Review on ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (WiFi 6) AMD AM4 Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 & 3rd Gen Ryzen 🎮 ATX Gaming Motherboard | PCIe 4.0, 2.5Gb LAN, BIOS Flashback, HDMI 2.1, Addressable Gen 2 RGB Header, Aura Sync by Joe Martin

Pros: * Fanless VRM makes me doubt its overclocking potential, but if that's not your bag then it's great. A huge heatsink can compensate for this. * 2.5Gb LAN is a great selling point, but most people won't use it. That being said, WiFi6 is a fantastic addition and the WiFi antenna is magnetic so it's easy to hide. However, the magnet was in a strange place. I figured it would run flush rather than work. * 2 M.2 slots, both with heatsinks (1 pci4.0 of course), so that's good. Should be default. * Non-standard Windows drivers for the network, so make sure your USB drive is ready to install * 12 + 2 power stages on a 6-layer PCB. That alone speaks volumes. Should be a relatively decent overclocker with reliable performance. * BIOS rendering is great! USB 2.0 for reliability. * "FlexKey" (reinforced PCI-E slot) is great in the age of 5 pound graphics cards. * Built in boot error lights - saved me time googling what the heck the beeps could mean. on my old boards. Turns out I didn't fully plug in the graphics card, preferring RAM.* Much better design than previous boards. More minimalist and unobtrusive than other "gaming" boards. * Thunderbolt 3 connector (all modern boards should have it, especially at this price point) * Fixed I/O shield adds a premium feel. Like you're not in the middle of leagues. * My 14CL 3200MHz RAM was OOB compatible right out of the box and I bumped it up to 3400MHz with almost no issues. Continue and without post. You'll probably have to sacrifice some timings to get more, but mine is rated at 3200 so no complaints. For $200, it's pretty standard to see an LCD and quite frustrating that it's not there. The first world problem, however. *It's a shame there isn't a network option in the BIOS to update the BIOS like there was on the B350-f and b450-f. Not the safest method, but certainly convenient. Can't confirm if it's worth it, and most people probably use USB audio (not @me, audiophiles) so it could probably save more than $30 if you keep this simple. True audiophiles use high-quality sound cards to minimize the interference coming from the motherboard. Waste of money and marketing I would say. This is attractive enough to steer me away from the x570s, but it lacks some of the features I envy on more expensive boards. UNCHANGED: THIS DAMN THING WAS DELIVERED IN A ROG STRIX BOX AND JUST LEFT ON MY WEATHER AND WALKING WORLD PORCH. LOOK AT THE BOX. IT HAS REFLECTIVE HOLOGRAPHIC TEXT AND THE NAME FREAKING ****GAMING**** ON IT. WHY send him in here and the door will fall?!?! Also, the damn box was dented to hell and back, and I suspect the board may have been damaged. Thankfully, Asus knows how to pack their boards, but my goodness, Revain. This is the first I have received from you guys with no warning that it will be shipped in standard packaging. i'm a geek I exhibit my boxes in the technical collection. I don't want my $200+ items to be damaged to avoid theft or their boxes covered with remnants of shipping labels so you can save $0.10 on box and $0.05 on packaging fillers. Do yourself a favor and order from Newegg. My 3060ti and 5600x arrived independently from Newegg but were packed in clouds plucked from the sky. You don't care about anything.