GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX - Review (Pretty good, but not perfect)

[Gouhan]

Liked this board, fantastic performance at DDR 3800 and lower. Could have been my perfect Mini-ITX board, but missing USB Type-C internal header and some oddities in the BIOS/UEFI stopped it from being my #1 choice.
Either way, all that withstanding this board is nice

 

[Toy Machine]

Just got the x570 of this and was thinking of downgrading to this, keen to read/watch this review

Edit: Have you looked at the AsRock B550 by any chance?

Edit again: I see you have with the thumbnails xD

 

[Gouhan]

Just got the x570 of this and was thinking of downgrading to this, keen to read/watch this review

Edit: Have you looked at the AsRock B550 by any chance?

Edit again: I see you have with the thumbnails xD

Yes I did the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming ITX/AX, same price as this one. Check out that review here

 

[Glorfindel]

I can't understand how even the crappiest B550 boards somehow cost more than a mid range B450. Is a chip really that significant?

 

[Toy Machine]

Did you try any other RAM? I was looking at ADATA GAMMIX (Don't want RGB really). Apparently it's quite finniky with Memory and some sticks just don't play at all.

 

[AinsleyHarriott]

I can't understand how even the crappiest B550 boards somehow cost more than a mid range B450. Is a chip really that significant?

Did you see the VRMs on B550 vs. B450? B450 VRMs were designed with 6, maybe 8 core processors in mind. B550 was made with 16 core processors in mind.

 

[Gouhan]

Did you try any other RAM? I was looking at ADATA GAMMIX (Don't want RGB really). Apparently it's quite finniky with Memory and some sticks just don't play at all.

This depends on the IC, if you have the SKU of the memory it would be easier to check.
Because we are talking AMD here, I think there shouldn't be any compatibility issues, at 3800 or lower. Board sets its own best SOC, so no need to fiddle with it I think.

 

[Gouhan]

Did you see the VRMs on B550 vs. B450? B450 VRMs were designed with 6, maybe 8 core processors in mind. B550 was made with 16 core processors in mind.

Yes this board can provide in theory at least 720A direct to the CPU+SOC. In reality we're looking at 500W maybe, but still more than enough even for 5950X under LN2.

 

[Glorfindel]

Did you see the VRMs on B550 vs. B450? B450 VRMs were designed with 6, maybe 8 core processors in mind. B550 was made with 16 core processors in mind.

So it's the VRMs that increase the price so much. Thing is who buys a 16 core CPU with an entry level board? Unnecessary expenditure

 

[AinsleyHarriott]

Yes this board can provide in theory at least 720A direct to the CPU+SOC. In reality we're looking at 500W maybe, but still more than enough even for 5950X under LN2.

Yeah, but it's the B550 Aorus Master that really gets me going though. With boards like that, X570 is basically useless (although a bit expensive)

 

[AinsleyHarriott]

So it's the VRMs that increase the price so much. Thing is who buys a 16 core CPU with an entry level board? Unnecessary expenditure

I would not really call it entry level. You can get cheaper B550 boards, but I do feel that 16 core is viable on B550.

Take a look at this video comparing B450 and B550, and keep in mind that the B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC was the best B450 board released.