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AMD’s B550 chipset has finally launched, and we get to look at Gigabyte’s flagship B550 Aorus Master offering. Can the price reduction for the B550 silicon versus X570 prove sufficient in freeing budget for Gigabyte to cram in features typically associated with higher-end X570 motherboards?
Gigabyte is clearly aiming for the premium treatment when it comes to the £300 B550 Aorus Master. The motherboard is equipped with a true 16-phase Infineon-based power delivery solution that is, quite simply, market-leading for AM4 at this price point. And despite B550’s more limited PCIe Gen 4 capability versus X570, Gigabyte uses a quirky trick to deploy a trio of Gen 4 M.2 connectors.
Other notable features include 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet onboard, Intel-based WiFi 6, and six 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. The typical Aorus infusions are also blended in, with Gigabyte deploying an armada of fan headers, RGB capability, and premium styling touches.
Clearly, £300 for a motherboard using the more budget friendly B550 chipset will have many people scratching their heads. But, does Gigabyte’s flagship B550 Aorus Master offer enough raw performance and high-end features to justify its position as an alluring AM4 offering?
Features (information taken from the Gigabyte webpage):
- Supports 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Processors
- Dual Channel ECC/ Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- Direct 16 Phases Digital VRM Solution with 70A Power Stage
- Advanced Thermal Design with Fins-Array Heatsink, Direct Touch Heatpipe and Thermal Baseplate
- Ultra Durable™ PCIe 4.0 Ready x16 Slot
- Triple Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 M.2 with Thermal Guards
- Onboard Intel® WiFi 6 802.11ax 2T2R & BT5 with AORUS Antenna
- AMP-UP Audio with ALC1220-VB and WIMA Capacitors for Rear 120dB SNR
- Blazing Fast 2.5GbE LAN with Bandwidth Management
- USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C™ & HDMI Support
- RGB FUSION 2.0 Supports Addressable LED & RGB LED Strips
- Smart Fan 5 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors , Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP and Noise Detection
- Q-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory and Graphics Card
- Pre-installed IO Shield for Easy and Quick Installation
