mobo PCB Breakdown Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master

[@ebsmith1102]

Time Stamp 1:10 Three PCIe 4.0 slots Disappointment 4:15 You can't have x12 6:00 Current multi GPU set ups will suck 7:45 Crossfire Misfire 9:30 B550 Aorus Master Overview 11:15 Dual Bios Disappointment 14:10 Xtreme VRM Layout Overview 18:30 VRM Efficiency Calculations 21:27 SOC & Memory VRMs 22:29 Memory Topology & Layout 26:20 Back of Board SOC interesting things to note 28:55 Final Conclusions 31:20 YOU DON'T NEED TO PLUG THIS IN

[@TheBackyardChemist]

3:30 PCI-E 4.0 x16 ------> 3.0 x32 switches do exist, you can find one on the LQD4500, that thing attaches up to 8 M.2 SSDs to a single 4.0 x16 slot

[@d-thec-tieve4648]

I think thats somewhat custom silicon though, because they also have on card raid capabilities on that card.

[@TheBackyardChemist]

@@d-thec-tieve4648 I am about 70% sure that they are using a high-end Broadcom part. (formerly PLX)

[@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking]

Broadcom's catalog doesn't have any PCI-e 4.0 stuff at all: www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-bridges/pcie-switches EDIT of found the PCI-e 4.0 stuff: www.broadcom.com/products/pcie-switches-bridges/expressfabric

[@Torbjorn.Lindgren]

@@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking Microchip/Microsemi also have PCI-e 4.0 switches, looks like they currently have 6 models from 22 to 100 lanes total with full freedom on in/out lanes and bifurcation choices, given that Broadcom (PLX/Avago) is the "standard" they seem to compete on flexibility and lane-count, not seen pricing but given Broadcom's massive price hikes they could also attack with pricing but I've not seen any pricing on them. www.anandtech.com/show/15821/microchips-new-pcie-40-pcie-switches-100-lanes-174-gbps

[@dreamcat4]

@@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking You can always convert those m.2 slots into pcie x4 using an ADT-Link adapter / riser cable. They are reasonable quality and reasonably priced. About 20 bucks each. You might not be able to do v4 speed however the quality is pretty decent and should be plenty good enough for other things like 10gig lan, hdmi capture cards etc.

[@VladiKillera]

Actually Hardcore Breakdowns & Ramblings...

[@Shurikn012]

the thing is...

[@Brandon-xj4yv]

sHuRIkN8 well but ehh well is one of my fav haha

[@Fix_It_Again_Tony]

I humbly appreciate the B550 content. I know it's not your favorite. :) I would be interested to see a Vcore VRM performance comparison (power vs. temperature vs. transient response) of MSI's B500 10 phase SPS VRM vs. the 10 phase discrete FET configuration. The boards I have in mind are the B550 Tomahawk and B550 Gaming Plus. The A Pro also has the 10 phase discrete FET VRM, but the heat sink is smaller. Obviously the SPS VRM should be better, but at what point does it make sense? Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3800X, Ryzen 9 3950X? How far can you push the discrete FET version until it reaches its limit? Hands on testing like this is too technical for most reviewers and out of reach for random consumers like me.

[@tomstech4390]

Gigabyte: Our scientists have done things which nobody has ever done before. Ian Malcolm: Yeah but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could _that they didn't stop to think if they should_ .

[@Bare_Essence]

I always love it when you say "that's it for this board ..." and then continue for 4-10 minutes more :) Love the information! Thanks. I wish you could do every board with this level of info. It would make deciding on a new board SO much easier! I don't think the MB makers want you to do that however :)

[@MarkFox]

Please ask Gigabyte why they placed a non-functional internal Thunderbolt 3 header and not a USB type C. Nobody who has reviewed these new Gigabyte B550 boards even mentions the internal Thunderbolt header.

[@InternetEntity]

AMD: Pulls out Zen 3 32-core gaming CPU

[@4G12]

For Crysis 4, where Crytek uses a version of CryEngine that multithreads CPUs and GPUs like a BOSS. Crysis running at locked a 4K 120Hz like clockwork.

[@tomstech4390]

7nm Io die with 4x 5nm Zen4 (8core CCX) chiplets=32 core threadshredder* *AMD you're welcome

[@GumpPower]

@@SilkMilkJilk stop

[@TheAsmileXD]

that would not be good for gaming... games can barely even use 6 to 8 threads. More cores than that is an absolute waste for gaming.

[@airbreadwich]

Well you might be right soon

[@ozoak]

I picked one of these up in Jan 2021. Prior to grabbing it I tried to get an understanding of the M.2 limitation that the specs on it talked about, but couldn't find anything to properly explain why and the impact - until now. I'm happy with the board but had I found this video, where you've thoroughly and brilliantly explained it, I might have gone a different route.

[@TrickOrTreatAZ]

First I want to say I appreciate the effort that buildzoid puts into board breakdown but if you watch this video even though he says this board isn't for him when would any B550 or B450 board be for him? This is a power user with significant add on requirements. I bought this board in May 2021 as "open box" which came in full retail and unused condition for $220 after the x570 Aorus Xtreme failed to play well with my specific dual 32gb Trident Royal Z DDR4 kits. I would have paid $300 for this and hearing it has the exact VRM as the Aorus Xtreme made me very happy. I bought this for the 3 PCIe NVME slots and with no effort the RAM OCd well beyond its rated speeds. If you are a gamer I think this board should be at the top of your list especially if like me you have an Aorus Master GPU (6800XT). I am using 4 SATA ports and the 3 NVME slots and the data speeds are great. Also the 5900x is running great! Thanks buildzoid

[@ole7736]

The random hole on the rear IO might be an LED indicating the q-flash process. Asus does this, I think.

[@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking]

ah makes sense

[@ole7736]

@@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking On the other hand, the button itself might light up...

[@Manysdugjohn]

@Actually Hardcore Overclocking @ 4:58 Hey bullzoid. Thx for the info. On your B550 massive video review, I did comment about how pci 4 x8 wouldnt matter cause nothing satturates it but I didn't think about the 2080 TI couldn't run on pci e 4.0 . P.S. you are right about 2080Ti saturating pci-e 3.0, but 2080S doesn't . As far as I know from graphs I 've checked and info I've found, 2080TI saturates pci e 3.0 x8 at 97% . So its a minor bottleneck. I am guessing 2080S is unaffected, since is 30% slower than the TI variant. So the only issue with gigabytes technology with this m.2 trick is if you are planning to use a 2080 TI. I really like it. Good innovation.

[@tomstech4390]

Yep pcie3.0 8x is less bandwidth than pcie2.0 16x so losing 3-5% on a 2080Ti is possible. ....really unlikely but possible.

[@Manysdugjohn]

@@tomstech4390 ? How it is less.. it's exactly the same. Every pci-e gen is exactly double the previous one.. So gen 1 x 16 = gen 2 x8 = gen 3 x4 = gen 4 x2. gen 3 x8 = gen 2 x16.

[@metalaarsix]

Was about to go get my 3 daily hours of sleep but it seems I've gotta go make some coffee instead.

[@BeamMonsterZeus]

You can manually switch the BIOS chip you're using, on Gigabyte boards specifically, by holding the power-on button for 5-6 seconds without PSU power going to the board. This trips the automatic switching function since the board considers this a high-level failure to boot. It would be worth elaborating on this in your videos for people who just don't know that you can switch the BIOS without a proper BIOS switch. I see where you're coming from, though. It is stupid. I don't think it's even documented anywhere as a method.

[@LokeshReddykukkam]

I'm guessing that is not a random hole in IO sheild, I think it's small light to indicate when updating bios. 🤔

[@peteeberhardt3769]

Outstanding review!

[@gaoxiangli2786]

It is truly a solid motherboard but I just RMAed my 550 aorus master hours ago due to the following product flaws: 1. the pcie slot that is closer to cpu failed to recognize 2 of my video cards, but the one next to it did; 2, all M.2 slots had problem recognizing of my 970 pro and 961. The only SSD that can be properly displayed in BIOS interface of my board is a SATA one; 3, the BIOS constant got stuck on POST stage. The BIOS on this board requires lots of work and efforts to improve.

[@panosd5693]

Best b 550 pcie layout 1 m.2 from CPU directly 16x ->8x for gpu ->4x pcie general ->m.2 + 1 m.2 pcie 3.0 from chipset

[@6TheDarkKnight9]

ELI5? I just got this board and it sounds like you saying what I imagined getting this board for

[@samghost13]

COOL! Now the B550 Line up gets real! Finally! I am always interested in MSI Boards. I hope you can cover some MSI B550 Boards

[@thehypernator5851]

Yeah it always looks like MSI ASUS gigabtye are really high spec brands (and Asrock nr4, What do you think is the best brand motherboards AHOC?

[@dk97971]

Thund3r Struck NL there’s never really a best “brand”, just a best product, and the best product changes every generation

[@tomstech4390]

@@thehypernator5851 As NLJ said, All the brands have good years and bad years as design philosophies change (and trying to alter the companys image) and even within a given year the value and quality of each product in the stack varys against its competition. Except asrock and biostar who always seem to suck (there are 2 types of people when it comes to asrock, Those who for 20 years have seen nothing but shit from them like me and those who dont know better and could be just as fine with Foxconn or ECS or even Biostar has never even been worth mentioning in the first place).

[@UltraDXSASC]

No POST-CODE = Rambling

[@家豪-w5m]

Actually Hardcore MotherBoard Reviewing

[@UltraDXSASC]

B550 Aorus Master Bullzoid Edition INC, oh yeah, im ready

[@kian8382]

I followed BZ's advice and bought a GB ITX board for my Ryzen build and now it seems a good choice, because it has all the essentials and good enough VRM but none of the BS that GB might put in there to justify a higher price with larger boards.

[@darrenowens1543]

Hi Mike,just managed to get a used like new from Amazon for £106! There a few left 👍

[@thedarkshogun88]

Same for me. I don't even need it as such but it was such a good deal, I couldn't pass.

[@darrenowens1543]

@@thedarkshogun88 it's a lot of board for the money ,I bought a msi b550 gaming plus a few weeks back which cost a £100 so send that back as haven't used it yet and upgrading to this 👍

[@thedarkshogun88]

@@darrenowens1543 I've had a Asus Tuf Gaming B550 Plus for about 8 months that I got on deal for £99. Hoping I should be able to make most of that back with the switch to this board. Interesting what he's saying about the dual bios as I do plan to do some memory overclocking on it, but I assume I can just disable the dual bios mode?

[@darrenowens1543]

@@thedarkshogun88 not sure,did you see they had used like new tuf gaming plus 570 for £111 also on Amazon

[@thedarkshogun88]

@@darrenowens1543 I did actually see that, but for me I thought I can get away with the limitations of the Master whilst hopefully gaining the benefits of the better VRM. I currently am using two nvme drives but I can happily drop the small one used for operating system as I have a decent amount of sata SSD storage for games. I'm only going to be plugging a GPU into the pcie slots, so I don't need more than one. It's mostly just a bit of an experiment for me as I've never really owned a board with as high a quality VRM. I also liked the fact there is no chipset fan on the master compared to the x570 tuf. Don't know if it's noisy but I like a quiet system, so less weird potentially whiny fans the better I think. This was some of my reasoning. What do you think?

[@ericimi]

Thanks for the video B550 aorus pro would be cool to see .

[@kcxy1996]

Could you do MSI B550 Gaming Carbon?

[@VeritronX]

the pro having a nice heatsink and no dual bios looks good, hopefully it will get a breakdown before I get one next month

[@aboutech3901]

May be Gigabyte will make some improvements which mentioned the author in their next version (1.1) of the board?

[@iiexio773]

well for this price point its way better to go with x570 Aorus Pro right?

[@lukasandreasl.7004]

Strix F and E next pls ;)

[@BrianCairns]

I actually don't mind the PCIe slot assignment that much. The RTX 3000 series cards probably will support PCIe Gen4, and they probably won't saturate PCIe Gen4 x8. If you only have one GPU, you can either use the M.2 slot that's not shared and use the other slots unpopulated, or you can get a cheap PCIe to M.2 card and put you extra M.2 SSDs on the PCIe slot that's connected to the chipset. One of the disadvantages of B450 (and I assume B550) is that the chipset puts everything in the same IOMMU group. That means that you can't easily pass through PCIe devices to VMs. With this board, you could have two GPUs for different VMs, or you could directly pass PCIe storage through to VMs.

[@RamimAhmedTV]

The lack of an internal Type C header ruins this board for me.

[@shaddowphonix8216]

@Actually Hardcore Overclocking Could you do this also with a b550 Taichi motherboard ? It would be nice to see the differences and pros and cons of each of the boards.

[@blendrugova2426]

Buildzoid do you ever(cuz of time constants) play games on your pc? If you do which ones?

[@jasonriddell]

you go on how this should be a top mem overclocker I would love to see that done on this and say a "good" but not outstanding board to see how much better the best really is ++ WANT to see the duel bios switches installed if you figure it out

[@reptilespantoso]

Hi from the future! 🙂I'm planning to build a PC for audio production with this. 3x M.2 is actually fine for me. One question please (I'm a noob, coming from Apple computers): How does this dual BIOS work? How can I boot seperately? Or flash both with the same BIOS? I don't plan crazy overclocks, a bit of undervolting on the (5900x) CPU and maybe some better timings. It has to be fast, but stable. So... not tinkering around as much as overclockers... I just want to know I'm not in for a stupid surprise. THANKS!! PS: I did check the Gigabyte website but they have some stupid page with a weird exe and a flash video that doesn't work (anymore). Yeah...

[@bFix]

The PCIe lane assignment might make a lot of sense for new GPU architectures (even if they only come out towards the end of the year) This B550 board might be sold for 1-2 years without B650 or any other newer Chipset (AM5) replacing it.

[@virxest]

They should start producing boards with your name ... in any price category of 150-> 200> 250 and so on ... you tell them what to put on the boards - so there are no more stupid decisions.

[@marcelliusika]

Mind to look at B550GTQ from Biostar? Looks interesting for its form factor.

[@JesusMeza3]

so basically if you need a lot of CPU and SSDs

[@mainly_dyutish9]

Hey bilzoid should I buy AsRock b550 extream4 over msi b550 gaming edge wifi

[@jasonriddell]

I used to daily a dual bios Gigabyte and did a bios update to it and it ONLY updated the primary NOT the secondary one and once or twice a month it would fail to post and revert to the second bios and windows would BSOD till I got it back on the primary bios

[@hasanm3707]

Hello, saw your video about the gigabyte b550 ITX MOBO for GN. You said it was an overkill for a 3600, and the only cheaper option is the $130 Asrock B550m-itx/ac which in your first impression video you said you didn't like. My question is, given that the gigabyte is overkill for a 3600, is the Asrock MOBO a better buy for an ITX and 3600? A simple yes/no would suffice, but I'd like to know in detail.

[@LetsTalkAliens541]

Is buildzoid still with GN?

[@AlexandruDoarme]

PCB Breakdowns & ramblings for all mITX b550's boards?

[@KangoV]

As a software engineer this motherboard is perfect. I do not need a really fast GPU, but i do need very fast SSDs. i just bought mine for £149 :)

[@kevinliu8783]

I wonder if BCLK overclocking on Ryzen these days will have a meaningful impact on its performance. If OCing the BCLK could improve the transfer speed of this board's PCIe lanes, then x8 bandwidth might be much more bearable for a powerful GPU like 2080Ti perhaps? This might be a interesting topic to explore on.

[@jasonu3741]

I was going to get this board until i realized the M.2 flaw and now went with the 80$ CAD cheaper MSI MAG Tomahawk. This Video came out i think 1 week too late for those who first went out and bought the B550 Aorus Master because they were thinking: -Gen 4 x4 M.2 in the Top Slot -2070/2080 Super in the GPU slot at Gen 4 x8 (which we all believed was Gen 3 x16 equivalent and would cause no bottleneck with current GPU's) -Gen 4 x4 M.2 in the Middle Slot -Gen 4 x4 M.2 in the Bottom slot all for the price of 280 USD or 384 CAD Thanks to this clarification from Zoid we now know the error of that thinking

[@Kevangelo14]

I was sooooo close to buying this board (for VRMs equal to X570 Aorus Extreme, as they bragged), then I found your video. Oh, might as well just put the extra bucks and jump to X570 Aorus Master then.

[@Makr0ss]

Pls use some neon color for the screen pencil next time

[@R28Caboose]

Any idea if and when you’ll tackle the Maximus XII Apex mate?

[@JCerris]

First time I watched this vid I decided against buying it given your thorough explanation. Then I got a great deal locally and somehow managed to snag a RX 6900 XT therefore I can actually use more than one Gen 4 drive free of mind, not bad.

[@mad0nion929]

Very good explanation, thank you for this Video. While you were talking about dual Bios, i was thinking about my x470 Gaming 7 Wifi, which has dip switches for dual Bios, made me wonder, if i could flash for Ryzen 4000 compatibility just one of the two chips, which will then not be able to work with zen and zen+ at least.. could i keep the other Bios Chip at the latest pre 4000 Version to have finally a Mainboard with full AM4 Lineup CPU Compatibility? those 10+2 vrms would propably also be able to handle 16 cores, wouldnt they?

[@AugustoBotossi]

Could you do a part picker video for the 10600K?

[@BranislavDjuricek]

Hi Buildzoid, I'm in possession of X570 Aorus Master (1.0) with strange intermittent issue. From time to time it happens that the board won't power up from cold. Only solution is to pop out and reinsert the CMOS battery. Imagine the pain since it's under-GPU position. I wonder if this issue apply to this Aorus Master board also.

[@jank2635]

"This mobo is big disappointment" IGN: 10/10

[@PaddyMayneUK]

So a question for you please Buildzoid, im after a new AM4 motherboard around the £300 mark, do i get this B550 master or the X570 MSI Unify?

[@tomstech4390]

More information more better, Are you going to be doing heavy overclocking? Do you need sli/cf, Do you want more than 7 usb ports? Also is a £150 aorus elite or £190 aorus pro or Tomahawk/gaming edge really not good enough?

[@BatteryAz1z]

Unify. I was faced with the same choice recently (high end b550 vs unify). If you need/want the extra connectivity then unify is preferable. Imo b550 makes sense only for mATX and ITX, not full ATX, it's too restrictive.

[@rogerlong8493]

TheDjoli4 the issue for b550 itx is that they are rather not that good at vrm or too expensive that almost the same price of x570 itx board. But the x570 itx board loss too much of its connectivity that pcie 4.0 brings

[@kelvinyonger8885]

@@rogerlong8493 A 3300X pulls like no power, 150W max.

[@tomstech4390]

@@rogerlong8493 B550I AORUS PRO: £180 for 8 phase (6+2) with 90Amp mosfets and 2x M.2 slots. I guess that's not enough?

[@jeremyatienza1676]

You reiterate in every video the disdain you have for gigabyte software dual bios with no switch to disable. I love this, because I fucking hate that "feature." I wouldn't mind if you mentioned it in all your subsequent videos for the rest of your youtube career.

[@killerm12]

hey Buildzoid, did you have a chance to have a closer look at B550 Aorus Pro? trying to decide between that one and Asus B550 F-Gaming or even MSI B550 Tomahawk but that one has atrocious rear IO/not enough USB for me

[@KillaBitz]

Killing dual bios sounds tricky maybe Desoldier one of the BIOS chips and run bodge wires back to the legs of the other BIOS so no matter how it switches it always lands on the same chip?

[@KillaBitz]

Working out what makes it switch and just killing that would be easier IF you can figure it out.

[@raawesome3851]

What about the b550 e Gaming? How is that?

[@miniman3112]

With all the Cashback and other promotions, the 'real' price of an ASUS B550 TUF Gaming ATX comes down to something like 106€ for me. I think the whole 'B550 is just too damn expensive' argument is pretty much balanced out with that. With this in mind, a review/breakdown of this particular board would become a very attractive video *wink wink*

[@franzpleurmann2585]

Because the link between chipset and cpu is x4 lanes PCIe 4.0 which doubles the PCIe 3.0 bandwidth, the two bottom x4 lanes PCIe 3.0 slots should not be bottlenecked - right? Also the board does comes with a TB3 header so a Thunderbolt 3 Titan Ridge AIC, which only can run through the chipset, is a perfect fit for one of the two PCIe 3.0 slots.

[@riba2233]

No, link is x4 gen3

[@BillyONeal]

The Gigabyte automatic behavior sucks for extreme overclockers but is great for ordinary users who won't know that there's a switch in there to flip in the first place if they get a bad flash (e.g. by applying Spectre patches) (That is to say, I like the software dual BIOS but agree with you a board pushing $280 should have the switch for folks like you)

[@Kappa_mi]

please make a video of the comparison between 16x and 8x and finish this conversation forever. is it necessary to sacrifice 8x extra lane for 5 or less percent?

[@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking]

Why would I test something that someone else already did: www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-pci-express-scaling/6.html

[@Kappa_mi]

@@ActuallyHardcoreOverclocking oh thank you, and according to results even on PCIe 3.0 the difference is less than 5 percent and on PCIe 4.0 it's not worth giving it 8x extra PCIe lanes.

[@kelvinyonger8885]

@@Kappa_mi Yeah, but the 2080 Ti is only Gen 3. Future GPUs will be fine.

[@DiJAndy]

11:31 yes I did and it was unpleasant experience making from a simple XMP Profile ON at ddr4 a horrible nightmare!!!

[@obisstuff6884]

Yeah I plan on running three m.2 ssds a sound card and a capture card. So what you're saying is this might not work at all. Plus I've recently accumulated a bunch of USB devices that I need to connect to USB.

[@obisstuff6884]

What about a monoblock?

[@mainly_dyutish9]

What should I buy for a ryzen 5700g b550 master or x570 tomahwak or x570 Phantom gaming x or extend my budget to the x570 aorus master

[@BTech2077]

Quick thoughts Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite vs Master vs Ultra for a single-gpu and 2 NVME?

[@L--jk1wn]

Go for the pro. Better PCIe layout and sufficient USB

[@BTech2077]

@@L--jk1wn Got a deal and bought a Strix B550-F (5 months ago) and it rocks.

[@maheshpm6500]

Is there any way we can disable dual bios function?

[@cyclode9584]

i have x570 pro wifi recently sold for 250$ converted here in my country then bought this for 260

[@trousersnake1486]

So know this video is old but I bought this board after the fact maybe a few months ago. I mostly understand the pcie slot layout. Would populating the 2 pci slots below the 4.0 pci slot with say a sound card and htc vive wireless card take bandwidth from the sata if I had 1 or 2 hard drives connected?

[@smashtime1904]

I have this board too but I'm unsure if I want to keep it or not... I'm trying to get a friend a lend me his rtx 2080 super to test the 8x speed, I also want to test an m.2 to pcie adapter for crossfire/sli(if I can get my hands on the parts) as well as testing the x16gen4 + x16@x4gen3. I mean the fact of the matter is as long as you don't populate the bottom sata ports you get 2 x4gen3 sockets which can be populated with m.2 adapters and I know its still through x4 chipset lanes but what kind of bottleneck does that really cause for raid0?

[@riba2233]

x8 is fine!!

[@jvidia]

At this price just buy one x570 board. Period.

[@nicolasteixeira6448]

@@phant0m92 I have an extreme bad luck, I'm pretty sure the X570 will fail on me because of the fan. 100% guarantee that this is going to stop working after warranty period is over haha.

[@angumech13]

13:33 Batman on CMOS battery

[@kanhkutpeo]

Hello. i have a question. i bought this board before knowing the tripple SSD quirk. I have 3 nvme ssd ( 1 is 4x and 2 is 3x) and i want to use them all but it will use up Pcie lane like you said. So can i put the the 4.0 in the first slot and connect the other 2 nvme using a Nvme adapter with the other 2 pcie lane through the chipset?. I dont know if i make any sense here lol. please help me out. Thanks alot. respect your work man!

[@GoogleDani]

hi, have you done your problem with the nvmes?

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

I recently threw away a Gigabyte board with dual Bios and I hate to core. I was eyeing this B550 board to replace my ageing system but now I will wait for revision which removes dual bios or add switches to control dual Bios.

[@SirReptitious]

Because my needs are quite different from Buildzoid, this mobo is now in my top5 Ryzen 3000/4000 boards. Quality VRM: Yes, total overkill! USB ports: 11!!!(I don't include USB-C like Buildzoid) Qflash: Yes! Post code: Yes! TOS Link audio connection: Yes!(this is important to me since I use a 10ft TOS Link cable to hook my system to my A/V receiver) 6 SATA ports: Yes 3x 4.0x4 NVMe SSDs: Yes(I don't have any NVMe drives yet but plan to in the future) 2x 3.0x4 PCIe slots: Yes!(since I need more SATA ports due to the number of SATA SSDs and HDs I have) Negatives? PCB looks like some awful brown color instead of black. Ugly but I don't build LasVegas Strip systems with gaudy LEDs so ultimately it's not a huge deal. No PS/2 port. Nice to have sometimes and used to it being on a mobo. Not a deal breaker though. TL;DR - I LIKE it! :-D

[@riba2233]

Pcb is pure black, dont worry

[@SirReptitious]

@@riba2233 At first I assumed that it was probably bad lighting and that it really was black. But then I noticed that other items on the board that should be black DID look black as normal, like the post code, dimm slots , and m.2 heat sinks. Weird that they look black but the PCB doesn't.

[@riba2233]

@@SirReptitious they reflect light differently. He has weird lighting yeah.

[@GabbyTech]

yess do stuff with board ;D

[@dadschoorse1594]

The 8x problem won't be that big when ampere comes out tho.

[@h2oaddict61]

Won't be a problem until you have to get a new gpu...

[@YAAMW]

4:57 Even a 2080 Ti won't saturate a 3.0 link 20:19 That's what everybody said about the 2700X and look where we are now. Half the B450 boards are utterly INCAPABLE of supporting something like a 3950X. I think I'll stick with the overkill VRM and heatsinks just to be safe. Besides, you want to sell a $280 board WITHOUT VRM heatsinks, blasphemy 😂 31:48 i don't think anyone pulling 300 Watts through the 8-Pin is going to plug it incorrectly, at least not with Ryzen.

[@knifekitty_ls]

that's one beefy fifty ITX right there

[@tausifm.1587]

Wouldn't it be possible to redirect x8 PCIE 4 lanes to the 2nd slot PCIE slot through the PCIE 4 switches if neither the M.2B or M.2C slots are populated? Wouldn't that allow you to run the 1st and 2nd PCIE slots at gen 4 x8/x8 mode? I know close to nothing about circuit design or electrical engineering so I don't see why Gigabyte couldn't have configured it like this instead. If this was possible, what would the drawbacks of such a configuration be? I'd assume 1 issue would be that the 2nd PCIE slot would become unusable if you were to use more than 1 NVMe SSD or alternatively only 1 NVMe SSD would be usable if you needed to use 2 PCIE Gen 4 cards. Edit: Could it be possible to link the 2nd and 3rd M.2 slots to the chipset so if you had another M.2 SSD installed with PCIE slots 1 and 2 populated, it could still run at PCIE gen 3 x4 speeds or SATA? Also, the 3rd PCIE slot would still retain the Gen 3 x4 lanes from the chipset. If anyone knows, free to tell me why this wouldn't work or if it would, what would the disadvantages be that discouraged Gigabyte from doing this.

[@tomstech4390]

They could have (asus did on thier strix-e and maybe msi on thier tomahawk) but then you're forced to put the other m.2 storage through the chipset which is also trying to do the sata ports and usb ports and possibly other pcie slots. Its a balancing act, Personally I'd rather have CPU 4xm.2 +8xpcie +8xpcie +chipset 4x3.0m.2 as its the most flexible. Then again old 990fx motherboards used to have 32 lanes (all from 990fx chipset ofc) and 9 years ago we had lga2011 and a 3930k cpu had 40 lanes direct before you even get to the chipset, Pcie has taken a great step backwards unless you buy threadripper pretty much. Go back 15 years (2005ish) when we had core2 duo's and pcie first turned up we had 16 lanes from the chipset. Then 12 years ago (2008) pcie was integrated into the cpu's with first core-I series and hasn't changed since, Atleast with ryzen you get 24 total (16+4+4).

[@tausifm.1587]

So I'm assuming it's not possible to have both the cpu and chipset be connected to the same slots and interchange on which one's lanes are being used depending on the device configuration. That's unfortunate but I can see how confusing and complex it would also be to implement. Therefore the only way to alleviate the allocation problem is just by having more lanes coming from the CPU or higher bandwidth lanes from the chipset. The former of which has actually been regressing with time rather than progressing forward. Oh well, I guess there did need to be some difference between the X570 and B550 chipsets and also between consumer and HEDT platforms :/

[@Trimm-yo8dd]

ASRock B550 Extreme4 or ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING ?

[@tomstech4390]

Asrock: Vcore=12 SiC634 50Amp mosfets from a doubled 6+1 phase Asus: Vcore= 12 SiC639 50Amp mosfets from a triple teamed 4+2 phase Would you rather be shot in the arm or the leg? Both suck, Asus bios will actually work unlike asrock but its still a 4 phase. Buy a gigabyte (aorus elite or pro) or msi board (tomahawk or gaming edge) instead if you can. Just my 2cents.

[@Trimm-yo8dd]

​@@tomstech4390 Thanks a lot

[@mvanderplas2275]

@@tomstech4390 So you are saying the Asus X570 TUF is a crap board? That board is considered one of the best at $200 and it has the same VRM as the B550-F.

[@rogerlong8493]

Toms Tech you are the people who trick by the other companies’ marketing, the asus board would still have the same amount of power stages as the “good” board that you think. Which would perform much the same as the “good” board in your mind. The really downside for asus is that they would use weaker power stages like 50a or 70a instead of 70a and 90a

[@i.n.7978]

Is that possible, this is a "reused" x570 aorus master pcb, that caused the horrible pcie/m.2 disaster? Maybe they just swap the vrm and chipset, remove the buttons, and "b550 extreme done". Anyway, good work, as always, thank you!

[@BuildersBench]

if i choose this board, will this work for me with this parts on my list? -3900x -3060 ti -adata XPG s8200 pro m2 -samsung 850 evo 250g sata -wd sata will i loose anybandwidth with this config? i'll be reusing my ssd's and hdd from previous build.. Thanks! X570 is way pricier in our place.. like 100usd+ more.. (X570 is 415usd, B550 is 311usd)

[@overkillonslash]

What if i have a rtx 3070 on the main x16 slot and a pcie 3.0 nvme on the m.2 slot that shares lanes with the x16. Will my rtx 3070 now run at pcie 3.0?

[@ShomyKajge]

Will the adapter for PCIe 3.0 x4 to m2 do the work for at least one m2 at these PCIe x4? So you can have at least ONE normal additional m2 3.0 SSD? :D what a mess and stupid decision... damn it.

[@kognak6640]

Wait a minute, are you thinking you can't use pcie 3.0 drives in pcie 4.0 slots? That's just incorrect, PCIe is always downward compatible. Heck, pcie devices can lower automatically connection mode to save power. You can use three PCIe 3.0 NVME M.2 drives on this Aorus master without any problems. If you need fourth drive, better to start looking for HEDT platform.

[@ShomyKajge]

@@kognak6640 that is not what I said. You can use all of drives, but I was referring if you want to use 5 m2 drives, to use 2 additional pcie x4 lanes from chipset. If you occupy both of them they will work only as x2 both. Not x4. It is not question if they will work 2.0 or 3.0. But if you use only one of them with the adapter for m2 will it work as x4 by default or it will work in that case as x2 lane.

[@Penfolds5]

Can someone please tell me how to get to the WiFi/Bluetooth? Just screws on the back only?

[@jantendo6809]

Do you think I could mount "EK Water Blocks Quantum Line EK-Quantum Momentum Aorus X570 Master D-RGB Monoblock, Nickel, Plexi" on this bord? after watching i understand i dont need it.

[@antonievandermeer34]

What happens if you remove 1 of the bios chips by just de-soldering them?

[@rogerlong8493]

Antonie van der Meer the chipset would probably fail

[@RacerX-M5]

Any ideas why I am getting faster m.2 gen4 speeds on my B550 Master than I am on my x570 Master? Exact same setup, 3950x, etc. using crystal mark.

[@kingofnfsfan]

14:33 "you could also run it without the chipset heatsink" MSI: haha B550-i chipset fan goes *WEEEEEEE*

[@dragade101]

I wish Linus did videos like this

[@tkpenalty]

Those heatsinks!!!!

[@GumpPower]

Some real, high quality heatsinks. Love it

[@tensevo]

Does anybody know if this board would bottleneck a RTX3080 or 3090? assuming all SSD slots were used.

[@tyraelhive6382]

same question here

[@L--jk1wn]

Under PCIe 4 mode, no. But under PCIe 3x16 mode, yes.

[@rare6499]

Nope. A few frames difference at most. Don’t worry about it.

[@conza1989]

I do really like this board, I don't know why, finned heatsinks and 3 M.2s, if 2 of them could be used as SATA M.2s then it's great, can have 3 M.2 SSDs, 1 fast one and 2 for storage, would be great, and yeah it should get a price drop over time

[@tomstech4390]

Saw your comment and read the manual, if a device is in M.2B or M.2C then pciex16 still runs in 8x mode, it doesn't seem to matter if its a pcie or sata drive unfortunately. So might aswell use NVME drives if you can and if you want to ensure pcieX16 runs at x16 then you have to use the sata ports. Search "M2B_CPU and M2C_CPU" download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_b550-aorus-master_1001_e.pdf

[@conza1989]

Buildzoid, on page 40 of the manual, it discusses Configurating RAID and it seems to suggest that it is possible to use the M.2 slots in SATA mode, further up it doesn't specify if it can run them in SATA mode - download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_b550-aorus-master_1001_e.pdf

[@conza1989]

Yeah, it must be able to run in SATA, there's SATA M.2s on their compatiblity list download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Document/mb_m.2_support_amd_200512.pdf

[@conza1989]

@@tomstech4390 Ah, yeah I read it and can see what you mean, damn, it would be great if it was clever enough to have config for NVME vs SATA mode and in SATA mode for either slot B or C it would tell the switches 'no it's ok, please go to the GPU, thank you'

[@iankemp2627]

Or... you can buy any X570 board that has dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots... then add a PCIe-3-to-NVMe M.2 adapter card which costs under $10 on Ebay and can be reused in your next system. Then you have two fast M.2 SSDs and one slow one, plus PCIe 4.0 x16 to the GPU, plus superior numbers of USB 3 ports, plus all the other connectivity X570 gives you...

[@monkeystealhead]

I just got it for 167€ Second hand. Bought a 5800X for 160€ I will run it with a RTX3060ti. I have one m2 SSD wich i dont realy use. I Plan to get 2x 2 TB SSD's. When i see them for a Price i like. It is so random i got this. I wanted the m2 Slots. But i guess it is no problem when my GPU runs on PCI4.0 x8 I guess i don't feel the difference.

[@tomstech4390]

Buildzoid: B550 has a lack of pcie lanes. Me: [looks at my z77x-up7 which supports Quad Crossfire/SLI when the cpu only has 16 lanes total and if it was sandybridge would only be 2.0]. Uh huh I miss WS boards too, 3930k had 6c12threads at 4.5Ghz+ and 40pcie lanes 9 years ago, yeah it was £480 which gets you twice the cores now but 9 years and half the memory channels and a fraction of the pcie, Damn.

[@neonhavok]

wow this was a short video

[@TheOdsystem]

Hey man, I know it can be a little difficult to find, but try to make an analysis of the Biostar B550 Racing GTQ.