Question B550 chipset, so AMD joins the dark side after all.

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Shivansps

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Sep 11, 2013
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I just read the article...

Ryzen%203_B550_Press%20Deck_NDA%20Until%20May%207th-page-008_575px.jpg


Ryzen%203_B550_Press%20Deck_NDA%20Until%20May%207th-page-005_575px.jpg


Ryzen%203_B550_Press%20Deck_NDA%20Until%20May%207th-page-004_575px.jpg


So let me get this straight, this chipset is coming out like a year later, they did not even bother to add CPU PCI-E 4.0 uplink support or to increase the number of sata ports that is ALREADY a problem on every 6 sata B450 motherboard (NVME x4 disables the 2 SOC Sata, thus 6 sata B450 mbs losses 2 sata if NVME is used), and they even dare to futher reduce backguard compatibility?

I was not expecting for the PCI-E lanes FROM the chipset to be 4.0, but only USB 3.2 G2, no more satas, CPU link still 3.0 and the PCI-E lanes 3.0 is beyond disappointing.
 
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PingSpike

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Anyone seen a B550 board that *actually* has 8x/8x split of the 16x 4.0 lanes? This looks like a fake feature so far, in that I haven't seen a single board that actually implements it. Shouldn't really be surprised as it was kind of a half fake feature of x570 as well since most boards ran 16x/4x electrical chipset.

Edit: Looks like the tachi has it so its like x570 in that its going to be rarely implemented and probably only very expensive boards. I'm probably going to end up just buying a x470 board (if I can find one) but I'm waiting for some one to post chipset IOMMU groups after release.
 

Shivansps

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I just seen the B550 prices.

A considerable price increase over B450 for featues that comes mostly from the CPU. Still is good to see that some models improved power delivery, like the Gigabyte B550M-DS3H went from 4+2 whiout heat sink to 5+2 with heat sink.

From the B550 Aorus Master i get the main features of B550 compared to B450 are:
-x16 PCI-E split into 8/8 or 8/4/4, this could be a Matisse feature rather than B550 feature.
-The CHIPSET provides up to 6 SATAS, compared to B450 4. And it can provide 6 PCI-E lanes and 6 SATAS whiout conflicts.
-PCI-E lanes coming from chipset are now 3.0


Btw this is interesting

Integrated in the New Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors:
  1. 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@60 Hz
    * Support for HDMI 2.1 version, HDCP 2.3, and HDR.
Maximum shared memory of 16 GB
Renoir can use up to 16GB?

Anyone seen a B550 board that *actually* has 8x/8x split of the 16x 4.0 lanes? This looks like a fake feature so far, in that I haven't seen a single board that actually implements it. Shouldn't really be surprised as it was kind of a half fake feature of x570 as well since most boards ran 16x/4x electrical chipset.

Edit: Looks like the tachi has it so its like x570 in that its going to be rarely implemented and probably only very expensive boards. I'm probably going to end up just buying a x470 board (if I can find one) but I'm waiting for some one to post chipset IOMMU groups after release.

Someone still uses sli/cf these days? There is any point in 8/8?

I think the PCI-E split is used for boards with more than one M2, will check.

Yup, from the B550 Aorus Master

1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), integrated in the CPU:
  1. 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors support PCIe 4.0 x16 mode
  2. New Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors support PCIe 3.0 x16 mode
    * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
    * The PCIEX16 slot shares bandwidth with the M2B_CPU and M2C_CPU connectors. The PCIEX16 slot operates at up to x8 mode when a device is installed in the M2B_CPU or M2C_CPU connector.
2 x PCI Express x16 slots (PCIEX4_1/PCIEX4_2), integrated in the Chipset:
  1. Supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 mode
    * The PCIEX4_2 slot shares bandwidth with the SATA3 4, 5 connectors. The PCIEX4_2 slot operates at up to x2 mode when a device is installed in the SATA3 4 or SATA3 5 connector.

The feature is there, but it only makes sence to use it for multiple NVME devices. BTW i do wonder if the PCI-E split is a Matisse feature, i dont think B550 has anything to do with it, thats could be why nothing older than that is compatible.
 
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Thunder 57

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2007
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I just seen the B550 prices.

A considerable price increase over B450 for featues that comes mostly from the CPU. Still is good to see that some models improved power delivery, like the Gigabyte B550M-DS3H went from 4+2 whiout heat sink to 5+2 with heat sink.

From the B550 Aorus Master i get the main features of B550 compared to B450 are:
-x16 PCI-E split into 8/8 or 8/4/4, this could be a Matisse feature rather than B550 feature.
-The CHIPSET provides up to 6 SATAS, compared to B450 4. And it can provide 6 PCI-E lanes and 6 SATAS whiout conflicts.
-PCI-E lanes coming from chipset are now 3.0


Btw this is interesting


Renoir can use up to 16GB?



Someone still uses sli/cf these days? There is any point in 8/8?

I think the PCI-E split is used for boards with more than one M2, will check.

Yup, from the B550 Aorus Master



The feature is there, but it only makes sence to use it for multiple NVME devices. BTW i do wonder if the PCI-E split is a Matisse feature, i dont think B550 has anything to do with it, thats could be why nothing older than that is compatible.

This chipset kind of sounds DoA.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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This chipset kind of sounds DoA.
Honestly, it seems like it, but:
1) It doesn't have a fan.
2) It's got PCI-E 4.0 for the primary GPU slot, and the primary NVMe slot. (Not that they couldn't have released a rev 2.0 B450 board for use with Zen2 CPUs and achieved the same thing, at lower cost.
3) Most of the B550 boards DO have better VRMs than the B450 boards. But compared to the X470??? I don't know.
4) 2.5GbE-T LAN, the B550 Tomahawk in particular, has BOTH 2.5GbE-T (RealTek) as well as 1GbE-T (RealTek). Really nice.
5) More of the mid-range (just around or below $200) seem to sport ALC1200 or 1220 codecs, and optical outputs as well. Not too shabby.
6) Many of those same mid-range boards, from MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus, all have BIOS flashing capability from a rear USB2.0 port, generally with a button on the back-panel. This is a GOOD THING.

Overall, I think that the B550 boards are worth it, within a narrow range of boards, roughly around the $200 mark or slightly below.

The $280+ B550 boards are kind of DOA, because for that kind of money, you can get X570, and the $115 B550 boards are so BARE on the back-panel I/O and features (only 1GbE-T ethernet, what is this, 2010?), they're not worth it either, or barely so, if you plan on using a PCI-E 4.0 NVMe. (The PCI-E 4.0 upgrade for GPUs is hardly meaningful at this point in time. That may change, with "Big Navi" or NV RTX 3000-series.)

Edit: Personally, I like the B550 Tomahawk board, and the Asus TUF B550 ATX board. Both have RealTek 2.5GbE-T LAN, which is a new feature that I'm personally big on, both have BIOS-flashing from the back panel, and both have decent slot layouts, and ample NVMe slots. Also, the price is "right" on both of them, around $170-180. Hopefully prices on B550 overall will come down in 3-4-6 months, after the early-adopter tax has worn off. Unless the scalpers get the best of the market.

Edit: I agree, around the same price-point, and with both the B550 and X570 sporting primary GPU and NVMe PCI-E 4.0 support, that the B550 seems redundant. But... no fan! If this is the price to pay for progress (no chipset fan), then I guess... so be it?
 
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Rigg

Senior member
May 6, 2020
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This chipset kind of sounds DoA.
I tend to agree. I'm not really sure what the AIB's are trying to accomplish with the price overlap with x570. There are some really good x570 motherboards that are under $200. I'll reserve judgement until I see how good the VRM's are on the entry level b550's but it's hard to imagine most of the sub $200 AM4 mobos will have a compelling b550 option vs x570. It's probably going to come down to whether or not you need the extra bandwidth of the PCIE 4 uplink for expansion vs 2.5Gb & wifi 6 in the same price bracket. It's always good to have options though.
 

Shivansps

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Sep 11, 2013
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Honestly, it seems like it, but:
1) It doesn't have a fan.
2) It's got PCI-E 4.0 for the primary GPU slot, and the primary NVMe slot. (Not that they couldn't have released a rev 2.0 B450 board for use with Zen2 CPUs and achieved the same thing, at lower cost.
3) Most of the B550 boards DO have better VRMs than the B450 boards. But compared to the X470??? I don't know.
4) 2.5GbE-T LAN, the B550 Tomahawk in particular, has BOTH 2.5GbE-T (RealTek) as well as 1GbE-T (RealTek). Really nice.
5) More of the mid-range (just around or below $200) seem to sport ALC1200 or 1220 codecs, and optical outputs as well. Not too shabby.
6) Many of those same mid-range boards, from MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus, all have BIOS flashing capability from a rear USB2.0 port, generally with a button on the back-panel. This is a GOOD THING.

Overall, I think that the B550 boards are worth it, within a narrow range of boards, roughly around the $200 mark or slightly below.

The $280+ B550 boards are kind of DOA, because for that kind of money, you can get X570, and the $115 B550 boards are so BARE on the back-panel I/O and features (only 1GbE-T ethernet, what is this, 2010?), they're not worth it either, or barely so, if you plan on using a PCI-E 4.0 NVMe. (The PCI-E 4.0 upgrade for GPUs is hardly meaningful at this point in time. That may change, with "Big Navi" or NV RTX 3000-series.)

Edit: Personally, I like the B550 Tomahawk board, and the Asus TUF B550 ATX board. Both have RealTek 2.5GbE-T LAN, which is a new feature that I'm personally big on, both have BIOS-flashing from the back panel, and both have decent slot layouts, and ample NVMe slots. Also, the price is "right" on both of them, around $170-180. Hopefully prices on B550 overall will come down in 3-4-6 months, after the early-adopter tax has worn off. Unless the scalpers get the best of the market.

Edit: I agree, around the same price-point, and with both the B550 and X570 sporting primary GPU and NVMe PCI-E 4.0 support, that the B550 seems redundant. But... no fan! If this is the price to pay for progress (no chipset fan), then I guess... so be it?

I think they worth it because of the VRMs and the ability to have more than one M.2... they can have up to 4 M.2 slots (3 x4 4.0 and one x4 3.0), all this while still providing 6 SATAs... i may end up replacing my home NAS (Athlon 5150+PCI-E SATA card+2x1GBE ethernet cards) if i can get one that has a good balance of features/prices, and a compatible Athlon CPU).

Im not sure about 2.5Gbe-T, you need to have the switch and other devices with it to actually use it, with 1GBE you just need addicional $2 1GBE ethernet cards, a cheap 16-port GBE unmanaged switch and SMB3 does the rest, 3x1GBE is about equivalent to 2.5GBE due to overhead.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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Im not sure about 2.5Gbe-T, you need to have the switch and other devices with it to actually use it, with 1GBE you just need addicional $2 1GBE ethernet cards, a cheap 16-port GBE unmanaged switch and SMB3 does the rest, 3x1GBE is about equivalent to 2.5GBE due to overhead.
That sounds good in theory. But do any consumer NAS units support SMB 3.0 multi-channel?
 

Shivansps

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That sounds good in theory. But do any consumer NAS units support SMB 3.0 multi-channel?

Well if the NAS is running Windows 8, Server 2012 R2 or better and has more than one NIC, it should work out of the box. Samaba on Linux in other hand is more tricky. I have a custom (consumer hardware) server at work with 4 GBE ethernet cards with Server 2012 R2 and it works to copy files to other Windows 8+ PC whiout configuring anything. BUT clonezilla (linux based) cant use SMB multichannel (it does not "see" the server when i use his network name, i need to use an IP, and that is when SMB multichannel does not work, you always need to use the network name) so i have 4 cloning stations each one using a diferent IP to access the server to deploy Linux images on new SSDs/HDDs.

AT home i have a similar setup, with a custom NAS and my main PC has only two ethernet cards, thats enoght to copy to or from HDDs on the NAS.
 

PingSpike

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Feb 25, 2004
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Someone still uses sli/cf these days? There is any point in 8/8?

I think the PCI-E split is used for boards with more than one M2, will check.

Yup, from the B550 Aorus Master

I use dual video cards on my pci passthrough rigs, I've never actually run sli. 8x/8x is better for this then running the secondary card through the overloaded chipset. If I wanted to deal with that I'd use Intel. I expected these boards to do 8x/8x on the first two slots with many of them coming with a chipset driven third, which x470 boards are, but not the more expensive b550 or x570 except in the $300 area?

m.2 split doesn't require b550 AFAIK, there's an asus b450 strix board that already does it. Every board I looked at for b550 seemed to just use pcie 3.0 from the chipset for secondary m.2 slots.

So far I just think these are not worth the price, but you can't find any boards these days so its hard to tell what the final price will be. We'll see if there are any pleasant surprises when the come out but I think I'm going to keep an eye out for a x470 board. For me personally, the support for old chips combined with 8x/8x split seem more valuable than pcie 4.0. I'm a niche case though.
 

Herr Kutz

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2009
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Honestly, it seems like it, but:
1) It doesn't have a fan.
2) It's got PCI-E 4.0 for the primary GPU slot, and the primary NVMe slot. (Not that they couldn't have released a rev 2.0 B450 board for use with Zen2 CPUs and achieved the same thing, at lower cost.
3) Most of the B550 boards DO have better VRMs than the B450 boards. But compared to the X470??? I don't know.
4) 2.5GbE-T LAN, the B550 Tomahawk in particular, has BOTH 2.5GbE-T (RealTek) as well as 1GbE-T (RealTek). Really nice.
5) More of the mid-range (just around or below $200) seem to sport ALC1200 or 1220 codecs, and optical outputs as well. Not too shabby.
6) Many of those same mid-range boards, from MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus, all have BIOS flashing capability from a rear USB2.0 port, generally with a button on the back-panel. This is a GOOD THING.

Overall, I think that the B550 boards are worth it, within a narrow range of boards, roughly around the $200 mark or slightly below.

The $280+ B550 boards are kind of DOA, because for that kind of money, you can get X570, and the $115 B550 boards are so BARE on the back-panel I/O and features (only 1GbE-T ethernet, what is this, 2010?), they're not worth it either, or barely so, if you plan on using a PCI-E 4.0 NVMe. (The PCI-E 4.0 upgrade for GPUs is hardly meaningful at this point in time. That may change, with "Big Navi" or NV RTX 3000-series.)

Edit: Personally, I like the B550 Tomahawk board, and the Asus TUF B550 ATX board. Both have RealTek 2.5GbE-T LAN, which is a new feature that I'm personally big on, both have BIOS-flashing from the back panel, and both have decent slot layouts, and ample NVMe slots. Also, the price is "right" on both of them, around $170-180. Hopefully prices on B550 overall will come down in 3-4-6 months, after the early-adopter tax has worn off. Unless the scalpers get the best of the market.

Edit: I agree, around the same price-point, and with both the B550 and X570 sporting primary GPU and NVMe PCI-E 4.0 support, that the B550 seems redundant. But... no fan! If this is the price to pay for progress (no chipset fan), then I guess... so be it?

Do you recommend a B550 for Ryzen 3300x? When is Ryzen 4 launch?
 

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
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Do you recommend a B550 for Ryzen 3300x? When is Ryzen 4 launch?
That's a tough question. Given the low MSRP (and possibly discounted on top of that, to compete with Intel's quad-core offerings), one would think that a B550 mobo would be overkill. (*) Unless PCI-E 4.0 becomes an actual factor with the next-gen of GPUs, then I would say, get a cheap B450, like an MSI PRO-VDH MAX micro-ATX, if you can get it for MSRP ($79.99), and go to town with GPU of choice. (Note that I don't know what maximum memory clocks look like on this board. But a YT video someone linked, showed that the 3300X especially, can benefit from really overclocked and tuned memory, beating out a 7700K.)

(*) Unless, one intends to drop in a high-end Zen2, or possible a Zen3 CPU, in the future. In that case, seriously consider a B550, especially one with a BIOS-flash button, as well as RealTek 2.5Gb/s ethernet.
 

VirtualLarry

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Aug 25, 2001
56,226
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Newegg, coming on Tuesday.... $115, and my favorite MB manufacturer.
Hmm, no 2.5Gbit/sec LAN, that would earn a PASS from me. But otherwise, it looks pretty good, especially the slot layout for a mATX.

Did you know, that the Rosewill Line-M case, has 5 expansion slot cutouts. It's a mATX case, but it's made for boards like these, so that you can run dual GPUs. It has a 120mm blue LED front intake fan, and a 120mm exhaust top fan, and is relatively cheap ($40-50), and open inside.

Just FYI.

Of course, you can always just throw the mATX board with dual GPU slots, into a full-sized mid-tower ATX case with 7 expansion slots, and get the same effect.
 

Herr Kutz

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2009
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That's a tough question. Given the low MSRP (and possibly discounted on top of that, to compete with Intel's quad-core offerings), one would think that a B550 mobo would be overkill. (*) Unless PCI-E 4.0 becomes an actual factor with the next-gen of GPUs, then I would say, get a cheap B450, like an MSI PRO-VDH MAX micro-ATX, if you can get it for MSRP ($79.99), and go to town with GPU of choice. (Note that I don't know what maximum memory clocks look like on this board. But a YT video someone linked, showed that the 3300X especially, can benefit from really overclocked and tuned memory, beating out a 7700K.)

(*) Unless, one intends to drop in a high-end Zen2, or possible a Zen3 CPU, in the future. In that case, seriously consider a B550, especially one with a BIOS-flash button, as well as RealTek 2.5Gb/s ethernet.

I'm actually toying around with the idea of upgrading my i3-530/amd 5570 combo. If I get a 3300X I would probably stick with integrated graphics and only add a card if I feel the integrated graphics didn't meet my needs (it probably will). The upcoming Zen 3 are supposed to be APUs, correct? How long of a wait would it be for those? Are we thinking not until the end of year?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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If I get a 3300X I would probably stick with integrated graphics and only add a card if I feel the integrated graphics didn't meet my needs (it probably will). The upcoming Zen 3 are supposed to be APUs, correct?
Err, no, and no.

The video outputs on AM4 mobos, are strictly for APUs. The 3300X is NOT an APU, so does NOT support integrated graphics.

The upcoming 4000-series APUs, are Zen2-derivatives (7nm), with another round of Vega graphics integrated. Less CUs, too, but higher clock speeds, so the graphics are kind of a wash. But the new 4000-series APUs sport up to 8 cores and 16 threads. Prior-generation APUs only went up to 4C/8T. So that's an improvement.

The next upcoming Zen3 CPUs, will also apparently sport a 4000-series model number, but they are an updated architecture. Not much is known about Zen3 CPUs at this time.
 
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Herr Kutz

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Err, no, and no.

The video outputs on AM4 mobos, are strictly for APUs. The 3300X is NOT an APU, so does NOT support integrated graphics.

The upcoming 4000-series APUs, are Zen2-derivatives (7nm), with another round of Vega graphics integrated. Less CUs, too, but higher clock speeds, so the graphics are kind of a wash. But the new 4000-series APUs sport up to 8 cores and 16 threads. Prior-generation APUs only went up to 4C/8T. So that's an improvement.

The next upcoming Zen3 CPUs, will also apparently sport a 4000-series model number, but they are an updated architecture. Not much is known about Zen3 CPUs at this time.


For some reason I thought the 3300x was the version with integrated graphics, but it looks like it's not. That makes its value proposition much worse. What a missed opportunity for AMD.
 

Herr Kutz

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Desktop APUs for AM4 have "G" in the name, for "Graphics". Some of them have "GE", that's "Graphics" and "Efficiency" - low-power APUs like the Athlon 200GE series, that are nominally 25-35W on the desktop.

Werd. I'll probably look a bit more at intel since their range of processors with integrated graphics is greater. Thanks for the info.
 

Shivansps

Diamond Member
Sep 11, 2013
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Hmm kinda makes you wonder why anyone would have wanted this released last year.

Last year they would have been unable to pull the "Lets cut retrocompatibility" trick on B550, thats already one pro right there, these board would have had the same CPU support as X570.

The question is, why launch it now? it would have been better to wait until you have AGESA versions supporting Renoir and Zen 3... as far as i know, there is no info if Renoir is supported whiout a bios update on B550 launch firmware.