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 B550 Gaming X
Moving away from the Aorus branded models, we go down the product to the GIGABYTE B550 Gaming X which follows a simplistic all-black aesthetic, with some grey patterning on the PCB to add contrast. The main features include a 10+3 phase power delivery, two M.2 slots, a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet controller and a Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec.
The GIGABYTE B550 Gaming X is an ATX sized model with two full-length PCIe slots with the top slot operating at PCIe 4.0 x16, and the bottom slot at PCIe 3.0 x4. For storage, there is a single PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, with a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, and four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Up to 128 GB of system memory can be installed across four available memory slots, with memory with speeds of up DDR4-4733 officially supported. Delivering power to the CPU is a single 8-pin 12 V ATX power input, while GIGABYTE advertises the board to feature a 10+3 phase design.
On the rear panel is a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, with there USB 3.2 G1 Type-A and two USB 2.0 ports. There is a PS/2 combo keyboard and mouse port for users with legacy peripherals, while a Realtek ALC887 HD audio codec powers the boards three 3.5 mm audio jacks. A Realtek 8111 Gigabit Ethernet controller controls a single RJ45 port, while a handy Q-Flash Plus button is located on the rear to allow users to update the board's firmware easily.
The GIGABYTE B550 Gaming X is targeted towards entry-level gamers looking to harness the power of AMD's 7nm Ryzen processors while offering all the basics expected from a PCIe 4.0 enabled motherboard. This model has an MSRP of $139, which does seem expensive given the use of budget controllers, nor does it include any M.2 heatsinks which would have made it slightly more favorable.
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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 !