NZXT N7 B550 – NikKTech

Rather than creating the best all-around motherboards NZXT’s goal to date has been to offer models that combine high performance with a good set of features at a relatively affordable price range. So even though the N7 B550 may not be a beast in terms of overclocking potential (the 16 phase design works well but the average passive cooling solution used is obviously not meant to handle heavy loads) and it may lack the number of PCIe and M.2 slots found in other models (not to mention any onboard ARGB/RGB LEDs) overall, it does deliver on pretty much everything that really matters.

Read more @ NikKTech

ASUS Infinity 2022 – Price Drops

ASUS has announced the Infinity campaign, running through June. The sales campaign features multiple deals across all ASUS product lines. The campaign covers special promotions through Memorial Day and Father’s Day for eligible products while supplies last. Here are some current deals on select motherboards:

CountryModelDurationMSRPPromo Price
USROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II + Router5/16 – 5/31$ 229.99$ 209.99
USROG STRIX Z590-A GAMING WIFI5/1 – 5/31$ 329.99$ 229.99
USTUF GAMING Z590-PLUS WIFI5/1 – 5/31$ 259.99$ 159.99
USROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI5/1 – 5/31$ 299.99$ 229.99
USPRIME Z590-A5/1 – 5/31$ 249.99$ 179.99

Read more @ ASUS

BIOSTAR B550M-SILVER – TechPorn

Such features includes the now standard PCIe 4.0 support for both expansion and storage devices, support for the AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and high frequency DDR4 memory kits. Now notable in-house features includes a dedicated row of LED headers, surge protected 2.5GbE LAN, auto overclocking and support for an additional M.2 2230 Wi-Fi card.

Read more @ TechPorn

ASUS ROG STRIX B550-I GAMING – CGMagazine

The ROG Strix B550i runs on the B550 chipset, meaning it will allow you to run the latest and greatest in AMD Ryzen gaming. Provided you update the bios, the B550i will let you run up to Zen 3 processors, with the board supporting up to two sticks of DDR4 memory and has a bit of room to overclock should you choose to go down that path. The motherboard has limited space for expansion, but features a single PCIe x16 Gen 4.0, and has space for a single M.2 PCIe 3.0 drive.

Read more @ CGMagazine

ASUS ProArt B550-CREATOR – PC Magazine

The ProArt B550-Creator features a black PCB with black heatsinks on the VRMs, the chipset, and the M.2 slots. The rear I/O shroud is also black, but it’s made of an opaque plastic that leaves some components underneath barely visible.

Though the look is mostly monotone, I actually appreciate its simple design language. Nowadays, it seems as if many companies think everything needs to have LEDs and chrome. The heatspreaders on the M.2 slots are a bit starker than I might like, but overall I don’t think the board’s appearance will turn anyone away.

Read more @ PC Magazine

BIOSTAR B550M-SILVER – FunkyKit

Compact motherboards are getting more and more popular each year. When everything can be integrated into the motherboard, then we can save space and build a smaller and cooler PC for our daily tasks without sacrificing performance. This is what Biostar thought about when designing the B550M-Silver motherboard. The BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is one of its less-expensive gaming motherboard that comes in a micro ATX format, and promises a great gaming experience. So what else can we expect? 

Read more @ FunkyKit

MSI Rolling Out AMD AGESA 1.2.0.5 Beta BIOS’ for B550, X570

It’s been a while since we got a new firmware update on the AMD 500-series platform. The last one, the AGESA 1.2.0.4, and its respective patches were launched back in September and with new Ryzen CPU families coming to the platform real soon, a new BETA BIOS was inbound for launch.

According to MSI, the major changes that the new AMD AGESA  1.2.0.5 BIOS firmware adds is first of all the update to the new firmware which also updates the SMU firmware for AMD’s Ryzen CPUs including Vermeer (Ryzen 5000), Cezanne (Ryzen 5000G), Picasso (Ryzen 3000G) and Raven Ridge (Ryzen 2000G).

Read more @ Wccftech

ASRock B550 PG Riptide – TechPowerUp

Having now reviewed both PG Riptide motherboards, a few comparisons can be made. ASRock uses the same heatsink and VRM design for both the B550 and X570 PG Riptide, which still comes with the same concerns I had previously. ASRock’s choice not to place a heatsink over the SoC VRM section is a real issue for those using an APU or wanting to do any meaningful overclocking. Overall, manually overclocking an AMD Ryzen CPU is a waste of time considering Precision Boost does an excellent job, though. A counter argument can be made for adjusting these settings from the default BIOS Auto values. Lower power consumption and CPU temperatures could be accomplished with a voltage offset and set CPU frequency. The BIOS is not set up for easy navigation, however, undervolting and setting the CPU clock frequency to benefit from said offset is a chore.

Read more @ TechPowerUp

ASUS ROG STRIX B550-E GAMING – OC Club

Otherwise, ASUS ROG Strix B550-E Gaming has a full set of modern interfaces and overclocking functions, a powerful power circuit on 70-amp assemblies, an additional number of useful features like a POST indicator and a “magic” Bios FlashBlack button, an advanced audio path, fast Ethernet 2, 5 Gbps and built-in Wi-Fi 6. The motherboard overclocks memory remarkably, the processor – + 200-300 MHz for happiness, as usual with Ryzen. Some of the behavior is described in the previous section.

Read more @ OC Club (Russian)

ASRock B550 PG Riptide – Guru3D

Meet the Asrock B550 PG RIPTIDE motherboard. It’s a mid-tier ATX product from the Phantom Gaming series. According to Asrock – Riptide is named after a specific kind of water current with strong waves in the ocean, representing the philosophy of the sea’s double-side, calm and unlimited strength. Built around powerful gaming-related features, the Riptide has given a powerful smash and immerse users in the sense of stability. This is a 30.5 x 24.4 cm ATX-factor product equipped with a B550 chipset, and it offers such features as a 10-phase power design (Dr. MOS) and 1x 2.5 Gigabit ethernet (Killer Ethernet E3100). The design is rather attractive, with a consistent black-and-grey theme. MSRP is at about 160 USD, so it’s reasonably priced.

Rad more @ Guru3D