Review on GIGABYTE B550 AORUS Elite: Feature-Rich AM4 AMD B550 ATX Gaming Motherboard with Dual M.2 and USB 3.2 Gen2 by Keith Barra

Great board that comes ready to use. Windows 10 started up the first time, and then it was easy to just do a clean install and set everything up. The only downside is that there is no system fan header on the memory side of the board, so I had to find an extension cable to connect the front fans to the header next to the 8-pin CPU power connector. I was able to update the BIOS and update all drivers from the DVD from the App Center while using Windows. I bought 3200 DDR4 memory that defaulted to 2300, but it was very easy to enable XMP by selecting the provided profile 1 in the Easy Tune app, which sets the clock to 1600 x 2 mode for 3200 MHz set. The standout feature is what Gigabyte calls the G-Plug. It's basically a plastic collar that doesn't do anything electrically, but houses the ports on the front. It's very clearly marked so it's very easy to insert each pin/plug for the power button etc into the correct position in the G-connector and then just plug it into the motherboard socket. A super simple and great idea from Gigabyte that simplifies installation and helps with cabling. The provided apps work perfectly. SIV (System Information Viewer) provides the information you need to ensure your system is working properly, while Easytune makes it easy to tweak performance if you wish. M.2 heatsink fits well. The manual was a bit vague about memory configuration. So when you go to their website, look for the motherboard listed in the products. From there click on "Support" then "Support List" and then download/view the memory support list "For AMD Matisse Processor" for all Ryzen 3000 series. Find your specific store in the list. On the right is whether it works with XMP and what the natural frequency is. Most high-frequency memory modules require XMP to run at maximum frequency. To run XMP you need a consistent set of 2 or 4 modules. If you use 2, they should be in the 2nd and 4th slots (with the first slot being closest to the processor). When you set up your computer, memory runs at its native frequency, and then at half the nominal frequency after XMP is enabled. If you don't care about XMP, you can plug memory modules into any slot, at native speed it doesn't make a difference. The SIV application displays the speed correctly. So if it's very close to your memory, it's set correctly. I know some B550 motherboards won't work without flashing the BIOS from a flash drive, but this MB will publish and boot Windows without flashing the BIOS first. The board is well made, good thick circuit board and accurate dimensions. Good choice for gaming. Anyway, for me as a musician, the Realtec ALC1200 codec built into the Amp-up 7.1 chip offers excellent fidelity with my studio monitors, but you may need an external interface or an additional sound card if you're using low studio impedance. Headphones that are difficult to control. That shouldn't be a problem for most of you, but Gigabyte has other B550 boards in the ALC1220 if you just need a little more power for your high-end headphones. This motherboard doesn't have a USB-C connector, which can be important for some audio interfaces, although most interfaces work great with AORUS Elite USB3.2 Gen2, shaving precious milliseconds off your latency if you want to record with Digital Audio Workstation software package. This should be a very good board for high quality recording and music production, especially with 4th Gen M.2. Noise is introduced in a different way than the audio codec, and this board is well equipped with low-noise features to help the codec do its job.