The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on June 16, 2020 11:00 AM ESTChoosing The Right B550 Motherboard
Looking at the current discussion online around the launch of AMD's B550 chipset, a lot of fanfare and focus has been put on the price. There is a stark contrast in the current pricing of some B550 models when compared to models released two years ago for B450. Commonly referred to as AMD's mid-level budget chipset, it was thought B550 would bridge the gap somewhere between X470 and X570 while offering strong feature sets and the benefits of PCIe 4.0, but for a reduced price. It feels as if some vendors decided to unleash a few models with price tags of upwards of $200, with better controller sets, and more premium qualities which are more expected from the premium X570 chipset. Users might ask, if they're going to spend that much, why not go for X570 instead?
When it comes to picking a motherboard for a system, it will usually come down to one of three things, sometimes two or three, and sometimes all three are a necessity for the user; I'm talking about price, features, and aesthetic. The first of the three is the budget, which is varied across B550 dependent on the kind of feature. A large selection of the B550 product stack includes a 2.5 G Ethernet controller (Intel or Realtek), which is a huge step up considering B550 is supposed to be an entry-level alternative to X570. Not only 2.5 G, but Wi-Fi 6 is available on more than 12+ models, some models generally feature both which adds to the cost, but also gives superior networking capabilities to anything seen from the previous B450 chipset.
Although on paper, there isn't much difference between B450 and B550 with slightly more SATA available due to the removable of eSATA support, both remain PCIe 3.0 bound. The onus on expansion support comes down to vendors different implementations with some impressive designs, the most notable model coming via the GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master. This is the only model to include support for more than one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, in fact, it has three, not to mention the dual BIOS and three full-length PCIe slots which operate at PCIe 4.0 x16, and PCIe 3.0 x4/x4. This, of course, comes at a high price with an MSRP of $280, and it is one of the small handful of examples of B550 models pushing above and beyond X570 pricing.
Another model set apart from the rest is the GIGABYTE B550 Vision D, which includes an Intel Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3 controller and adds two Type-C ports onto the rear panel, but opts for dual Gigabit Ethernet as opposed to 2.5 G and comes with an MSRP of $260.
The cheapest B550 motherboard at present is the GIGABYTE B550M DS3H which is a micro-ATX model, with a very basic feature set, and costs just $95; that's the price range MOST B450 models launched at. This is the point that needs to be brought across, PCIe 4.0 support doesn't seem to come cheap.
Regardless of the feature a user is looking for, below is a list of which models include specific features worth highlighting.
Choosing the Right B550 Motherboard | ||
Options | Size | Price |
5 or 10 Gigabit Ethernet | ||
None - add your own | ||
Wi-Fi 6 / 802.11ax | ||
ASRock B550 Taichi | ATX | $300 |
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax | mITX | $200 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-E Gaming | ATX | $280 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming Wifi | ATX | $210 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming | mITX | $230 |
ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-Plus Wifi | mATX | $180 |
ASUS Prime B550M-A Wifi | mATX | $150 |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | ATX | $280 |
GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX | mITX | $180 |
GIGABYTE B550 Vision D | ATX | $260 |
MSI MPG B550 Gaming Carbon Wifi | ATX | $220 |
MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge Wifi | ATX | $190 |
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge Wifi | mITX | $200 |
MSI MAG B550M Mortar Wifi | mATX | $170 |
2 or more PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 | ||
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | ATX | $280 |
8 or more SATA ports | ||
ASRock B550 Taichi | ATX | $300 |
3 or more USB 3.2 G2 (Rear Panel) | ||
ASUS ROG Strix B550-E Gaming | ATX | $280 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming | mITX | $230 |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | ATX | $280 |
GIGABYTE B550 Vision D | ATX | $260 |
Thunderbolt 3 | ||
GIGABYTE B550 Vision D | ATX | $260 |
Dual BIOS | ||
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | ATX | $280 |
PCIe x8/x8 Bifurcation | ||
ASRock B550 Taichi | ATX | $300 |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | ATX | $280 |
GIGABYTE B550 Vision D | ATX | $260 |
Mini-ITX | ||
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming ITX/ax | mITX | $200 |
ASRock B550M-ITX/ac | mITX | - |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming | mITX | $230 |
GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX | mITX | $180 |
MSI MPG B550I Gaming Edge Wifi | mITX | $200 |
Type-C Audio | ||
ASUS ROG Strix B550-E Gaming | ATX | $280 |
ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming | mITX | $230 |
In our previous round-ups, we have included which boards come with most commonly used audio codec, which for B550 looks to be the Realtek ALC1200, or in the case of ASUS models, the Realtek S1200A. It's easier and quicker to list which models don't include it.
B550 Motherboard Audio | |
Codec | Boards |
Realtek ALC1200 | Everything except the following |
ASUS S1200A | ALL ASUS ROG Strix |
All ASUS TUF | |
Realtek ALC1220 | ASRock B550 Taichi |
ASRock B550 Steel Legend | |
ASRock B550 PG Velocita | |
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming ITX/ax | |
ASRock B550 Extreme4 | |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master | |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Pro AC | |
GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Pro | |
GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX | |
GIGABYTE B550 Vision D | |
Realtek ALC892 | MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus |
MSI B550-A Pro | |
Realtek ALC887 | ASRock B550-HDV |
ASRock B550-ITX/ac | |
ASUS Prime B550M-A | |
ASUS Prime B550M-K | |
GIGABYTE B550M Aorus Elite | |
GIGABYTE B550M Gaming | |
GIGABYTE B550 DS3H | |
Realtek ALC1150 | Biostar Racing B550GTA |
Biostar Racing B550GTQ |
Reviews for B550 motherboards should start to be available from today. We have started getting samples of a few boards in for testing, and we expect to get underway with them very shortly.
Intro, ASRock, and ASUS covered by Ian Cutress,
GIGABYTE, MSI, Biostar, and Conclusion by Gavin Bonshor
101 Comments
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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".