GIGABYTE B550 AORUS Elite AX V2 AMD AM4 ATX Motherboard, Supports Ryzen 5000/4000/3000 Processors, DDR4, 12+2 Power Phase, 2X M.2, PCIe 4.0, Front USB-C, WIFI6, 2.5 GbE LAN, Q-Flash Plus, RGB Fusion

The Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX is one of the most affordable B550 ITX motherboards on the market at the time of this review, yet it is also extremely solid with all the latest features that an enthusiast may want in an ITX motherboard. Pros: For myself personally, the reasons for choosing this motherboard or a B550 board in general, is to have better/sooner support for the Ryzen 5000 series, along with things like PCIe 4.0, USB 3.2, and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet. This board also features a very handy Q-Flash feature for flashing the BIOS without having anything aside from a power supply and a USB stick, so no need to worry about having a Ryzen 3000 series chip on-hand to flash the latest BIOS. The board also features a backplate that really makes it feel like a properly premium and sturdy product. Compared to its X570 sibling, this board is around $30 less expensive but does not lack anything notable in my opinion, aside from the M.2 slot on the back of the board being PCIe 3.0 whereas the X570 version has PCIe 4.0 on both M.2 slots. The B550 also does not have a chipset cooling fan, which to me is an advantage over the X570 because it eliminates a potential source of noise and premature failure. It’s also worth noting that the chipset fan on the X570 version takes up one of the 3 fan headers, whereas all 3 headers on this board are usable. The X570 version also appears to only have USB 3.1 Gen 2 and 1.0 Gigabit Ethernet. Cons: This board does not have any provisions for front panel USB-C ports, so beware if your case features any USB-C ports that will need to be connected to the motherboard. Officially, the B550 chipset only supports Ryzen 3000 series out of the box, with Ryzen 5000 support enabled via a BIOS update. On the other hand, the X570 version will support Ryzen 2000 series as well, so in that regard the B550 board does lack a bit of flexibility. Additional Notes: I picked up this motherboard with the intention of using it with a Ryzen 5000 series chip when I get around to buying one sometime next year. The reason for buying this board now is mainly because availability for this board has been very inconsistent until recently, so I figured it would be wise to buy one while it’s readily available. I’m currently using a Ryzen 2700X which isn’t officially supported by the B550 chipset, so I was originally going to leave this board on the shelf until I got a Ryzen 5000 series CPU. I saw a few reports of people getting 2000 series CPUs to work in B550 boards, though they were few and far in between. However, I was going to go ahead and flash this board to BIOS version F10 to enable Ryzen 5000 support, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check if my 2700X will post in this board while I’m at it. The board was probably preloaded with the F1 or F2 BIOS out of the box, and I got nothing but a black screen when I tried to boot. However, after flashing to the F10 BIOS, I was massively surprised to see that it was able to post, and everything seemed to function normally in the BIOS. I proceeded to go a step further and installed my boot drive to see if it will boot into Windows, and I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when it reached desktop without any noticeable issues, and without reinstalling Windows or any of the drivers. Fast forward to today, and I’m running the F11b BIOS from October 19 with “additional optimizations” for Ryzen 5000 series, which actually enabled XMP for me, something that wasn’t working on the F10 BIOS. I have now reinstalled Windows and have been fine-tuning all the details without any problems whatsoever. I couldn’t be any happier with this board, everything from its features and construction to the unexpected support for older chips like mine. I would also like to add that the F10 BIOS which enabled Ryzen 5000 support was released on September 18, before the Ryzen 5000 series was even announced. I don’t see how Gigabyte could possibly have been further ahead of the curve when it comes to product support, and they have done a truly excellent job with this board.

Great motherboard. I updated the system BIOS before even before installing the board. BIOS update went with no issues. Installed the board and all other hardware. Installed Windows 11. System is fast and very responsive.

Boom! Baby! If you’re not ready for the AM5 mobos yet, and are looking to do a simple upgrade, this one works. The install and flash install was super easy! The bios settings are clear and it was compatible with my DDR4 memory chips, CPU, GPU. And RGB connections. It even came with plug in adapters that helped plugging in the older stuff.

Build Quality and Robust VRMs: Several users highlight the VRMs as efficient and reliable, and the overall design feels solid. Amazon +15 EHGomes Reviews +15 Amazon +15 . Onboard Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth: Includes the latest generation wireless module. A Redditor confirms: “It does have onboard Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth. Gigabyte uses AX at the end of the name to mean onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.” Ripley +4 Reddit +4 Amazon +4 . Dual M.2 PCIe 4.0: Ideal position for ultra-fast NVMe SSDs thanks to PCIe 4.0 support

good micro ATX board, got 3 problems though. it came with a giant wifi antenna that was on top of the board. it came with 2 of the hd audio pins bent, no biggie, i can bend them back. also be ready to buy a heatsink for your M.2, because it does not come with one

TL;DR: I'd recommend this board however it is important to keep in mind the clearance of the SATA ports if you're using a GPU. Been using Gigabyte boards for my main rig for the better part of a decade, so this board was a bit of a no brainer for the price. I was in the market for a new AM4 mATX board because unfortunately my B450 board did not have PBO2 so it wasn't allowing for my 5700X3D to properly spread its wings. The build went along swimmingly, Windows booted as if nothing happened, BIOS update went without a hitch, and I was finally able to tune my CPU! I usually prefer to buy motherboards with Intel WiFi but the Realtek adapter has been working great. It pains me to say this because it is partially my fault for not checking, but y'all can imagine my disappointment when I connected my GPU into the PCIE slot just to find out it covers 3 out of the 4 SATA ports!!! Keep in mind this is a 3060 ti which is not a triple slot card and it has two fans... So yeah I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't think to use 90° SATA connectors like my previous AORUS did but all this does is give me an excuse to buy the CM vertical GPU mount :p

If I could give this a 0/5 and write a review I would. Okay I took a chance because of the good reviews-ish and the price was in my pricerange. First time building a pc myself and I figured what could go wrong. Hooked everything up it was showing promise! went to turn it on and nothing. Went through all the trouble shooting help, including updating bios through a USB just incase, tested every item and all the other items work as intended, everything is making connection but the motherboard is not running any power through it. When the box arrived, everything looked good, and I was waiting on my computer tower to arrive to start the build...it took a month longer so Returning this item with amazon is not an option. The package came with no manual, no guide, and no speaker for testing where it tells you what is wrong with the motherboard. No indication lights either. Took it to two different technicians who did the same things I did, and both concluded it is the motherboard that is not functionning and is missing parts from it. They were surprised it has no indication lights or anything of the sort to trouble shoot and told me it could possibly be because they already knew it was defective. Contacting Gigabyte USA at the moment to try and resolve but so far message is unread. It is very sad and disappointing that the quality wasn't checked nor were all the pieces or any manual included. I would not buy this item, or from them at the moment. My review might change if they get back with me and make things write, because even though it was within my budget it is still too much to pay for something missing pieces.

Excelente placa base