Are you unsure if upgrading to a fancy X570 motherboard will be worth the time, effort, and money? You’re not alone! Before making a decision on which board to buy, there are many things that need to be considered. There are arguments for either side of this dispute – so it’s important to understand all your options before making a final choice.
To begin with, both the B550 and X570 chipsets are based on AMD’s longstanding AM4 CPU platform, with the B550 superseding the X570 as the former was released in June 2020 and the latter in July 2019. Nevertheless, the older X570 still trumps the B550 from an overall performance perspective. That being said, you don’t have to take our word for it. To prove our point, we’ll take a brief look at the spec list of each of these two relatively high-performance chipsets from AMD.
For starters, the B550 motherboard only supports PCI-E Gen 4.0 for the x16 graphics card slot while using up to 20x usable PCI-E lanes emerging from a compatible Ryzen CPU when paired with the right configuration, since the chipset itself does not bear any PCI-E 4.0 lanes at all but sports just 10x PCIe 3.0 lanes.
Up to 8x SATA III, 6 Gbps ports allow you to connect traditional means of storing information like the hard drives, coupled with an optional capability of up to 6x USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 ports. Furthermore, the B550 chipset can handle a single PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD at peak performance (using the PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 SSD slot) when combined with a PCIe 4.0 graphics card; this gives you full access to the existing 20x PCIe lanes for driving higher-end graphics cards and components.
As far as the new motherboard goes, it has up to 36x PCIe 4.0 lanes; there are General Purpose PCIe lanes for PCIe cards from both Nvidia and AMD – 5x M.2 SSDs with PCIe Gen 4.0 at full speed, 14x SATA III ports for connecting hard drives, doubling what most people need for adding storage space – all while supporting 12x USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 ports and just enough room for 4x USB 2.0 Type-A ports too!
Your Processor will establish a connection to your X570 motherboard using PCIe 4.0 lanes which are faster than the traditional B550’s PCIe Gen 3.0 CPU Chipset Uplink, this delivers the fastest overall gaming performance possible for high-end systems.
With the two chipsets, B550 and X570, supporting different levels of performance – one being rated at 6W while the other at 15W- there is an obvious difference between them. There are various features associated with each chipset that also affect their overclocking capabilities such as VRMs and active cooling mechanisms on the board. This means that higher performance boards will typically perform better when overclocked.
Finally, both chipsets are able to support dual GPU setups through either Nvidia’s (SLI) or AMD’s (Crossfire) technologies – even though these features probably won’t appeal to the majority of our target audience due to the vast outdatedness of these features.
Getting to Know the B550 and X570
As said, the B550 is newer than the X570 motherboard. It does not mean it is better; however, there are some slight differences between them that you might or might not notice during regular use. Below are tables of all three models – the B550 vs X570 motherboards – and the B450s; all with their respective details.
Looking at the specs, both motherboard models (B550 and X570) offer 16 lanes of PCIe Gen 4 graphics. This would mean you could do any form of rendering or gaming that would require this kind of processing power without delay when it comes to bandwidth speeds. These boards also come with USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (the newest version), allowing transfer rates up to 20 Gb/s – three times faster than what we currently have!
The difference between these two charts starts to show at the end. While on paper, both motherboards offer similar graphics capabilities – such as Nvidia SLI or AMD Crossfire support – the ASUS motherboard only offers four PCIe Gen 3 lanes while the MSI motherboard offers eight PCIe Gen 4 lanes. This article explains more about the differences between these two types of data transfer rates.
First of all, the General Purpose Lanes and CPU Chipset Uplink are both PCI Express Gen 3 for the B550 and PCI Express Gen 4 for the X570. This only affects data transfer speeds which would be too fast for an average user to really notice. Obviously, both the B550 and X570 motherboards support overclocking – but we will cover that aspect of it later on in this article.
B550 Vs X570
Now we’re going to compare the two boards to see which one offers more value for money. It’s quite clear that the X570 is a better board, but does it provide enough extra benefits for us gamers to justify the higher price tag? Let’s find out by looking at each board feature side-by-side.
The first topic we’re going to address is backward compatibility. You may recall when Dr. Lisa Su, AMD’s CEO, introduced the new Ryzen CPUs at last year’s CES event, she told us that the AM4 socket would remain unchanged for five whole years- so far so good! There were some exceptions related to chipset support but nothing major changed about it within these two years alone – heck, it was even compatible up until last year!
As an example, there are some motherboards that are not compatible with new generation CPUs which leads to people having difficulty upgrading. There were several different motherboards which are incompatible with Ryzen 3000 series processors and Beta Bios was introduced to allow compatibility. Some of the newest generations include 3600, 3600x, 3700x, and 3900x.
This translated to sacrifice. And that sacrifice was compatibility removal for Ryzen 1000 series processors when it launched in 2018. Fast-forwarding this day in 2019, we see the X570 – an older motherboard – is now compatible with the new Ryzen 2000 series processor; whereas the B550 motherboard isn’t.
APU Compatibility
Although both AMD X570 and B550 motherboards can power most of the latest chips in AMD’s lineup, there are some notable differences between them. While they both accept every model of Ryzen 2000, 3000, or 5000 (except for 1000) there are some significant limitations when using an X570 motherboard versus a B550 one. Specifically, an x570 motherboard will power up all models of Ryzen 3-5000 CPUs but it won’t support CPU-only models or any version of the original Ryzen 1 or 2 CPUs whereas the B550 will work well with 300/500 W 8 Cores+ but is less suited for 300/400 W 4 Core+ variants since those use lower TDP processors that might interfere with cooling on these more modest chipsets.
Multiple PCIe 4.0 PCIe Slots
Built into this motherboard is an x16 PCIe 4.0 slot for installing your graphics card, but beware that the B550 does not include such a PCIe 4.0 slot in its build – it only has PCIe 3.0 for the x8, x4, and x1 slots. On the other hand, if you have an X570 motherboard, then it may also include PCI-e 4.0 capability just like its competitor.
In-built Motherboard Cooling
Although odd and impractical, the X570 motherboard was fitted with a built-in fan that dissipates heat from the chipset. The B550 does not come with any such features as its power consumption is low and does not create much heat relative to other chipsets but some other manufacturers later launched S variant motherboards without onboard chipset fans. These boards are good in that they reduce thermal buildup but bad in that they produce irritating noise.
Better LAN Support
While they may have the same number of LAN ports, the B550 is limited to 1G and 1.5G speeds while an X570 motherboard could have as much as a 5G and even a lightning-fast 10G speed. This doesn’t imply that 1G and 1.5G speeds are slow; in fact they’re more than speedy enough for most people who don’t game online.
The abundance of PCIe 4.0 Lanes
Not to be mistaken for PCIe 4.0 Slots – these lanes connect the CPU to the motherboard chipset. The X570 uses PCIe 4.0 Lanes while the B550 uses PCIe 3.0 Lanes in order to facilitate this connection. This means that input and output will happen much faster with an X570 chip than with a B550 chip, but both chips’ performance cannot fully compare to that of a SATA SSD drive when it comes to saving time!
Multiple PCIe 4.0 M.2 Slots
Unlike the B550 motherboard which only supports one PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD drive, the compatibility of the X570 sport for at least two PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD drives as well. These are both found on the Gigabyte Aorus Master B550 and MSI MEG B550 Unify Gaming Motherboard respectively- or so it seems anyways!
Greater Support for USB 3.2 Gen 2 Ports
With its compatibility with a variety of SSDs, the X570 features both more SATA and USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports than previous models. You’ll find this number varies from one device to another depending on where it falls in terms of price; however, regardless of what you buy, you can expect at least two variants of each port available for use.
Less Options for mATX Form Factors
Looking at the X570 chipset, there are significantly fewer mATX options. The B550, on the other hand, houses a greater number of mATX options for consumers. This would only be relatable to people who lack space to place their PC and thus go with a smaller form factor.
Although these differences are minuscule for the general consumer, there are some things you need to know about them.
Future Proof
While the future has yet to be unveiled, it can’t hurt to prepare for what comes next. That said, AMD has revealed that Zen 4 processors will come with a new AM5 socket. This just so happens to mean that if you’re rocking either an X570 or B550 chipset – you’ll never be able to play around with the amazing 7th Generation of Ryzen Processors because they won’t work in those chipsets.
This shouldn’t really be a problem for you unless you’re an enthusiast who keeps upgrading their PC every other month. And even something basic like the Ryzen 5 5600X should last you about two years before it becomes obsolete and needs to be replaced. So while the newer Intel chipset might not work well with Ryzen 7000 series processors – these older ones (X570/B550) should work just fine until they break down in 2020 or so when we start seeing the new Zen 2 architecture based CPUs being released.
Pricing of the X570 Vs B550
The most contentious aspect of the B550 vs X570 argument has always been about price. Let’s talk about that for a second. Ever since the launch of the B550 motherboards, they’ve had comparable prices with those from AMD. At least when it comes to entry-level and mid-tier models.
B550
Starting off with the B550, let’s look at the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk. This motherboard is currently priced at $180 USD and features six SATA ports, four DIMM slots, and two M2 slots, and comes in either ATX or Micro-ATX form factor.
There are six USB ports in total – one being a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and the other being a Type-C. Out of the four remaining, there is one USB 2.0 port and two front USBs (Type-Cs).
A PCIe Gen 4.0 Slot and a PCIe Gen 3.0 Slot are both available on the motherboard; the former for the graphics card and the latter for an expansion slot. Up to two NVMe M.2, SSDs can be installed here, but only one of them can have a PCIe Gen 4.0 speed cap, while the other is restricted to PCIe Gen 3.0 speeds.
Finally, the motherboard will support a whopping 128GB of DDR4 RAM at speeds up to 5100MHz!
Another important factor of the motherboard I am reviewing today is the Voltage Regulatory Modules (VRMs). They’re those little things that tell electricity where to go, so they need to be really good if we want our computer running smoothly. The better a VRM is, the better it will be able to control the voltage and thus maintain stability within the system and keep it cool as well.
What are VRMs anyway? To put it simply, they act as an intermediary between the power supply and CPU. Without stable voltage, overclocking won’t work. Considering how this motherboard has a nice heatsink on it, I’m guessing that its VRMs is pretty good because it’ll need to be able to handle high-performance processors.
If someone plans on overclocking their computer, VRMs are important for making sure the components don’t overheat or stop working altogether. If a person doesn’t care about overclocking their CPU, they might want to prioritize getting a motherboard with good VRMs just in case they change their mind later down the line.
X570
You can now see our next motherboard, the Gigabyte X570 Aorus with a total of 10 USB ports. They are made up of 4x USB 2.0 ports, 4x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports.
Allowing for seamless performance, the Aorus Elite comes equipped with three expansion slots. One being a PCIe GEN 4.0 x16 slot, one being a PCIe GEN 4.0 x4 slot, and one being a PCIe GEN 4.0 x1 slot.
This motherboard supports up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM with a maximum speed of 4000 MHz. It also features an XMP profile for easy setup!
The VRMs in the Aorus Elite motherboard is similar to the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk with negligible improvements.
Overall, there are some aspects of the Aorus Elite which are different from the Tomahawk. For instance, one key difference is that while they both offer dual M.2 SSDs, they do so with different specifications; the Tomahawk goes up to 5100 MHz whereas the Aorus Elite maxes out at 4000Mhz. One other major difference between these two models is that while both offer PCIe Gen 4.0 support for expansion slots, only the Aorus Elite offers it for all of them – as opposed to just two of them on the Tomahawk.
So is the $20 extra price worth it? Well, it depends! If you’re someone with a Ryen 3000 Series APU then the Aorus Elite is most likely a steal for you. But if you’re someone who doesn’t need one of those things- but is using SLI (dual graphics card) or Crossfire (cross-platform) then it’s better to go with something cheaper. And finally, if you don’t have an APU nor use cross-platforms, go with one of the cheaper options like Tomahawk.
It’s hard to pick between two excellent motherboards! And it all depends on what you’re looking for. But if I were you and had a clear preference for what you wanted out of the motherboard, then I would probably go with the MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk over the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite because it has pretty RGB lighting which will make it easier to be seen during intense gaming sessions.
When you take a closer look at the 550 vs the 570, it starts to become clear how they vary in terms of how much power they can output, build quality, and much more. A lot of people would go for one over the other when deciding between these two brands; however, if you have an expensive processor and don’t mind spending just a little bit more cash for something that will last longer – then I would recommend going with this particular motherboard because it has excellent specifications.
Overclocking: B550 vs X570
Now that we have seen the prices of both the B550 vs X570 chipsets, let’s compare them to find out which one is worth purchasing for overclocking.
When it comes to overclocking, VRMs are imperative. They help regulate voltage for your CPU and RAM which means that your components stay stable throughout use. This leads to better cooling which allows you to overclock everything just a little bit more. The best type of VRM for overclocking might just be found in something like the B550 Tomahawk – its VRMs are just as good as those found on an X570 Aorus Elite – so don’t worry about upgrading if you think you’ve maxed out what can be done.
Another thing we should be aware of is the PCIe 3.0 vs the PCIe 4.0 in the new X570 and B550 motherboards respectively. Due to its 8 lanes, the X570 motherboard will provide better performance compared to its predecessor (B550).
Analyzing the difference in power draw between the B550 and X570 reveals that one is much less demanding than the other. For those who enjoy a higher-performing system, but don’t want to sacrifice their computing experience for heat management- this means that overheating may be less of an issue on the X570 due to its more powerful hardware which draws approximately 10% more power from the PSU than the B550 does.
It appears that the VRMs of the B550 chipset is just as good, if not better than, those found on the X570 chipset. Which motherboard do you think is better when it comes to overclocking? It seems logical enough to assume that the higher-end model will outperform its lower counterpart – but what we need to take into account here is that this isn’t always so cut and dry!
For an affordable price, the overclocking potential is decent. You can get it from a budget motherboard such as the MSI B550 Tomahawk or ASUS ROG Strix B550-F. Heck, I even suggest getting a high-end B550 board rather than an entry-level X570 if you don’t need all of those PCIe 4.0 lanes and slots. The VRMs in these boards are definitely better than their budget counterparts due to the higher prices/performance ratio.
B550 or X570 for Ryzen 5000 Processors?
You might have to rethink what kind of processor you want to get when we reach 2020; right now though, the 500-series motherboards offer superior performance. With two systems side-by-side and both running a 5000 series chip, one will always outperform the other simply because they’re using an X570 motherboard instead of a B550.
So, why is this the case? As it turns out, AMD’s new Zen 3 architecture makes up for an increase in power consumption with an increase in CPU base clocks. Good motherboards are required to successfully operate these processors – without proper voltage regulation modules (VRMs), there may be issues. And while PCIe Gen 4 slots don’t come as standard – they can make extracting maximum performance from these chips possible.
If you’re looking to buy something like a Ryzen 5 5600X, but don’t want to spend too much money. A B550 motherboard would do the trick just fine. What? You wouldn’t be able to overclock it or use all of those PCIe lanes – well, except if you wanted one of those flashy new X570 boards with all of its fancy bells and whistles.
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Should You Buy B550 or X570?
Okay, which one should you buy – a B550 chipset or an X570 chipset for your next Ryzen build? Well, first off, it all depends on what your needs are. If you’re wanting to run Nvidia SLI or AMD Crossfire, then go with the X570 chip. Or maybe you’d rather have higher performance per dollar- in that case, go with the B550. And if you want faster data transfer speeds and wider bus lanes in order to do things like stream games from your PC onto another screen while simultaneously playing them without lag- well, then again you’ll need the X 570.
If you are looking to buy an entry-level Ryzen 3000 or Ryzen 5000 series CPU, then a B550 motherboard will suffice. If you are planning on purchasing a high-end Ryzen 5000 CPU, opt for the X570 motherboard instead. The X570 offers support for USB 3.2 and USB-C ports, but if those features aren’t necessary to you, stick with the cheaper B550. Finally, if overclocking is your passion, look into upgrading to a higher-end board – which also includes much better voltage regulation modules (VRMs).
At the end of the day, everything depends on how you plan on using your computer. Getting an answer to that question will help you decide which motherboard to go for. All-in-all, both the B550 and the X570 chipsets are solid picks for an average consumer, and one would not notice any differences in the performance. For the most part, that is.
