AsRock B450 Steel Legend Review, Price, Build. Good Or Bad? Should You Buy Or Not?

ASRock B450 was introduced in their Steel Legend motherboards’ back in January 2019. It exhibits an extremely stunning performance as compared to its specified price. People who always have some confusion regarding the purchase of a good Motherboard required for their gaming and are always worried regarding their budget then this motherboard is the perfect deal for them, as it provides a huge lot of features in less amount of money. AsRock really does make some good stuff without spending unnecessary money in the outward showcasing.  

Unlike the brands like MSI/Gigabyte/ASUS where they are usually supplying a ton of free excess software’s and bonuses to attract the customers. If you are on a tight budget but still want real gaming performance, then there is really no need to get anything more than a B450 motherboard. There’s no multi -GPU support. However, they still get the job done seamlessly. Some mid to high-range options of this motherboard also offer decent VRMs.

IMAGE OF MOTHERBOARD AND THEIR PARTS:

AUDIO

As far as audio is concerned ASRock B450 is using the Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec. The Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps as well as the PCB isolated shielding for the audio section of the board can be seen once bought. Here gamers will be able to experience real-time 4K audio, as 4 gold capacitors are also provided, which helps to enhance sound in FPS mode games and leading to a smooth gaming with a quality sound.

Dual USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A + Type-C)

AsRock B450 has a pair of onboard Type-A and Type-C USB 3.1 Gen2 ports built on the rear i/o for supporting next generation USB 3.1 Gen2 devices and to deliver a promising data transfer rate up to 10 Gbps

Voltage and Outputs

PREMIUM 60A POWER CHOKE

ASRock’s B450 premium 60A power chokes effectively make the saturation current up to three times better, thus providing enhanced and improved V-core voltage to the motherboard.

THE DETAILED OVERVIEW OF MOTHERBOARD:

BIOS

Bios can be updated manually from AsRock website here.

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FEATURES In Detail:

1. AMD AM4 Socket
2. Supports DDR4 3533+ (OC)
3. 2 PCIe 3.0 x16, 4 PCIe 2.0 x1
4. AMD Quad Crossfire™
5. Graphics Output: DisplayPort, HDMI
6. 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
7. 6 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4), 1 M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x2 & SATA3)
8. 2 USB 3.1 Gen2 (Rear Type-A+C)
9. 6 USB 3.1 Gen1 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
10. Realtek Gigabit LA

UNIQUE FEATURES-

1. ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2 – ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s)
2. ASRock USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) ASRock Super Alloy
3. XXL Aluminium Alloy Heatsink – Premium 60A Power Choke
4. Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
5. I/O Armor
6. Sapphire Black PCB
7. High Density Glass Fabric PCB
8. 2oz Copper PCB
9. ASRock Steel Slot
10. ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
11. ASRock Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4)
12. ASRock Ultra USB Power

CPU

1. AMD AM4 Socket
2. Digi Power
3. 6 Power Phase design

MEMORY

• Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology.
  • 4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots.
  • AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse) support DDR4 3200 / 2933 /2667
• 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory.
  • AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Pinnacle Ridge) support DDR4
• 3533+(OC) / 3200(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC &
• non-ECC buffered memory.
  • AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Picasso) support DDR4 2933 / 2667 / 2400 /
• 2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory.
  • AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Summit Ridge) support DDR4 3466+(OC) /
• 3200(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered
• memory.
  • AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Raven Ridge) support DDR4 3466+(OC) /
• 3200(OC) / 2933 / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 no n-ECC, un-buffered memory.
  • Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB.
  • Supports Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
  • 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM

For Ryzen Series CPUs (Picasso and Raven Ridge), ECC is only supported with PRO CPUs.

BIOS

• 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support
• Supports “Plug and Play”
• ACPI 5.1 compliance wake up events
• Supports jumper free
• SMBIOS 2.3 support
• DRAM Voltage multi-adjustment

GRAPHICS

• – Integrated AMD Radeon™ Vega Series Graphics in Ryzen Series APU.
• DirectX 12, Pixel Shader 5.0
• Shared memory default 2GB. Max Shared memory supports up to 16GB.
• – Dual graphics output: Support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2ports by independent display controllers
• – Supports HDMI 1.4 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K(4096×2160) @ 24Hz / (3840×2160) @ 30Hz
• Supports DisplayPort 1.2 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 60Hz
• Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Colour (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI 1.4 Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required) – Supports HDCP 1.4 with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports
• Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2 Ports

AUDIO

• 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
• Premium Blu-ray Audio support
• Supports Surge Protection
• Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
• PCB Isolate Shielding
• Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
• Gold Audio Jacks

LAN

• PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
• Realtek RTL8111H
• Supports Wake-On-LAN
• Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
• Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
• Supports PXE

SLOTS

• AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse, Summit Ridge and Pinnacle Ridge)
• 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1: x16 mode; PCIE4: x4 mode)
• AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Picasso, Raven Ridge)
• 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1: x8 mode; PCIE4: x4 mode) (If you use Athlon 2xxGE series APU, PCIE1 slot will run at x4 mode.) AMD Athlon series CPUs
• 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots (PCIE1: x4 mode; PCIE4: x2 mode)
• 4 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot
• Supports AMD Quad crossfire™ and crossfire™

STORAGE

• 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug.
• 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by AS Media ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug.
• 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s) (with Matisse, Picasso, Summit Ridge, Raven Ridge and Pinnacle Ridge) or Gen3 x2 (16 Gb/s) (with Athlon series APU and Raven Ridge 2).
• 1 x M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x2 (16 Gb/s).

CONNECTORS

• 1 x COM Port Header
• 1 x TPM Header 
• 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• 1 x RGB LED Header
• 1 x Addressable LED Header
• 1 x AMD Fan LED Header
• 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
• 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• 3 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart     Fan Speed Control)
• 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector
• 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector
• 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
• 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD   Protection)
• 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports) (Supports ESD Protection)

REAR PANEL I/O

• 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
• 1 x HDMI Port
• 1 x DisplayPort 1.2
• 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
• 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
• 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
• 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
• 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
• HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

SOFTWARE, UEFI & HARDWARE

Software:

• ASRock A-Tuning
• ASRock Polychrome SYNC
• ASRock XFast LAN

UEFI:

• ASRock Full HD UEFI
• ASRock Instant Flash
• ASRock Easy RAID Installer

         Support CD:

• Drivers, Utilities, Antivirus Software (Trial Version)
• Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar.

       Accessories:

• Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
• 2 x SATA Data Cables
• 2 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
• 1 x Standoff for M.2 Socket

      Hardware Monitor:

• Temperature Sensing: CPU, MB
• Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
• Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
• Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans

    Form Factor:

1. ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm

    Operating System:

• Microsoft® Windows® 10 64-bit

    Certification:

• FCC, CE
  • ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

Benchmark

BENCHMARK (x264)

The x264 HD Benchmark 5.0 encodes a 1080p video segment into the x264 format. There are two passes with 4 runs each. We average the 4 runs for each pass to give you what you see below. Obviously, higher frames per second is better.

TESTING – Gaming and Video

Gaming performance really depends on what graphics card you will be using. Because graphics drivers and games are updated so often, mostly it is tested running synthetic benchmarks here. We will be running 3DMark’s Time Spy, and Fire Strike. For 3DMark Fire Strike we will be running it at the Extreme and Ultra setting.

TESTING- POWER CONSUMPTION

Power consumption for a system is of course especially important. To measure power consumption, I used a KW meter. The idle test is taken on the Windows 10 desktop and the load test is taken while running AIDA64’s system stability test with GPU’s enabled. Remember these values are for the entire system.

Queries related to AsRock B450 STEEL LEGEND

1. Is x570 better than AsRock B450?

The B450 boards offer a single 10Gbps USB 3.1 port, whereas the X570 offers two USB 3.2 ports. As far as m.2 slots are concerned, the B450 boards offer one slot for SATA and NVMe drives, but the X570 has two slots – one supporting PCIe 4.0, hence opening a world of very quick SSDs.

 2. Why is ASRock so cheap?

Some of the ASrock boards are cheap because they have less build quality.

3. Which motherboard brand is best?

Gigabyte and ASUS are most reliable, Gigabyte being optimal in terms of price / features. Black edition boards are durability tested. MSI is next followed by Asrock.

4. Where are ASRock motherboards made?

Taiwan

ASRock Inc. is a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer that focuses on the development of motherboards, industrial PCs, and HTPCs. ASRock was originally spun off from Asus in 2002 in order to compete with companies like Foxconn for the commodity OEM market.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The real thing is when it comes to lower tier chipsets

(AMD B450, INTEL B365) motherboards are not that exciting. But the first look usually creates an attractive environment for Gamers and RGB lovers. The Black PCB and urban winter camo design on board really goes well together and the silver lining on the chipset heating and the M.2 heatsink look great too. A great RGB lightning and controller software also accompanies with the motherboard.

The new Steel Legend boards ASRock has some cool stability features like the use of 60A power chokes and Nichicon 12K black capacitors, with ASRock’s “Full Spike” ESD protection for the USB, Ethernet, and audio ports enabling our Ryzen 7 3600X processor a 4.5 GHz overclock across all six cores.

The big noticeable differences on a B450 board compared to X470 is that the B450 board is really designed for a single graphics card, having a single PCI-Express 3.0 x4 M.2 slot and less USB ports. People mostly focus on running a single graphics card, a single M.2 drive, so the need of a boatload of extra USB ports are not required. Teaming this board with a Ryzen 5 processor, 20-series GPU, NVMe SSD will lead to the start of a really awesome gaming system!

For those looking at building a Ryzen system the B450 Steel Legend is a solid choice………

Pros:

• Sleek design
• You can overclock on AsRock B450
• A-RGB lighting
• M.2 heatsink
• Price

Cons:

• BIOS does not have an easy mode
• A-Tuning software seems a bit dated

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