The AMD B550 Motherboard Overview: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, ASRock, and Others
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on June 16, 2020 11:00 AM ESTBiostar Racing B550GTQ
In addition to its ATX sized B550GTA, the Biostar Racing B550GTQ is a micro-ATX sized model with the same design and near-identical feature set of its larger sibling. Looking more like an entry-level offering, the biggest features include a pair of M.2 slots, six SATA ports, a Realtek Gigabit Ethernet controller and a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec.
Following a consistent black and grey theme throughout, the Biostar Racing B550GTQ is a micro-ATX model and includes two full-length PCIe slots. This includes the top slot which runs at PCIe 4.0 x16, while the second slot is locked to PCIe 3.0 x4. Complementing the full-length slots is a pair of PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The board's storage consists of two PCIe slots and although Biostar is advertising both to feature support for PCIe 4.0 x4, it’s likely that only one of these will support Gen4, with the other supporting up to PCIe 3.0 x4 drives. There are also six SATA ports, with four right-angled and two straight-angled ports. The B550GTQ has four available memory slots, with support for up to DDR4-4400, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
The rear panel includes a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Powering the single RJ45 port is a Realtek RTL8118AS Gigabit Ethernet controller, while the boards three 3.5 mm audio jacks are controlled by a Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec. Biostar has included three video outputs with DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort, which gives users plenty of VGA options to consider if pairing up this board with a Ryzen APU. Finishing off the rear panel is a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port.
Biostar hasn’t unveiled pricing at present for either of its B550 models, but it’s likely the B550GTQ will cost under $100 based on the feature set in comparison to what other vendors are offering. Biostar is consistently using an older Realtek ALC1150 HD audio which was commonly found on motherboards around five years ago.
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Operandi - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Looks like some nice mATX versions this round, nice!YB1064 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
I was hoping to see a $75-$90 board.kenjiwing - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Fortunately, this component is a unique motherboard among B550 and well worth reading up on [add link].Needs to be edited.
anirudhs - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
There's a noise sensor which can adjust fan speed for maximum quietness with good thermals. Saw it on the KitGuruTech video. The noise sensor isn't there to spy on you though.PeterCollier - Wednesday, June 17, 2020 - link
The quality of the editing here is shit tier. Seriously, just run the articles through Grammarly before publication. It's free and it spots plenty of errors.Heavenly71 - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Sadly none of the mITX boards have more than 6 external USB ports. My old ASUS mITX has 8! And in really small mITX cases you can't add a bracket with more USB, because the two brackets are already used by the gfx card. Guess I have to wait for an enthusiast mITX board )-:damianrobertjones - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Or, just maybe, get a usb dongle with 4 ports?Mr Perfect - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
That is disappointing. The number of USB devices people need to plug in can't be dropping, surely? I know I've got more now then even a year ago.rrinker - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
Are they really going up? I have 2 USB devices plugged in to my system - a keyboard and a mouse. I occasionally plug a USB stick in one of the front ports to transfer files. My phone and tablet sync over wifi, they don't get plugged in. I have a charger behind my desk and a cable to charge them. My printer is on the network.The one place I DO need lots of USB ports is also the place where I have a small cube case machine, with no discreete GPU, because it doesn;t need one. On that one I added a USB PCI card to get enough ports. In addition to the keyboard and mouse, that machine is on my workbench where it connects to several electronic test instruments and I have multiple cabled for programming microcontrollers. I also have a USB microscope for board inspection. And then I have 3 more USB devices connected for my other hobby that shares the bench. Plus a front port kept free for USB sticks.
So the use case I have for more USB has the PCI slots open to add expansion cards, the use case where I have a discrete GPU eating up the slot space doesn't need an excess of USB ports.
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, June 16, 2020 - link
I use 3 USB 3.0 ports just for my Oculus Rift