Motherboard GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.0) Review
14
·
Very good
Rating
4.0
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Description of Motherboard GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.0)
AORUS Mini-ITX motherboard based on AMD B550 chipset, 8-phase digital VRM, original VRM cooling system and branded heatsinks, protective thermal plate on the back of the board, two M.2 PCIe 4.0/3.0 slots and Thermal Guard Heatsinks, Intel® WiFi 6 802.11ax Module, 2.5GbE LAN Controller, RGB FUSION 2.0, Q-Flash Plus
Pros
- Aircraft quality. I really liked the compactness, the new chipset, Wi-Fi 8022022ax, Bluetooth, Ethernet 2.5 Gb / s, ease of assembly due to the size (it twisted in my hands like a Rubik's cube - op and percent with the cooling system in place. I recommend it!
Cons
- The price tag for new chipsets, but I did not find cheaper. I did not find other disadvantages both in the quality of performance and in the work.
Pros
- - High-quality electrical circuit system - 8 + 2 phase power supply (up to 90 A load for each phase); - Passive cooling system (without fans); - Armored connectors for PCI Express ports and RAM memory modules; - Easy BIOS microcode ate; - PCIe 4.0 x16 for installing discrete graphics or an expansion card; - Two M.2 slots for NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 drives; - Dual-channel RAM (capable of operating at frequencies up to 5300 MHz); - Latest generation audio codec ALC1220; - Intel Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 module; - There is a Type-C connector on the panel of I / O ports.
Cons
- The cost of B550 chipsets at the beginning of sales.
Pros
- I. Support for PCIe 4.0 (this is the future, which will soon become a necessity); II. Support for AMD Ryzen™ processors with "Zen 3" architecture out of the box; III. Support for a higher maximum frequency of RAM: 4866 MHz (compared to boards based on B450, X470 chipsets); IV. Higher bandwidth support via ETHERNET controller: 2.5 Gbps (compared to 1000 Mbps on B450, X470 chipsets); V. Excellent workmanship: the metal frame on the board on the front and back looks and feels VERY solid. The PCIEx16 connector reinforced with a metal edging and connectors for DDR4 is a feature that has been observed ONLY in Gigabyte for a long time. The metal radiator for cooling an M.2 SSD drive will 100% do its job and remove heat, and as the Italians would say: "And it will do it beautifully!" (see pictures for yourself). The metal frame on the back of the motherboard is guaranteed to protect the board from bending, other harmful effects of "playful hands", and it just looks aesthetically pleasing. VI. There is a built-in Wi-Fi module that supports the 8022022ax standard. VII. Support for features such as Q-FLASH and a mechanical button and a USB port on the rear panel specially designed for this feature. VIII. Fans of RGB lighting (I myself belong to such gentlemen, I confess!) will note that this is almost the only mini-ITX board based on B450, B550, X470 and X570 chipsets with backlight. :) + there is an RGB ribbon connector IX. In terms of performance, it does not raise any complaints, and, despite its compact size, it will reveal the potential of top-end 3rd generation AMD Ryzen ™ processors, and, apparently, 4th. It’s not worth it, just, as for me, to shove processor-ovens with a TDP above 100ki into mini-ITX cases. It's somehow not reasonable anymore, take a full-fledged, well-ventilated ATX case for such purposes and enjoy your life.
Cons
- I have to say that as a user, I want to get the BEST and as cheap as possible, so a person who would not see the need for all the advantages of the board would say that it is expensive. (Debatable, but understandable) Also, I don’t quite understand why there are as many as 2 HDMI outputs on the back side of the board (if there is also a DisplayPort connector), as for me the second HDMI is superfluous and something else could be output. (Though what?)
Pros
- Price
Cons
- Non-working Lan, bug with Bluetooth, backlight settings curve software, died a month later
Pros
- The benefits have been discussed in great detail in other comments. I agree with them. For me, the advantages when choosing a motherboard: 1. passive cooling of VRM and chipset + M2 drive 2. not the most expensive motherboard 3. B550 chipset 4. M.2X2 5. Mini Itx 6. Working and ated Bios 7. Interesting and thoughtful design 8. Quality materials. After Asus z170i another league seems to be 9. Seems to be good power circuits suitable for overclocking, but I'm not strong in this
Cons
- I wanted to write this review because of the serious shortcomings identified during the work: 1. Bios reset does not work in a regular way (pin closure). Reset is only possible by removing the battery. You can remove the battery only by disassembling the motherboard and removing the panel covering the I/O ports (you do not need to remove the cooling). 2. Bluetooth randomly falls off and returns only after resetting the BIOS or disconnecting the power wire for 10-15 minutes (There is a discussion on Reddit).
Pros
- Appearance, not so badly scattered connectors, 2 slots m2, power system.
Cons
- There is no type c for the front panel, why does the port panel have 2 hdmi outputs and 1 displayport? instead of them, at least 1 usb A, a high price tag (+ -15k, course 72 now), one usb 2.0 connector (connecting controllers / pumps / etc.) already the second board, which does not work correctly, although I ated all possible drivers, ated the BIOS, installed firewood for the chipset, bluetooth fell off, I installed Intel firewood - 0 effect. CPU fan cannot be adjusted, showing -55 degrees, RPM cannot be changed. The backlight is extremely useless, and it is included in the price of the goods, it would be better if they put postcode indicators, which give at least some information on diodes.
Pros
- Illumination with OpenRGB support. 8 power phases. Cooling VRM, chipset and SSD. Two slots for SSD.
Cons
- Issues with the PCI-E 3.0 riser. Difficulties with replacing the Wi-Fi module. Excess liquid thermal pads.
