Anyone using the Asus Ryzen based STRIX boards (B350 and X370)?

[GamerGuy83]

I've been looking up various Ryzen gaming boards to upgrade to with my birthday money and such given my Crossblade Ranger is starting to act up (burning out my RAM). These seem to be the only boards I can't find decent reviews and the like about, and I don't want to go into anything with out knowing what boards are having what issues out there. Such as the Crosshair VI hero's overclocking issues, and various boards having RAM compatibility issues.

So has anyone been looking at these boards? The STRIX boards seem very similar to the PRIME board, but there are some differences of course. Here are Links to a STRIX B350 board and a STRIX X370 I looked at, and for comparison the link to the PRIME X370-PRO as well.

Strix B350 - https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-B350-F-GAMING/review/
Strix X370 - https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-X370-F-GAMING/
Prime X370 - https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/

So if anyone has any info on the Strix boards, whether it's those two or any of the others with AM4 sockets, let me know the info. Also how do they compare to the Prime board, the Crosshair board, and so on?

 

[Johan45]

The Strix series is fairly new and I haven't seen any info on them yet either. The CHVI is a fine board not sure what you mean but the "overclocking" issue. If it's the one where some people try to OC and it gets "stuck" at 2.2 or 1.5GHz that doesn't appear to be board specific from my reading. The mem issues are pretty much straightened out but I would still recommend NOT cheaping out on the ddr4 WHEN YOU PURCHASE IT. rYZEN IN GENERAL PREFERS sAMSUNG BASED RAM WHICH YOU WILL FIND HAS A $50 + premium compared to similar ram. What you buy really depends on your budget. I reviewed an MSI SLI PLUS which was just as good as any other X370 board for half the price just doesn't have a lot of extras on it.

 

[GamerGuy83]

The Strix series is fairly new and I haven't seen any info on them yet either. The CHVI is a fine board not sure what you mean but the "overclocking" issue. If it's the one where some people try to OC and it gets "stuck" at 2.2 or 1.5GHz that doesn't appear to be board specific from my reading. The mem issues are pretty much straightened out but I would still recommend NOT cheaping out on the ddr4 WHEN YOU PURCHASE IT. rYZEN IN GENERAL PREFERS sAMSUNG BASED RAM WHICH YOU WILL FIND HAS A $50 + premium compared to similar ram. What you buy really depends on your budget. I reviewed an MSI SLI PLUS which was just as good as any other X370 board for half the price just doesn't have a lot of extras on it.

Yeah I'm seeing tech articles for both up all over right now, but no reviews. Also the B350 version of the Strix is in stock and being sold by Newegg right now, but the X370 version seems sold out (though you have pricing and even combo deals listed). So I figured people must be buying and using them, there just doesn't seem to be any opinions formed and posted up anywhere yet.

With the CH6 I was referring to articles out there that talk about overclocking causing the boards to die (killing them completely). As to memory I actually prefer to use Corsair memory and even use Corsair cooling systems, and probably changing over to a Corsair Case for my new computer (need one that I can run cables through the back). Hopefully I can find a Corsair set of RAM that wont have issue with the new board, if I stick to QVL listed ones hopefully it will work.

 

[Johan45]

The CHVI dying was an early issue and was BIOS related. The boards would get stuck in a BIOS updating loop. It had nothing to do with overclocking. I have two of them and they both work fine but unfortunately I was one of the ones that had one up and die early on. For the ram I wasn't necessarily referring to the brand. I was referring to the IC used in the sticks. Right now you have Samsung, Hynix and Micron. Out of the three the Samsung is co=operating the best, then the Hynix"M" but the better binned usually wirk the best. So if you want corsair I'd look for something at ~ 3600 MHz which will pretty much guarantee samsung under the hood then set it up around 3200 MHz cl14. Or there are some 3200 MHz kits but needs to be CL14 or it's likely Hynix

 

[Daleon]

I really wanted the Strix X370 but could not find it. Almost jumped on the B350 also but I'm going to be pushing my 1700 to at least 3.8+ daily and I will need SLI at least temporarily so I just grabbed a Prime for now. Saw at least one good video review on utube for the Strix X370 and it looked pretty solid. Being a newer release it appears to have fairly mature bios and some good features.

 

[GamerGuy83]

I really wanted the Strix X370 but could not find it. Almost jumped on the B350 also but I'm going to be pushing my 1700 to at least 3.8+ daily and I will need SLI at least temporarily so I just grabbed a Prime for now. Saw at least one good video review on utube for the Strix X370 and it looked pretty solid. Being a newer release it appears to have fairly mature bios and some good features.

Yeah I'm thinking they are building off what they learned with the Prime Pro bios fixes to have a more stable release on the Strix. Given the similarity between the two boards it seems conceivable to do so, although likely that the differences in boards will bring about newer problems for the Strix that the Prime wont have. Hence why I'm trying to find out more about the boards before getting one. Though it seems like I'd have to wait awhile before getting the X370 Strix, they're on back order even with the brick and mortar stores it seems.

 

[GamerGuy83]

I really wanted the Strix X370 but could not find it. Almost jumped on the B350 also but I'm going to be pushing my 1700 to at least 3.8+ daily and I will need SLI at least temporarily so I just grabbed a Prime for now. Saw at least one good video review on utube for the Strix X370 and it looked pretty solid. Being a newer release it appears to have fairly mature bios and some good features.

Was this the youtube review you found of the Strix X370, Daleon?

 

[Daleon]

Yeah. I liked his review and checked out his channel, he reviews some good hardware so added him to my ever growing sub list.

 

[GamerGuy83]

Looks like Amazon and Newegg finally got more boards (the X370 specifically) in stock again this morning. Though newegg is out of stock on combo deal packages still according to their site. Newegg is also pricing them a fair amount cheaper than Amazon for once, the Strix X370 is nearly $40 cheaper on newegg right now.

I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say about the boards, as I want to wait till I can buy the board, RAM, and CPU all at once. Which means at least a month of waiting still for me to save enough.

https://www.amazon.com/ROG-Strix-X3...499426169&sr=1-1&keywords=ASUS+ROG+Strix+X370
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132989&ignorebbr=1

 

[Daleon]

Yea I just noticed it was in stock. Then I noticed Microcenter dropped their Ryzen cpu prices another $20 so I ordered the Strix X370 and taking my combo back today. May grab the 1700X since its now the same price.

 

[xrror]

I know I'm late, but just some feedback on the B350:

I ended up getting the strix B350-F / G.Skill 3000 RGB / R5-1600 combo newegg had. My daughter liked the RGB LEDs

With the initial firmware setting anything over 2133 memory was pretty much no-POST (I think the g.skill is Hynix).
The 0805 firmware seemed to help since now it will at least start and seems to run well up to 3200. Problem is anything over 2666 runs fine - except will hang on reboot (already tried increasing SOC and VTT but still does it).

It's probably just some bios voltages that can be tweaked - problem is many things on the B350-F are offsets, and you don't know what actual voltage has been set by AUTO unless you manage to post at that speed.

BUT important disclaimers: I'm a complete noob at Ryzen overclocking so I imagine someone more capable would be fine. I'm still running the stock cooler (another is on order) so my temps aren't so great @ ~ 3.72Ghz (76C) but that's honestly doing better than I expected. Again though this is just a 1600 (6/12) and not a full 8/16 core so heat generation is probably lower though. Lastly 76C is running Rosetta@Home, AUTO sets around 1.4v vcore - so a true heat stress test probably would be higher (fail). Sooooo... yea that new cooler can't come soon enough.

This seems a nice board, and I think has most of the knobs you need (albeit a bit awkwardly implemented) to get maybe 90% of your wanted OC.

 

[GamerGuy83]

I know I'm late, but just some feedback on the B350:

I ended up getting the strix B350-F / G.Skill 3000 RGB / R5-1600 combo newegg had. My daughter liked the RGB LEDs

With the initial firmware setting anything over 2133 memory was pretty much no-POST (I think the g.skill is Hynix).
The 0805 firmware seemed to help since now it will at least start and seems to run well up to 3200. Problem is anything over 2666 runs fine - except will hang on reboot (already tried increasing SOC and VTT but still does it).

It's probably just some bios voltages that can be tweaked - problem is many things on the B350-F are offsets, and you don't know what actual voltage has been set by AUTO unless you manage to post at that speed.

BUT important disclaimers: I'm a complete noob at Ryzen overclocking so I imagine someone more capable would be fine. I'm still running the stock cooler (another is on order) so my temps aren't so great @ ~ 3.72Ghz (76C) which honestly is more than I expected. Lastly again this is just a 1600 (6/12) and not a full 8/16 core.

This seems a nice board, and I think has most of the knobs you need (albeit a bit awkwardly implemented) to get maybe 90% of your wanted OC.

Yeah seems like the X370 boards are the only ones with the ability to set to manual or the like in BIOS instead of Offset.

 

[Daleon]

Yea your heats from all that voltage. You should be able to do 3.8-3.9 around 1.385.

A new video on the X370-F:

Mine should be here tomorrow or Tuesday.

 

[GamerGuy83]

Wishing this gaming laptop my dad gave me would sell on Ebay right now then I could probably buy one of these boards right now, but it's going slow cause the laptop is like 5 years old.

Sigh, waiting to give one of the X370 boards a try is making me so anxious.

 

[GamerGuy83]

So I've gotten most of the money I need to build my new computer with the Strix X370 board, and wondering how things are going for those of you that have already gotten it now?

What RAM are you guys using for it in particular? Cause I was looking at the G.Skill TridentZ RGB series, but the board doesn't appear to currently support it at any of it's speeds (according to the QVL list). Same goes for the Corsair Vengeance RGB series.

 

[bassnut]

My trident RGB 3000 C14 ( https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232475 ) are working fine at 2933 and yes they are Hynix based ..... latest bios with Agessa 1.0.0.6 helped and have a new bios now that I have not tried, maybe this weekend. The Corsair RGB is dual ranked, someone had used them in a build with a Crosshair a while back and got them running fine with a little help the new BIOS should help as well. I really got busy so I have not had a chance to play with the system in a couple weeks now. I have the Tiachi board.

 

[GamerGuy83]

My trident RGB 3000 C14 ( https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232475 ) are working fine at 2933 and yes they are Hynix based ..... latest bios with Agessa 1.0.0.6 helped and have a new bios now that I have not tried, maybe this weekend. The Corsair RGB is dual ranked, someone had used them in a build with a Crosshair a while back and got them running fine with a little help the new BIOS should help as well. I really got busy so I have not had a chance to play with the system in a couple weeks now. I have the Tiachi board.

Yeah but are you specifically using either the Strix X370-F gaming or the Strix B350 boards for this, cause it doesn't look like it in your signature? As both boards only recently came out in stores (Like as of right before June) hence the thread, and each only has it's release Bios still. Neither lists the TridentZ ram sticks on the QVL yet, and in fact their QVL list for RAM is really short right now.

 

[xrror]

Strix B350-F at least has 1 updated firmware, because I updated to it - on the Asus site: Version 08052017/06/275.74 MBytes

Newegg had a bundle with the B350-F, R5 1600, and I'm pretty sure the same memory ( https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232475 ).

I'm just giving a data point that after the update, 2933 trains well for me on the B350-F with the Hynix (after an OC failure, the 2933 strap always "locks"). 3066 is what I normally run, but if I say, set the proc mult too high and it fails, 3066 VERY often will fail to train. So after any OC failure (even not mem related) I have to set 2933 at least once for it to lock, then after that initial OC boot, then pick 3066.

I can boot 3200 fine (after the initial 2933 "lock") but at least with my cpu/board/mem isn't really stable. I can bench 3200 but anything "real" like Rosetta@Home and it's Computation Error city for me. BUT - again either I have a stubborn chip, or more likely I'm still uber-n00b with this platform.

I can't even get 3.8 stable yet, but the rest of the internet claims 3.8 at 1.3X is a no brainer - so I'm likely doing something stupid. On the other hand, if my clod like attempts haven't destroyed this platform yet, it's at least durable

 

[GamerGuy83]

Strix B350-F at least has 1 updated firmware, because I updated to it - on the Asus site: Version 08052017/06/275.74 MBytes

Newegg had a bundle with the B350-F, R5 1600, and I'm pretty sure the same memory ( https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232475 ).

I'm just giving a data point that after the update, 2933 trains well for me on the B350-F with the Hynix (after an OC failure, the 2933 strap always "locks"). 3066 is what I normally run, but if I say, set the proc mult too high and it fails, 3066 VERY often will fail to train. So after any OC failure (even not mem related) I have to set 2933 at least once for it to lock, then after that initial OC boot, then pick 3066.

I can boot 3200 fine (after the initial 2933 "lock") but at least with my cpu/board/mem isn't really stable. I can bench 3200 but anything "real" like Rosetta@Home and it's Computation Error city for me. BUT - again either I have a stubborn chip, or more likely I'm still uber-n00b with this platform.

I can't even get 3.8 stable yet, but the rest of the internet claims 3.8 at 1.3X is a no brainer - so I'm likely doing something stupid. On the other hand, if my clod like attempts haven't destroyed this platform yet, it's at least durable

Okay yeah it has a Bios update to it now that I look, but nothing specifically that adds more memory support which is why the QVL hasn't updated at all, which was my point. I hope that all these combo deals and such are right and aren't trying to sell something that wont actually work right with the board, which seems plausible given the sticks of RAM aren't on the QVL.

 

[xrror]

I will agree that any Newegg combo deal never should be implied as an assurance of compatibility. Which is kinda of evil really, since people will always assume that - but I think somewhere in the legalize on Newegg it's explicitly stated that a bundle is absolutely not to be interpreted as any sort of guarantee that bundle actually work together.

And in your defense, I think the only reason that the Strix B350-F update page exists at all is because someone ripped Asus a new one on a Newegg review that - hey, there wasn't any info/support/downloads for these boards when they officially launched.

Last... I feel dumb since the B350 is the cheapo version. X370 is where it's at. People on this thread probably are looking for X370 infos. But I just wanted to add a data point that even with the less desired Hynix sticks, even the lesser B350 did get some benifit from an AGESA update.