Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master Review: Feature-Packed and Pricey

B550 chipset, X570-like price and features

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Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master
(Image: © Gigabyte)

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Our test system uses Windows 10 64-bit OS (1909) with all threat mitigations applied. The motherboard BIOS used is the latest non-beta available to the public unless otherwise noted. The hardware used is as follows: 

Test System Components

Swipe to scroll horizontally
CPUAMD Ryzen R9 3900XRow 0 - Cell 2
MemoryG.Skill Trident Z Neo 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZN)Row 1 - Cell 2
GPUAsus ROG Strix RTX 2070Row 2 - Cell 2
CPU CoolerCorsair H150iRow 3 - Cell 2
PSUCorsair AX1200iRow 4 - Cell 2
SoftwareWindows 10 64-bit 1909Row 5 - Cell 2
Graphics DriverNvidia Driver 445.75Row 6 - Cell 2
SoundIntegrated HD audioRow 7 - Cell 2
NetworkIntegrated Networking (GbE or 2.5 GbE)Row 8 - Cell 2
Graphics DriverGeForce 445.74Row 9 - Cell 2

For this review, we’ll be comparing the Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master ($279.99) to the two other competitors that arrived in time for testing before launch, the Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wi-Fi) and the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk. 

Benchmark Settings 

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Synthetic Benchmarks and SettingsHeader Cell - Column 1
PCMark 10Version 2.1.2177 64
Row 1 - Cell 0 Essentials, Productivity, Digital Content Creation, MS Office
3DMarkVersion 2.11.6866 64
Row 3 - Cell 0 Firestrike Extreme and Time Spy Default Presets
Cinebench R20Version RBBENCHMARK271150
Row 5 - Cell 0 Open GL Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded
Application Tests and SettingsRow 6 - Cell 1
LAME MP3Version SSE2_2019
Row 8 - Cell 0 Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 1.2.2
Row 10 - Cell 0 Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX) 
Corona 1.4Version 1.4
Row 12 - Cell 0 Custom benchmark
7-ZipVersion 19.00
Row 14 - Cell 0 Integrated benchmark
Game Tests and SettingsRow 15 - Cell 1
The Division 2Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080
Forza Horizon 4Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080

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Joe Shields
Joe Shields
Motherboard Reviewer

Joe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.

8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • g-unit1111
    I like that board and most of Gigabyte's offerings but considering that the prices are X570 level and don't offer X570 performance, and the MSI Tomahawk seems like it's a better B550 board for less money, I would go with the Tomahawk.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    B550 prices being what they are, I would be far more interested in lower-end boards that are more in-line with their B450 predecessors instead of X570 wannabees at X570-class prices. If I want an X570, I'll buy an X570. When I checked, there was only $20 between the B550 and X570 Tomahawk, the B550 currently makes no sense unless you favor lack of chipset fan over PCIe 4.0 for the long haul.
    Reply
  • 19Skeptron73
    InvalidError said:
    B550 prices being what they are, I would be far more interested in lower-end boards that are more in-line with their B450 predecessors instead of X570 wannabees at X570-class prices. If I want an X570, I'll buy an X570. When I checked, there was only $20 between the B550 and X570 Tomahawk, the B550 currently makes no sense unless you favor lack of chipset fan over PCIe 4.0 for the long haul.
    I'm one of the thousands waiting in line for the X570 Tomahawk too, but it's still nowhere to be found. Waiting for half a year already since it was first announced.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    19Skeptron73 said:
    I'm one of the thousands waiting in line for the X570 Tomahawk too, but it's still nowhere to be found. Waiting for half a year already since it was first announced.
    Chinese new year, human malware, ripple effects through the entire supply/manufacturing chain, travel bans, etc. are doing numbers on retail availability. I wouldn't be surprised if we get wonky retail availability of some products for the next year, maybe two if the medical community is proven correct about how much worse things may get based on the 1918 flu.
    Reply
  • ocer9999
    I wonder how long the "high" prices on the B550 will last, personally there's mobos very interesting just like the Aorus Master but they need to come down a bit in price to be competitive.
    If the tomahawk is not available, could be a good option.
    Reply
  • quasimod
    Am I missing something? Why doesn't this review mention the Thunderbolt header, and maybe talk about how to use it?
    Reply
  • 1foxracing
    I have the Pro AC B550 and also would like to know why there is no mention of the internal Thunderbolt header that can't be used. My messages to Gigabyte have gone un-answered.
    Reply
  • everettfsargent
    I doubt that anyone will read this but ...

    If I wanted a 16-phase Voltage Regulator AND an MSRP below $300US this looks like a pretty good option. I also am not into OC or gaming, so that I am fine with a very cheap graphics card running 8X and three M.2 PCIE 4.0 SSD's in RAID0 and a 3950X running stock. I'll also use ECC memory an this thing will be running all 32-threads 247 for weeks on end.

    So the question is is there anything out there that is available for a lower MSRP cost that has, at a minimum, a 16-phase Voltage Regulator? TIA

    Oh and if you have a better solution for whatever reason(s) that would also be most useful.
    Reply