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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Ghan - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Right now, it seems more like B for Backordered. They may be priced a bit high, but the demand still seems to be there.yannigr2 - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
This is a great article but it needs a follow up with a table for every motherboard explaining how they use the PCIe lanes in conjunction with M2 and SATA slots. It seems that motherboard makers are totally f up(sorry for the expression) the more reasonably priced models in that area.romrunning - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Does anyone know if the boards that have the Intel i225-V are shipping with the fixed hardware (v2)?R3MF - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
+1mooninite - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Wow, another broken Intel NIC? I wish motherboards would stop using Intel NICs.mooninite - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
After Googling it looks like v2 is not fixed either... a v3 is coming out. Time to buy Realtek.romrunning - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
Which is hilarious - I remember when Realtek was the worst when it came to NICs, and Intel/3Com was the standard. :)WaltC - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
Yes, indeed...;) My x570 Master has an Intel gigabit & a realtek 2.5gb. It's amusing because my interface is an EWAN that tops out at 1Gb, but I thought I'd try the realtek just to see and then I forgot about it...;)...Seems every bit as stable as the Intel--still on it, lol...;) Six of one, half-dozen of another.eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Thanks Ian and Gavin! One question, related to a likely use case for B550 mini ITX or mATX Boards: is it true that AMD will, at least initially, limit Ryzen 4000 APUs to OEMs? If that is so, I am definitely not interested in a B550 board in those form factors, and I don't think I am alone here. An answer is appreciated - thanks!mrvco - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
I'm just here for the Next mini-ITX boards. I'm liking the Aorus Pro AX quite a bit.