Review on Motherboard GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.0) by Wiktor elazny ᠌

Name: Motherboard GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.0)
Item: Motherboard GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX (rev. 1.0)
Rating: 5

June 05, 2023

I didnt expect the quality to be so high.

Perhaps the best value for money among all mini-ITX motherboards based on B450, B550, X470 and X570 chipsets.

(The functionality of the B550 chipset includes almost all the advantages of the older X570 chipset and is a cut above the B450 and X470 due to: 1) PCIe 4.0 support; 2) support for AMD Ryzen™ processors with "Zen 3" architecture out of the box; 3) support for a higher maximum frequency of RAM; and etc.)

This motherboard was purchased for advanced assembly with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor, a GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2060 MINI ITX video card, in the MASTERCASE H100 ARGB case. The rest of the components, except for the case, have already arrived, but I can add pictures from the case later.

(I was not paid for this review, I'm just an enthusiast and already an experienced user of Gigabyte hardware)

In short, to buy for mini-ITX assembly - I recommend it!

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?)