Which ASUS AM4 motherboard should I buy for Ryzen?

The Prime X370-Pro is a potent professional

Perfect for power users and prosumers, along with gamers who desire a different look, the Prime X370-Pro provides a streamlined platform for full-fat Ryzen builds. We loaded it with everything you need to make the most of AM4 CPUs.

While the black-and-white styling sets a more professional tone, that doesn’t mean the board doesn’t know how to have fun. The Aura RGB lighting is a perfect example. The PCB is free of multi-colored LEDs, establishing a stealthy default. But it also has a four-pin header for light strips up to two meters long, so you can illuminate a full system if you want.

Thanks to AMD’s flagship X370 chipset, the Prime X370-Pro can harness the formidable graphics power of two-way SLI and CrossFireX setups. Both of the PCIe x16 slots tied to the CPU have full SafeSlot reinforcement and wide spacing for maximum airflow. The other slot of note is the four-lane M.2 nestled below the AM4 socket. The direct connection to the CPU lets cutting-edge NVMe SSDs bask in 32Gbps of glorious bandwidth—and hit phenomenal read and write speeds.

You can connect more SSDs and hard drives via eight SATA ports lining the edge. USB 3.1 is available in three flavors: traditional Type-A and reversible Type-C at the rear, plus an internal header for whatever you want to hook up at the front. The Prime also adds DisplayPort and HDMI outputs for 7^th-generation A-series and Athlon processors with integrated Radeon graphics.

Ryzen CPUs can be overclocked with a single click using the board’s 5-Way Optimization routine or the extensive manual controls. Fan Xpert 4 provides full control over system cooling whether you’re on air, liquid, or a combination of the two. There are four fan headers onboard, plus one tuned for all-in-one liquid coolers, and another for high-amperage pumps and fans.

The onboard audio uses an S1220A codec with the same 113-dB input SNR and 120-dB output SNR found on the ROG Crosshair VI Hero. While the Prime lacks that model’s full SupremeFX package, you still get premium capacitors and automatic impedance sensing for headphones. Networking is handled by the same Intel Gigabit Ethernet NIC in the Crosshair, this time with Turbo LAN software to intelligently manage packet delivery.

We designed the Prime X370-Pro to strike the right balance between the platform essentials you need and the premium features you want. To get the best bang for your buck without giving up anything vital, order one for $169.99 USD and 218.99 CAD from the retailers listed above. You can find more info on the official product page.

ATX essentials define the Prime B350-Plus

Ryzen maintains AMD’s commitment to offering phenomenal performance and value at lower prices, and the Prime B350-Plus embodies that spirt. You get all the essentials for a solid AM4 build for just under $100.

Despite the low asking price, the Prime B350-Plus supports Ryzen processors all the way up to the top eight-core beasts. Overclocking the CPU manually is easy thanks to AMD’s decision to unlock the multipliers across the whole family, and the board still supports up to 64GB of DDR4 memory at speeds up to 3200MHz.

Cooling management takes a step back to Fan Xpert 2+, which retains intelligent speed control but loses recent enhancements like GPU temperature sensing and multi-sensor grouping. Our latest liquid-specific tweaks are also missing, but you can easily configure one of the three onboard fan headers to drive an AIO cooler. As an added bonus, there’s an extra header for the lighting in AMD’s RGB-infused AM4 cooler.

Onboard lighting manifests in red accents on the PCIe x16 slots. They nicely complement the blood-on-black colorway we popularized for PC gaming hardware. Both x16s have SafeSlot Core strengthening, but only the top one carries PCI Express 3.0 signals from the CPU. Although the board and accompanying B350 chipset are geared toward single-GPU systems, you can pair a couple of Radeons in CrossFireX using the second x16 slot, which has four lanes of PCIe from the chipset.

While the board’s B350 chipset somewhat limits I/O, there are no restrictions on CPU-connected storage. Like its high-end siblings, the Prime B350-Plus features a four-lane M.2 slot compatible with the fastest consumer-grade NVMe SSDs around. There’s enough room for drives up to 110 mm, adding a measure of future-proofing in case SSD makers decide to go long.

Diverse expansion and I/O make this model a jack of all trades. In addition to serving up the wicked-fast SSD slot, it has six SATA ports for solid-state and mechanical drives, plus dual Type-A USB 3.1 connectors for high-speed external storage. A trio of display outputs caters to AM4 chips with integrated Radeon graphics, while old-school PCIe slots provide compatibility for legacy devices.

Some sacrifices are necessary to lower the price, so the networking and audio are less exotic than on our higher-end boards. But you still get Gigabit Ethernet and premium audio capacitors along with another dose of LED illumination.

For $99.99 USD or $139.99 CAD all in, the Prime B350-Plus lays the groundwork for affordable Ryzen machines that don’t cut corners. Look for it at the retailers in the table above, and check out the full product page for more details.

AM4 goes microATX on the Prime B350M-A

Compact builds are becoming increasingly popular as PC hardware consolidates more power in smaller packages. A single graphics card is typically enough even for serious gaming, and improved onboard peripherals have largely removed the need for additional expansion cards. Our Prime B350M-A brings Ryzen and its AM4 counterparts to a microATX form factor that squeezes into tighter spaces.

The board straddles two worlds despite its smaller footprint. It’s part of our business-friendly Corporate Stable Motherboard program, which ensures a steady supply for one year in addition to free advance replacement to minimize downtime. For less buttoned-down builds, manual overclocking options let you exploit the processor’s unlocked multiplier.

Gamers can plug full-sized graphics cards into the single x16 slot, which is tightly anchored to the board with SafeSlot Core reinforcement. The Prime B350M-A is unlikely to be paired with ultra-high-end graphics cards with ginormous coolers, so the full treatment isn’t necessary. We have, however, added a touch of lighting to the retention tab that matches the illumination behind the audio circuitry. It’s a little hint of flair for the lower-key design

The onboard audio matches the full-sized Prime B350-Plus, as does the networking. And the same goes for the memory and storage. You get four DDR4 DIMM slots and a quad-lane M.2 that supports the latest NVMe SSDs at full length. Connectivity covers all the bases with a pair of 10Gbps USB 3.1 connectors, a trio of display outs, and an ample selection of SATA and USB ports.

Fan Xpert intelligence keeps the cooling quiet by only ramping up fans when required. There are two headers onboard, and you can profile the fans connected to both with a single click for easy calibration. The CPU fan header also has a three-pin sidekick for the RGB heatsink that ships with some of AMD’s AM4 CPUs.

With enough performance and style for compact gaming rigs alongside sensible features you can justify to the boss, the Prime B350M-A is perhaps the most versatile of our new AM4 boards. Look for it at the retailers listed above for $89.99 USD and $119.99 CAD, and hit the full product page for more details.