The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on June 16, 2020 11:00 AM ESTASRock B550M Pro4
Even though there is a mATX version of the Pro4, the two boards are not variants of each other. The B550M Pro4 has a different layout of where the boards are by comparison, as well as a different arrangement on the rear panel.
There is still the 75% rear panel cover over the top of the controllers from the back panel, also covering the power delivery (6-phase) this time, and the chipset heatsink / M.2 heatsinks are not connected either. The CPU takes power from a single 8-pin, and the socket has access to three 4-pin fan headers within reasonable distance.
To the right of the socket are four memory slots, all using single side latches as to not interfere when large bulky graphics cards are used. On the right hand side of the board, at the top we have an RGB header, then a 24-pin ATX connector, then a USB 3.0 header, two vertical SATA ports, four regular SATA ports, and then a chipset based PCIe 3.0 x2 M.2 slot.
For the PCIe area, the top slot is a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot with additional reinforcement, and that sits just above the PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot for storage, which has its own heatsink (but isn’t connected to the chipset heatsink). The board also has a PCIe 3.0 x4 full-length slot at the bottom, between which is a M.2 Wi-Fi connector for anyone to add in their own Wi-Fi card.
Along the bottom of the motherboard is the video output header, two RGB LED headers, a COM port header, three more 4-pin fan headers, two USB 2.0 headers, another USB 3.0 header, and the front panel outputs. On the far left is the audio solution, which uses an ALC1200 with PCB separation and some filter caps.
On the rear panel from left to right is a spot for Wi-Fi antenna, an analog D-Sub video output, a HDMI port, a DisplayPort, two USB 2.0 ports, a combination P/2 port, a Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, a Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a Realtek RTL8111H gigabit Ethernet port, and the audio jacks.
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Makaveli - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Replace AMD in your sentence with motherboard makers AMD it not setting the price for them. Looking at list of boards here is seems most of them added features just to jack the prices up.WaltC - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
Yep, price is all down to the mboard OEMs.sing_electric - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
On one hand, you're right, on the other, AMD provides the chipset and specifications, and the fact that NO OEMs seem to be able to make cheap boards suggests that there's challenges with meeting the spec at a certain budget._cracken - Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - link
No you are wrong on both hands. AMD does not deliver chipsets for B550, it is made by asmedia.Irata - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Well, the cheapest board starts at $95, there are still plenty cheap B450 boards around and there will be B520 soon.As for OEM, I am sure they will have boards built based on their requirements.
I am curious to see what will happen to mainboard prices in a few months and if there will be additional / improved entry level options like for X570.
Chaitanya - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
B550 has better connectivity than X470 with excellent VRM to boot._espo - Wednesday, July 1, 2020 - link
U have to understand amd didnt fuck up.motherboard companys didnt too because theres thing like covid and mb are made in china soIts more expensive to them now.And they have less stock and they still have to make money
Desierz - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Article refers to AMD's SMT as hyperthreading. I think hyperthreading is an Intel specific term.WaltC - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
Intel has no objection to AMD using the phrase...;)MB-Guru - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
I would like to purchase this MB. Which Reputable Vendor is selling this Gigabyte B550 vision D right now? Does anyone know? Thanks !