The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on June 16, 2020 11:00 AM ESTGIGABYTE B550M DS3H
Sitting at the bottom of GIGABYTE's B550 product stack is the B550M DS3H, which is one of just a handful of micro-ATX sized models to choose from. Aimed specifically at the sub $100 market, the B550M DS3H includes support for DDR4-4733 memory, dual M.2 slots and a Realtek Ethernet and audio codec pairing.
The GIGABYTE B550M DS3H has perhaps one of the funkiest black and grey patterned PCBs from GIGABYTE, with small black heatsinks that feature gold text for contrast. Included is a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, with another full-length PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, and a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. There are four memory slots with support for up to DDR4-4733, and up to a maximum capacity of 128 GB across four available memory slots. For storage is a pair of PCIe M.2 slots, one PCIe 4.0 x4 and the other PCIe 3.0 x4, with four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays.
Included on the rear panel is the bare necessities to what an entry-level board should include, with four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. For users looking to utilize an AMD Ryzen APU, GIGABYTE has included a pair of video outputs consisting of a DVI-D port, as well as an HDMI output, with a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port for legacy devices. A single Realtek Gigabit Ethernet controller powers the RJ45 port, while a Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec drives the board's three 3.5 mm audio jacks.
The B550M DS3H has an MSRP of $94 which sets it as the cheapest GIGABYTE B550 model at launch. With its budget controller set including a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet controller and Realtek ALC887, it has all the basics needed for a low-end and entry-level system. It has no Type-C or USB 3.2 G2 connectivity, but that's acceptable for a board in the sub $100 market space.
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kerwyn - Monday, June 29, 2020 - link
The second M.2 slot for the Aorus Elite seems to support PCIE3.0x2 instead of x4 stated in the review unless I read wrong. Could anyone else confirm? This is the swaying factor for me to lean towards the Mortar. Specs from Gigabyte website below:Storage Interface
1 x M.2 connector (M2A_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SSDs:
3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors support SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSDs
3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors support SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 SSDs
1 x M.2 connector (M2B_SB), integrated in the Chipset, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SSDs:
Supporting SATA and PCIe 3.0 x2 SSDs
sd7832kjd3bcds - Tuesday, June 30, 2020 - link
Almost all of the boards include PS/2 connector. Why they put it in 2020? They stopped making PS/2 devices 15 years ago. Better would be to have an empty space there.Ethos Evoss - Sunday, July 5, 2020 - link
I ordered this then I quickly cancelled and ordered B550I AORUS PRO AXQuestor - Sunday, July 12, 2020 - link
"One of the main complaints about the AMD X570 motherboard line was the wide variation in pricing."This can't be said of Intel based motherboards? Yes it can and accurately so. What is the point with this pointless statement?
Cards_ - Sunday, July 26, 2020 - link
Does the WiFi module connect to any WiFi Network, or is it only ASUS Networks if so would I need to buy a WiFi adapter?CamoGeko - Sunday, August 30, 2020 - link
Hey, so is there any cheaper alternative to the Aorus 550M Pro with similar or better feature set? I'm in the middle of building a Ryzen system with 3300X and motherboard is the last thing I need to decide on. Other mATX at the same price or cheaper just don't look as good as the B550M Aorus Pro.Iqbalusamah - Sunday, October 25, 2020 - link
I need help..the mob manual says the m.2 slot for the chipset suport sata n pcie 3.0x2..but this review says it suport pci3.0x4..i bought a samsung 970 evo with a pcie 3.0x4..can it be used in the slotIqbalusamah - Sunday, October 25, 2020 - link
Help me..i cant understand which one is true..the 2nd m.2 slot for chipset runs at pci3.0x4 or pcie 3.0x2(mob manual).and can a pcie3.0x4 be used in the slotZwirley - Sunday, July 18, 2021 - link
Question, is this board capable of overclocking and does it have a good power phase design? I was wondering because I want to build an all-white system but then came across another concern of this motherboard and that is if this supports BIOS Flashback feature so that I don't have to go out of my way to purchase an older gen CPU for it to support my 5900xcharlesa365 - Tuesday, August 3, 2021 - link
My personal computer running Debian has had four GIGABYTE B550 Vision D motherboards. The first and fourth had NIC initialisation on power up problems. The second one's NICs died after ~6 months. The third did not show voltage/temperature values properly. GIGABYTE warranty agents wrote "We do not give support to Debian OS".