The topmost slot has a single-layer heatsink with a thermal pad underneath for efficient heat transfer. M.2 SSD is written on the cover. This cover is separated from the other covers. It can be taken off by unscrewing a Philips screw and removing the cover from the slot. PCIe X16 Slot On GIGABYTE B560 AORUS Elite AX Motherboard The fact that it offers two PCIe 5.0 enabled x16 slots is a big plus. We're not saying you need that, but if you want it, this is the cheapest means of acquiring that configuration.

The graphics card under gaming load was drawing near 395W power with a maximum temperature of 75° We used a custom fan curve for the graphics card so the fans were running at high speed.However, the B650 Gaming X AX is a less attractive option since the Aorus Elite AX offers a superior product at the same price, boasting fourteen 70A power stages for the vcore VRM, PCIe 5.0 M.2 support, and eleven USB 3.2 ports. We should stress that once VRM temps dip below 70c, it doesn't really matter which board runs cooler; for core-heavy productivity in a warm environment, all boards will perform exceedingly well. Even temperatures sub 80c are very acceptable and really, it's only the boards running at over 90c that we'd advise avoiding, especially in warmer climates.

The above picture shows the I/O cover from a different angle. The elegant design speaks for itself. IO Plate The SilverStone Air Penetrator 120SK A-RGB was blowing focused air toward the graphics card and NVMe ports at its full speed. Thermal Imaging We have got some read and write speeds but they come at the cost of high latency. Memory Performance Scores This motherboard is using 1 x 256 Mbit flash chip from winband which supports PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, and ACPI 5.0.The above picture shows the 2x M.2 ports. The top slot is wired to the CPU and is labeled as M2B_CPU. The second port is wired to the chipset and is labeled M2C_SB. Both ports are Gen 4 x4 slots. These support the 22110/2280 form factors. These ports also feature the EZ-Latch mechanism making life easy.

Next, we installed the XPG Lancer RGB 32GB kit which is rated at 6000MHz using 40-40-40-76 timing. We ran the AIDA64 memory benchmark with Low Latency Support and XMP/EXPO High Bandwidth Support disabled and then rerun the test with both settings enabled. We saw good improvement in the transfer rate as well as the latencies. Storage and USB PerformanceToday is the day when we can finally present to you the results of our extensive AMD B650 motherboard testing. It's been a massive undertaking indeed. In total, we've tested 35 boards, a task that spanned several months, but it's finally complete. Another viable option at this price point is the Gigabyte B650M Aorus Elite AX, which includes a dozen 60A power stages for the vcore VRM, albeit with just two PCIe expansion slots. It includes a PCIe 5.0-enabled M.2 port, an additional PCIe 4.0 M.2, eleven USB 3.2 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, and WiFi 6E. The power delivery to the chipset is being managed by AS358 and a couple of PDC3908X N-channel MOSFETs. These are 30V MOSFETs which I think are rated for 46 A.

The above picture shows the ALC897-VB controller from Realtek. The onboard sound solution is not capable of delivering the DTS:X Ultrasound experience. Networking Connectivity Then, we have the Asus Prime series, which includes the Prime B650M-A WiFi, Prime B650-Plus, and Prime B650M-A WiFi II. Unfortunately, we must recommend avoiding these. Like the ultra-affordable Gigabyte B650M K, the Asus Prime boards all use discrete MOSFETs, resulting in poor VRM thermals.There are two non-stainless steel PCIe slots. These are PCIe Gen 3 slots and both are rated at X1 speed. I am wondering about this implementation though. There should have at least been one X4-rated PCIe slot for add-in card support. Anyhow, the main reason for rating these at X1 is that they shared the single PCIe Gen 3 bus with the wireless and wired connectivity provision. I would have preferred a bit lower USB count in favor of one fully X4 PCIe slot. B650 Chipset x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 3840×2160@144 Hz, Support for DisplayPort 1.4 version and HDR. On the other hand, the Riptide is a Micro ATX board, employing a dozen 50A power stages for the vcore. It manages to fit in four PCIe slots, though full usage is only possible with a single slot graphics card. It has two M.2 slots, with the primary slot being PCIe 5.0 compatible. It also features 9 USB 3.2 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, a 2.5Gbit LAN, and WiFi 6E. GIGABYTE is using nuvoton 3947S controller for the PWM fan headers. 24 PIN ATX Connector on GIGABYTE B560 AORUS