GIGABYTE B550 Aorus Master Motherboard Review

Dan_D

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Introduction



GIGABYTE is a well known manufacturer of PC hardware ranging from motherboards, to graphics cards, peripherals and even power supplies. Like its competitors, GIGABYTE has diversified its product portfolio in the last decade or so. However, it is still primarily regarded as a motherboard manufacturer, at times shipping more motherboards that its chief competitor, ASUS. This is no small task given how prolific the latter company is.



The company has been around since the 1980’s and has grown into one of the most respected and popular DIY computer juggernauts. Like its competitors, the company created a line branded for gamers of which it has devoted a significant amount of effort, money and products to. The Aorus line...

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Awesome review @Dan_D (y) (y) (y)

Sounds like that is a spectacular motherboard in the B550 line-up. As you pointed out, there are features that are very similar to the very high end boards.

Great job man!!!!!!
 
Very insightful review (as always) Dan! Thank you!

To Dan's point in the conclusion though, at $300, this board butts right up against some of the X570 boards that offer similar if not more features. While this board is great I can't justify suggesting it over some of the other options that are out there.
 
So, would the board at $229 change any opinions? Newegg has it on sale through Monday at that price....
That would, yes. While there are budget X570 boards at that range too (MSI X570 MPG Gaming Edge WiFi for example), the B550 board looks to have better / higher quality items on it.
 
That would, yes. While there are budget X570 boards at that range too (MSI X570 MPG Gaming Edge WiFi for example), the B550 board looks to have better / higher quality items on it.

It absolutely does. The VRM's on the B550 Aorus Master are the same ones you get on the X570 Aorus Xtreme. The MSI X570 MPG Gaming Edge WiFi, is a budget board with budget VRM's. It's a good board in its own right, but the B550 Aorus Master is just flat out better.
 
Thanks for this review.

I have bought this exact motherboard and immediately came across a horrible bug with RTL8215GB 2.5GbE Ethernet adapter. Under specific network stress (streaming youtube and playing a game at the same time) it gets reset by operating system, meaning you loose connection for a good couple of seconds. Some people also report this bug can overload routers, rendering your entire home network go down and need a reset.

Thought it would be worth mentioning this to potential buyers - to workaround, some people had to buy usb ethernet adapter - not something I would expect to do when I buy a premium mobo.
 
Thanks for this review.

I have bought this exact motherboard and immediately came across a horrible bug with RTL8215GB 2.5GbE Ethernet adapter. Under specific network stress (streaming youtube and playing a game at the same time) it gets reset by operating system, meaning you loose connection for a good couple of seconds. Some people also report this bug can overload routers, rendering your entire home network go down and need a reset.

Thought it would be worth mentioning this to potential buyers - to workaround, some people had to buy usb ethernet adapter - not something I would expect to do when I buy a premium mobo.

I never encountered this during stress testing of the NIC. Granted, we stress them with a large file copy through a benchmark utility, but I've also played games, watched Youtube, etc. on it without this issue occurring.
 
I never encountered this during stress testing of the NIC. Granted, we stress them with a large file copy through a benchmark utility, but I've also played games, watched Youtube, etc. on it without this issue occurring.

Obviously mileage varies. Don't have a reliable way to replicate this, I have been playing LOL and downloading games on Steam in the background. Check this thread to see this seems to be more common problem among all Aorus boards with B550 chipset afaik, but also a quick Google finds similar results with other manufacturers using Realtek NIC, like this thread on ASRock subreddit.

I thought I would add my 2 cents to make potential buyers aware of this. Still enjoyed the read!
 
Obviously mileage varies. Don't have a reliable way to replicate this, I have been playing LOL and downloading games on Steam in the background. Check this thread to see this seems to be more common problem among all Aorus boards with B550 chipset afaik, but also a quick Google finds similar results with other manufacturers using Realtek NIC, like this thread on ASRock subreddit.

I thought I would add my 2 cents to make potential buyers aware of this. Still enjoyed the read!

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, nor that it wasn't a potential issue. I'm only stating that I didn't experience it while doing my testing for the review. I didn't have any trouble with my ASUS Maximus XII Extreme either during the review, but did once I installed it in my machine. I had no end of trouble with the Intel i225v 2.5GbE NIC. I had similar issues with it disconnecting and reconnecting randomly. Also, it would only come back at half performance even in 1.0GbE mode after it lost connection. It took driver, firmware and BIOS updates to fix it.
 
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