Discussion B550 motherboards are the worst priced products of the year!

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Hello guys,

I eagerly waited for B550 boards in spite of people telling me to get a x570 board instead and after all this time the B550 boards gets released with jacked up prices and features which most of the users doesn't really care about.

I really wanted the B550 boards to be having some minor VRM improvements with PCie Gen4 support on a single lane and the rest of the features similar to MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon for instance.

What we got is more like an alternate version of x570 with features like lane bifurcation, 2.5Gb Lan and a solid VRM setup which can handle all the cores you throw at it.
I just don't get it why release a product so far down in the pipeline and rival it with the existing counterparts (x570) which already is available for the exact reason and purpose.

In my opinion they literally just cancelled the entire B series lineup making them rival with x series motherboards in terms of VRM setup and totally shunting out the users who wanted some nice features with overclocking support at a decent price. Now they will suggest us to buy A520 motherboards if you think the prices of B550 boards are higher which doesn't even have any overclocking support.

A decent featured B550 motherboard which does not sacrifice on anything costs between 180 to 220 dollars. Rest of the boards which falls below this price category are completely stripped of their features and not even worth to consider over 100 dollars with maybe some exceptions. A decent x570 motherboard with most features also starts from this price range.

So overall the B550 boards was a complete let down especially with the pricing and VRM setup for the masses who just want to maximize performance for their 8 core parts without burning a hole in their pockets but i guess we have to live with it.

 

[4745454b]

The price might be jacked due to covid. Prices I everything is messed up. Have you looked at buying a PSU? Things are out of stock and just generally ugly at the moment. That doesn't explain the heavy VRMs, but you should see proving come down at some point

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

The price might be jacked due to covid. Prices I everything is messed up. Have you looked at buying a PSU? Things are out of stock and just generally ugly at the moment. That doesn't explain the heavy VRMs, but you should see proving come down at some point

The prices are definitely higher because of the human malware but that doesn't mean the products are priced appropriately. Even when the prices stabilize, other regional markets would not change their prices like India, were we already pay a premium in tax for these products so we can forget the pricing of products would ever go down. For example the x570 TUF priced at 16500 INR ($220) now the same board is priced 19000 INR ($250) and this price was even before the human malware.

 

[Lizard72]

Or...an alternative version for people that really don’t want that chipset fan, but want at least a x16 Gen 4 lane and at least one full speed NVMe drive.
I think the ASUS boards even improved on the VRM over their x570 counterparts.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Or...an alternative version for people that really don’t want that chipset fan, but want at least a x16 Gen 4 lane and at least one full speed NVMe drive.
I think the ASUS boards even improved on the VRM over their x570 counterparts.

It's not an alternative, it's everyone expectation including me but did not want to pay the same price as x570.

 

[Lizard72]

It's not an alternative, it's everyone expectation including me but did not want to pay the same price as x570.

I was in the same boat. Was hoping to see more of a price difference as well. Was looking at the Aorus Master, the ROG Strix E and the Taichi boards at x570 and decided to wait and see how much cheaper the B550 versions would be.
I figured there’d be a few trade offs and at least $100 difference.
On the other hand if that MSI Tomahawk info is true as a sub $200 board, then you have more of what we thought.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

Your expectations can lead to disappointment, to be sure. But I just pre-ordered the Asrock B550 Extreme 4 — was $185 — probably $25 to $30 over-priced, but at least a well featured board under $200. I think these boards are in effect the replacements for the X570; which was a custom Frankenstein chipset direct from AMD anyway, and hot (hence the fan) and now we have a properly baked chipset. Just given the name B550 so as not to piss off all the folks who bought the X570. Will probably see a new hybrid or modified version of this chip later as a new X series board. Will probably never really see the X570s back in stock. AMD just decided it was less risky to piss off the budget enthusiasts rather than the well funded enthusiasts.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Your expectations can lead to disappointment, to be sure. But I just pre-ordered the Asrock B550 Extreme 4 — was $185 — probably $25 to $30 over-priced, but at least a well featured board under $200. I think these boards are in effect the replacements for the X570; which was a custom Frankenstein chipset direct from AMD anyway, and hot (hence the fan) and now we have a properly baked chipset. Just given the name B550 so as not to piss off all the folks who bought the X570. Will probably see a new hybrid or modified version of this chip later as a new X series board. Will probably never really see the X570s back in stock. AMD just decided it was less risky to piss off the budget enthusiasts rather than the well funded enthusiasts.

I just really wanted a board with Pcie Gen 4 in a single lane without a chipset fan and the identical features of premium B450 board at the same price of B450 during launch , even i would have gone for a MSI B450 GPC refresh with just the Gen4 slot for keeping the motherboard longer. I guess my only option is to pay similar to the price of a 6 core CPU to get a decent board with some decent features.
Maybe i will go for a cheap z490 like gaming x and use the difference for the 10600KF. Let's see.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

I just really wanted a board with Pcie Gen 4 in a single lane without a chipset fan and the identical features of premium B450 board at the same price of B450 during launch , even i would have gone for a MSI B450 GPC refresh with just the Gen4 slot for keeping the motherboard longer. I guess my only option is to pay similar to the price of a 6 core CPU to get a decent board with some decent features.
Maybe i will go for a cheap z490 like gaming x and use the difference for the 10600KF. Let's see.

I understand your disappointment with AMD, but your solution here does not make much sense to me.

A "cheap" z490 starts at $150.00, and the intel processor is at least $200+, and for a processor like that you would want a better board anyway, with a bit more hefty VRM strength, especially if you want to overclock.

If you need a six core CPU, the Ryzen 3600 is the value champion. And over-clocking Ryzen chips is really pointless as you are unlikely to do better than the built in PBO.

If you really want value -- and forgo the pointless temptation to try overclocking a Ryzen -- would pair a 3300X with something like the cheap Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 for $125.00. That pairing would only run you about $255.00. And I would imagine the 3300X would run just fine even with that "cheap" board. You would only encounter possible issues if trying to run a Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processor in that board -- which if you could afford those, why in the world would you be shopping for a value board?

And the 3300X keeps up with the 3600 unless you start getting into heavily threaded applications. Hence why I am getting the 3300X and spending a bit more now for the board, as I can upgrade the processor later (if even needed)

 

[Pyrokinetic]

In the end, am not really that upset about the B550 prices. Why? Because the Ryzen 3300X is such an awesome screaming deal. And the B550 prices don't change that (at least for me).

 

[redfoot12]

If you really want value -- and forgo the pointless temptation to try overclocking a Ryzen -- would pair a 3300X with something like the cheap Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 for $125.00. That pairing would only run you about $255.00. And I would imagine the 3300X would run just fine even with that "cheap" board. You would only encounter possible issues if trying to run a Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processor in that board -- which if you could afford those, why in the world would you be shopping for a value board?

And the 3300X keeps up with the 3600 unless you start getting into heavily threaded applications. Hence why I am getting the 3300X and spending a bit more now for the board, as I can upgrade the processor later (if even needed)

That was my original plan when doing my current upgrade-- get a 3300X and a B550 and then be ready for Zen 3 down the road. It soon became apparent though that the 3300X is vaporware here in the States so I canceled my B&H preorder (they keep changing their release date for this CPU). With the 3600 down to $167, I figured what the hell for $47 more.

I just pre-ordered a ROG Strix B550-F and it's definitely more expensive than I initially wanted to shell out for a motherboard (but still $50 cheaper than the one I got in 2013).

I think, overall, I'm just relieved to finally do this upgrade later next week and resigned to the fact I picked a cruddy time to upgrade my PC.

On a side note, I thought getting decent RAM for a reasonable price was going to be the most difficult part of all of this but that was the most painless process.

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

I'm not suggesting the b550 product is bad. The pricing and the existence of x570 does not justify this product. As many suggested it is an alternative to x570 and AMD or the manufacturers totally forgot the user who wanted features more instead of a solid VRM setup as similar to b450 but they completely screwed this part. If you are willing to spend more than 200 dollars for a b550 board then you can get a decent x570 itself and all this time waiting to buy a nice b550 board is a clossal waste of time in my part.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

I'm not suggesting the b550 product is bad. The pricing and the existence of x570 does not justify this product. As many suggested it is an alternative to x570 and AMD or the manufacturers totally forgot the user who wanted features more instead of a solid VRM setup as similar to b450 but they completely screwed this part. If you are willing to spend more than 200 dollars for a b550 board then you can get a decent x570 itself and all this time waiting to buy a nice b550 board is a clossal waste of time in my part.

Totally get your point -- if you were ready to upgrade when X570s were plentiful, but waited until now to save some coin -- then yeah, that was a colossal waste of time.

Time will tell though, if these B550 boards get really plentiful (as AMD claims) then you probably will see some price drops -- but then you will be waiting even longer, maybe late this year or 2021.

And remember -- the MSI Carbon B450 did not come out (which is probably one of the better feature to value boards out there) until quite a bit later. Might see the same thing here. But again, means waiting.

Depends on how patient you are and how tight your budget is.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Pyrokinetic]

That was my original plan when doing my current upgrade-- get a 3300X and a B550 and then be ready for Zen 3 down the road. It soon became apparent though that the 3300X is vaporware here in the States so I canceled my B&H preorder (they keep changing their release date for this CPU). With the 3600 down to $167, I figured what the hell for $47 more.

I just pre-ordered a ROG Strix B550-F and it's definitely more expensive than I initially wanted to shell out for a motherboard (but still $50 cheaper than the one I got in 2013).

I think, overall, I'm just relieved to finally do this upgrade later next week and resigned to the fact I picked a cruddy time to upgrade my PC.

On a side note, I thought getting decent RAM for a reasonable price was going to be the most difficult part of all of this but that was the most painless process.

Have a 3300X on backorder with Newegg -- might do the same if with the 3600 if I don't get it within the next couple of weeks...

 

[JaSoN_cRuZe]

Totally get your point -- if you were ready to upgrade when X570s were plentiful, but waited until now to save some coin -- then yeah, that was a colossal waste of time.

Time will tell though, if these B550 boards get really plentiful (as AMD claims) then you probably will see some price drops -- but then you will be waiting even longer, maybe late this year or 2021.

And remember -- the MSI Carbon B450 did not come out (which is probably one of the better feature to value boards out there) until quite a bit later. Might see the same thing here. But again, means waiting.

Depends on how patient you are and how tight your budget is.

Best of luck to you.

The worst part is now majority of x570 boards are now drastically increased in price due to the pandemic and also the availability is scarce in my region. May as well wait until zen 3 release and upgrade my system then.

 

[redfoot12]

Have a 3300X on backorder with Newegg -- might do the same if with the 3600 if I don't get it within the next couple of weeks...

I saw that in addition to the delays, B&H also bumped the price up of the 3300X from $120 to $128. I wonder if $130-140 is where that chip's price might settle in eventually.