News Four Cheap Micro ATX B550 Motherboards Tested: Low Price, Big Value?

LOWEST PRICE, BIGGEST VALUE:

Flashing the BIOS of my ASRock X370 Killer SLI and dropping an R5-3600X into it instead of shelling out about $100 for an entry-level B-series motherboard that will most likely have VRMs that are inferior to those found on X-series motherboards.

Cost: $0

Analysis:
It doesn't have PCI-Express v4.0 but that's irrelevant except for high-speed NVMe drives at this point. Superior power delivery when compared to the A-series and B-series boards. Platform is mature and stable. Far more nice features on an X-series board like more USB, Intel Gigabit LAN and the audio is Realtek ALC892 with 7.1 channels.

Recommended.
 
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froggx

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Sep 6, 2017
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LOWEST PRICE, BIGGEST VALUE:

Flashing the BIOS of my ASRock X370 Killer SLI and dropping an R5-3600X into it instead of shelling out about $100 for an entry-level B-series motherboard that will most likely have VRMs that are inferior to those found on X-series motherboards.

Cost: $0

Analysis:
It doesn't have PCI-Express v4.0 but that's irrelevant except for high-speed NVMe drives at this point. Superior power delivery when compared to the A-series and B-series boards. Platform is mature and stable. Far more nice features on an X-series board like more USB, Intel Gigabit LAN and the audio is Realtek ALC892 with 7.1 channels.

Recommended.

I need to break this kind of thing down to make sure I understand.
This article is a comparison of 4 B550 boards costing around $100ish, yet you seem to have gone with option 5 out of 4 here. You know, a board that isn't mentioned because it isn't a B550, was originally at least double the average cost of these boards (which isn't an issue if you already have one), and is "mature and stable" (3+ years old).

I have to give you props for creativity, but when it comes to those of us that don't have a baller AM4 board (or any AM4 board) and are vaguely interested in throwing a box together on the cheap, recommending option 5 out of 4 legit choices might as well be saying to divide by 0.

(I have to admit however, if your option 5 out of the 4 was a real world choice here, I'd take that X370 over a B550 any day.)
 
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I need to break this kind of thing down to make sure I understand.
This article is a comparison of 4 B550 boards costing around $100ish, yet you seem to have gone with option 5 out of 4 here. You know, a board that isn't mentioned because it isn't a B550, was originally at least double the average cost of these boards (which isn't an issue if you already have one), and is "mature and stable" (3+ years old).

I have to give you props for creativity, but when it comes to those of us that don't have a baller AM4 board (or any AM4 board) and are vaguely interested in throwing a box together on the cheap, recommending option 5 out of 4 legit choices might as well be saying to divide by 0.

(I have to admit however, if your option 5 out of the 4 was a real world choice here, I'd take that X370 over a B550 any day.)
Why so serious? I only put it there because nobody had posted anything and it's funny (because of option 5 out of 4). Of course it doesn't work unless someone already has the board. It's one of those "D'UH" posts that just takes up space. It also informs people that it is an option. One could say "everyone knows that" and I would've agreed once upon a time but then someone asked me for a source when I mentioned that Zotac is just Sapphire in disguise (and I thought everyone knew that).

Now, I assume NOTHING. I still thought that it was funny in a sarcastic kind of way. I mean, come on, I wrote "RECOMMENDED" at the end. What serious poster does that? LOL