Biostar Launches B550M-Silver: Micro-ATX with 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6
by Gavin Bonshor on December 14, 2020 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- Biostar
- MicroATX
- AM4
- B550
- Ryzen 5000
- B550M-Silver
Biostar has launched its latest AMD B550-based board, the B550M-Silver. Aimed at gamers looking to use AMD's latest Ryzen 5000 processors, it brings a host of premium features to the micro-ATX form factor with USB 3.2 G2 connectivity, a Realtek 2.5 Gb Ethernet controller, Wi-Fi 6, and PCIe 4.0 support.
Over the last couple of years, premium AMD micro-ATX boards have been few and far between, with the majority of vendors opting to release their micro-ATX models on the more budget-friendly chipsets such as AMD's A520. The micro-ATX form factor typically offers a convenient compromise, with more expansion slot support than the smaller mini-ITX form factor, but without the overall footprint of ATX. Based on the AMD B550 chipset, the Biostar B550M-Silver offers out of the box support for Ryzen 5000 processors, with support for Ryzen 3000 chips too.
Focusing on the design, the Biostar B550M-Silver uses a wave of silver heatsinks, including a large rear panel cover, which doubles up as one section of the power delivery heatsink. It includes no integrated RGB LED lighting nor any RGB headers, which is either quite strange or a welcome relief given how common RGB is these days in boards aimed at gamers.
The Biostar B550M-Silver includes dual PCIe M.2 slots, with the top slot capable of supporting up to PCIe 4.0 x4 2280 M.2 drives, while the second slot includes support for PCIe 3.0 x4; both of these slots can accommodate SATA based SSDs. For SATA, Biostar includes six SATA ports, with two straight-angled and four right-angled ports, with support for RAID 0, 1, 10 arrays. There are four memory slots with support for DDR4-4933, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.
There are two full-length slots at PCIe support, including a PCIe 4.0 x16 and a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, with a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot sandwiched in between. Located under the full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot is a Key-E 2230 slot, although the board already includes an integrated wireless module.
On the rear panel is a variety of connections, including a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 G2 Type-C, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. There is a trio of video outputs including an HDMI, DisplayPort, and DVI-D for use with AMD's 3rd gen APUs, while the board's three 3.5 mm audio jacks are powered by an older Realtek ALC1150 HD audio codec. A PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port sits above the USB 2.0 ports, while a single RJ45 port is powered by a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 GbE controller, while Biostar is using an unspecified wireless interface with support for Wi-Fi 6.
At present, we don't know when the Biostar B550M-Silver will hit retail shelves, nor do we have information in regards to the pricing.
Update - Biostar has informed us that the B550M-Silver has an MSRP of $119, which represents fantastic value with 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6 networking.
Related Reading
Source: Biostar
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
39 Comments
View All Comments
Gigaplex - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
It really annoys me seeing people use ATX or EATX motherboards, and then put a vertical GPU mount blocking all the PCIe slots. If the only things you're plugging into the motherboard are a few sticks of RAM, a CPU, a graphics card and an SSD, you don't need a giant motherboard.Someguyperson - Wednesday, December 16, 2020 - link
This is exactly what I did with my last computer, but I realized I really wanted 4 RAM slots down the line, so I went back to a micro-ATX board. By and large, there really isn't that much of a difference in size between most micro-ATX and mini-ITX cases. The smallest mini-ITX cases are much smaller, but the majority of the mini-ITX cases are a good deal bigger because it's easier to assemble and work in. Especially the cases that allow for large GPUs.Operandi - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
As someone that advocates for the mATX form factor I will say that its nice to see an option with a good feature set which this looks like it has. Its Biostar though so I remain skeptical given their history and the price point they historically aim for.Biostar will never get the market reception they are looking for competing on price alone. They need unique products and a clean looking mATX board with a good feature set is a start but they need to compete on quality as well. Also, drop the Racing branding, the connotations between 'Racing' and PC components is pretty weak sauce.
erotomania - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
I also have a preference for mATX for the past few years. At this point for B550, I would probably look at ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS (Wi-Fi) for $169 or ASRock B550M STEEL LEGEND for $129. Both drop the DVI for more analog audio outs and optical. On the ASRock, the second M.2 slot may be 3.0 x2. Asus specs say x4 for both 4.0 and 3.0Operandi - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
The Steel Legend is good, MSI has a good entry level "Pro" board for something a bit cheaper. Gigabyte also has a really nice looking Aorus that looks pretty high-end, haven't tried yet though.Operandi - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
Tech Power Up review of mATX Gigabyte Aorus board, looks like it does really good for the price.https://www.techpowerup.com/review/gigabyte-b550m-...
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
The MSI b550m mortar also has a great VRM.Gigaplex - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
And 2.5Gbit ethernetzepi - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
No USB-C Front panel connector?A5 - Tuesday, December 15, 2020 - link
Not many B550 mATX boards with that, sadly. The main one I can think of is the MSI MAG MORTAR.