BIOSTAR B450MH Review

The BIOSTAR B450MH is one of the most affordable motherboards you will encounter if you happen to be looking for a B450 motherboard.

AMD has recently released the new Ryzen 5000 series of processors. We know by now that current 500 series motherboards will have support, with the 400 series to follow suit starting January of next year. With that said, let's take a little step back and see how far the AM4 platform can go with the BIOSTAR B450MH motherboard. 

Not gonna lie. The BIOSTAR B450MH is one of the most affordable motherboards you will encounter if you happen to be looking for a B450 motherboard. Pricing on the thing is Php2,750 like seriously good luck finding another B450 motherboard at that price here. You’ll most likely see this one bundled with Athlon APUs or an entry level Ryzen CPU say, Ryzen 3100. 

BIOSTAR B450MH TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

CPU Support	Supports AMD AM4 Socket for 3rd, 2nd and 1st Gen Ryzen/2nd and 1st Gen Ryzen with Radeon Vega
Memory	2 x DDR4 DIMM Memory Slot Support Dual Channel DDR4 1866/ 2133/ 2400/ 2667/ 2933/ 3200(OC) MHz
Storage	4 x SATA III 6Gbps 1 x M.2 (M-Key)
Audio Codec	ALC887 7.1 Channels, High Definition Audio
USB	6 x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports (4 on rear I/Os and 2 via internal headers) 6 x USB 2.0 ports (2 on rear I/Os and 4 via internal headers)
Expansion Slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 Slots 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slot (When using APU, the bandwidth is x8 speed)
Inclusions	2 x SATA Cable 1 x I/O Shield 1 x DVD Driver 1 x Quick Guide
Bundled Software	BullGuard Smart Speed LAN
Price	Php2,750

 

DESIGN

The BIOSTAR B450MH looks like it would feel right at home with Corsair’s packaging. That black and yellow color scheme looks sweet and all if I do say so myself, especially for a budget board right here. Loving how the bright yellow DIMM slots and PCIe slot accentuate for stylish points. There’s an M.2 slot here, as well as four SATA ports. There’s also two of those bright yellow DIMM slots, which is a given once again in this price range. To move the point of its affordability further, there are also only two fan headers here. Two internal USB 2.0 and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers grace the motherboard as well.

For the rear I/O panel, you'll be getting 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 2 x USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, a VGA port, 1 x LAN port, 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, and 3 x audio jacks. Nothing unusual here.

PERFORMANCE

TEST SYSTEM SETUP

Motherboard	BIOSTAR B450MH Ver 6.x
CPU	AMD Ryzen 3 3100
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
RAM	ZADAK 16GB 3200MHz
Cooler	Noctua NH-U12A
Storage	Kingston A2000 NVMe SSD 500GB
PSU	EVGA 500W Bronze
OS	Windows 10
Display	ViewSonic VX2758 1080p 144Hz Monitor

CINEBENCH

 

MAXON's CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that tests out a computer's performance capabilities. The Cinebench Release 20 features overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years for a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.

3DMark Time Spy

 

3DMark Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spy is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built the right way from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers. With its Extreme counterpart rendering visuals in 4K.

3DMark Firestrike

Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark for modern gaming PCs. Its ambitious real-time graphics are rendered with detail and complexity far beyond other DirectX 11 benchmarks and games. With Extreme and Ultra versions raising resolution in 25650 x 1440 and 4K.

CPU-Z

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system. It also features a quick benchmark tool inside.

The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 despite its age is still one of the most demanding titles as it holds up graphically. Our test is done on Oxenfurt.

Settings:

VSync: Off

FPS: Unlimited

NVIDIA Hairworks: Off

Number of Background Characters: Ultra

Shadow Quality: Ultra

Terrain Quality: Ultra

Water Quality: Ultra

Grass Density: Ultra

Texture Quality: Ultra

Foliage Visibility Range: Ultra

Detail Level: Ultra

Ambient Occlusion: SSAO

Depth of Field: On

Chromatic Abberation: On

Vignetting: On

Light Shafts: On

Gears 5

Gears 5 is the latest installment in The Coalition's Gears of War franchise. It's a third person shooter that features a cover-system mechanic and a mini-game reload mechanic. It also features an exact 1-minute benchmark that we're going to use for our data.

Settings:
API: DirectX 12 
Ultra Settings Preset
Min/Max Frame Rate: None/Unlimited
Character Texture Detail: Ultra
Effects Texture Detail: Ultra
Dynamic Shadow Quality: Ultra
World Texture Detail: Ultra
Texture Streaming: Ultra
Capsule Shadow Quality: Ultra
Screen Space Reflections: Ultra
Ambient Occlusion Quality: Ultra
World Level of Detail: Ultra
Tesselation Quality: Ultra
Animation Quality: Best 

 

CONCLUSION

We’re kinda late to the party reviewing this. A B450 motherboard in 2020 isn’t exactly pretty common around these parts, but when you think about it the AM4 platform and 400 series motherboards is still alive and kicking. You’ll be missing out on PCIe Gen 4 and all that jazz, but at this pricepoint those are probably at the backburner. 

Now if it happens that you’re on the hunt for a motherboard in this price range and you’re steering clear from bundles, the BIOSTAR B450MH easily presents itself as a well-rounded motherboard that basically covers what you'll need. Simply put, if you're looking for a straightforward, no-frills solution that will deliver excellent value for your money, the BIOSTAR B450MH is a wonderful place to start.