Today, AMD and its partners unveiled the first B550 chipset based motherboards which make the Ryzen CPU platform even more affordable. The AMD B550 chipset motherboards will offer similar features to the X570 chipset but at a much more affordable price point while offering support for current and upcoming Ryzen processors as confirmed by AMD themselves recently.
AMD B550 Motherboard Roundup & Official Specs - The Ryzen CPU Platform Just Got More Affordable
Compared to the B450 offerings, the AMD B550 chipset motherboards will offer support for PCIe Gen 4.0 (CPU Lanes), increased I/O in the form of USB 3.2 Gen 2/Gen 1 ports & most importantly, solid support for AMD's next-generation Zen 3 based Ryzen 4000 CPUs codenamed 'Vermeer'. It was originally planned for introduction at Computex this year but plans changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we reported earlier, today is just the announcement for the respective B550 motherboards from various vendors such as ASUS, ASRock, MSI, Gigabyte and Biostar. The actual launch is scheduled for the 16th of June. In addition to the B550 motherboards, AMD will also be announcing its A520 chipset-based entry-level motherboards in August of 2020.
AMD Ryzen Mainstream Chipsets
| Wccftech | X570 | B550 | X470 | B450 | X370 | B350 | A320 | X300 | A300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrossfireX/SLI | Triple CFX/2-Way SLI | N/A | Triple CFX/2-Way SLI | N/A | Triple CFX/2-Way SLI | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Max PCIe Gen 3/4 Lanes | 24 Gen 4.0 (with Ryzen 3000/4000 CPU) | 24 Gen 4.0 (with Ryzen 3000/4000 CPU) | 24 Gen 3.0 (with Ryzen 3000/4000 CPU) 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 24 Gen 3.0 (with Ryzen 3000/4000 CPU) 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) | 20 (with Ryzen 2000 CPU) 16 (with Ryzen 1000 CPU) 8 (with Bristol Ridge) |
| Max PCIe Gen 2 Lanes | N/A | N/A | 8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) | 4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe) |
| Max PCH PCIe lanes | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| USB 3.1/3,2 Gen2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| USB 3.1/3.2 Gen1 | 12 (PCH + CPU) | 8 (PCH+CPU) | 10 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | N/A | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| SATA 6Gb/s | 8 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| DDR4 DIMMs | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Overclocking Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| XFR2 Enhanced | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Precision Boost Overdrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Form Factor | ATX, MATX | ATX, MATX | ATX, MITX | ATX, M-ATX | ATX | ATX, M-ATX | M-ATX, Mini-ITX | Mini-ITX | M-ATX, Mini-ITX |
ASUS B550 Motherboards
So coming to the motherboards, each vendor has its own respective lineups which include various designs at various different price points. Starting off with ASUS, we are looking at eight boards in which the ROG STRIX B550-E Gaming is the top-tier model. All ASUS B550 motherboards releasing are mentioned below:
- ASUS ROG STRIX B550-E Gaming
- ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F Gaming (WiFi)
- ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I Gaming
- ASUS TUF Gaming B550-PLUS
- ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS (WiFi)
- ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS
- ASUS PRIME B550M-A (WiFi)
- ASUS PRIME B550M-K
Gigabyte B550 Motherboards
The AORUS/Gigabyte lineup is next and consists of four B550 motherboards of which three are AORUS branded motherboards and a single is Gigabyte branded.
In terms of VRM capabilities, it looks like AORUS has some impressive options lineup up with the B550 AORUS Master offering a 14+2 phase Infineon Digital PWM (70A), the B550 AORUS PRO offering a 12+2 Intersil Digital PWM with 50A DrMOS stages, B550I AORUS PRO AX offering a 6+2 phase Intersil Digital PWM with 90A Dr.MOS stages and finally, the B550 Vision D which packs a 12+2 phase Intersil 50A PWM design. The lineup consists of the following models which will be available at launch:
- B550 AORUS Master
- B550 AORUS PRO AC
- B550I AORUS PRO AX
- B550I AORUS PRO
- B550 AORUS Elite
- B550 Vision D
- B550M DS3H
MSI B550 Motherboards
MSI has also announced a total of eight new motherboards based on the B550 chipset, with each B550 offering its own unique range of features and technologies at sub $200 US prices. According to MSI, there are at least five variants that will be launching first and these include the MPG B550 Gaming Carbon WiFi, MAG B550 Tomahawk, MAG B550M Mortar, MAG B550M Mortar WiFi, and the B550-A PRO. Following is the full list of B550 motherboards from MSI:
- MPG B550 GAMING CARBON WIFI
- MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI
- MPG B550I GAMING EDGE WIFI
- MPG B550 GAMING PLUS
- MAG B550 TOMAHAWK
- MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI
- MAG B550M MORTAR
- MAG B550 BAZOOKA
- B550-A PRO
- B550M PRO-VDH WIFI
ASRock B550 Motherboards
ASRock has a very large lineup planned out for the B550 chipset, featuring 12 motherboards that include the B550 Taichi as the flagship model. The lineup has something for all kinds of users with the top Taichi model featuring a 16 Phase VRM design and support for memory speeds of up to 4733 MHz, making this a very attractive option for mainstream users who want to run an existing or next-generation Ryzen CPU. Following are all of the B550 motherboards in ASRock's lineup:
- ASRock B550 Taichi
- ASRock B550 Extreme 4
- ASRock B550 Steel Legend
- ASRock B550 Pro4
- ASRock B550 PG Velocita
- ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac
- ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4
- ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax
- ASRock B550 Steel Legend
- ASRock B550M Pro4
- ASRock B550M-HDV
- ASRock B550M-ITX ac
Biostar AMD B550 Chipset Motherboards
Lastly, we have the Biostar B550 motherboard lineup for current and upcoming AMD Ryzen CPUs. The lineup includes two models within the Racing series which are the B550GTA and the B550GTQ. The GTA model comes in the ATX form factor while the GTQ model comes in an mATX form factor. Both motherboards feature a similar design aesthetic and a solid VRM array to fully support AMD's Ryzen desktop processors.