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 B550M Aorus Elite
Opting for a simplistic design and functional set of features is the GIGABYTE B550M Aorus Elite which is reminiscent of its larger ATX sized counterpart, the B550 Aorus Elite. Slotting in behind the Pro models in its product stack, GIGABYTE has equipped it with two M.2 slots, four SATA ports, support for DDR4-4733 and a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet controller.
Set upon a black and grey patterned PCB, the GIGABYTE B550M Aorus Elite includes two full-length slots which operate at PCIe 4.0 x16 and PCIe 3.0 x4, with an additional PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. For storage, GIGABYTE has included two M.2 slots with one with support for PCIe 4.0 x4 drives, while the other slot runs at PCIe 3.0 x4. For SATA devices, there are four SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Users can install up to 128 GB of DDR4-4733 memory across four memory slots. Compared to GIGABYTE's premium models, the B550M Aorus Elite has a more modest 5+3 phase power delivery, which draws power from a sing
The rear panel includes four USB 3.2 G1 and four USB 2.0 ports, and a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combination port. Featured is a pair of video outputs including a DVI-D and HDMI port, with three 3.5 mm audio jacks powered by a budget Realtek ALC887 audio codec, and a single RJ45 port driven by a Realtek based Gigabit Ethernet controller.
The GIGABYTE B550M Aorus Elite has no USB 3.2 G2 connectivity, nor does it feature any Type-C ports, but it is one of the cheaper B550 models with an MSRP of $109. With a Realtek Gigabit and ALC887 HD audio codec pairing, it represents an entry-level model of current times with budget the main focus, while still benefiting from PCIe 4.0 through the top full-length slot and CPU driven PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot.
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Operandi - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Looks like some nice mATX versions this round, nice!YB1064 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
I was hoping to see a $75-$90 board.kenjiwing - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Fortunately, this component is a unique motherboard among B550 and well worth reading up on [add link].Needs to be edited.
anirudhs - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
There's a noise sensor which can adjust fan speed for maximum quietness with good thermals. Saw it on the KitGuruTech video. The noise sensor isn't there to spy on you though.PeterCollier - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
The quality of the editing here is shit tier. Seriously, just run the articles through Grammarly before publication. It's free and it spots plenty of errors.Heavenly71 - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Sadly none of the mITX boards have more than 6 external USB ports. My old ASUS mITX has 8! And in really small mITX cases you can't add a bracket with more USB, because the two brackets are already used by the gfx card. Guess I have to wait for an enthusiast mITX board )-:damianrobertjones - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Or, just maybe, get a usb dongle with 4 ports?Mr Perfect - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
That is disappointing. The number of USB devices people need to plug in can't be dropping, surely? I know I've got more now then even a year ago.rrinker - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Are they really going up? I have 2 USB devices plugged in to my system - a keyboard and a mouse. I occasionally plug a USB stick in one of the front ports to transfer files. My phone and tablet sync over wifi, they don't get plugged in. I have a charger behind my desk and a cable to charge them. My printer is on the network.The one place I DO need lots of USB ports is also the place where I have a small cube case machine, with no discreete GPU, because it doesn;t need one. On that one I added a USB PCI card to get enough ports. In addition to the keyboard and mouse, that machine is on my workbench where it connects to several electronic test instruments and I have multiple cabled for programming microcontrollers. I also have a USB microscope for board inspection. And then I have 3 more USB devices connected for my other hobby that shares the bench. Plus a front port kept free for USB sticks.
So the use case I have for more USB has the PCI slots open to add expansion cards, the use case where I have a discrete GPU eating up the slot space doesn't need an excess of USB ports.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
I use 3 USB 3.0 ports just for my Oculus Rift