With the launch of the new AMD B450 budget focused chipset, we’re taking a look at two Fatal1ty gaming branded ASRock motherboards; the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and the Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4. Both models look to offer good value for money to gamers on a strict budget but don't need features such as NVIDIA SLI multi-graphics card support.

Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards

ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac Overview

The ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac features a miniITX form factor and is a direct replacement to the previous B350 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard. As expected, this particular model is marketed at gamers looking to build a smaller form factor gaming system with the focus on either a single graphics card or with use with one of the Ryzen based APUs, the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G. The gaming branding is signified via the use of a pairing of red metallic heatsinks and a pair of red colored RAM slots.

As we concluded in our ASRock X370 Gaming-ITX/ac motherboard review, the B350 variation offered better value overall when compared to the more enthusiastic X series chipset; this reigns true for users not looking to make use of X370’s extra native USB 3.1 connectivity and PCIe bandwidth, something which is rather moot on an ITX motherboard with space limitations being a factor. This time round, comparing X470 to B450, the refreshed ASRock X470 Gaming-ITX has a stronger feature set on paper with better on-board audio being a major improvement and with a price of $179.99, which dwarfs the B450 Gaming ITX/ac model which sits at a more modest $129.99.

With that being said, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac aims to offer gamers an affordable small form factor option without sacrificing too much on quality, while keeping the core ‘gaming’ features expected from a Fatal1ty branded motherboard. The inclusion of a higher quality Realtek ALC1220 audio codec and Intel I211AT Gigabit networking controller signifies premium, while keeping the price at a more modest and affordable level .

The performance of the B450 Gaming ITX/ac is well in line with other boards in regards to system and computational performance, with strong showings in a variety of benchmarks including Handbrake, POV-Ray and 3DPM. ASRock has consistently good POST times and the B450 Gaming ITX/ac is no different in these regards. While the gaming performance is slightly off the expected mark, it's unlikely to make much of a difference to the overall gaming experience with the average framerates being within the margin of error. The audio performance with the Realtek ALC1220 audio codec is good as anticipated and the B450 Gaming ITX/ac displays one of the best DPC Latency showings so far.

Board Features

The ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac uses good quality controllers such as the Realtek ALC1220 audio codec and Intel I211AT Gigabit LAN networking chip with the focus being on performance but keeping to the expected Fatal1ty based gaming theme.

ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac ITX Motherboard
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	Link
Price	$130
Size	ITX
CPU Interface	AM4
Chipset	AMD B450
Memory Slots (DDR4)	Two DDR4 Supporting 32GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-3466+
Video Outputs	1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
Network Connectivity	Intel I211AT Gigabit LAN Intel 3168 802.11ac Wi-Fi
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC1220
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU)	1 x PCIe 3.0 x16
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH)	N/A
Onboard SATA	Four, RAID 0/1/10
Onboard M.2	1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps)	1 x Type-A 1 x Type-C
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)	2 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Header (two ports)
USB 2.0	2 x Rear Panel 1 x Header (two ports)
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU
Fan Headers	1 x CPU (4-pin) 2 x System (4-pin)
IO Panel	1 x USB 3.1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Intel I211AT) 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 1 x Combo PS/2 2 x Antenna Ports 5 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Optical (Realtek)

Even though there are limitations on connectivity due to the miniITX form factor, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac still manages to find space for a pair of USB 3.1 10 Gbps ports with both a Type-A and Type-C present. The two RAM slots have support for up to DDR4-3466+ which is one of the main benefits for opting for a second generation B450 chipset motherboard over the first generation such as B350 and X370. The ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac like its B350 predecessor also comes with a three-year warranty as standard.

ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac Visual Inspection

The majority of the aesthetics on boards like this correspond to a red and black theme. Both of the included heatsinks feature a red metallic finish, while the chipset heatsink has the ASRock Fatal1ty logo printed on. The B450 Gaming ITX/ac doesn’t contain any built-in LED lighting, but present is an addressable LED header to make use of ASRock’s Polychrome certified RGB capability.

With the Mini-ITX form factor comes certain sacrifices over an ATX sized board, with the primary cuts coming through memory and PCIe capacity. The B450 Gaming ITX/ac has a total of two memory slots capable of supporting up to DDR4-3466, with a maximum capacity of up to 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) of total system memory. The single and full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 lane has a full covering of ASRock’s Steel Slot armor reinforcement to protect from heavier graphics cards. Cooling options are provided by ASRock on include a single 4-pin CPU fan header and two 4-pin headers dedicated to case fans and water pumps.

ASRock has included a single Realtek ALC1220 audio codec which has been accompanied by a pairing of Nichicon gold audio capacitors. As expected with a good quality codec present, the Realtek ALC1220 offers a total of six 3.5mm audio inputs with a single S/PDIF optical output also featured. The on-board audio supports up to 7.1 surround sound. Located across the audio section of the PCB is an Intel 3168 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi module which also offers users Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity. The wired networking comes via a single LAN port and is governed by an Intel I211AT Gigabit Ethernet controller.

B450 Motherboard Power Delivery Comparison
Motherboard	Controller	H-Side	L-Side	Chokes	Doubler
ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac	ISL95712 (6+2)	10	10	8	-
ASRock B450 Gaming K4	ISL95712 (3+3)	12	9	9	-

While we haven’t previously reviewed the B350 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard, we got our hands on the X370 variant, the X370 Gaming ITX/ac which as expected and offers no surprise as it shares the same power delivery as the B450 Gaming ITX/ac model. The power delivery is organized into a 6+2 configuration with a total of ten Sinopower SM7341EHKP dual N channel MOSFETs, with six dedicated to the CPU and four specifically for the SoC. Controlling the power delivery is an Intersil ISL95712 PWM regulator which is operating at 3+2. Even though each of the CPU phases connects a single driver ASRock added two phases per channel on the SoC, whereas the CPU section has a single driver per phase. A total of eight chokes are present with one choke per CPU phase and one per two phases on the SoC. While a slim red metallic heatsink covers the CPU segment of the power delivery, the SoC area is open and if making use of the B450’s overclocking functions is planned, adequate passive airflow is a necessity.

Switching the focus to storage options, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac has four SATA 6 Gbps ports with each port featuring a straight angled connector. These are located just to the right of the RAM slots and just below the USB 3.1 5 Gbps header. The SATA 6 Gbps slots have support for RAID 0, 1 and 10 arrays.

A single M.2 2280 (22 x 80 mm) slot is present and supports both PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA SSDs. This slot is located on the rear of the PCB due to a size limitation with the miniITX form factor, supports super-fast NVMe drives and doesn’t share its bandwidth with the full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot.

The rear panel on the B450 Gaming ITX/ac has been bolstered over the first generation of AM4 motherboards (B350/X370) with the inclusion of a pairing of USB 3.1 10 Gbps (Type-A and Type-C) port; the Type-A comes native to the B450 chipset whereas the Type-C is thanks to the inclusion of an ASMedia ASM1543 chip. Adding to the USB connectivity is two additional USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A ports with a further USB 2.0 ports present. The B450 Gaming ITX/ac has support for AMD's Vega infused Ryzen APUs and while the B350 Gaming ITX/ac has dual HDMI outputs, the B450 gets an upgrade so to speak with one of the HDMI outputs being replaced with a DisplayPort 1.2 output. A total of five 3.5mm gold plated audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output make up the Realtek ALC1220 codec controlled onboard audio solution, with both wired and wireless networking coming thanks to a LAN port power by Intel’s I211AT Gigabit controller and the Wi-Fi capability coming due to an Intel 3168 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi adapter; the inclusion of an Intel 3168 also offers the ability to connect with Bluetooth 4.2 devices, as well as featuring backwards compatibility.

In the Box

As there is little in terms of space available on a miniITX motherboard, the accessories bundle reflects this. Everything to get a system up and running is included such as SATA cables and a M.2 drive installation screw; the two antennas are also included in the bundle to get a connection to a wireless network. Inside the box we get the following:

• Driver Disk
• Quick Start  & Software Guide
• M.2 Drive Mounting Screw
• Rear I/O Plate
• Two SATA Cables (One right-angled- and one straight)
• ASRock Postcard
• 2 x Intel 3168 802.11ac Wi-Fi Antennas

With the launch of the new AMD B450 budget focused chipset, we’re taking a look at two Fatal1ty gaming branded ASRock motherboards; the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and the Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4. Both models look to offer good value for money to gamers on a strict budget but don't need features such as NVIDIA SLI multi-graphics card support.

Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards

ASRock B450 Gaming K4 Overview

The ASRock B450 Gaming K4 has lots of potential for users looking to a sub $100 ATX sized motherboard as the foundations of a budget-friendly Ryzen APU system, or even for a single carded gaming goliath. While not laden with quite as many premium controllers as its smaller sized B450 Gaming ITX/ac sibling, the B450 Gaming K4 is a direct replacement of the B350 Gaming K4 which we reviewed earlier on in the year. While the B350 Gaming K4 cost around $90 at the time of the review, the B450 Gaming K4 launches in at a slightly more expensive $100 and a lot of the features remain the same, there are some notable differences to cover; positive differences I should iterate.

While the bulk of the differences appear to come from a more subtle looking design, the B450 Gaming K4 doesn’t specifically conform to what is generally offered from a Fatal1ty branded motherboard with red heatsinks. The B450 variation has dark grey power delivery and chipset heatsinks, with integrated ASRock Polychrome compatible RGB LEDs underneath the chipset heatsink; these can be customized through the BIOS or the ASRock Polychrome RGB software utility. The chipset choice is relatively similar with both Gaming K4’s featuring a single Realtek ALC892 audio codec with three 3.5mm audio jacks on the rear panel. The B350 Gaming K4 uses a Realtek RTL8111G Gigabit LAN controller whereas the B450 Gaming K4 uses a slightly newer RTL8111H model. The biggest addition to the newer B450 Gaming K4 is the inclusion of USB 3.1 10 Gbps connectivity with a Type-A and a Type-C both being featured. The USB 10 Gbps capability and updated RGB LED lighting under the heatsink is likely to justify the extra $10 cost to most, making the B450 Gaming K4 emerge as the more appealable option of the two as it currently stands.

The overall performance given from the ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4 is 'acceptable', however it often performs last (within margin of error) in most of the CPU and GPU performance tests. For power, like the B450 Gaming ITX/ac, the figures taken from the idle power consumption testing prove fruitful, but at maximum load, the B450 Gaming K4 manages the largest power draw from all of the AM4 socketed motherboards tested so far. DPC Latency is something most vendors don't optimize for, nonetheless normally ASRock performs consistently well here, but the B450 Gaming K4 is the exception to the rule with the only board scoring worse is the Biostar X370GTN. In our 7-Zip compression testing and 3DPM algorithm tester, the Gaming K4 sits at the bottom of the pack and the results in our gaming benchmark suite prove much of the same. While these are marginally worse than the next lowest scoring AM4 motherboard in the graphs, none of the results stand out as an anomaly, when a board consistently scores lower, it could indicate inefficient operation or firmware troubles; all results were in the margin of error.

Board Features

The B450 Gaming K4 has a range of decent controllers such as a Realtek pairing of controllers: an ALC892 audio codec and RTL8111H Gigabit networking controller. The primary target for the Gaming K4 is gamers on a budget and in ASRock's infinite efforts to supply quality componentry, while keeping costs as low as possible, users looking to make use of the HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 outputs with can do so with the Ryzen based APUs, the Ryzen 5 2400G ($169) and Ryzen 3 2200G ($99).

ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4 ATX Motherboard
Warranty Period	3 Years
Product Page	Link
Price	$100
Size	ATX
CPU Interface	AM4
Chipset	AMD B450
Memory Slots (DDR4)	Four DDR4 Supporting 64GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-3200+
Video Outputs	1 x HDMI 1 x D-Sub 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
Network Connectivity	Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit LAN
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC892
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU)	1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH)	2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Onboard SATA	Six, RAID 0/1/10
Onboard M.2	1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA 1 x PCIe 3.0 x2/SATA
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps)	1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps)	4 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Header (two ports)
USB 2.0	2 x Rear Panel 2 x Header (four ports)
Power Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU
Fan Headers	1 x CPU (4-pin) 1 x CPU/Water Pump (4-pin) 2 x System (4-pin)
IO Panel	1 x USB 3.1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 4 x USB 3.0 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x Network RJ45 (Realtek 8111H) 1 x HDMI 1 x D-Sub 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 1 x Combo PS/2 3 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek)

The B450 Gaming K4 has support for up to DDR4-3200 memory with a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) across the four available RAM slots. While the memory compatibility isn’t necessarily an improvement going from the B350 Gaming K4 to the B450 version, there is a notable difference to the speeds supported at the launch of the B350 chipset which did get rectified by a range of firmware updates; while not as impressive right now, it is still an improvement between the two launches and shouldn’t be dismissed.

ASRock B450 Gaming K4 Visual Inspection

While not a usual color scheme associated with the ASRock gaming brand, the B450 Gaming K4 has a pairing of dark grey heatsinks with the chipset heatsink using the branding. On top of this, or should I say underneath, we have the chipset heatsink which has a spread of RGB LEDs that conforms to ASRock’s Polychrome Sync RGB standard. This feature allows users to sync up compatible components such as cases, case fans, memory, power supplies and even SSDs for a more uniformed style. The RGB options don’t just stop there as ASRock has also included an addressable LED header as well as a standard RGB header to allow for further customization options.

The B450 Gaming K4 offers support for DDR4-3200 memory and with four available slots running in dual-channel, up to a total of 64 GB (4 x 16 GB) of system memory can be installed. The B450 Gaming K4 shares the same PCIe layout as on the B350 Gaming K4 with a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with ASRock’s Steel Slot armor protection, a second full-length PCIe 2.0 slot operating at x4 and four additional PCIe 2.0 x1 slots. While both full-length slots are capable of running 2-way AMD Crossfire in an x16/x4 configuration, NVIDIA SLI which requires a minimum of eight PCI lanes to operate is not supported. Cooling support comes in the way of a single 4-pin CPU fan header, one 4-pin secondary CPU/water pump header and three 4-pin headers dedicated to case fans.

In regards to the audio options, the audio area of the PCB has a very simplistic set of black audio capacitors which complements the Realtek ALC892 audio codec. The ALC892 codec offers three 3.5mm audio jacks on the rear panel, with official support for up to 7.1 surround sound. The networking capabilities on the B450 Gaming K4 consist of a single Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit controller with a single LAN port on the rear panel so users can get connected to a network.

The power delivery on the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 gets really interesting for a number of reasons. The first is that the product page advertises a 9-phase design and while from a quick glance with the heatsinks on it would appear so. With the heatsinks off however, this is not the case with the Intersil ISL95712 PWM controller only being capable of a maximum of 4+3 channels. This means what effectively looks like a 6+3 configuration on the surface, the power delivery is actually running 3+3 with the six NIKOS PK618B high side and six NIKOS PZ0903BK low side MOSFETs being shorted together without the use of a doubler. The SoC section has three NIKOS PZ0903BK low side MOSFETs with a pairing of NIKOS PK618B high side MOSFETs with each of the phases each having a choke.

The short between two NIKOS PK61B high side MOSFETs on the CPU phases

While this type of configuration is still ample for general everyday usage, it’s very misleading as what looks like a 9-phase design is actually running at 3+3 and is essentially missing a third. While there is ‘technically’ nine phases, the IR95712 PWM controller has a maximum capacity for 4+3; this is very deceptive of ASRock.

Motherboard Power Delivery
Motherboard	Controller	H-Side	L-Side	Chokes	Doubler
ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac	ISL95712 (6+2)	10	10	8	0
ASRock B450 Gaming K4	ISL95712 (3+3)	12	9	9	0

Focusing on the storage options, the B450 Gaming K4 has a total of six SATA ports. These are split into two sections with two of the SATA ports featuring straight angled located directly below the 24-pin ATX motherboard power input. The remaining are lined horizontally stretching from the side of the chipset heatsink towards the bottom right-hand corner of the board. A total of two M.2 slots are present with the top slot featuring a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and has support for M.2 2280 drives. The bottom slot accommodates drives up to M.2 22110 and has support for both SATA and PCIe drives up to a maximum of PCIe 3.0 x2. It should be noted that the bottom M.2 slot shares bandwidth with two SATA 6 Gbps ports and when a drive is installed into either/or, the opposing slot/slots will be disabled.

Much like with the B450 Gaming ITX/ac, the B450 Gaming K4 adds USB 3.1 10 Gbps connectivity to the B450 Fatal1ty range with both Type-A and Type-C 10 Gbps ports featured. In addition to this, is a further four USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. The biggest difference between the B350 and B450 Gaming K4 comes in the available video outputs with the B450 Gaming K4 dropping DVI-D for a single DisplayPort 1.2 output. Padding out the video capabilities is a single D-Sub port and an HDMI output. The three 3.5mm audio jacks are powered by the Realtek ALC892 audio codec while the LAN port takes its orders from the comparable Realtek RTL8111H Gigabit networking controller; the Realtek ALC892 and RTL8111H controllers are a frequent pairing on boards looking to offer good quality controllers, but without the ever-rising price tag the premium boards command.

In the Box

The accessory and bundle packed supplied with the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 are relatively basic with an array of manuals, a driver disk and a Fatal1ty themed rear I/O plate. The board also comes with two SATA cables to get the system operational out of the box.

• Driver Disk
• Quick Start Software Guide & User Manual
• M.2 Drive Mounting Screw
• Rear I/O Plate
• Two SATA Cables (One right-angled- and one straight)
• ASRock Postcard
• ASRock Sticker

ASRock & Fatal1ty: One of the Original Gaming Partnerships

The eSports boom didn’t just appear out of nowhere as competitive online gaming has been around for decades. One could (ed: but shouldn't) attribute the rise of eSports to the retired professional gamer, Johnathan ‘Fatal1ty’ Wendel. John won a number of competitions in the early 2000s, with over half a million dollars in prize money from twelve major competition wins in games such as Quake III and Unreal Tournament 2003.

His rise to fame is a predominant result of his skill and has been featured in mainstream media including the New York Times and Time Magazine. While he’s officially retired from competitive gaming, his branding and image as a champion live on through his Fatal1ty Inc. brand, one that is instantly recognized (ed: or confused) with winning. The Fatal1ty Inc brand curtails his gaming days through brand licensing which is more likely to be a bigger earner than his competitive gaming days; he still regularly makes the top-10 of the richest online gamer lists with an unknown worth, but he has been a success story for gaming and his transition into gaming themed products has been financially beneficial.

While this partnership between Fatal1ty and ASRock isn’t his first (remember Abit or OCZ anyone?), he has been partnered with ASRock for what seems like forever with the first Fatal1ty branded boards (P67 and 990FX) coming to the market back in 2011. Both the Fata1ty branded B450 options are primarily targeted towards gamers on a budget with the intention of using the AMD Ryzen second generation processors, with capability of supporting both the first generation Ryzen processors and Ryzen and Vega core combined APUs.

What's New with the B450 Chipset?

The following B450 analysis was taken from our B450 Launch Motherboard Overview.

The new B450 chipset launch compliments the release of the Ryzen 2000 series processors, with AMD looking at its current mid-range and high-end parts. The B450 chipset is designed to be a cheaper entry point into the ecosystem, even for users picking up the eight-core Ryzen 2700X ($329) and hex-core Ryzen 2600X ($229) units and going to overclock.

Like the already released X470 Promontory chipset, the B450 chipset is the direct successor to previous first generation B350 chipset. Not much hasn’t changed on the surface in regards to USB connectivity, storage options and PCI lanes, however AMD has added a couple of new technologies to bolster the appeal of the new budget-focused chipset.

AMD AM4 Chipsets
	DDR4	OC	USB			SATA	PCIe 2.0	GPU	XFR2 PB2	StoreMI	TDP	RAID SATA	RAID NVMe
			3.1	3.0	2.0
X470	2933	Y	2	6	6	6	8	x8/x8	Y	Y	4.8W	0,1,10
X370	2667	Y	2	6	6	6	8	x8/x8	N**	N^	6.8W	0,1,10
B450	2667+	Y	2	2	6	6*	6	x16	Y	Y	4.8W	0,1,10
B350	2667	Y	2	2	6	4	6	x16	N**	N^	6.8W	0,1,10
A320	2667	N	1	2	6	4	4	x16	N**	N^	6.8W	0,1,10	-
Embedded
X300	2667	Y	0	4	0	2	4	x8/x8	N	N	?	0,1	-
B300	2667	N	0	4	0	2	4	x16	N	N	?	0,1	-
A300	2667	N	0	4	0	2	4	x16	N	N	?	0,1	-

*possibly four, double checking with AMD
**Can be possible with BIOS updates, will be motherboard dependant 
^ Can be enabled with certain CPUs if a license is purchased

While the specifications on the surface make the B450 seem like a carbon copy of the B350 chipset, as they share native support for the same USB configuration, the same SATA configuration, support for a single M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA port, and six PCI lanes dedicated to PCIe 2.0 slots. They also both enable support for the same PCIe 3.0 bifurcation, giving a single PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, focusing these systems on a single GPU.

Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards

This Review

For our first look at the B450 motherboards starts with a pair of ASRock boards - the B450 Gaming K4 and the B450 Gaming-ITX/ac. These boards are pretty different: a cheaper ATX board and a Wi-Fi enabled mini-ITX board respectively. This is going to be an interesting analysis.

1. ASRock B450 Gaming K4 Overview
2. ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac Overview
3. ASRock and B450
4. BIOS and Software
5. Test Bed
6. System Performance
7. CPU Performance
8. Gaming Performance
9. Overclocking with a Ryzen 7 1700
10. Conclusions

ASRock B450 BIOS

ASRock uses a Fatal1ty branded UEFI BIOS on both of the featured B450 motherboards, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and the B450 Gaming K4. Both are identical in layout and design and the new design marks a noticeable change from the first generation of AM4 Fatal1ty boards with both the B450 models dropping the red futuristic and fast looking patterning and opting for a subtler looking black colored theme with red highlights. Located at the bottom right corner is a QR code for more information and a description panel detailing where possible about the option being highlighted. The text throughout the entirety of the BIOS is white in color with a grey bar displaying which option is currently highlighted.

Note: For the purpose of this analysis and due to both B450 Fatal1ty branded models featuring the same layout, any key differentials between the two boards will be detailed below. Anything else not mentioned remains the same throughout both the B450 Gaming K4 and B450 Gaming ITX/ac models.

Starting with the opening splash screen, the main panel has a descriptive list including the firmware version, which processor model is installed, the base speed of the said processor, as well as the microcode version of the processor and L1, L2 and L3 cache sizes. Located below this is information regarding the memory installed, what capacity and what capacity modules are installed rated at the JEDEC settings. This is a good starting place for troubleshooting performance issues as this screen also lets you know if the memory is operating in single channel, or dual channel, even when the CPU-Z monitoring utility is showing dual-channel mode, memory could quite easily be running in single channel.

The B450 chipset does support overclocking unlike the more budget-friendly Intel chipsets, which is great due to the Ryzen (first and second generation) processors all featuring unlocked multipliers; base clock overclocking is dependent on the board as an external clock generator isn’t featured on many AM4 models at all, especially not these particular B450 models. The ASRock Fatal1ty BIOS allows for changes to be made to things like the CPU frequency, the CPU voltage core, memory frequency, timings and voltage, as well as allowing users to enable XMP 2.0 profiles on DDR4 memory that feature them. The key differences between the B450 Gaming K4 and B450 Gaming ITX/ac is in the memory settings. The Gaming K4 allows for adjustments to be made to the VPPM/VDDP memory voltage settings which ccontrol memory row access. The smaller ITX model doesn’t feature this, but it’s not a concern and the likelihood of any user needing to change these settings are slim to none.

The maximum available CPU Voltage core is limited to 1.55 V, with CPU frequency being limited to 6300 MHz on both models. The memory frequency range is capped at DDR4-4000 with the DRAM voltages going up to a maximum of 1.8 V. This is way above and beyond what can be expected from any Zen core-based processor, unless sub-zero cooling methods are utilized.

Just like we have highlighted in the past, the ASRock UEFI BIOS does allow for adjustments to be made to the onboard RGB LEDs, but this features a very archaic and underdeveloped design and unless a user is familiar with RGB number code combinations, it’s very much trial and error to achieve the desired color. The speed of the LEDs can also be customized, although that’s about it with any further customizations needing to be done via the dedicated ASRock Polychrome RGB software.

While not so useful in an operating system, the ASRock BIOS (like most) has an integrated hardware monitor displaying a variety of temperatures from different sensors across the board. Included is CPU temperature, with this being a good place to check whether or not the CPU cooler is mounted properly before any unnecessary loads are placed on the chip. Also included is the motherboard temperature which is a good indicator of how good ambient temperature and airflow is within a system. There are also readouts for each of the CPU and chassis 4-pin headers measured in RPM, with read-outs of current voltages across the 12 V, 5 V and 3.3 V lines.

Across all of the AM4 ASRock boards we have seen, they do feature an integrated UEFI utility designed to customize fan profiles; it’s FAN-Tastic. Users can manually adjust the fan curve based on certain temperatures across each of the 4-pin headers or opt to use one of the pre-defined profiles which include silent, standard, performance and full-speed. All of the 4-pin headers on both boards support PWM capable fans and are defined as Speed Control. The headers can also auto-detect if a 3-pin fan is installed which will thus default into DC mode on the specific header.

As we have emphasized in previous AM4 socketed ASRock motherboard reviews, more could be done to enhance the usability of the RGB LED customization options as the layout is somewhat prehistoric in technology terms. ASRock does however include the Polychrome RGB software as standard on boards that feature integrated RGB LEDs, or those that come installed with RGB headers, but the BIOS options are still somewhat limited. The overall layout is neat and simple, is easy to navigate and feels responsive when using both a keyboard, or a mouse. The change in design from the X370 Gaming ITX/ac and B350 Gaming K4 models is a nice improvement, albeit to aesthetic and not overall feel, which was good to begin with.

ASRock B450 Software

Both the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 and B450 Gaming ITX/ac motherboards come supplied with the same software suite; software is included within the bundle on a disc, but the software can also be downloaded directly from either of the ASRock official product pages. The only exception to this is the Sound Blaster 3 auditory software is listed as downloadable on the B450 Gaming K4 support page, whereas the B450 Gaming ITX/ac doesn’t show it as listed. It was tested on both models and worked perfectly fine. The software included with both models is almost identical to what’s supplied with the B350/X370 Fatal1ty branded offerings; the most notable pieces of software include the ASRock Polychrome RGB software and the F-Stream overclocking utility, with others such as the ASRock App Shop and Live Update which acts as a hub to download supported software and drivers, but without having to leave the desktop.

The Sound Blaster 3 audio utility offers users a range of customizable options with features such as SBX surround; this feature is designed to increase the realness of how the audio sounds. Included is various pre-defined pre-sets designed for users to quickly select between including gaming, movies, music etc. For the real aficionados of audio or users looking to tweak certain settings such as bass with a set of custom EQ sliders which allow for customization. The SBX smart volume settings allows users to avoid nasty auditory spikes such as loud bangs, as smart volume mitigates large spikes which can cause ear discomfort.

With such primitive and lackluster RGB customization options within the BIOS, the ASRock Polychrome RGB software has all the tools required to leave a user’s own personal stamp on the style of a system. The Polychrome RGB software allows users to sync up the RGB LED lighting options such as RGB LEDs integrated into the chipset heatsink of the B450 Gaming K4, as well as through the addressable RGB LED header and AMD fan LED header too. The colors can be selected through the jog wheel while the brightness of the shade of color can be dictated by the square panel in the center. The Polychrome RGB software isn’t unique to the motherboard model and is generic across the entire range of ASRock Polychromatic supported devices.

While not exactly complex, the Restart to UEFI software allows users an easy route into the BIOS without having to restart the system and press F2 or Del enter during POST. The two options available include one to enter the UEFI BIOS during the next boot sequence, with the second option for rebooting the system immediately after clicking apply.

Both the B450 and X470 chipsets support overclocking and the F-Stream utility allows users to customize certain settings from within the operating system. While AMD has their very nifty and useful AMD Ryzen Master overclocking utility, the F-Stream is tailored to ASRock models and allows for tweaks to the CPU frequency, CPU voltage core, as well as memory voltage, but there are no options available to tweak memory frequencies or adjust the memory strap. F-Stream also allows users access to the FAN-Tastic software where pre-defined fan curve profiles can be selected, or you can even customize your own based on current temperature. Users can also see basic system information as well as information regarding temperature, current voltages and fan speeds thanks to the inbuilt hardware monitor.

The Live Update and App Shop software have been amalgamated into one piece of software with the ability to download and keep supported software and apps updated via the internet. There are a range of applications such as Norton Internet Security, as well as various gambling related games. The live update function allows users to keep installed software up-to-date, but just as importantly, firmware too. In the settings the option to select which server the software and drivers are downloaded from can be changed from a dropdown menu, as well as the temporary download location.

I would have expected a gaming branded motherboard to feature gaming related software, but the majority other than the included F-Stream and the Creative Sound Blaster 3 Cinema software are likely to have any impact on a gaming experience. What is provided is fully functional within the limitations of the chipset, such as F-Stream having no options to increase base clock due to ASRock omitting an external clock generator and for a budget-gaming focused offering, everything given is to be expected.

Test Bed

As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard that was released during the socket’s initial launch, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Test Setup
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 1700, 65W, $300, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo)
Motherboard	ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac (BIOS L1.02) ASRock B450 Gaming K4 (BIOS P1.30)
Cooling	Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 360
Power Supply	Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU
Memory	2x16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2400
Video Card	ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost)
Hard Drive	Crucial MX300 1TB
Case	Open Test Bed
Operating System	Windows 10 Pro

Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.

Many thanks to...

Thank you to ASUS for providing us with GTX 980 Strix GPUs. At the time of release, the STRIX brand from ASUS was aimed at silent running, or to use the marketing term: '0dB Silent Gaming'. This enables the card to disable the fans when the GPU is dealing with low loads well within temperature specifications. These cards equip the GTX 980 silicon with ASUS' Direct CU II cooler and 10-phase digital VRMs, aimed at high-efficiency conversion. Along with the card, ASUS bundles GPU Tweak software for overclocking and streaming assistance.

The GTX 980 uses NVIDIA's GM204 silicon die, built upon their Maxwell architecture. This die is 5.2 billion transistors for a die size of 298 mm2, built on TMSC's 28nm process. A GTX 980 uses the full GM204 core, with 2048 CUDA Cores and 64 ROPs with a 256-bit memory bus to GDDR5. The official power rating for the GTX 980 is 165W.

The ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB (or the full name of STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5) runs a reasonable overclock over a reference GTX 980 card, with frequencies in the range of 1178-1279 MHz. The memory runs at stock, in this case 7010 MHz. Video outputs include three DisplayPort connectors, one HDMI 2.0 connector and a DVI-I.

Further Reading: AnandTech's NVIDIA GTX 980 Review

Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX200/MX300 SSDs. Crucial stepped up to the plate as our benchmark list grows larger with newer benchmarks and titles, and the 1TB units are strong performers. The MX200s are based on Marvell's 88SS9189 controller and using Micron's 16nm 128Gbit MLC flash, these are 7mm high, 2.5-inch drives rated for 100K random read IOPs and 555/500 MB/s sequential read and write speeds. The 1TB models we are using here support TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 (eDrive) encryption and have a 320TB rated endurance with a three-year warranty.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Crucial MX200 (250 GB, 500 GB & 1TB) Review

Thank you to Corsair for providing us with Vengeance LPX DDR4 Memory

Corsair kindly sent a set of their Vengeance LPX low profile, high-performance memory. The heatsink is made of pure aluminum to help remove heat from the sticks and has an eight-layer PCB. The heatsink is a low profile design to help fit in spaces where there may not be room for a tall heat spreader; think a SFF case or using a large heatsink.

Benchmark Overview

For our testing, depending on the product, we attempt to tailor the presentation of our global benchmark suite down into what users who would buy this hardware might actually want to run. For CPUs, our full test suite is typically used to gather data and all the results are placed into Bench, our benchmark database for users that want to look at non-typical benchmarks or legacy data. For motherboards, we run our short form CPU tests and our system benchmark tests which focus on non-typical and non-obvious performance metrics that are the focal point for specific groups of users.

The benchmarks fall into several areas:

Short Form CPU

Our short form testing script uses a straight run through of a mixture of known apps or workloads, and requires about four hours. These are typically the CPU tests we run in our motherboard suite, to identify any performance anomalies.

CPU Short Form Benchmarks
Three Dimensional Particle Movement v2.1 (3DPM)	3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, derived from my academic research years looking at particle movement parallelism. The coding for this tool was rough, but emulates the real world in being non-CompSci trained code for a scientific endeavor. The code is unoptimized, but the test uses OpenMP to move particles around a field using one of six 3D movement algorithms in turn, each of which is found in the academic literature.
	The second version of this benchmark is similar to the first, however it has been re-written in VS2012 with one major difference: the code has been written to address the issue of false sharing. If data required by multiple threads, say four, is in the same cache line, the software cannot read the cache line once and split the data to each thread - instead it will read four times in a serial fashion. The new software splits the data to new cache lines so reads can be parallelized and stalls minimized.
WinRAR 5.4	WinRAR is a compression based software to reduce file size at the expense of CPU cycles. We use the version that has been a stable part of our benchmark database through 2015, and run the default settings on a 1.52GB directory containing over 2800 files representing a small website with around thirty half-minute videos. We take the average of several runs in this instance.
POV-Ray 3.7.1 b4	POV-Ray is a common ray-tracing tool used to generate realistic looking scenes. We've used POV-Ray in its various guises over the years as a good benchmark for performance, as well as a tool on the march to ray-tracing limited immersive environments. We use the built-in multithreaded benchmark.
HandBrake v1.0.2	HandBrake is a freeware video conversion tool. We use the tool in to process two different videos into x264 in an MP4 container - first a 'low quality' two-hour video at 640x388 resolution to x264, then a 'high quality' ten-minute video at 4320x3840, and finally the second video again but into HEVC. The low-quality video scales at lower performance hardware, whereas the buffers required for high-quality tests can stretch even the biggest processors. At current, this is a CPU only test.
7-Zip 9.2	7-Zip is a freeware compression/decompression tool that is widely deployed across the world. We run the included benchmark tool using a 50MB library and take the average of a set of fixed-time results.

System Benchmarks

Our system benchmarks are designed to probe motherboard controller performance, particularly any additional USB controllers or the audio controller. As general platform tests we have DPC Latency measurements and system boot time, which can be difficult to optimize for on the board design and manufacturing level.

System Benchmarks
Power Consumption	One of the primary differences between different motherboards is power consumption. Aside from the base defaults that every motherboard needs, things like power delivery, controller choice, routing, and firmware can all contribute to how much power a system can draw. This increases for features such as PLX chips and multi-gigabit ethernet.
Non-UEFI POST Time	The POST sequence of the motherboard becomes before loading the OS, and involves pre-testing of onboard controllers, the CPU, the DRAM and everything else to ensure base stability. The number of controllers, as well as firmware optimizations, affect the POST time a lot. We test the BIOS defaults as well as attempt a stripped POST.
Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.2.5	Testing onboard audio is difficult, especially with the numerous amount of post-processing packages now being bundled with hardware. Nonetheless, manufacturers put time and effort into offering a 'cleaner' sound that is loud and of a high quality. RMAA, with version 6.2.5 (newer versions have issues), under the right settings can be used to test the signal-to-noise ratio, signal crossover, and harmonic distortion with noise.
USB Backup	USB ports can come from a variety of sources: chipsets, controllers or hubs. More often than not, the design of the traces can lead to direct impacts on USB performance as well as firmware level choices relating to signal integrity on the motherboard.
DPC Latency	Another element is deferred procedure call latency, or the ability to handle interrupt servicing. Depending on the motherboard firmware and controller selection, some motherboards handle these interrupts quicker than others. A poor result could lead to delays in performance, or for example with audio, a delayed request can manifest in distinctly audible pauses, pops or clicks.

System Performance

Not all motherboards are created equal. On the face of it, they should all perform the same and differ only in the functionality they provide - however, this is not the case. The obvious pointers are power consumption, but also the ability for the manufacturer to optimize USB speed, audio quality (based on audio codec), POST time and latency. This can come down to manufacturing process and prowess, so these are tested.

Power Consumption

Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single ASUS GTX 980 GPU configuration with a wall meter connected to the Thermaltake 1200W power supply. This power supply has ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.

While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our test bed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.

Both the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and B450 Gaming K4 motherboards perform very well at both of the test idle power states, but things go a little awry for the B450 Gaming K4 at full load with the highest power draw so far. From the previous B350 Gaming K4 board we tested, the B450 managed to somehow gain an additional 7 W of power at load which isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things, but it's still an increase to take note of.

Non-UEFI POST Time

Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we look at the POST Boot Time using a stopwatch. This is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.)

Three of the top five boards in our POST time are from ASRock, which shows a reliable and efficient POST sequence. Both the B450 Gaming K4 and Gaming ITX/ac make the cut and the ATX sized B450 board even manages to shave over a second off POSTing time with some onboard controllers disabled.

Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.2.5

Rightmark:AA indicates how well the sound system is built and isolated from electrical interference (either internally or externally). For this test we connect the Line Out to the Line In using a short six inch 3.5mm to 3.5mm high-quality jack, turn the OS speaker volume to 100%, and run the Rightmark default test suite at 192 kHz, 24-bit. The OS is tuned to 192 kHz/24-bit input and output, and the Line-In volume is adjusted until we have the best RMAA value in the mini-pretest. We look specifically at the Dynamic Range of the audio codec used on the rear panel of the board.

The Realtek ALC1220 is one of the best performing and most widely used premium audio codec used on medium to high-end motherboards across the majority of chipsets, so the B450 Gaming ITX/ac puts in a good showing because of this. The B450 Gaming K4 makes use of a slightly lower grade, but cheaper Realtek ALC892 codec and the results reflect this.

DPC Latency

Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests such as audio will be further down the line. If the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled.

If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time. This can lead to an empty audio buffer and characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is taken processing DPCs from driver invocation. The lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds.

None of the AM4 motherboards tested thus far has been optimized for DPC latency, but ASRock does consistently post the best scores with the B450 Gaming K4 being one of the worst tested so far. The B450 Gaming ITX/ac however sits towards the top of the pack.

CPU Performance

For our motherboard reviews, we use our short form testing method. These tests usually focus on if a motherboard is using MultiCore Turbo (the feature used to have maximum turbo on at all times, giving a frequency advantage), or if there are slight gains to be had from tweaking the firmware. We put the memory settings at the CPU manufacturers suggested frequency, making it very easy to see which motherboards have MCT enabled by default.

Video Conversion – Handbrake v1.0.2: link

Handbrake is a media conversion tool that was initially designed to help DVD ISOs and Video CDs into more common video formats. For HandBrake, we take two videos and convert them to x264 format in an MP4 container: a 2h20 640x266 DVD rip and a 10min double UHD 3840x4320 animation short. We also take the third video and transcode it to HEVC. Results are given in terms of the frames per second processed, and HandBrake uses as many threads as possible.

Compression – WinRAR 5.4: link

Our WinRAR test from 2013 is updated to the latest version of WinRAR at the start of 2017. We compress a set of 2867 files across 320 folders totaling 1.52 GB in size – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are small 30 second 720p videos.

Point Calculations – 3D Movement Algorithm Test v2.1: link

3DPM is a self-penned benchmark, taking basic 3D movement algorithms used in Brownian Motion simulations and testing them for speed. High floating point performance, MHz and IPC wins in the single thread version, whereas the multithread version has to handle the threads and loves more cores. For a brief explanation of the platform agnostic coding behind this benchmark, see my forum post here. We are using the latest version of 3DPM, which has a significant number of tweaks over the original version to avoid issues with cache management and speeding up some of the algorithms.

Rendering – POV-Ray 3.7.1b4: link

The Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer, or POV-Ray, is a freeware package for as the name suggests, ray tracing. It is a pure renderer, rather than modeling software, but the latest beta version contains a handy benchmark for stressing all processing threads on a platform. We have been using this test in motherboard reviews to test memory stability at various CPU speeds to good effect – if it passes the test, the IMC in the CPU is stable for a given CPU speed. As a CPU test, it runs for approximately 2-3 minutes on high end platforms.

Synthetic – 7-Zip 9.2: link

As an open source compression tool, 7-Zip is a popular tool for making sets of files easier to handle and transfer. The software offers up its own benchmark, to which we report the result.

Gaming Performance

Ashes of the Singularity

Seen as the holy child of DirectX12, Ashes of the Singularity (AoTS, or just Ashes) has been the first title to actively go explore as many of DirectX12s features as it possibly can. Stardock, the developer behind the Nitrous engine which powers the game, has ensured that the real-time strategy title takes advantage of multiple cores and multiple graphics cards, in as many configurations as possible.

Rise Of The Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game that features similar gameplay found in 2013's Tomb Raider. Players control Lara Croft through various environments, battling enemies, and completing puzzle platforming sections, while using improvised weapons and gadgets in order to progress through the story.

One of the unique aspects of this benchmark is that it’s actually the average of 3 sub-benchmarks that fly through different environments, which keeps the benchmark from being too weighted towards a GPU’s performance characteristics under any one scene.

Thief

Thief has been a long-standing title in PC gamers hearts since the introduction of the very first iteration which was released back in 1998 (Thief: The Dark Project). Thief as it is simply known rebooted the long-standing series and renowned publisher Square Enix took over the task from where Eidos Interactive left off back in 2004. The game itself utilises the fluid Unreal Engine 3 engine and is known for optimised and improved destructible environments, large crowd simulation and soft body dynamics.

Total War: WARHAMMER

Not only is the Total War franchise one of the most popular real-time tactical strategy titles of all time, but Sega delve into multiple worlds such as the Roman Empire, Napoleonic era and even Attila the Hun, but more recently they nosedived into the world of Games Workshop via the WARHAMMER series. Developers Creative Assembly have used their latest RTS battle title with the much talked about DirectX 12 API so that this title can benefit from all the associated features that comes with it. The game itself is very CPU intensive and is capable of pushing any top end system to their limits.

Overclocking

Overclocking with a Ryzen 7 1700 on ASRock's B450 Motherboards

As we have seen throughout our AM4 socket motherboard reviews, ASRock has generally performed quite well in the overclocking stakes; this is due to a combination of easy and user-friendly firmware. While not as overclocking focused as some of their other line-up such as the Taichi offerings which are some of the best the AMD side has to offer, not a lot of focus comes on overclocking from AMD, even though the more budget-focused B350 and B450 do openly support it. Our Ryzen 7 1700 sample at best does 4.0 GHz at around 1.375 to 1.400 V and a lot of it boils down to two things; the silicon quality of the processors die and the quality of the board's componentry.

The ASRock B450 BIOS remarkably resembles that of B350 and X370, albeit with minor visual differences to the theme which I believe is easier to look at, but this comes down to personal preference. The old adage reigns true with this particular firmware, 'if it’s not broken, don’t fix it', and that’s exactly what ASRock has done here. The BIOS is easy to navigate and outside of power saving related options such as C-States and AMD Cool’n’Quiet, every option for tweaking the memory and processor is all within the OC Tweaker sub-section. Overclocking on both the ASRock B450 boards featured was painless, there was no disparity when applying certain settings, to what was found within Windows using the CPU-Z monitoring utility.

Overclocking Methodology

Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with POV-Ray and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.

For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.

Overclocking Results

Both the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 and ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac managed to push our chip to a solid 4.0 GHz at maximum stability, but it seems the limitation beyond this is purely down to the silicon. The settings on both boards are capped well and truly beyond what the average user can expect to achieve on ambient cooling with a maximum CPU Vcore of 1.55 V, and a maximum CPU core frequency of 6300 MHz; or 6.30 GHz. This puts the limitations down to cooling and silicon, which with a good quality and lucky batch of good Zen die, the boards should easily manage at 4.0 to 4.1 GHz with a good and aggressive cooling solution.

One of the obvious things to note from the results is that both the B450 Gaming K4 and B450 Gaming ITX/motherboards tend to undervolt by a value of between 0.02 and 0.03 V at default which on an overly sensitive chip, could be considered a large amount of VDroop, especially at higher set voltages. While generally not a problem at lower clock speeds where there's a little more give and take in voltage. The trend seemed to escalate on both boards as when the voltage went higher, the more Vdroop there was overall. The biggest issue seemed to appear on the B450 gaming K when 1.400 V was applied; this led to a variation of 0.04 V which actually led our chip to become unstable when otherwise it wouldn't be. With a voltage of 1.418 V on the Vcore applied, a load value of 1.392 V was displayed which led to our Ryzen 7 1700 being stable throughout testing. Overall both boards B450 managed to achieve 4.0 GHz and thus stretched our silicon out to its maximum capabilities with ambient cooling methods.

ASRock B450 Gaming K4 Conclusion

The ASRock B450 Gaming K4 is an ATX sized motherboard gaming focused motherboard from the gaming branded range of products and like most budget fixated boards, has its strong and weak points. The B450 Gaming K4 is also the direct successor of the AB350 Gaming K4 which we previously reviewed and while the newer B450 alternative features a similar layout, the overall aesthetics are profoundly subtle. The B450 offering drops the red metallic heatsinks and replaces them with a dark grey which when combined with the integrated RGB LEDs in the chipset heatsink, offers a look which clashes less; red heatsinks without red LEDs look lost and numerous vendors have made this mistake in the past.

There is one notable improvement visually going from the AB350 Gaming K4 to the newer B450 Gaming K4 as the newer B450 model includes an RGB LED under the chipset heatsink which is compatible with ASRock’s Polychrome RGB Sync software. Everything else appears to be the same including the use of wallet conscious the Realtek ALC892 audio codec and Realtek based RTL8111 networking controller; the B450 Gaming K4 features a slightly newer RTL8111H, but the specifications between this and the RTL8111G remain the same.

While the capabilities stretch from the Ryzen desktop range of processors including the older first-generation chips, the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 also supports Ryzen’s Vega infused APUs, with a selection of video outputs consisting of an HDMI, a DisplayPort and a legacy D-Sub connector. The USB connectivity is improved upon over the last iteration with a pair of USB 3.1 10 Gbps ports; a Type-A and Type-C. Also featured is a total of four USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A ports and an additional two USB 2.0 ports. A further four USB 3.1 5 Gbps ports and two USB 2.0 can be made available through the use of onboard front panel headers. The three 3.5mm audio jacks are powered by the Realtek ALC892 audio codec and the LAN port controlled by a Realtek 8111H Gigabit networking chip.

The power delivery on the B450 Gaming K4 is very puzzling indeed with what looks like a 6+3 phase configuration actually running at a much lower spec 3+3. The Intersil ISL95712 PWM controller is only capable of running a maximum of seven channels; four for the CPU and three for the SoC. While the SoC section features three individual NIKOS PZ0903BK low side MOSFETs, each one features two NIKOS PK618B high side MOSFETs which are shorted together. The CPU section also features three pairs of the same MOSFETs which does give off the impression the B450 Gaming K4 is running six for the CPU, but in reality, they are doubled upon so while technically there is a 6+3 phase count there, ASRock’s marketing is somewhat misleading.

Storage options include a total of six SATA ports with two featuring straight angled connectors, with the remaining four laid out in a horizontal array to the side of the chipset heatsink. A single M.2 offers users the ability to utilize NVMe capable M.2 2280 SSDs running at PCIe 3.0 x4, whereas the second slot allows for M.2 22110 drives to be installed which runs at a maximum of PCIe 3.0 x2. This secondary M.2 slot does also support SATA drives, but shares bandwidth between the most southernly located two SATA 6 Gbps ports. The B450 Gaming K4 has a full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with Steel Slot protection and a second full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot making AMD 2-way CrossFire possible, but NVIDIA SLI is out of the question; users looking for SLI will need to opt for a compatible X470 motherboard instead. A total of four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots are also available to use for additional cards such as dedicated sound cards and additional network controllers etc.

While some of the specifications are a little misleading on paper, the ASRock B450 Gaming K4 aside from the power delivery shenanigans is a rather attractive looking option when you factor in what’s on offer for the $99.99 price tag commanded. The performance could be a little bit better, as it was often bottom of almost all of our CPU and GPU tests, but it was not far off the mark in those tests and users are not likely to notice the difference; as vendors release more sophisticated and mature firmware, I expect the performance to increase slightly. While there isn’t too much difference between this and the older AB350 Gaming K4, ASRock has priced the new B450 Gaming K4 competitive and I anticipate this to be a very popular model at retail.

ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/AC Conclusion

While the ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac is a primarily a gaming-centric small form factor motherboard, it has enough clout and a good quality component selection to satisfy users looking to utilize a single graphics card wielding system but keeping the overall desk footprint down. The B450 chipset allows for backwards compatibility and support for the first generation of Ryzen processors and the B450 Gaming ITX/ac also has support for the Zen and Vega based APUs thanks to a pair of video outputs; an HDMI and DisplayPort output.

The performance was on the whole quite good, with strong showings in a variety of different benchmarks and areas. While power consumption at idle and long idle shows consistency with other budget ASRock offerings, load performance was marginally higher than boards such as the X470 Taichi Ultimate. One thing to note in our AM4 reviews in regards to boot time is that ASRock seems to have it nailed down a solid and time efficient boot sequence with three of the top five boards coming from them. The B450 Gaming ITX/ac also proves strong in our computational benchmarks such as 3DPM and POV-Ray, but a little more was expected in WinRAR which is memory intensive as smaller form factor boards using shorter memory tracks generally proving more effective in these types of situations. Gaming performance like the other second generation of AM4 motherboards proves slightly off the expected mark, with small and marginal shortfalls compared to the first-generation offerings. While not an overall concern, it could potentially due to new firmware and although AMD has perfected the memory compatibility side with the new second generation, we’re showing some mixed results specifically in gaming, so a further look into that may be needed over the coming few weeks/months as we see more B450/X470 options.

Just like the more expensive X470 Gaming ITX/ac board and other ASRock gaming branded AM4 Mini-ITX offerings, all of them feature the Realtek ALC1220 audio codec which is currently considered one of, if not the best onboard auditory solution for general consumer boards to include. The main and only noticeable difference between the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and X470 variant is the wireless networking capabilities; the X470 utilizes 2T2R Wave2 technology supporting up to 1733 Mbps, while the Intel 3168 802.11ac on this board has support for up to 433 Mbps. If making use of the improved wireless speed capability, then the $50 premium is worth it, otherwise, both boards are otherwise identical in design, layout and componentry.

On the rear panel, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac does include two USB 3.1 10 Gbps ports which consist of a Type-A and Type-C connection. This is complemented by a further two USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A ports which support ESD protection and an additional two USB 2.0 ports. Internal headers are available to increase the USB real-estate to include an extra two USB 3.1 5 Gbps Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. The storage is pretty standard for an ITX offering with the maximum amount of SATA 6 Gbps ports supported by the chipset, four in total with all of them featuring straight angled connectors. The single Ultra M.2 slot supports M.2 2280 drives and allows for NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA support. The M.2 slot is located on the rear and shares bandwidth with no other slots. Also featured is a single full-length PCIe 3.0 x16 slot with a coating of ASRock’s Steel Armor slot protection.

ASRock knows how to make miniITX motherboards and their options have proved popular across a multitude of chipsets and all seemingly cheaper than ASUS’s ROG Strix X470-I. The ASRock gaming branded boards aren’t just limited to crazily powerful gaming systems, but as the B450 Gaming ITX/ac shows, it would be more than capable of powering an HTPC combined with an equally good value Ryzen 2000 series APU due to the onboard DisplayPort and HDMI outputs. When you remove the facilitation of a 2T2R Wave 2 Wi-Fi module, the B450 Gaming ITX/ac proves solid value at $129.99, while the X470 variation, the X470 Gaming ITX/ac retails for $179.99; a $50 difference could be better spent. 

Out of the two boards analyzed in this review, we came away more impressed for sure with the ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX/ac.