Review on 🎮 ASUS ROG Strix B450-F Gaming II AMD AM4 (Ryzen 5000, 3rd Gen Ryzen) ATX Gaming Motherboard: 8+4 Power Stages, HDMI 2.0b/DP, 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, BIOS Flashback, 256Mb BIOS Flash ROM by Antonio Lofton

I took a chance and decided to upgrade to Ryzen for the first time and I'm glad I did. I chose the Asus B450-F mainly because of the good reviews, affordability, and the fact that I chose a Ryzen 2700x with 16GB of Corsair memory on board. For those who have either never built a gaming PC or are a bit rusty, don't worry, this is a great motherboard and I've only had a few minor issues in my setup, mostly being new to how AMD works well in the BIOS and a few things it wants when you test POST for the first time. Time. Just take your time, and if you're not sure of the answer to a question, Google or YouTube or call support for help. I watched YouTube videos on the Asus board and everything went fine except for my little POST mess. Two key takeaways: 1.) Make sure you plug in a keyboard and mouse during the initial POST. I'm used to motherboards that don't require this and this little mistake has cost me an hour breaking my head! And 2.) Put a few layers of cardboard next to the Ryzen fan/heatsink retention clips so you don't risk damaging the motherboard when trying to attach the heatsink to the motherboard. Make sure to use the motherboard box as a handy stand to test your motherboard while doing the initial POST test before putting everything in the case. experience speaks. The Ryzen processor was pre-applied with thermal paste and although I usually use my own brand, I went with a pre-applied compound and it worked great. However, I will change the mix in about six months to see how it performs and replace it with the Arctic Silver mix I normally use. As for the processor installation, everything went perfectly. I treated the processor around the edges and was very gentle with my setup. I've had bent CPU pins in the past, so I took my time and triple checked to make sure everything was as expected before blocking the CPU and installing a heatsink/fan. The PSU was a Corsair CX 750 series PSU listed on the Asus PSU compatibility list. It's a really nice kit and I loved being able to connect ONLY the cables I need for my setup. Has worked fine from the start. I went for the Rosewill Cullinan RGB case with the fancy tinted glass side and front panels and I love how everything looks with RGB fans with a fan hub/controller. I'm still considering connecting an RGB hub to my motherboard to take advantage of the motherboard's Aura Sync system. I like the decent RGB lighting built into the motherboard and have yet to check out the free Aura Sync software. I had to add 2 standoffs to the case that the motherboard is attached to to get full coverage for the motherboard and other than that the installation went smoothly. As graphics card I chose ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX 1650. OS 4GB. It's working fine so far. All of my gaming systems have used Zotac cards and I love how well they work on the previous two gaming systems I've built. Let's see how this new one will perform, but so far it's held up for the 3 days of burning I've spent. I downloaded the drivers from the Zotac website and installed the drivers and supporting software with no problems. I'll probably add 2 more memory sticks to bring the system up to 32GB and see how it goes. I am a retired IT professional. who did MANY server setups in my time. I would recommend a good tool kit, such as B. a simple pair of needle nose pliers, a couple of medium sized screwdrivers (Phillips and flat) and a magnetic base to hold all the screws you will inevitably have to work with. It's best to have them all in one place and not get lost. Expect the build to take 4 or 5 hours and will likely span a couple of days. As I mentioned, I've been running my systems for a week and it's a good test of the hardware. You can get by with 24 hours but I like the system to really train all week to make sure everything is ok. So. Conclusion: What do I think of the Asus B450-F? So far it's going great! Normal learning curve for a new motherboard type and brand. Other than the POST requirement for the mouse and keyboard attached, there aren't too many surprises. I'm happy with how everything is integrated. I will update this review over time but as it has been 3 days so far the system is running like a dream and the motherboard temperature is dropping and the system boots 15 seconds before the login screen. I give this motherboard a BUY rating and a thumbs up.