Best Budget Motherboards for AMD Raven Ridge APUs Ryzen 2400G & 2200G

In this post, we have arranged out a list of budget motherboards for AMD Raven Ridge APUs which comes with VEGA integrated GPU’s.

For years, AMD has been a leader in integrated GPU’s, a.k.a. APUs. Even if their processors were not competitive with Intel, their iGPU’s excelled.  Now, with AMD back in the HEDT market, fans were eagerly waiting for their VEGA based APU’s. AMD’s Ryzen ridge APUs are quite promising and received rave reviews. Here is a list of new APU’s AMD is offering.

AMD is hoping for the best from their Raven Ridge APUs they recently released on Tuesday. This arrangement is not new since AMD’s first APUs dates back to 2011. Their modified cores are already adopted in gaming consoles including XBOX and PlayStation. However, due to weaker CPU’s these APUs failed to succeed in the high-end gaming markets. With these two new APUs, AMD has attempted to offer budget gaming systems for casual gamers. It will be interesting to see how well these APUs do in the market.

Here is a quick look at how these new parts perform, with initial first impressions.

As promised by AMD, they will be using the same AM4 socket used by Ryzen processors, so you will not need to upgrade your motherboard if you already own AM4 based rig. Moreover, there are plenty of motherboards out there in the market who support these APUs. Today, we have come up with a list of such best budget motherboards for AMD raven ridge APUs. We have divided them into two sections:

• Motherboards under $200
• Motherboards under $100

Here we begin:

Budget Motherboards for AMD Raven Ridge APUs Under $200:

1. ASRock X370 Taichi:

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The ASRock motherboard gives you rock-solid performance when you run workloads at its base operating frequency. However, you will need to have advanced skills in overclocking, if that is your intention. If you don’t like a lot of extra bells whistles, then this is the motherboard for you. We do highly recommend updating the BIOS and device drivers to remove any stability issues.

Note: This Mobo only comes with a USB-C as display output. You would either need a matched monitor, or a converter (Dongle) or need to buy a separate GFX card for multi-monitor support!

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2. ASUS PRIME X370-PRO:

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If you like a lot of RGB lighting in your PC build, this is the one to go for. The price of this motherboard has come down significantly since the AM4 ecosystem is now very mature. The “one-click” overclocking improves the system performance dynamically without you having to play with the CPU frequency and voltage. It also comes with SLI/Crossfire support, in case if you want to go with dedicated graphics at a later point. It comes with a display port (1.2) and an HDMI port. However, you will need a mid-tower chassis to hold this motherboard in place.

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3. Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming K5 – 1.0:

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If you want a lot of LED’s to light up your PC internals, this one fits the requirement with ease. Jokes apart, this motherboard can easily run you Ryzen @ 1.38v for daily stable use. Do note that this motherboard does not come with the latest BIOS and you will need to update it manually.

For air cooling, this motherboard comes with eight fan headers on this board in total:

• 2 CPU,
• 2 Pump & Case Fan Headers, and
• 4 Optional Fan Headers

If you are looking for an MSI x370 pro-gaming alternative, try this one.

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4. MSI X370 SLI PLUS:

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After buying this motherboard, ensure that you upgrade to the latest version of the BIOS. In our case, the BIOS was over six months old. If you want to plug in high-speed memory like the “F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW” RAM to run at full speed, do upgrade to the latest version of the BIOS. There is plenty of room for installing a 3rd party cooling systems. Using a high-speed memory is essential for a good GPU performance since the GPU does not come with their dedicated memory.

The motherboard comes with HDMI, DVI & USB C ports which can be used for monitor outputs.

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5. Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming:

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If you want to use a Ryzen 5 2400g or a Ryzen 3 APU, you will need to ensure that the motherboard is flashed with the latest version of the BIOS. Otherwise, you will need a regular Ryzen CPU to boot up and flash to the latest BIOS revision, before using it for a Ryzen APU. Once setup, the motherboard is stable and sturdy. It comes with all the overclocking features that you would expect for a high-end motherboard. The added LED lights are an added advantages for the folks who like it.

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Budget Motherboards for AMD Raven Ridge APUs Under $100:

In this section, we picked up the budget motherboards which are ideal for a low-cost PC builds. Check them out.

1. MSI B350 PC MATE:

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Before using the Ryzen APU’s ensure that you have the latest version of the BIOS (7A34 version 13 or later). Once the latest BIOS is in place, you can pop in any 3200 MHz DDR4 memory modules in this mobo without any compatibility or overclocking issues.

Before putting the motherboard in place, do take care of the I/O shield which might cover some of the available USB ports on the back panel. Once you figured those minor niggles, everything should work smoothly with no stability issues at all. See its full specifications below:

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2. ASUS PRIME B350M-A/CSM:

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Asus makes great motherboards, and this one is no exception. However, do remember that the memory compatibility is limited and we recommend disabling XMP. Like the others on this list, a BIOS update is required before popping in the latest Ryzen APU’s.

On the overclocking side, do not expect much upsides, since, at this price points, advanced options are limited.

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3. MSI A320M GAMING PRO:

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MSI has come up with interesting naming conventions for their A320 chipset motherboards like Bazooka and Grenade. However, we like the Pro edition amongst the lot. It can run all the Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 AM4 CPUs. However, for the APU’s you will need to be on the latest edition of their BIOS release. It can support up to 32 gigs of memory but don’t expect any overclocking. We recommend using the “Ballistix Sport” LT 8GB or 16 GB Kits.

The display outputs include  VGA, HDMI, and DVI outputs. Check out its specifications below.

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4. ASUS PRIME A320M-K:

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The Asus Prime A320 board support a maximum of overclocked DDR 4 @ 3200 MHz. Since it is an A320 chipset, it does not support any overclocking. Overall, a solid board, just as you would expect from Asus. Do check for the latest version of the BIOS from their support site.

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Conclusion

We hope this post helps you to pick the right budget motherboard for your AMD raven ridge APU based build. If you have any question or suggestion, feel free to use the comment box below or directly contact us. Thank you. See you until next post!