Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review

The new AMD B550 chipset is here at last, and with it comes a new range of motherboards from Gigabyte AORUS. B550 offers up many of the features of X570, such as PCIe Gen 4, but just a little dialled back to save you from having to pay more than you really need to, or even want to. The B550 AORUS Pro Motherboard is one of the more high-end options of this new mid-range chipset, offering up a really solid feature set at a competitive price. Plus, fans of previous AORUS motherboards will be pleased to see they’ve kept the aesthetics in line with their other products.

Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review

While the chipset may be more of a mid-range option, the CPU support isn’t. It’ll still handle the flagship AM4 CPUs from AMD, and overclocking should be a breeze thanks to the 12_2 phase DigitalVRM and 50A DrMOS. Big heatsinks around the CPU, heatsinks on the M.2 drives, and robust build quality overall. It’s still got surprisingly robust connectivity too, with 2.5GbE LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Type C, HDMI output, and extensive RGB connectivity options too.

Features

• Supports 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Processors
• Dual Channel ECC/ Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
• True 12+2 Phases Digital VRM Solution with 50A DrMOS
• Advanced Thermal Design with Fins-Array Heatsink and Direct Touch Heatpipe
• Ultra Durable™ PCIe 4.0 Ready x16 Slot
• Dual Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 x4 M.2 with Thermal Guards
• AMP-UP Audio with ALC1220-VB and WIMA Capacitors for Rear 120dB SNR
• Blazing Fast 2.5GbE LAN with Bandwidth Management
• USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C™ & HDMI Support
• RGB FUSION 2.0 with Multi-Zone Addressable LED Light Show Design, Support Addressable LED & RGB LED Strips
• Smart Fan 5 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors, Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP
• Q-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory and Graphics Card
• Pre-installed IO Shield for Easy and Quick Installation

For in-depth specifications, please visit the official Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro product page here.

What Gigabyte Had to Say

“In the dark, starless night, the falcon strikes fear into the heart of its prey. Even with minimal visibility, the falcon pinpoints its prey and patiently anticipates the perfect moment to swoop in for the kill. The falcon with its laser sharp gaze dominates the darkness of night in the same manner that AORUS Core Lighting illuminates the vast AORUS ecosystem.” – Gigabyte

B550M Motherboard Reviews

• Gigabyte B550 AORUS Pro Motherboard Review
• Gigabyte B550 AORUS Master Motherboard Review
• Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX Motherboard Review
• ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F Gaming Motherboard Review
• ASUS ROG STRIX B550-E Gaming Motherboard Review
• ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-PLUS (Wi-Fi) Motherboard Review
• MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk Motherboard Review
• MSI MAG B550M Mortar Motherboard Review

A Closer Look

I personally think the AORUS boards are some of the best out there, they’re high-end without looking too over the top. I could happily drop this in a work system or a kick-ass gaming rig and it would look right in either.

B550 may be the more “affordable” option, but this board is not lacking in features. The CPU benefits from a True 12+2 Phase Digital VRM with 50A DrMOS. You get Premium Chokes and capacitors on a 6 layer 2x copper PCB. Plus, they’ve equipped with a Fins Array heatsink and heatpipe configuration so it’ll cool really well too.

The CPU is powered from a dingle 8-pin header, which is more than enough for this chipset though.

Cooling performance expands to the M.2 slots too, and you’ll find a pair of chunky heatsinks on each. The top M.2 features PCIe Gen 4, while the lower one is Gen 3.

There are three full-size PCIe slots and two 1x slots. As you can see, the top one is armoured, so it’ll better support the weight of modern GPUs. Plus, the top slot is also Gen 4, which is awesome.

There’s all your usual headers too, with SATA, ARGB x 2, RGB x 3, and plenty of USB ports too.

Audio comes from the fantastic ALC1220-VB chipset, which is backed up by Nichicon Fine Gold Audio Capacitors and “audiophile grade” WIMA Capacitors. Honestly, it’s a pretty great setup for any motherboard!

The rear I/O shield is pre-installed, and as you can see, it offers up a plethora of USB ports, including USB 3.2, and Type C. You get a 2.5 GbE LAN port for ultra-fast networking. Finally, an HDMI output, which is great given AMDs impressive range of APUs right now.

How We Test

Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to our benchmarks in our reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Remember that your choice of motherboard, the silicon lottery, and other factors can yield different numbers, and there’s always a margin for error when using any software. Therefore, your experience may vary.

Testing Your Own System

We typically focus on commonly available benchmarks so that you too can run the same benchmarks on your own system. We hope this makes it easy for our readers to gauge the performance improvement available to them when they upgrade their own systems.

Gaming Tests

All games are run at their specified resolutions using the “high” settings or equivalent. We avoid using the Ultra settings as these often offer diminishing returns for performance vs visuals.

Test Benches

Comet Lake S

Coffee Lake

Kaby Lake

LGA 2066

Zen 2

Zen

Synthetic Benchmarks

Online Benchmarks

Compression & Rendering

Memory & Storage

Gaming Performance

Overclocking

All of the motherboards in the B550 range managed 4.3 to 4.4 GHz on all cores with a voltage of 1.25 to 1.4v, which is pretty much what we expected. While we’re certainly some of the high-end boards will go higher, this will depend on high-end cooling, load-line calibration tweaks, and being lucky to have a very well picked CPU. Of course, we like to stick within the limits of what your average consumer can do with just a few simple tweaks, as B550 is not an enthusiast setup. We simply applied a new multiplier and voltage settings to get the 4.3 – 4.4 GHz.

How Much Does it Cost?

Of course, I’m writing this review before the stock is available on Amazon. However, I will update the prices as the stock goes live after we publish the review. For now though, you can check the up to date stock on Amazon UK here, and on Amazon US here.

Overview

The AORUS range has become a byword for fantastic quality and performance over the last few years. I mean, really they’re Gigabyte boards, but AORUS is their high-end range much like STRIX is for ASUS and MEG is for MSI. The pro shows us that they can still compete with or beat anything else out there. They haven’t changed the design much for the B550 boards, but that’s awesome, you can look at the X570 series, even Z470 on the Intel side of things, and you’ll find AORUS boards are very uniform, there’s no compromise on the design for B550.

Build Quality & Design

Black and grey hardware with a few RGB highlights, the AORUS PRO is a very slick looking motherboard. However, it also looks quite industrial, with thick heatsinks, matte black finish M.2 heatsinks, reinforcement on the PCIe slot (top one only), there are Nichicon gold caps on the audio hardware, WIMA capacitors, premium chokes and capacitors for the CPU, a thick 6 layer PCB. The list goes on, and it’s all good stuff. It really is the sum of its rather lovely parts.

Performance

AORUS takes their hardware pretty seriously and with the 12+2 Phases Digital VRM with DRMOS, 50A stages, premium chokes and capacitors, there’s no doubt this motherboard can hit the boost clocks all day long. What I love the most is the Fins Array heatsinks on the VRM. It’s basically more like the cooler you see on a CPU or GPU, rather than just a chunk of metal.

It doesn’t matter what CPU you put in here, it’s certainly got the power to push it pretty hard, and that’ll no doubt appeal to gamers, content creators and beyond.

Added Value

This is a premium motherboard with a premium price. However, you do get a lot for your money and the upgrade to 2.5 GbE rather than 1GbE LAN is welcome. The only thing missing is WiFi, which doesn’t bother me as I have my main rigs all wired, but it’s something to keep in mind. The slightly more expensive MASTER board has it though.

You do get a lot of connectivity though, and even just for cooling, you get 8 Fan/Pump headers, 7 internal temperature sensors, 2 external sensors. Then you have 3 x ARGB headers, 3 x RGB headers. You get Gen 4 PCIe, USB Type C Gen2, and some truly fantastic audio hardware thanks to the ALC1220-VB chipset.

Should I Buy One?

The AORUS B550 Pro is sitting in a sweet spot for high-end motherboards. It’s certainly an expensive option for the mid-range B550 chipset, but you still get a lot of the luxurious of the AORUS Master at a lower price point. If you want a board that looks and performs like its X570 big brothers but you don’t need a load of extra Gen4 lanes, it’s going to be a great choice for your new build.