Asus Prime B450M-A/CSM AMD AM4 (3rd/2nd/1st Gen Ryzen Micro-ATX commercial motherboard (1Gb LAN, ECC Memory, D-Sub/HDMI/DVI-D, TPM header, COM port, Asus Control Center Express)

First ever review for me, but felt others (Linux users) might want to know.This board provides good value and it does come (as another reviewer noted) with BIOS 1201. 1201 will let you boot up a Ryzen 3 or 5 3200G/3400G (know that these chips are actually based on last year's 11nm & thus not true 3000 cpu releases). But what non-users of ASUS motherboards might not be aware of or not know is that the BIOS EZ Flash 3 Utility provided by ASUS (inside the BIOS0 does not require an OS to update the BIOS. You ca actually update the motherboard without any hard drive/SSD/etc installed).Upon receiving this Prime B450M-A I immediately put it into a spare case I had lying around, put in a Ryzen 3 3400G I had picked up on Amazon sold for $88, used the provided AMD cooler it came with and it's pre-applied paste (unless you game 24-7, don't listen to the Net chatter about needing brand name, expensive thermal paste), then installed this ram - Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3000 MHz DDR4 DRAM Desktop Gaming Memory Kit 16GB (8GBx2) CL15 BLS2K8G4D30AESCK (White) along with an totally empty non-formatted new Crucial120GB SSD I had lying around. This was all powered by a Corsair 400W PSU.Before doing anything OS-wise, I started the system up and hit "delete" to get into the BIOS. Using the ASUS EZ Flash Utility in the BIOS, which gives you the option of either using your own fat16/32 thumb drive (don't use any other format) or you can use the ethernet Internet connection the board already detects, I immediately updated the BIOS to ASUS' latest BIOS, 1820 (just yesterday I did it again & updated 1823). I then waited as the BIOS restarted itself, then stuck in an Ubuntu 18.04.3 ISO on a DVD (just choose your CD/DVD burner in the BIOS front page as your first boot choice) and hit delete again to get back into the BIOS. I chose my CD/DVD drive as my first boot choice on the first page of ASUS' excellent BIOS, and then it started up. Within several minutes, Ubuntu was completely installed on the SSD (this chip/memory/board is fast), the system rebooted, and I was staring at Ubuntu 18.04.3 where it made my 20" PC screen the "primary" while my 42" plasma TV was also picked up as the "secondary" screen. This is/was great, no messing with that, correct 1920x1080 resolutions too.Since the above (about 9-10 days), I have not had one crash or problem with the board running any version of Ubuntu from 18.04.3 & above. This computer system is in the living room where it gets heavy use by the family and kids for everything, from Netflix streaming, to multi-purpose PC uses, etc (I won't talk of this Ryzen 3 3200G's gaming performance, as it is already well-covered on the Net--at this price, for gaming, it simply rocks and, unbelievably to me, the included cooler handles things quite well--again, as long as the kids don't game 24-7, if that stats happening, which might as they see how fast this system is and what it can handle, I will get a bigger and better cooler to be safe).Also, here's what I found (over the past few days of testing) in terms of what will successfully boot Linux-wise on this Prime B450M-A motherboard using the latest AMD Ryzen 3 3200G chip mentioned above: (you'll notice as I list the successes and failures, the Linux OSes that come with Kernel 5 or above, they all boot up great; the others do not and you will have to perform some tricks and kernel installs to get things going if you use a Linux OS that doesn't come with kernel 5 or above):Successes:Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS and all 19s 9I tried 19.10 too, worked great)Fedora 31 (Fedora actually seemed to be the fastest out of these 2 successes, but I stuck to Ubuntu for gaming reasons)Failed to boots:Debian 10.1Linux Mint 19 (and version)MX-Linux 19Opensuse LEAP & Tumbleweedetc, etc...(tried about 6 others, all failed because they don't have come with kernel 5 or above).Last thing I want to note is the latest BIOS updates come where ASUS (upon instructions) have disabled PCIe4. This "disabling of PCIe4" not ASUS's fault, this is AMD's. AMD is still not enabling PCIe4 on 300/400 series motherboards, and are instructing motherboard manufactuers (if they had enabled PCIe4) to disable PCIe4. AMD, if you know about the Pinnacle Ridge cpu clusterf#ck last year that they are still trying to be clear up completely, this board with the recently released Ryzen 3/5 3000 cpu(s) is a welcome change. ASUS did nothing wrong here. AMD is still saying they are not going to be releasing Linux-specific Ryzen drivers, which is kind of interesting since it was us Linux people who kept AMD afloat back in the dark days when it was thought Intel would crush them & drive them into insolvency. Sure hopes AMD rethinks things, and gets their act together over these next 4-9 months Linux-wise as the truly new 3000 cpus come out next summer.In sum, the ASUS Prime B450M-A board I tested here with a Ryzen 3 3200G cpu and 3000 MHZ DDR4 was a fun, hassle-free build. I also know this board will easily handle and provide a future upgrade path for AMD cpu(s) going forward over the next few years.Hope this review helps any other Linux users out there.

Nice piece of gear for my Micro build !! Nice fit into my Masterbox Q300L (no cd/dvd). Came with updated BIOS out of the box (yes, i checked the site). Put my Ryzen 2600 into mobo, worked first time at stock speed (3.4) with my G.Skill Ram and Seasonic PSU.Fine print: Ram worked out of the box. Plug and play. Mobo recognized ram at 2133, quick change in bios to 3.0 - no problems noted. Same with CPU. Fired up at 3.4. Quick bios change to 3.8 - low volts and solid. I'm not an overclocker so happy and easy. Finally, it stock fan is VERY QUIET and super easy install in my case. Finally, finally ... with no cd/dvd in case I opted for a USB Win 10 install. OMG - Never will use a Win 10 CD again. USB 3.0 is SUPER fast - even with HDD. Windows site very easy to make a Win 10 USB. Just need a good Win 10 code for final install.Really really finally - i HATE the LED, PWR switch case connector BS. C'mon ... this is 2018 FFS !!All n all. Easiest build ever. OBTW: like the case option to put HDD on the 'backside' of motherboard area vice an drive bay - much cleaner wiring, very solid, :)Pros: Solid construction, nice layout, arrived with updated BIOS.Cons: -mobo faceplate for case - meh. Not sure if it's the mobo or the case connector but could not get my front case USB 3.0 connector fully flush with the mobo. Works fine, just not a good physical fit, not flush with bottom of the connection - i think it's the case connector, not sure. Diagram on printed instructions for mobo - weak for case connectors / my old eyes.Good piece of gear !!Some specs:G.SKILL Aegis 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Memory (Desktop Memory) Model F4-3000C16S-8GISBASUS GeForce GTX 1070 DUAL-GTX1070-O8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video CardMasterBox Q300L mATX Case w/Magnetic Design Dust Filter, Transparent Acrylic Side Panel, Air Flow Performance by Cooler MasterSeasonic FOCUS 550 Gold SSR-550FM 550W 80+ Gold ATX12V & EPS12V Semi-Modular 7 Year Warranty Compact 140 mm Size Power Supply

ASUS is a top brand known for solid build quality since I got into computers over 25 years ago. I bought this for a build for my dad (a school teacher), and I will buy it again, gladly, without hesitation for my next build(s). Since reliability is my first priority, I did not overclock the CPU. I did overclock the RAM to its rated speed of 3000 MHz, and this board did that flawlessly (always be sure to check the motherboard manufacturer's website for the memory compatibility list).This board worked perfectly out the box. There is a firmware update available, but it was not necessary at the time of build with a Ryzen 5 2400G CPU (ASIN B079D8FD28), 8 GB of Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000 MHz memory (ASIN: B0123ZBPDA), and an XPG SX8200 240 GB ADATA NVMe SSD (ASIN B07BLNFSQN). I did update the BIOS after everything was up and running, and that process was completely painless.Another reviewer commented that there was not good documentation for connecting the front panel connectors for things like the power switch, reset button, HDD indicator LED, etc. I suspect he did not look at the online resources available from ASUS. There is a manual in the box with the motherboard, and these is supplemental information available on the ASUS product support site.Unless I need high-end overclocking capabilities, integrated RGB LEDs, or some other feature this board explicitly lacks, this will be my go-to board for Ryzen based systems.