Gigabyte Aorus B650i Ultra motherboard review

Prawn here with a detailed feature review and insights into the Gigabyte Aorus B650i Ultra motherboard. Here I'm showing you what's up with this motherboard, the cool highlights of it - which include 3 x NVMe ports and more - as well as some of the issues to keep in mind. For its size this is a surprisingly good motherboard with some intriguing specs. I've used this in the Corsair 2000D Airflow, along with Corsair's iCue Link system (see links for those videos below)
If you do get this board I'd highly recommend updating the BIOS. See here for how to do that - • How to update Gigabyte...
Other related videos:
Do stickers and heatsinks matter for NVMe SSDs • Do stickers and heatsi...
Uncovering the real impact of NVMe heatsinks • Uncovering the real im...
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Specs of this Corsair 2000D Airflow build (note this includes affiliate links that earn me a commission at no extra cost to you)
Motherboard - Gigabyte B650 Aorus Ultra amzn.to/3qS5DqD
CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 7700X amzn.to/3sBhDxc
Case - Corsair 2000D Airflow white go.corsair.com/jrQZEP
Fans - Corsair QX120 RGB (go.corsair.com/Y9yMXq)
CPU cooler - Corsair iCue Link H150i (go.corsair.com/q42aQO)
iCue Link Cable Kit (go.corsair.com/ZQyMo0)
RAM - Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 16GB x 2 6200MHz (go.corsair.com/eKAL3Z)
NVME - Seagate Firecuda 540 • Seagate Firecuda 540 N...
NVME - Crucial P5 Plus • How to install Crucial...
PSU - Corsair SF1000L go.corsair.com/anj2yR
GPU - Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti 12g OC • Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti 1...
See the Gamer's Nexus video on SOC issues • We Exploded the AMD Ry...
Official site - www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/... Motherboard specs:
www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/...
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[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Specs of this build (note this includes affiliate links that earn me a commission at no extra cost to you) Motherboard - Gigabyte B650 Aorus Ultra amzn.to/3qS5DqD CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 7700X amzn.to/3sBhDxc Case - Corsair 2000D Airflow white go.corsair.com/jrQZEP Fans - Corsair QX120 RGB (go.corsair.com/Y9yMXq) CPU cooler - Corsair iCue Link H150i (go.corsair.com/q42aQO) iCue Link Cable Kit (go.corsair.com/ZQyMo0) RAM - Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 16GB x 2 6200MHz (go.corsair.com/eKAL3Z) NVME - Seagate Firecuda 540 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGLal3SCmMekbZY NVME - Crucial P5 Plus kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5uyqnZ4bLukoNk PSU - Corsair SF1000L go.corsair.com/anj2yR GPU - Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti 12g OC kzbin.info/www/bejne/lV7FpmmnedaYjaM

[@felkmane]

Thank you for this video! I didn't even use it as a review, more of a tutorial for the board since I already bought it and have never gone this small before.

[@thmarrano]

Thank you for this great video, I'm building my first PC and it helped me a lot :)

[@MahlonBouldin]

When dealing with the elevated heat on the NVMe drive on back of the motherboard, adding an extension cable and re-mounting the NVMe somewhere else in the case works well. I've just done this on an Aorus 570i motherboard, the NVMe now "stuck" to the inside of the front panel, getting good airflow from a nearby fan.

[@DrKamel22]

Great review! Ive just bought this mother and Im trying to optimize the temps. Can you do a video setting up pbo and memory with the new bios UI in F9 version? Thanks in advance!

[@fatjawns3671]

Great well explained video, deserves way more views

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Much appreciated!

[@TheSasqwatch]

I have this same build. 7 7700 x, this MOBO, Corsair 32 x 2 GB Vengeance RAM, RX 6800 XT in a Phantex 200 case. I am using the Corsair commander XT as well. A corsair AIO 100 model for colling and 5 corsair fans. Great little computer

[@JfjGaming6283]

🤩finally mini one is here

[@alcozar5905]

Great video and great detail thank you

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Glad you liked it!

[@user-bc5vv1ug2g]

How thick is that block of m.2 fan heat sink, looks about 20 mm?

[@nochancecw]

Did you ever look at the total power output of the system? Id bet your total power draw only hits around 500w with a 4070 ti and that cpu. But i guess its good future proofing.

[@goblinking8510]

You just made my day! This is almost my EXACT build! This mother board with that case. This is my first time building a pc vs. upgrading my laptop, lol. This is going to be of great help haha

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Glad I could help! Got plenty of other content including a playlist on how to build a pc

[@goblinking8510]

Update, watched your other vids about the motherboard and 2000D airflow. Super helpful and now I got my first desktop in 10 years yo and running! Thankfully my bios was already at F9 so I didn't have to mess with that

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

@@goblinking8510 excellent 👍🏼🦐

[@chriskautz3245]

Looking to start another itx build . I have always gone with the Asus ROG itx boards Z370-1 for my intel and X570-I for my Ryz en build . So now it's an AM5 build (7800x3d ) How would you compare the AUROS B650I to the Asus ROG Strix B650E-I . Thanks in advance

[@stevenswall]

I believe this has twice as fast USB 3.2 2x2 headers that can do 20Gb per second, and an extra M.2 slot. Those were the two unique features I found.

[@XavierLeSang]

Hello and thanks for this detailed review ! I'm currently building my next pc after 14 years, into an a4-h2o case, and your video helped me quite a bit as I didn't know much about nvme drives ! I have a little question though. Do you think I should remove the thermal pad on the back of the motherboard if I don't put a drive there yet, or can I let it there even with the plastic sticker protection still on it ?

[@Barncore]

I have the same question. Bugger that there's no answer. The Gigabyte manual is super small

[@Barely_Here]

Question about the 3 fan headers for anyone that know. What are the volts and amps specs for them. Having a hard time finding this info an do need it to decide if im going to buy a fan hub or not for my NR200P build. My plan is to run the cpu fans as intake through cpu_fan, and a side exhaust through cpu_opt, and my bottom intake and top exhaust through system fan, however if the header rating cant support four fans (two nuctua a12 slims and the cycle flow that come with the case) then ill probably need a hub which i really dont want to have to buy one.

[@hhiddenn_]

Where would you plug in an HD audio cable that’s coming from my front panel? (Beginner here)

[@stevenswall]

That part is really hard to find, but you have to lift up the heat sink and fan for the nvme drive, and you will be able to plug in the HD audio connector.

[@stevenswall]

Anyone know where I can find beep codes for this? 1 long 2 short beeps. I've tried 3 different pairs of RAM and removed the GPU and plugged into the motherboard. Won't boot or show anything on the screen. Just that beep code. I'm even using the same PSU, and Corsair Vengeance RAM. (2 different sets, plus a g.skill one.)

[@danielfatfingahs5649]

Are you bottlenecking the PCIE with 3x NVME?

[@Barncore]

I'm doing a build with this motherboard at the moment... 7:43 - do you reckon it's worth taking off the stickers of the thermal pads for the m.2 slots you're NOT using? E.g. I'll be only using the top slot (so obviously i'll take those stickers off), but not the one underneath. Should i take the stickers off the one underneath anyway just in case? Or should i keep it on in case one day i do use it?

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

I don't think it would make any difference.

[@Barncore]

Yeah probably not. Thanks @@TheProvokedPrawn

[@a.skt.5839]

If I use only 1 SSD M.2 on slot gen5. Is it necesery to remove plastic sticker on the 2nd slot(gen 4) under its?

[@stevenswall]

No, no need if there is no m.2 stick touching it.

[@pawelgrund4540]

This M.2 fan connector is just horrible. Seems impossible to disconnect. Did anybody succeed with that?

[@And_Rec]

Mine don't boot and don't beep so I can't find the problem, wanted to change the battery to try but how do I remove the I/o shield?

[@stevenswall]

There is a two pin CMOS reset area next to the GPU connector slot, on the end away from the click on/off lever for that slot. Look under the M.2 heat sink area.

[@WastingDrip]

my only issue with the aorus itx motherboards is that the cpu socket is placed higher than the other brands. i'm using a fractal torrent nano and I had a hard time finding a compatible air cooler due to the offset being high

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

Interesting

[@JfjGaming6283]

sir can yo tell me why ryzen 7000 series saddnly heat even we have the 360aio of lianli gala head

[@TheProvokedPrawn]

It's a common thing. Google it. These Ryzen CPUs intentionally ramp up to 95 degrees when under load and that's for peak performance. Weird but there you go

[@JfjGaming6283]

om know those thngs for performcnce bt it sholdnt be that mch@@TheProvokedPrawn

[@BonusCrook]

Its annoying, set a 100W power limit and undervolt to fix the issue.

[@JfjGaming6283]

@@BonusCrook i did that but those ryzen 7000 spiked i dont know why then i changed to 13700k thats good for me

[@gtortel9671]

Where is the audio port?

[@heybravo23]

It is in between the two heat sinks. You have to remove the m.2 heat sink on the top of the board to access it.

[@gtortel9671]

@@heybravo23 thanks lol

[@gabrield6954]

Not a great experience with that model . I bought that model and paired with Ryzen 9 7900x into a ITX case (Cooler Master) and was not a deal. I did the bios update and after few days the board died. Very difficult to work with motherboard, to connect everything. Was the cheapest ITX board, a B650 in that time i think in April 2023.

[@iHaveTheDocuments]

It's literally the size of a Samsung Galaxy fold

[@joebama22266]

Its pretty close😂 but not exactly. Had to test this with my ZF4

[@BonusCrook]

After my z690i Ultra I will never trust or recommend Gigashite again. Terrible board.