A Closer Look
There’s no doubt about it, the STRIX motherboards are always a feast for the eyes. It’s certainly one of the more high-end B550 motherboards we’re likely to see, and the design is up there with the flagship X570 boards. Then again, STRIX is always a premium product line and the B550-F Gaming is no exception to that rule. Black hardware, subtle dark grey highlights and premium hardware on everything.
The CPU is powered from an impressive 12+2 Power Stage with ASUS Digi+ Power Control and all the usual luxuries. There are premium quality chokes and caps on the board, as you would expect and they’re all topped with two massive VRM heatsinks to ensure it stays nice and cool. It certainly ticks all the right boxes for overclocking any AM4 CPU.
Further down the board, you’ll find two large M.2 heatsinks, and even cooler, the top one is PCIe Gen 4 so you can get those super-fast storage gains. The lower one is PCIe Gen 3, but that’s hardly a slouch either.
There’s a single PCIe Gen 4 slot at the top, which comes with some lovely reinforced armour. This one is fed from the CPU to give you those full Gen 4 speeds. However, there are 3 x 1x and a x16 Gen 3 slot that are all fed from the chipset.
Tucked into the corner, you’ve got the fantastic SupremeFX audio hardware. This features the ASUS S1220A chipset, dual OP amps, Nichicon capacitors and more. Overall, it’s some of the best audio hardware on the market today!
The rear I/O shield is pre-installed, which is always a welcome bonus. Plus you get loads of USB ports, including Gen 2 ports and Type C. There’s both HDMI and Display Port offering 4K 60 outputs. For networking, you get the swift Intel I225-V 2.5Gb Ethernet, but strangely no built-in WiFi on this model.
