The GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX Motherboard Review: All The Small Things
by Gavin Bonshor on December 7, 2020 10:00 AM ESTBoard Features
The GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX is a mini-ITX motherboard with a premium feature set and takes full advantage of its size regarding PCIe 4.0 support from the Ryzen 3000 and 5000 series processors. It has a single full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot from the CPU, with one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot mounted onto the front of the PCB with a heatsink that doubles up to keep the B550 chipset cool. The second M.2 slot operates at PCIe 3.0 x4 and supports SATA drives, although this slot doesn't include a heatsink. There are four straight angled SATA slots for other storage devices and peripherals, which include support for RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. The board features two memory slots with support for up to DDR4-5100 memory and a maximum capacity of up to 64 GB.
GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro ITX Motherboard | |||
Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
Product Page | Link | ||
Price | $179 | ||
Size | ITX | ||
CPU Interface | AM4 | ||
Chipset | AMD B550 | ||
Memory Slots (DDR4) | Two DDR4 Supporting 64 GB Dual Channel Up to DDR4-5100 |
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Video Outputs | 2 x HDMI 2.1 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 |
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Network Connectivity | Realtek RTL8125 2.5 GbE Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 |
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Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC1220-VB | ||
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 | ||
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | N/A | ||
Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/10 (B550) | ||
Onboard M.2 | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA |
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USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) | 1 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-C Rear Panel |
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USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) | 4 x Type-A Rear Panel 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) |
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USB 2.0 | 1 x Type-A Header (2 x ports) | ||
Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 8pin CPU |
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Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 2 x System (4-pin) |
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IO Panel | 4 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C 1 x Network RJ45 2.5 G (Realtek) 3 x 3.5mm Audio Jacks (Realtek) 2 x Intel AX200 Antenna Ports 1 x Q-Flash Button 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Output 2 x HDMI 2.1 Output |
Focusing on the premium controller set, the B550I Aorus Pro AX features a Realtek RTL8125 2.5 GbE controller, with wireless connectivity coming via an Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 interface which also includes support for BT 5.0 devices. The audio is handled by a Realtek ALC1220-VB HD audio codec which adds three 3.5 mm audio jacks to the rear panel, while USB support is limited due to the board's size. This includes one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports. Also on the rear panel is a pair of HDMI 2.1 video outputs, as well as a single DisplayPort 1.4 output, with a Q-flash button designed to allow users to update the board's firmware without the need for a CPU or memory installed. Other connectivity includes three 4-pin fan headers, including one for a CPU and an addressable RGB and standard RGB LED header pairing.
Test Bed
As per our testing policy, we take a high-end CPU suitable for the motherboard released during the socket’s initial launch and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the processor maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS. Most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users and industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
Test Setup | |||
Processor | AMD Ryzen 3700X, 65W, $329 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 3.6 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
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Motherboard | GIGABYTE B550I Aorus Pro AX (BIOS F11g) | ||
Cooling | Corsair H100i 240 mm AIO | ||
Power Supply | Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W Gold PSU | ||
Memory | 2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3200 16-16-16-36 2T | ||
Video Card | ASUS GTX 980 STRIX (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
Case | Open Benchtable BC1.1 (Silver) | ||
Operating System | Windows 10 1909 |
Readers of our motherboard review section will have noted the trend in modern motherboards to implement a form of MultiCore Enhancement / Acceleration / Turbo (read our report here) on their motherboards. This does several things, including better benchmark results at stock settings (not entirely needed if overclocking is an end-user goal) at the expense of heat and temperature. It also gives, in essence, an automatic overclock which may be against what the user wants. Our testing methodology is ‘out-of-the-box’, with the latest public BIOS installed and XMP enabled, and thus subject to the whims of this feature. It is ultimately up to the motherboard manufacturer to take this risk – and manufacturers taking risks in the setup is something they do on every product (think C-state settings, USB priority, DPC Latency / monitoring priority, overriding memory sub-timings at JEDEC). Processor speed change is part of that risk, and ultimately if no overclocking is planned, some motherboards will affect how fast that shiny new processor goes and can be an important factor in the system build.
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quorm - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
What is the massive AMD AM4 keep out area?Slash3 - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
The space around the CPU socket required for mounting clearance is probably what they're referring to. On that note, the Asrock AM4 mITX actually use Intel LGA11XX mount spacing for this reason.meacupla - Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - link
The AM4 keepout area is a good thing though. Especially when the mobo adheres with the steel backplate.There are plenty of LGA11XX mITX boards that completely ignore the back side of the MOBO and run into issues with aftermarket CPU coolers that require backplates.
Allan_Hundeboll - Thursday, December 17, 2020 - link
I "upgraded" from ab350 fata1ity to the b550i Aorus pro because I wanted a board that would support ryzen 5000. I also hoped the better vrm would make it possible to oc my water-cooled 3700x a little higher.But the the b550I seems to hate my 2x16GB micron rev E memory. So I just can't make 1900Mhz IF/3800Mhz MEM stable like it did on the cheap ab350.
The strong VRM didn't oc my 3700x any better, but I discovered that low PBO power draw values (like 5W) makes. PBO boost like crazy, when disabling C3 sleep. So my cpu benchmarks gained a little performance.
So you made a smart decision holding on to that ab350!
Mr Perfect - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
The lack of USB ports is odd, especially when they included three video ports that a majority of people will never use. If AMD CPUs had built in video ports, then sure, throw in a whole bunch of graphics ports, but a gaming board isn't likely to get an APU installed.calc76 - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
The B550 chipset is the limiting factor with USB 3 ports. The B550 isn't really in the same class chipset as a Z490. The B550 supports more ports than are in some of the mini-ITX boards but ones like the ASUS B550-I support nearly all but some of the extra USB 2.0 ports.mkarwin - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
Even with USB3 count restriction, there are still USB2 options - most printers/keyboards/mice/scanners won't need the gen 3 speeds so adding a quartet of additional rear I/O placed USB2 ports wouldn't break the bank whilst giving a lot more connectivity that people could actually use... Though at the same time, X570 boards from the same product family are not fairing any better whilst being "top of the line AM4 chipsets" sporting. Somehow the ATX size allows adding more ports to the rear I/O, but already mATX suffers nearly the same as mITX. I'm not sure if those ATX offerings come with additional USB controllers on board that just can't fit on ITX boards or maybe it's merely manufacturers way to skimp $1 on a set of connectors on the back and treat it as an excude for no additonal signaling work through the PCB whilst still asking higher prices for the premium smaller market...Luminar - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
Just what we need instead of a 6800 review lolGolgatha777 - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
True, you can actually buy this.vanilla_gorilla - Monday, December 7, 2020 - link
This is exactly what I need. I'm currently using an X570 I Aorus Wi-Fi mini-itx board in a SFF case. The problem is I cannot find any AM4 Mini-iTX boards with multi-gig or 10GbE LoM. I'm really disappointed we don't see more multi and 10Gb boards. I just got an email last week that Google Fiber now offers 2Gb/s service here in Nashville. I was looking at USB based multi-gig adapters but I'd much rather have it on the motherboard, of course.