The GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX Motherboard Review: All The Small Things
by Gavin Bonshor on December 7, 2020 10:00 AM ESTConclusion
As AMD has finally launched its Ryzen 5000 series processors, which we reviewed in early November 2020, it blew the competition away with its newly designed core based on the 7 nm manufacturing process. Not only has AMD taken the single-threaded performance crown from Intel comfortably, but there could still be uplifts in the future. Despite using the Ryzen 7 3700X in our AM4 testing purely for consistency, the Ryzen 5000 series is supported across various chipsets, including X570 and B550, and A520, with many recent roll-outs of new firmware for B450 and X470 models, albeit without support for PCIe 4.0.
Focusing on the GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX, and GIGABYTE has a pretty competitive offering for the mini-ITX crowd; in a trifecta of ways, including price, performance, and spec. The only PCIe 4.0 limitations to B550 on ITX are those that include two PCIe M.2 slots like this one, with one operating at PCIe 4.0 and the other reverting PCIe 3.0. The CPU drives the full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, and that both NVIDIA and AMD have been consistently pushing users away from multi-card setups, which of course, mini-ITX isn't compatible with. Other storage options include four SATA ports, all with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays as per AMD specification, and GIGABYTE has done a good job at utilizing space around the board.
The GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX is very well equipped for a mini-ITX board and drops potential space on the rear panel for video outputs, in fact, three including two HDMI and one DisplayPort 1.4 at the expense of USB connectivity. There is still a total of six USB ports on the rear panel, including two USB 3.2 G2 ports (A+C), with four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A too. The rear panel's Q-Flash button also allows users to update to the latest firmware without having a CPU, memory, or GPU installed, which I tried for myself for the review, and it worked flawlessly. A method like this should exist for all boards, in my opinion, especially those that require an older CPU to flash to make it compatible for newer CPUs seen on models such as B450 with Ryzen 5000.
Putting it on our testing suite, the GIGABYTE performs well in most of our system based tests, with good power consumption in long idle, idle, and full-load, with fast booting times in our POST time testing. The DPC latency performance was sufficient but not groundbreaking, but on the whole, in our CPU and gaming tests, the B550I Aorus Pro AX was very competitive in all of our benchmarks.
Regarding overclocking performance, we saw similar performance to other GIGABYTE models, and unfortunately, we still couldn't push our Ryzen 7 3700X beyond 4.3 GHz stable. Touching more on the specifics, the GIGABYTE has excellent levels of VDroop control at default LLC settings, and we saw nothing out of the ordinary. Even the VRM thermal temperatures were well within the expected range, which shows that GIGABYTE's mini-ITX option doesn't just look good, but it can handle its own under testing conditions.
GIGABYTE B550 versus X570 Models, B550I Pro AX Is a No Brainer
Looking beyond the striking similarities in design between the B550I Aorus Pro AX and the X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI, which we reviewed in March 2020, both share a near-identical PCB layout. The benefits of the newer B550I model, though, come through the power delivery, with a solid 8-phase design using the higher-spec Intersil ISL99390 90 A power stages over the 70 A variants the X570 model uses. While one of two PCIe M.2 slots is locked down to PCIe 3.0 x4, GIGABYTE hasn't just improved the board for B550, but it's priced much more competitively, and if users aren't going to utilize the more expensive PCIe 4.0 drives, then B550I offers much better value all-around. Networking is also better on the B550I with a Realtek RTL8125 2.5 GbE port and Intel's AX200 Wi-Fi 6 interface with support for BT 5.0 devices.
To summarize it up, I feel GIGABYTE has improved over its premium X570 mini-ITX model, and the B550 model even outshines it in regards to both specifications and price. The B550I Aorus Pro AX is currently on Amazon for $180, which is much cheaper than the X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI at $213. If a second PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot is necessary, then X570 is the way to go, but with better networking support (2.5 Gb v Gigabit), a better power delivery's hard to look past the B550I Aorus Pro AX. It's the cheapest premium B550 mini-ITX model, and GIGABYTE hits it right out of the park with a solid feature set, competitive performance, and an all-around good showing.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
76 Comments
View All Comments
romrunning - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
Almost all, if not all, of the better B550 ITX boards ($180+) released in June/July of this year have 2.5Gb ports. For onboard 10Gb, you would have to go with some specialized solutions, like the ASRockRack mini-ITX server boards. They have EPYC-based mini-ITX boards and even a X570 board (X570D4I-2T) with 10Gb.Olaf van der Spek - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
Just buy a PCI-E NIC. Oh wait...;)
Dug - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
or wait.. Bifurcationmkarwin - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
Oh wait.. similar approach could almost be used here... If only they added even more higher speeds USB outs (eg. with TB support) one could use them and plug in some USB NIC dongle as a stop gap interim solution... but the amount of 10/5gbps connectors is at a premium here as well ;)mkarwin - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
Especially since 2.5GbE does not force replacement of cabling... and AFAIK costs on the NICs are somewhat similar if not equal. Heck, I wonder why premium ATX boards come with 2 multigig NICs and premium mITX or mATX do not (besides those AsrockRack server'y solutions that skimp on all the other QoL integrations we've come to expect from home/desktop PC parts).lorribot - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
I would like to see more variation in the features not offered on ITX boards so they could be cheaper. mATX boards are the cheapest you can buy, but also come with a wide range of options, ITX seem to only come fully loaded.First I would delete any Video out capability as most AMD processors have none built in for the majority of users this is pointless. 2.5Gb networking is not required for most people, 2.5GB switches are few and fa between and definitely of no use in the UK for any internet capability and no router in the UK comes with that so you would have pay out for expensive switches, if you really need to move a lot of data. How about no wireless or only wireless? Or dual gigabit.
Task based designs rather than one size fits all.
mkarwin - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
I almost agree... though not entirely.I'd leave one display output, just to appease corporate overlords and PR departments so they could check the box near the "applicable for Ryzen with integrated Radeon solutions"... As to which one to use, that's another question. Perhaps leave only HDMI would appease most users as this is one standard that's proliferated among displays' connectors the widest... Plus, I'd allow sending digital audio from the integrated audio card through the same HDMI connection. But I'd add such a setting on the BIOS level, so as to remove dependency on OS drivers. That'd tick another box on the feature lists... Alternatively, I'd consider using USB-c connected to the CPU - for the port to be used as a DP over USB3-c as it is done on laptops, or as a iGPU output akin to the USB-c port on the new Radeons... Then again if not used in such a manner allow it to be switched to a very fast general purpose USB with connectivity nearly straight to CPU right within the BIOS to again remove any obstacles from driver/OS reworks/compatibilities...
As to networking - I disagree whole-heartedly. I'd say go with dual multigig ports, preferably X550-class based 10GbE. And if 10GbE is too far, go with 2.5 and 5GbE solutions instead. The internet speeds are not the important, most devices are connected to LANs. And here, higher speeds matter much, especially in mITX forms. Why? Cause one could use external storage of NAS variety - it's easier to add tons of disks and copious amounts of space to NASes than to your PC's small mITX cases ;) Plus, you may want to work more using various network appliances, or in enthusiast markets home servers. And for that purpose, high quality high bandwidth NICs are a must. I'd even go one step further, and consider using 2.5/5GbE on all consumer boards and switching to (Q)SFP+ slots to reduce the costs a bit (though I understand that this instead requires more space which is at a premium in smaller builds/MBs). After all the market adoption is driven by the masses, and currently we're having a chicken and egg situation here - most home networks are still at 1GbE speeds cause there aren't many devices most people are using that come with higher speed wired NICs so there's no push towards higher network gear, and since there's no push this not a lucrative enough market for the netowrk appliance manufacturers to start offering faster devices that could support those higher speeds at the prices an average Joe could find enticing. BTW. the enthusiast market as well as pro market have already gone forward and people are already thinking of jumping ship to 10GbE, either in CAT6A/CAT7 or FC forms. Just check the popularity of Mikrotik's 10GbE SFP+ switches... Plus you need to remember that due to smaller consumer base with mostly enthusiasts and pros, companies can easily price those products accordingly and still sell out batches of products - once the speeds become more widespread the rules of competition and market push would enforce price drops for mass-produced offerings. Plus, you'd really need to use 2.5GbE+ wired speeds to keep up with the WiFi6 speeds ;)
And onto the WiFi debacle - I'd still leave the antenna ports, but instead of WiFi/BT module on board, I'd suggest adding M.2 port for those WiFi/BT devices on the back side or on top of M.2/chipsets - that way they'd get the chance to sell another additional product option, one that is tested and used widely in laptops already with success, one used in their NUC-alikes as well, one that's easily replacable or upgradable, and one that could reduce the pricepoint for those not wanting to shell out on sucha feature... That's a fair bit more interesting boxes to tick for the PR people and the "start small go big" mantra...
And speaking of M.2 connectors, I'd really appreciate if more devices actually came with support for 22110 sized ones - even though 2280 has become the defacto standard for M.2 NVMe drives, the 22110 is the one used by the more pro-oriented/server-grade markets due to those usually packing PLP circuitry on board.. That's a tiny QoL feature that could easily differentiate the devices on offer and again allow the PR reps to show how one product stacks better than the competition...
And speaking of server-grade stuff that most MB manufacturers are already doing very well in their server departments, why not dig deeper into those roots as well and start adding BMC in those prosumer solutions? Those in the know would appreciate it, others might find it an extra feature... Sure, Intel has vPro and AMD has joined the game with their Pro series but neither can replace a full BMC solution for remote working/helping...
Now going wireless only solution could sound great on paper but would require a lot work - they'd have to allow WiFi connection management including security/WPS on BIOS level to allow eg. PXE. Furthermore, they'd have to polish the BT issues/stack on BIOS level - so eg. they could allow BT keyboard/mice for system management, so OS agnostic. Furthermore, they might have to instead get in touch with various key/mice manufacturers and license built-in RF transmitters to speak with those devices - its doable and possibly easier than getting BT stack working fully on BIOS/firmware level... Than maybe they'd have to discuss opening to NFC communication. And going back to BT, they'd have to get AptX and similar certs to speak better with wireless audio devices - and that's additional costs many CEOs wouldn't agree to unless presented with a clear ROI numbers... and possibly market adoption of competition's products with similar feature sets. Similarly going the wireless route would necessitate digging into the HDMI over WiFi/WirelessHDMI standards which are not yet adopted widely. I dare say that it's easier to sell the idea of going full 10GbE wired product stacks than finding the wireless HDMI solution markets. Of course having a built-in LTE/5G modem could well play the "going wireless" game in any product stacks but there is another issue going wireless requires - MBs would have to get option to create WiFi networks and act as APs/WiFi routers thus the BIOS would have to get at least a simple WiFi sharing functionality....
Dual gigabit? Nah, that's too restrictive - either think of 4x1GbE or 2x2.5/5GbE or 10GbE. Don't let yourself be rooted in the years old standard that should have already been replaced in all cabled devices.
Now the task based designs could fare great if their implementation was made correctly...
But I'd just consider some copanies thinking of the fact that nowadays smaller boards are not chosen mostly by average users, rather these are power users, enthusiasts, pros... And they need something more for a product to be seen as a premium offering. For example, Gigabyte could have easily gone the Xtreme Waterforce route and create and sell a mITX board with integrated full-board monoblock+pump+res (or monoblock only) that covers CPU+VRM+SoC+M.2 - I bet such a product could easily find new homes among the target consumer group ;) Especially if they priced it right. Heck, Asus could just reach out to EkWB/Bitspower for a cooperation and release boards with blocks out-of-the-factory... I'd say nowadays those smaller monoblocked boards would sell like cupcakes (provided they are priced reasonably) and they could push more people towards custom loops, thus also proliferating monoblocked GPU sells. Or maybe go even one step further and get in touch with both block maker and AIO manufacturers - I think every company would like to consider such cooperation offer to sell truly integrated solutions... for the AIO companies that would have necesiteated only slight adjustments to pump/block/reservoir-combo units to adjust for the full coverage solutions, but you could get far better temps throughout the lifecycle and these would still sell well for the mITX market or even mATX - 240mm/280mm/360mm rads would suffice to cool such full coverage heat sources...
DiHydro - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
Have you tried to use Smart Fan 5? I found it to be horrible! I have a Noctua CPU cooler and it had the fans spinning at near max, even when the CPU temp was down in the 50°C range.Gigaplex - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
I suspect you're doing it wrong, then. SF5 is working great for me. The fan curve follows the temperatures I set just fine. Each fan port gets its own fan curve, so maybe you're setting the curve on the wrong port?DiHydro - Sunday, December 13, 2020 - link
I did see that it has per fan curves, but the out-of-the-box curves are terribly aggressive. Even in the so called silent mode.