Motherboard Incoming AM4 Mini-ITX boards

Soul_Est

SFF Guru
SFFn Staff
Feb 12, 2016
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is there any reason to get x370 over b350?
AFAIK the main difference between chipsets is SLI/Crossfire support which won't be possible in mini ITX format anyway :p
or am I missing something?
Possibly better overclocking support.
 

zovc

King of Cable Management
Jan 5, 2017
852
603
is there any reason to get x370 over b350?
AFAIK the main difference between chipsets is SLI/Crossfire support which won't be possible in mini ITX format anyway :p
or am I missing something?

Like @Soul_Est said, it's possible that it (somehow) is better for overclocking. It doesn't look like there are physical differences between the boards, but that could be (unforgivably) lazy product information.

At the very least, the BIOS could be different or the actual differences between the chipsets could behave better or worse for overclocking. I wouldn't expect there to be significant differences, though.

Supposedly, you might not be able to use certain SATA ports if you're wanting to use PCIe M.2 drives, but Biostar's pages aren't mentioning that. And, technically, you could use PCI bifrucation(sp?) to run two PCI(e) devices off of one port--each of them getting 8 of the 16 lanes. I would not expect that hack to be possible on b350... but maybe so?
 

panton

Cable Smoosher
Apr 13, 2017
12
6
Like @Soul_Est said, it's possible that it (somehow) is better for overclocking. It doesn't look like there are physical differences between the boards, but that could be (unforgivably) lazy product information.

At the very least, the BIOS could be different or the actual differences between the chipsets could behave better or worse for overclocking. I wouldn't expect there to be significant differences, though.

Supposedly, you might not be able to use certain SATA ports if you're wanting to use PCIe M.2 drives, but Biostar's pages aren't mentioning that. And, technically, you could use PCI bifrucation(sp?) to run two PCI(e) devices off of one port--each of them getting 8 of the 16 lanes. I would not expect that hack to be possible on b350... but maybe so?

good points, I guess in my case it would make sense to go with b350, as I plan to source a build based on Node 202 (AFAIK it's not possible to put any decent cooling that would suit overclocking inside this case).

I really hope these motherboards will become available asap :)

btw, regarding a Node 202 build and cooling: I'm considering either ryzen 5 1600X or ryzen 7 1700.
1600X is 95W, so I guess my only cooling option is Cryorig C7, any other suggestions?

PS: I wonder if anyone already received that free AM4 mounting kit.
 

zovc

King of Cable Management
Jan 5, 2017
852
603
Node 202 (AFAIK it's not possible to put any decent cooling that would suit overclocking inside this case).

Do some serious research before committing to the Node 202 with any Ryzen chip. AMD measures TDP differently than Intel and AMD's chips are generally a lot hotter. The Node 202 is notorious for not having great cooling performance.

That said, I know at least one user here has built in it. I can't remember their build (I'll edit this post and PM you a link once I find it), but it has UV in the build name.

Edit: It's @ricochet's UV Siamese build.

Edit 2: Oops... that's not in the Node 202... I don't know what I was thinking...
 

panton

Cable Smoosher
Apr 13, 2017
12
6
Do some serious research before committing to the Node 202 with any Ryzen chip. AMD measures TDP differently than Intel and AMD's chips are generally a lot hotter. The Node 202 is notorious for not having great cooling performance.

That said, I know at least one user here has built in it. I can't remember their build (I'll edit this post and PM you a link once I find it), but it has UV in the build name.

Edit: It's @ricochet's UV Siamese build.

Thanks for the info!! Can you maybe suggest a good mini ITX alternative? My main criteria is portability + dust resistance.
I've failed to find any decent alternative so far and the lack of space for cooling in Node 202 concerns me a lot.
 

zovc

King of Cable Management
Jan 5, 2017
852
603
Well, this forum is home to lots of great 'homebrew' cases. If you look around, it's not too hard to find options that are similar in size or even smaller than the Node 202! Unfortunately, a lot of them are either in pre-production or are still restricted to preorders.

Some cases you might be able to get used that might interest you are the Dancase M1, the NFC Systems S4 Mini, and the DrZaber(?) Sentry.

Mainstream manufacturer cases are unfortunately mostly bigger than the Node 202, but the Silverstone Sugo is cheap and good for what it is. If you're open to modding, it's possible that some industrial cases could work for you--I'm seeing if I can successfully mod the Logic Supply MC600 into a 'brickless' gaming case with a 1070 in it.
 
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ignsvn

By Toutatis!
SFFn Staff
Apr 4, 2016
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Thanks for the info!! Can you maybe suggest a good mini ITX alternative? My main criteria is portability + dust resistance.
I've failed to find any decent alternative so far and the lack of space for cooling in Node 202 concerns me a lot.

You can check available case projects here, or, if you want retail-ready case similar to Node 202, can check Silverstone ML07 / ML08 / RVZ02.
 
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panton

Cable Smoosher
Apr 13, 2017
12
6
Well, this forum is home to lots of great 'homebrew' cases. If you look around, it's not too hard to find options that are similar in size or even smaller than the Node 202! Unfortunately, a lot of them are either in pre-production or are still restricted to preorders.

Some cases you might be able to get used that might interest you are the Dancase M1, the NFC Systems S4 Mini, and the DrZaber(?) Sentry.

Mainstream manufacturer cases are unfortunately mostly bigger than the Node 202, but the Silverstone Sugo is cheap and good for what it is. If you're open to modding, it's possible that some industrial cases could work for you--I'm seeing if I can successfully mod the Logic Supply MC600 into a 'brickless' gaming case with a 1070 in it.

Thanks, of course, I should look into other threads of the forum for that, I will!
I think I will start with some of the mainstream cases, as I really need a working system asap and maybe I'll look into more custom solution later (S4 seems very interesting).
I won't steal this thread from its purpose anymore ;)

PS: My main goal right now is to find a small case that won't have cooling and mounting stuff problems, if anyone has other suggestions, I would appreciate a direct message :)
 

Soul_Est

SFF Guru
SFFn Staff
Feb 12, 2016
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Thanks, of course, I should look into other threads of the forum for that, I will!
I think I will start with some of the mainstream cases, as I really need a working system asap and maybe I'll look into more custom solution later (S4 seems very interesting).
I won't steal this thread from its purpose anymore ;)

PS: My main goal right now is to find a small case that won't have cooling and mounting stuff problems, if anyone has other suggestions, I would appreciate a direct message :)
There is the Silverstone ML08 and RVZ02 as well.
 

LocoMoto

DEVOURER OF BAKED POTATOES
Jul 19, 2015
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Thanks for the info!! Can you maybe suggest a good mini ITX alternative? My main criteria is portability + dust resistance.
I've failed to find any decent alternative so far and the lack of space for cooling in Node 202 concerns me a lot.

I have a delta of about 58°C with my Schyte Big Shuriken 2 cooler in the Node 202, fan running at 700 RPM (40%), AIDA64 stress test, with the case horizontal.

Oh, that's only with the i5 6600k @4,5ghz - 1.275 vcore though... So not too sure how much heat that would be and how those results would transfer over to the Ryzen heatspreader.

Also to note is I've made sure to orient the fins so they can exhaust relatively straight out the side from at least one side, should be visible on the picture, might be more difficult to do on an AMD mobo though (non-square hole pattern), and AFAIK there aren't AM4 mounting plates for this cooler... so likely unnecessary that I brought this up.. :p

 
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Zgembo

Trash Compacter
Apr 14, 2017
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Jonny727272

Airflow Optimizer
Feb 26, 2017
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So will I be okay with getting one of the Biostar ITX boards? I have never heard of them and I've heard plenty of growing pain woes about Ryzen MoBo BIOS problems and updates. I'm looking to build my system really soon and if y'all think Biostar is a trustworthy manufacturer than I may hop on one of these.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
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Biostar has attempted enthusiast boards at various times in the past, most recently making a push with the Intel Z170-series.
 
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