ASRock B550 Motherboard Review
The 550 motherboard has a lot to offer. Compared to the top-tier X570 chipset, it lacks multiple PCIe 4.0 slots and NVMe support but makes up for that with Zen 3 compatibility and a more budget-friendly price tag. This particular ASRock motherboard is a prime example and easily puts many X570 boards to shame with its feature set.
For starters the board features a robust power delivery system with 16 60A Dr. MOS phases passively cooled by two large metal heatsinks. The 12+2 stage design delivers clean and consistent power to the CPU for not only reliable performance but also potential headroom for overclocking. It’s a feature you might expect to see on a midrange Z490 or X570 motherboard but it is surprisingly present here.
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On the IO front the motherboard offers the usual smattering of USB, network and audio ports. It’s also outfitted with ASRock Polychrome RGB which provides several lighting zones on the IO cover and rear panel to add some visual flair to your build. For those who want to monitor the performance of their fans and pumps, the motherboard also includes intuitive Fan Curve settings that let you define trigger thresholds and corresponding fan speeds.
Rounding out the board are a pair of x16 PCIe 4.0 slots, dual DDR4 slots and an M.2 PCIe 4.0 connector. As with all mATX motherboards, it comes with a 20-pin USB 3.2 Gen 1 header for use with modern front panel USB Type-C cables but lacks a second internal header to accommodate that feature on some competitor’s boards.
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