z690 motherboard roundup video.
Not that this is a huge factor at this point in time, but the TUF is unique around the mid range B660s in this roundup with PCIe 5. I think most would prefer the MSI options around the same price, but it is worth noting, especially if there is a sale on the TUF.
I got 13700k and as a temporary board I got gigabyte b660 and at start I noticed 14k cinebench r23 score. After lots of struggle I could make it higher up to 27k which goes lower and lower after each round while temps look fine except VRM.
FeelsBadMan
Very close to getting a better board.@@OPGamified
Thanks for this hard work, Steve. It makes shopping for budget builds really easy for us noobs!
Thanks a lot for this, I am glad my assessment that MSI is having the best packages with Alder Lake have been confirmed here. Super helpful as always!
Gigabyte also had an expensive B660, B660 Aorus Master.
The B660AM got 16 phases (probably 8 doubled), which 'advertised 60A phase' (the Aorus Pro also get that 'advertised 60A phase' and gets 55A instead). But the price is reaching entry-level Z690 like the Z690 UD DDR4.
TUF Plus, Mortar, Aorus Pro also exist in non-WIFI (with $10-20 price cut, depending on the region).
Mantab Jiwaaaaaa.... Thx for the test Steve.. But a lil sad coz there is no Asrock B660 Steel Legend..
I can recommend one more motherboard - Gigabyte B660/B660M Gaming X. It has very good VRMs (very cool with 12700K and enough for 12900K), 8xUSB ports on the back (most B660 boards have 6), available in ATX format and costs as much as Asus Prime Plus.
Thank you very much for these detailed tests...simply the best...
I have already messaged you using telegram..but I don't know if it worked...
Thanks I been looking at the MSI boards and wanted one with us c type Soni been looking ant the mag motor but then remembered your review that the MSI pro was the best... At that time so came back and found this.
A similar video for itx boards please (h610/b660/h670), would like to see how most likely poor performers like ASRock 's ones can deal with a 12400 and below cpu for small itx builds.
MSI PRO B660M-A costs around 60$ less than both Tomahawk and Mortar in my country so the choice is pretty clear. Thanks for the video
I bought the Asus Prime B660M-A D4 and have regret it since day one. No LAN drive until in the Windows environment. Small M.2 compatibility, Armoury Crate is a pain. I will be purchasing the MSI Pro asap! This was my first Asus board and I am not happy. ( I would still be on my MSI board but my daughter needed a rework so she got mine! Kids gotta come first!) I will be getting a new board when I can!
This is nuts! Thank you for this videoes. Ordered Ryzen 5600. It is much cheaper than 12400 because you can get a normal mainboard for it with good thermals.
I was looking for a decent B660 motherboard for i5 12500. Thanks Steve for helping me to get rid of any confusion regarding the matter. Keep up the good work. Love from Bangladesh. 👍
Thanks for this review Steve. Tomahawks are generally ~50 euros more expensive than the rest, imo not worth it for a couple of degrees cooler vrms. I got TUF B660M-Plus D4 two months ago and paired it with 12400f. And im really satisfied with it. Also have room for upgrade to 13400 or 13600 in the future. After that i hope DDR5 will come out of the beta state and new board will be a must...
Ah yes, the Motherboard Gauntlet has been endured once more. Thanks Steve, for everything you and Tim do.
Thank you steve. looking forward for the review of the cheaper msi board. As msi have created a good image with their b560 and b660 motherboards, i am curious how well the cheaper boards do.
Also i didn't understood the direct air flow thing, Where exactly , the fan is placed for that because the temperatures are amazing.
The easiest way would be to use a downdraft CPU cooler instead of a tower. That way you can make the more budget boards usable.
@@MarcinTrybus tq
Thank you so much for this!
Thanks very helpful. ♡
Excellent video with lots of efforts 😮😲
Thank you for making this video this helped me a lot in building pc ❤️
Thank you for telling us which board is best right off the bat..also out of all the boards list which in your opinion is the best ddr4 compatible bord?
Hi!
I dont understand the difference between standard and direct airflow.
You showed the standard back fan in the case. I googled direct vrm fan, but its something differnt? idk.
Anyway, lot of work in this video! Really cool! Helped me choose better! Thanks!
Just today I finally built my rig using a B660 Mortar, running benchmarks on par with your results (conebenchr23 21842). You should definitely spread the info about CPU Lite Load Modes, running my 12700 on Mode 1 which resulted in 30W less power-draw and 10 degree less on the package and 5 less on the VRMs 👍🏻 (Just look for Mike Miller here on TH-cam)
Planning to build same, could you help me with which cooler you have used how is it performing?
@@kaustubhx5452 I‘m using a Noctua ND-D15s and it performs stellar!
@@Tom_Hart what do you think about deepcool as500 plus?
Benchmarks are close to NH d15s and better than entry 240 aios
@@kaustubhx5452 I have no idea about the model you asked but I wouldn‘t hasitate and give it a shot, if benchmarks are provided by trustworthy sources 👍🏻
11:20 corsair h170i is 420mm radiator not 240mm with 3x140mm fans. great video as always
So glad I got the msi tomahawk b560 a year ago
I bought Gigabyte b660m DS3H , started conebench test and wow, such a bad results. I5 12600k doesnt go well with that motherboard! I checked your video returned the mbo and bought MSI PRO B660, and its all great now. Thanks for help!
love your tests, thanks for such noice content
Can MSI MAG B660m Bazooka handle 13600k without any issues with VRM? (I don't plan to OC)
Another great video, thank you!!
I believe someone might have already mention it but the B660m Mortar has DDR4 version with and without Wifi and the non Wi fi version is all black themed, also, it has a nice audio codec the ALC1200.
Edit: The most absurd B660 board I've seen so far is the Asus Rog Strix b660-g gaming wi fi.
MSI is still what i prefeer. Been using MSI's motherboard since 2013 when i build Haswell system with Z87 GD65 Gaming.
Thanks
It looks like the "Buy relevant products from Amazon, Newegg and others below:
" section of the description was copied from the budget boards video and contains links to the wrong products.
god-tier motherboard tester THANKS STEVE
Real gold information.. Thank you... Wish i found you before buying one of these cheap intel motherboards...
Would have liked if you would include the power consumption as well. This shows the efficiency of the VRM compartment and is in my opinion an indicator for the quality of the vrm.
This is the video I'll come back to if I consider buying a new intel system. Lots of hard work, but it pays off, right?
Probably not, but we enjoy it anyway :)
i really loved your vids btw i am getting the MSI b660m-a and the MSI mag b660 bazooka for the same price they both are the same motherboard but look different which one should i go for??
thank you so much for your great videos🙏😍, please make videos about best h610, h510 and A520 motherboards from vrm performance perspective as well, thanks again🙏🙏
Can you make a video discussing VRMs nomenclature? What is a phase? What is the difference between a high & low phase? How do you judge VRMs when looking at specs? Thanks
So if I have a 12400 or 13400 any motherboard should do, right?
As much as I'd like to see more motherboard comparisons like this, I don't think I'll ever pick up a B-series board for my future builds since there have been less and less full size ATX boards each generation. And now that more and more boards are cutting SATA and PCIE boards, it looks like there are even less options for niche users like myself, who don't OC but have a bunch of drives and expansion cards to use for daily needs. Seeing B660 with messed up VRM performance like this makes these mid range boards look even worse. I never thought one day I'd have to look at Z-series just to get enough ports, something that you take for granted with much cheaper boards years ago.