noko

Supreme [H]ardness
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Apr 14, 2010
Messages
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BioStar B350GT3 Review by noko


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BioStar
BioStar has been around since 1986 making motherboards. Currently they produce motherboards both for AMD and Intel. Their headquarters is in Taipei Taiwan. Besides motherboards they also make:

− graphics cards, currently they sell NVidia GTX 1080 series and AMD RX 580 series and down.

− SSD’s, mini PC, Keyboard/Mouse, Barebones systems, accessories from remote controller to thermal compound

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/

B350GT3 Racing
Well when you are having fun you may end up with more kids then planned. While sex had nothing to do with this (VR does not count) I ended up with a second orphaned AMD Ryzen 1700x staring at me from a lonely shelf.

Of course, solution was to update one of my systems and the most likely candidate was the living room HTPC which had an ASUS M5A88-M MicroATX board with the famous Bulldozer FX 8350 with 16gb of DDR3 2400 running at a slower pace of 1866.

Considering a whole new platform from AMD who lately has not hit it out of the park for a very long while, I was very much surprised when in the end things turned out way better than ever expected. So, the review really stemmed from appreciation of good products.

Board
MicroATX form factor with the following features:

Specs.png


This board currently sells for $84.99 on Newegg

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Biostar+B350GT3&N=-1&isNodeId=1

M2Slot.jpg
Feature wise for such a low price is very good. Two fan headers vice one like on the ASUS Prime B350M. Two VRM phasing for the ram vice single phase on most of the boards in this price range, even the Gigabyte GA-AB350M G3 for $116 only has a single phase, or the MSI B350M Mortar, this can help in memory OC.

The M.2 slot is shifted towards the second pcie slot which keeps it away from a two-slot graphics card and allows cool air to flow across it – it is not under the graphics card unless you have a three-slot card.

Two RGB 5050 headers vice one or none. If that is your thing.

Four memory slots for up to 64gb of memory and surprisingly supports memory Overclocking to DDR 4 3200. This is what James Prior from AMD responded to Forbes interviewer question:

I think the community definitely appreciates that and I know on forums there has been a lot of discussion about which kits work best with Ryzen. However, I think there’s still some murky water regarding enthusiasts understanding of this. You’ll get people looking to build a Ryzen system and even I have had issues – a specific memory kit will work fine on an Intel system and also with one Ryzen board, but not with another. Also, a lot of people are in the situation of upgrading from an older Intel system to Ryzen and are using 3,200MHz memory that’s a year or two old, yet they can’t seem to get it to that speed using their new AM4 motherboard.

James: There are definitely some mismatched expectations there. For example, if you look at a current budget Intel board, few have any support for XMP. You usually can’t go above the 2,400MHz, but we’re offering support for faster memory speeds further down the stack. To add a bit of confusion to the mix at the moment, it’s really only the B350 chipset motherboards that we’re seeing this hit and miss memory support. This is down to the design of the board and how much time the manufacturer has invested into that board in maintaining support for high memory speeds. We are finding most B350 boards can hit 2,933MHz without any issues and some can do 3,200MHz. It’s that last little bit of special magic sauce – the number of layers in the board and how much trace copper they put into it and the time they invest in the BIOS. Ultimately, there’s better support for faster memory with a B350 motherboard compared to a similarly-priced Intel B250 motherboard.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/antonyleather/2017/05/18/an-interview-with-amd-the-latest-on-ryzen-memory-support-game-performance-and-ryzen-3s-launch/#5ff43185ff43

Well the good news is that this BioStar board right off the bat supported DDR 3200 from a Hynix die ram module from Corsair flawlessly on the latest bios, albeit at a higher voltage but never the less works perfectly at the rated memory timings. Looks like BioStar did put in that special magic sauce both on the board and into the bios.

USB3Gen2.jpg
USB 3 Gen 2 - 10gbs which is absent in many of the AM4 MicroATX motherboards. Plus, no pci slots for those that no longer use old obsolete cards. Still if you have an older pci sound card or other device other lower end boards have pci slots.

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Dual bios with a switch, a bad flash does not mean a bad board and waiting for a replacement. The reset bios jumper is in a location that in my case was very hard to get to. Now I thought bios jumpers were of the past, not yet.

CMOSBat.jpg
The CMOS battery is in a good place unless you have a low-profile cooler that spreads out and covers it, luckily, I did not have to pull the battery to reset the bios:

Board thickness seems a little bit more than the Asus board it was replacing, being a MicroATX board it does not have to be as thick as a full-size board. BioStar B350GT3 measured .0565” while the old ASUS M5A88-M measured .0555”. Seems sturdy enough.

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The Build

The build defines what components are selected or needed. Also, can put limitations on performance you can push or obtain. Add in costs and budget restraints and hopefully everything will work out for you. Which if one point I would like to make is an open bench review may reflect poorly on the same setup inside of a case. Depending upon what environment the setup is installed with whatever room temperatures can have a huge impact on overall results.

Since cost was rather paramount as in keeping it dirt poor cheap and a possibility that the 1700x CPU on hand may not work at all, some leeway in buying another Ryzen CPU for the budget was considered. This is build was basically using as many parts as possible from a HTPC system with a FX 8350 CPU. My last Bulldozer processor in use – no tears here – Champaign instead.

Recycling at its best:
  • Silverstone case with three 120mm and two 80mm fans (these fans are quiet even at 100%) with built in filters keeping everything clean
  • Blue Ray player
  • 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD
  • 1TB hard drive which I think is a Seagate drive
  • Radeon 290x reference (perfect for this case)
  • BE QUIET low profile 125w HSF
  • Win 10 Pro which Microsoft was so kind to activate with the motherboard/CPU/ram changeout.
Out with the old, in with the new . . . quick overview

Case.jpg IMG_0873.JPG

Prep the new motherboard with CPU, pressing it while latching it in the socket – a good practice I learned here from Kyle.

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Clean off both the new CPU and HSF with isopropanol alcohol, make it shine.

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Use a dab of good TIM material on the CPU, mount the HSF which this BE QUIET heat sink just uses the AM4 socket clips already installed on the motherboard. Install Ram with even pressure on both sides which I did before the HSF

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Install motherboard into case taking your time, aligning everything up, no forcing! Screw it down. Here I used wire ties to secure the CPU fan to the heat sink – I just hate those spring clips and found this method much easier to do. Hook everything up, install video card and you are about ready to rock and roll.

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Bios
The bios Main page gives basic information which you can see below. Left side is current CPU and Memory speeds with Fan speed and CPU temperature. The bios is very easy to navigate and BioStar has taken out a lot of the settings that you would probably never really touch or in my case have a clue what they are supposed to do. This can be good or bad depending upon your view point.

Main.png

One of the first thing once you get up into the bios is to check voltages, temperatures specifically the CPU to make sure everything has the right voltage and being cooled, particularly the CPU. In the bios that will be in the Advance Tab under Hardware Monitor:

HardwareMonitor.png
Second you will most likely want to do is to update the bios which you can do with a Flashcard formatted fat32 with the most current bios file. For the B350GT3 here is the link for the most recent bios:

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=870#download

F12 to go to Bios Flash and follow the prompts for the update:

Testing.jpg
As for the rest of the settings it is pretty much straight forward from there in setting up boot device, SSD’s and so forth. You can download the bios manual for this motherboard which goes into more detail and that is nice that BioStar has a separate manual just dealing with the bios which you can download the pdf AB35A-M4S & AX37A-M4S.zip which contains three manuals (as a note these manuals sold me on trying this motherboard):

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=870#download

Some bios screen shots and of notes:

One.png
The O.N.E tab has the bios over clocking features that is supported and really it is not much. No separate CPU clock multiplier, no negative CPU voltage settings. CPU_SOC voltage does not seem to really affect CPU_SOC voltage, in fact AUTO CPU_SOC voltage seems to give the highest value of 1.09v which is very close to AMD’s recommend 1.1v for overclocking ram. It does have XMP Memory Clock Mode which worked great for my Ram.

The one redeeming and most powerful in my opinion for the O.N.E tab is that this motherboard and bios supports AMD Pstate customization which you can set the CPU clock multiplier and CPU voltage. Current AMD AGESA 1.0.0.4 and looks like upcoming AMD AGESA 1.0.0.6 still has the Pstate 0 VID bug when setting a higher voltage over the default will put you at a lower clock/voltage state. It does allow a lower voltage to be set and will work. Which was exactly what I needed.

You can see Pstate customization in this thread at HardOCP:

https://hardforum.com/threads/ryzen-pstate-overclocking-method-calculation-and-calculator.1928648/page-2#post-1042991453

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Core Performance Boost setting controls whether if AMD built in XFR (eXtended Frequency Range) overclocking/volting will be used or not. If you use PSsate 0 to control CPU frequency and voltages, plus any added voltage adjustments due to AMD VID bug, I recommend you set this to disable.

XFR is disabled automatically anytime the CPU is in overclock mode, that is when the CPU multiplier is changed from default. RyZen systems upon startup does memory training and if the memory fails to train upon a startup, the Pstate customization will reset to default. This can cause an over voltage condition with the added XMP voltage in combination with any additional voltage you added. This mostly affects 1700 owners where you will need to add more voltage to the lower default VID voltage get to the higher overclocks. Confusing? Oh yes. If you have a question about this please ask here or in the PState overclocking thread. Sorry for any confusion.

If you are going to use default CPU settings then leave Core Performance Boost Enabled to take advantage of the added automatic CPU performance.

VividLED.png
The RGB lighting and the two 5050 headers can be controlled straight from the bios, meaning Linux users still can have RGB lighting and not rely on a Windows program. The ASUS AURA RGB program for example is Windows only and the ASUS motherboards rely on that software to control all RGB lighting with no bios controls other than to turn it off.


SmartFan.png
Smart Fan while simple works well for all fan headers. No constant spinning up and down of the fans which is problematic in several RyZen motherboards.
 
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Results! Performance findings . . . What you really want to know!

Two test systems used:

Intel system:

· Intel I7 6700K clocked at 4.4ghz $332.67 on Amazon

· Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 $179.99 on Amazon

· Memory x2 8gb, Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 @ 3200 16-18-18-38 CR2

· AMD Radeon R9 Nano

· Intel NVMe 600P 1TB

AMD system:

· AMD RyZen 1700x $349.99 at Newegg

· BioStar B350 GT3 84.99 at Newegg

· Memory x2 8gb, Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 @ 3200 16-18-18-38 CR1

· AMD Radeon 290

· Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA III


Memory and Cache Performance

Both systems memory clock speeds where clocked as close as they would allow to each other with the only difference between the Command Rate of 2 for Intel and 1 for AMD. The Intel system was not stable with a CR1 while the AMD system did not have an option in the bios for CR2. With the I7 6700k setup having an advantage of clock speed while the AMD 1700x having double the CPU cores and threads. Which will have the faster Integrated Memory Controller or IMC? Using AiDa 64 Memory and Cache Benchmark let’s find out.

I76700Kcachemem.png 3200cachemen.png


Memory Performance:


Memory Speed.png


MemSpdComparison.png

The second chart above normalizes the I7 6700K performance at 100% where the 1700x is compared to that performance. The 1700x wins out on the read test but loses on the Write test and virtually ties on the Copy – A wash. Then on the latency the 1700x is 160% slower or more latency over the Intel – Intel wins.


L1 Cache


L1Speed.png

L1Comparison.png

Intel wins all the way around here; AMD higher latency follows here as well.


L2 Cache

L2Speed.png



L2Comparison.png

Here is where AMD RyZen fly’s past Intel, except once again Latency. Stunning being 173%, 151%, and 183% faster and eclipsing the I7 in Read, Write and Copy! Still though Intel has much lower latency or should I say Ryzen has 171% higher latency! The higher latency is not just memory speeds, it is throughout Ryzen!

L3 Cache

L3Speed.png



L3Comparison.png


Once again AMD has no problem in embarrassing Intel in Cache performance, at least AMD Latency is closer to Intel this time around. Still higher latency seems to be the theme for RyZen compared to at least Skylake.

 
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Tests on different types of work loads

Aida64 has various benchmarks that represent different types of workloads that a processor will be task with. For example, the test Queen finds a solution on a 10 by 10 chessboard. PhotoWorxx works on a RGB image – fills image random colored pixels – rotates – flips – difference and color space conversion. Zlib – compression of files. AES – modern encryption in cryptography. VP 8 – video compression. Other tests represent other different type of workloads. While the test does not represent any given commercial software, it does measure workloads that are common using assembly programming bypassing compiler optimizations and measuring accurately true capability of a processor on those types of tasks.

While Aida64 makes it easier, it is prudent to test benchmarks representing real software in use; for example, Maxon CineBench which uses the same engine used for rendering in their 3D program Cinema 4D:

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer's performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award-winning animation software Cinema 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more. CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and OS X). And best of all: It's completely free. https://www.maxon.net/en-us/products/cinebench/

FritzChessBMBiostar.png

Plus, a real Chess Engine such as Deep Fritz 64 chess engine that will use every core/thread you have. Keep in mind to test everything or your favorite title would end up with an endless amount of data, charts and even conclusions. More tests as time permits will be done in the future.

Results:



I7vs1700x.png
To clarify how the two different CPUs compare, the chart below has the I7 performance set at the 100% mark or normalized at 100% with the 1700x values compared to that performance level.

PerfPercentages.png
Some of the surprising results at least for me is PhotoWorxx where you are doing an image program type workload – Even with double the cores and threads even at a slower speed one would expect a better comparison here. With the many operations per pixel, calculations and algorithms to process, it does looks like all those latencies deficients are catching up or slowing down the 1700x.

Also, VP8, Google video compression type workload where the 1700x basically tied the 6700K. Now the other type of workloads AES (Cryptology) Hash (obsolete Cryptology) it knocks it out of the park. Cinebench also was good and for my use makes this well worth it. Deep Fritz 64 test was also disappointing, while winning I still think it should have been higher.

These two CPUs are currently in the same price range available today – overall the 1700x in general is the winning processor by a magnitude that can only be shown. Look at the area above the 100% mark representing where the 1700x was performing better is in orange, compared to the blue area below where the 6700K was performing better. The magnitude which the 1700x performance sits compared to the 6700K is stunning! Still you could have a more limited workload where the Intel 4core/8thread processor would serve you better.

PerfPercentagesArea.png

Games and Memory Speeds

These tests are done at 1080p resolutions on a Radeon 290, no antialiasing was used on any test to stress the platform more. Settings are in the charts for the games tested. I was debating putting in one of my GTX 1070’s but was more curious what a Radeon Rx 290 level performance would bring to the table with different memory speeds. Maybe at some other time I will put in the 1070 for tests. I could just do that with my other RyZen rig anyways for memory speed and game performance.


MemSpdGaming.png
While the above chart does show positive results with increase memory speeds, the chart below should quantify this better using DDR4 2133 as the normalize 100% baseline. The GTA V different game tests avg and mins results were all averaged together and plotted on the chart.

MemSpdComparisonGame.png
The above chart includes minimums for Dirt 3 and GTAV which shows the most gains which is also the most important performance benefit you can have in the gaming experience. Dirt 3, which Dirt 4 will be here next month (can’t wait) gained up to 15% on the minimums while GTA V around 23%.

Biggest jump was from DDR 4 2133 to DDR4 2666, so just getting your memory speed up to 2666 can have a positive effect. Also, the performance of the Rx 290 looks like it is coming into play with DDR4 3200. So, if you have a lower performing video card like a Rx 480 or GTX 1060Ti you could save some money on memory cost with slower ram and not see that much of a performance loss. Still I would recommend the fastest speed you can afford. If you have a faster card, the faster the memory the better for gaming mostly with minimum frame rates.

When you are gpu limited like in Tom Clancy's the Division, memory speed will not make much difference.


Memory Speed From 2133 to 3200 on non-games



MemSpd2133_3200.png MemComparison.png

Memory read performance goes up to around 145% from 2133 to 3200 and the in between memory straps are pretty much in line with the memory speed increase. Write and Copy performance follows with decrease latency as you climb the memory speed ladder. You can imagine if DDR4 2400 was tested where it would have fall with the above chart lines.

For these type of workloads PhotoWorxx which represents image type manipulation software saw the most gain while the other workloads were utterly stagnant. Even CineBench saw less than a 5% increase in performance. VP8 which is video editing went down! Not sure why that would ever be the case but there it is. You can conclude that many type of workloads, memory speed may not have much of any kind of influence. These types of workloads where memory speed does not affect performance – you may want to use that ECC ram for stability reasons. Plus running 64gb for large workloads which has a tendency to run at slower speeds is perfectly ok.

That wraps up the performance test section.
 
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Lighting Control – BIOSTAR VIVID LED DJ

To get a good feel what you can do with RGB lighting you can go straight to BioStar and test it out in their interactive Demo, scroll down to Light Control and have fun:

VRMs

The B350GT3 has 4 phases for the CPU cores, 3 phases for the SOC or Northbridge and 2 phases for the ram. 3 phases for the SOC may seem excessive but that is also for the GPU power in an APU. Some boards only have 2 phases for the SOC and 1 phase for the Ram. In any case the VRMs on this board does support up to the 1800x with overclocking. Now I wouldn’t push beyond 4ghz for an 8 core RyZen but that is me. Here is link to the PWN controller which is being used to its full capability of 4 phases for the core and 3 phases for the SOC:

Digital Power +

Now the B350GT3 does not have any Load Line Calibration LLC settings in the bios. LLC is normally used to control the voltage droop or drop when the CPU is loaded more up to 100%. This drop in the CPU core voltage can make it harder to get stable overclocks. BioStar has a feature which they call Digital Power+ which regulates the voltage to be constant regardless of CPU loads when stress. Now this does not affect the lower voltage on low load conditions, clock speeds or lower PStates to save power. In other words, going from 25% CPU load to 100% CPU load you should have a constant voltage or close to it.

Now let’s see if this works out as BioStar promotes; using Biostar Racing Utility to measure CPU Core Voltage; controlling the number of threads using both Fritz Chess benchmark and affinity setting in task manager to assign the number of threads to the cores of the 1700x.

First is 25% CPU load, 4 threads are selected to be used in Fritz Chess Benchmark and voltage comes out to be 1.298v.


25percentLoad.jpg
How lest do the same test for 50% with 8 threads, then 75% with 12 threads and 100% 16 threads. Look at CPU voltage as the load is increase.


50percentLoad.jpg 75percentLoad.jpg 100percentLoad.jpg
What one would expect is a voltage drop as CPU usage goes up, instead it is indeed almost constant and a little bit added voltage was added up to 100% CPU usage. This relatively constant voltage vice varying with CPU load can add stability as well as OC potential for your CPU.

Audio

BioStar Hi-Fi description:

A combination of exclusive hardware & software design including "ground-isolation circuit design","an independent audio power", and "a built=on-board amplifier", with all these hardware features gives you the best audio quality and performance. As for software, we offer you a free bundle utility "Multi-Channel Calibration" which normally you'll find in high level sound systems; this feature allows you to auto detect your location; with a user friendly interface, you can easily adjust the volume of every speakers to make a well balanced surround sound. And of course, the built-on-board amplifier always gives you a super powerful sound comparing to other motherboards.

Initially when I plugged in my headphones I heard my mouse movements – now that can get irritating. I use a USB receiver wireless mouse and movement was like finger nails on a chalk board. Then it stopped, not sure what changed – audio is perfectly quiet now and has been for a couple of weeks. Subjectively it sounds very good to me. This $84 motherboard has an audio amp for headphones and it can blast your ears off. The Racing Utility has Smart Ear section which is basically for head phones where you can choose the gain.


SmartEar.jpg

If you want studio grade audio capability then those empty pcie slots could be put to good use.

Issues:

The backplate still had the punched tabs installed, while they came out rather easy after you bend them a few times. Speaking of the backplate it is rather thin with poor description of the ports that is if you can even read them. The USB 3.1 Gen 2 is not designated which you just must know which ones they are.


Backplate.JPG

The motherboard missing screw holes? In odd position? Or is my case just different? The ASUS motherboard that was originally in the case all the standoffs was in the right position. This motherboard did not have holes for the back standoffs which I had to drill out of the case since they were riveted in.


Thoughts and conclusions:

This turned out to one of most problem free builds I’ve done in the last 10 years if not more. Everything just worked and continues to work well. To tell the truth it was basically a gamble in that the CPU was still usable from being electrocuted to 1.8v+ in the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero to a low-cost motherboard. Maybe when you have low expectations it is easy to be impress.

The build quality is beyond what I expected, I have bought cheap boards that cost more than this one and they indeed looked cheap. Not this board! Everything looks accurately placed, board feels and looks solid, with high quality components. Except for the back plate you get your money’s worth.

One aspect for RyZen processors that help with gaming is Ram speed. Even with a Radeon 290, over 20% performance gain was achieved with the minimum frame rates in GTA V, frame rates you would notice, if you can run fast ram. Well this board runs DDR 4 3200 Hynix die ram (many boards even the higher ones were stuck at 2933mhz or lower and still are with Hynix chips) this board runs it perfectly at rated ram speed settings. Wait I thought AGESA 1.0.0.6 was needed for that – not with this board, $84 board at that. Now I can’t wait for the next AGESA bios update with the higher straps to see what this board can really do with memory plus I maybe tempted to put in the Samsung B-Die modules for some fun.

Now if anyone a year ago would said you could get an $84 motherboard that will run an 8 core CPU for less than $350 rivalling performance of Intel’s $1000 CPU in performance I would have thought they were nuts or a few screws loose. That is exactly what happen, of course the platform is not as capable but the RyZen CPU does well in that respect.

It would be disingenuous to give a reward out being my first somewhat more indebt motherboard review. I will say from a HardOCP forum member prospective this Motherboard gets a Highest Recommendation Award for the sub $100 RyZen AM4 board, being a HardOCP member that should be enough ;).

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions, comments please ask or say. I will update this thread when a new bios hits, future issues etc. Thanks!
 
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Completed the last section of the review, please leave any thoughts or questions . . . Thanks
 
I am disappointed in the hardware manufacturers for always blinging it up with RGB lighting, heatsinks with angles, checkered flags and whatnot.
I am a grown-up. I don't want to feel embarrassed about having hardware that looks like an effing kid's toy, with a BIOS that looks like a menu in a video game...
Why can't the industry make good hardware for adults once in a while !?

Other than that, it looks like it could be the best mATX board yet, and mostly because there is no widely available X370 board in mATX form factor... But still lack of fan headers, no USB Type C and Ryzen is still a jungle ...
/end rant

How is the efficiency/heat output on those VRM's? I saw accusations in a forum that they would have skimped on the MOSFETs, but I don't know enough about different components to tell. (and neither should I have to).
 
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I am disappointed in the hardware manufacturers for always blinging it up with RGB lighting, heatsinks with angles, checkered flags and whatnot.
I am a grown-up. I don't want to feel embarrassed about having hardware that looks like an effing kid's toy, with a BIOS that looks like a menu in a video game...
Why can't the industry make good hardware for adults once in a while !?

Other than that, it looks like it could be the best mATX board yet, and mostly because there is no widely available X370 board in mATX form factor... But still lack of fan headers, no USB Type C and Ryzen is still a jungle ...
/end rant

How is the efficiency/heat output on those VRM's? I saw accusations in a forum that they would have skimped on the MOSFETs, but I don't know enough about different components to tell. (and neither should I have to).
lol, yeah I know where you coming from. The checker board grows on you trust me ;). In my HTPC case you don't see nothing so maybe wasted effort on the graphics and rgb lighting but for $84 I don't mind - I could always hook up some RGB lighting on the two ports for Christmas decorations or something - second thought I don't think so. Anyways I have it turned off in the bios.

VRM temperatures BioStar conveniently or intentionally left out any sensors so I really can't tell you on that. The cpu core VRMs are cooled by a heat sink. For Ram it is actually overkill with two phases since DDR4 modules take around 7-14w and that is it but the 2 phases does give better power delivery for finer grain voltages. The 3 phases for the SOC also is overkill for Ryzen but for APU's with GPU's these may see more power going through them. Now if I bought a cheap temperature gun that probably could give some idea on the VRMs, while not as good as a thermal imager but could be useful to see what is going on.

I really don't understand why motherboard manufacturers skimp on fan headers. CH6 has 3!??? A high end RyZen board besides the CPU and Opt CPU ones. At least they can give some y connectors for fans if they are cutting corners. I have 5 fans (not including the cpu) in that HTPC case for the BioStar board, 3 fan headers would have been good, 2 is a little weak but $84 and how it performs makes this minor in the end.
 
I might've traded my gigabyte gaming k5 for this had I seen it a few days ago...oh well. Kind of want atx/matx for this pc anyway, though uatx/mitx would have been okay.
 
Update:
I have been playing around with BioStar new Bios B35AS626 incorporating AGESA 1.0.0.6 which mostly exposes 26 new memory related parameters in the Bios:


I downloaded it from the China site, it should be available on the other sites soon. Yes, it is in English as you see below.

Main.jpg
Memory wise I can fine tune the memory due to access to the sub timings now. I could not get the memory beyond 3200, like at 3333 or above, at least yet. I was able to increase performance. Still must use the higher voltages to get to 3200, basically 1.46v. Memory is Hynix based dies, Corsair Vengeance CMK16GX4M2B3200C16W:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820236038

onetiming.jpg
onetiming2.jpg
NewBiosBiostarB350GT3.jpg

The bios is not perfect:
  • Profiles are broken, if the bios resets due to like memory not training etc. it will erase all the saved profiles making them worthless
  • You can save profiles to a flash drive. I had problems with an 8gb flash drive where half the time it would lock up in the bios trying to save or retrieve. Going to a 2gb flash drive solved that problem
  • The PState OC menu is no longer present, you now just have only what is available in the O.N.E menu
ONE.jpg
What is different now is CPU Ratio acts like PState 0 FID before; as in the CPU ratio is PState 0 and will act like a PState overclock in Windows. Meaning if you have a ratio of 37 for 3.7ghz, in Windows it will be at 3.7ghz max and will down clock to the other PStates. Looks like BioStar just took out the remaining confusion. If you want a straight overclock you will need to use software for that.

The downside, at least for me, is I can no longer undervolt in the bios – there is no negative offsets or manual overide to reduce the voltage over processor default volts. I used PState 0 VID to do that before. So I am forced to use software in Windows to do that a.k.a RyZen Master. Adding another layer onto the process.

I see no other big changes, the funky or non-functional profiles almost made this bios unusable for fine tuning. When you push things to find out max performance, you will get instabilities causing the bios to reboot/reset – loosing those profiles then becomes a chore in putting all the settings back. Luckily the flash drive method of storing profiles work – that is if your flash drive is not to big.

My ram already worked at DDR4 3200 and now it still does but with faster timings and speeds. This new bios may allow some folks who had issues before in getting faster memory speeds.

The one other aspect I like is the two bios on the motherboard. Flip of a switch and I could be using the older verison with PState 0 menu. Any questions please ask.
 
Recent video review for this board done by RedGammingTech below:

 
Hey noko . I'm looking for an AM4 mATX mobo with p-state OC. Turns out that this biostar looks like the only choice besides an Asrock B350M Pro4. Is there other options?

Does this B350GT3 support fan speed control (read that can't even make custom curves)? I really like silence and to be able to determine the speed of any PWM fan that I install. One more question: there's no fix for the BIOS, yet? I read that BIOSTAR is pretty slow to fix those type of things.
 
Hey noko . I'm looking for an AM4 mATX mobo with p-state OC. Turns out that this biostar looks like the only choice besides an Asrock B350M Pro4. Is there other options?

Does this B350GT3 support fan speed control (read that can't even make custom curves)? I really like silence and to be able to determine the speed of any PWM fan that I install. One more question: there's no fix for the BIOS, yet? I read that BIOSTAR is pretty slow to fix those type of things.
No custom curves, you do have control over the limited number of fans. Here is screen shot in the Bios for Fan Control:

FanCon.png
Best I can say about Fan control is that it works but with limited control over the curve. With the ASUS CrossHair 6 Hero it has great options except I had the constant ramping up and down of fans that drove me nuts until I figured out using smoothing (still they ramp up and down but very slowly). In contrast the Biostar board fans only ramp up and down when needed.

PState OCing in the Bios is limited to PState 0 which is usually all one really needs to adjust. The newest bios took out the PState overclocking screen but the CPU multiplier now works the same way as PState 0 did before. As in Windows if you set the bios CPU multiplier to 3.8ghz - Win 10 will down clock to the other PStates such as 1.9ghz 2.4ghz, 3ghz as needed with 3.8ghz max speed on the cores that need it. In the end no real difference with the outcome except the PState OCing screen had VID which I could lower the voltage, with the newest bios there is no way to reduce voltage in the bios now. For me that is the weakest part in the newest Biostar bios.

Currently I am using the previous bios since the latest bios profiles are broken for me as in the profile gets erased if the bios resets plus the lack of reducing voltage ability. I am waiting on for the next bios from BioStar.

 
I can't stand the horizontal SATA ports on that board. I really hate those.
 
Well they do give two vertical ones for the haters of the other. :LOL:

I actually meant "I hate the vertical ports". It was too damned early in the morning when I wrote that. I like the right angled / horizontal ones. What I also hate, is a lack of symmetry.
 
I actually meant "I hate the vertical ports". It was too damned early in the morning when I wrote that. I like the right angled / horizontal ones. What I also hate, is a lack of symmetry.
Ok, now what do you mean by lack of symmetry? As in some cables coming straight up while others coming out the back? I guess that could affect cable management to a certain extent.
 
Ok, now what do you mean by lack of symmetry? As in some cables coming straight up while others coming out the back? I guess that could affect cable management to a certain extent.

It does, and it also doesn't look symmetrical. The ports aren't all the same, or located in the same area.
 
Yes, that makes sense especially if cables are also considered or whole system build.
 
Yes, that makes sense especially if cables are also considered or whole system build.

Cable management, or how differing ports impact cable management is my biggest issue with including two different types of SATA connectors on a motherboard. On another note, that board looks like it needs single sided locking tabs for memory module retention. The dual tabs look like they won't clear the primary PCI-Express x16 slot.

BioStar's higher end motherboard offerings aren't bad, but sometimes it's amateur hour when it comes to their design and motherboard layout.
 
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