GIGABYTE B650M AORUS ELITE AX (rev.1.x) AM5

Best White B650 MB

I'm quite happy with it. I was looking for white motherboards for AM5 and this is the only choice except the GIGABYTE X670E Aorus Pro X. I wonder why other manufacturers still don't make white motherboards for AM5? Anyway, I had no issues with it.

Pros: + White, looking good, even BIOS UI and the Wi-Fi antenna is white. + PCI-e EZ-Latch + I had no issues with XMP/EXPO + Heatsinks + 3x A-RGB headers, 4x SYS_FAN headers, 1x CPU_FAN header, 1x CPU_OPT header + Lots of back panel USB ports

Cons: - Gigabyte Control Center software for controlling A-RGB is a buggy mess. I recommend SignalRGB instead.

Probably better options

- Buy this at your discretion. As noted, I may have just had a string of bad luck - Newegg was wonderful throughout the process

Pros: - The spec list of this board seems like it hits all the correct price to features ratios - Feels like a solid board as it has some weight to it

Cons: I will preface this with I had a string of bad luck with a couple of these boards and it may not represent all other buyers. The low rating is due to the utter lack of useful support from gigabyte. After specifically writing out all of my steps to troubleshoot on the official support site, everything is just completely disregarded and you get copy and pasted help notes from a script. Here are my problems with the boards. Hopefully I save other people some time in the future: - First board couldn't update the bios through the q-flash tool. Bios just freezes when trying to use the q flash tool. Q flash plus tool feature seemed to work, however I wasn't able to install windows via usb for some reason. Multiple usb stick types were used along with creating a usb via windows media tool and rufu

Perfect for a 7950X3D

This Mobo worked just fine with a 7950X3D. You just need to be aware that the first boot takes a scary long time before the monitor gets a signal (60 seconds or so). Also be sure to install the AMD chipset drivers. During driver installation, If you don't see the V-Cache Optimization driver as a choice to install you probably need to update your bios (mine came with F2 pre-loaded and I updated to F5 with no drama). After I loaded version F5 the AMD Chipset driver listed the V-Cache Optimization as an option. This is all with Win11. To determine if V-Cache is working correctly you need to open 'Resource Monitor' and press Windows+G. This will bring up the Xbox Game Bar. Click settings, and set it to remember this is a game. Close Resource Monitor and reopen it. Click on the CPU tab. You should see 16 cores as 'parked'. These WON'T be used for games. Open a game, make sure all the CPU usage is on the non-parked CPUs. (you can search youtube for a video example but there's not a lot of examples for this out there just yet)

Pros: * Worked out of the box with an AMD R9 7950X3D * Has 3 M2 slots, all with a heat sync cover. * The PCI Express slot has a cool tab to help remove the GPU

Cons: * BIOS needed an update to get the V-Cache Optimization driver to install * Motherboard takes almost a full minute to post on the first boot up, which I'm SURE causes lots of anxiety. * The Gigabyte control center doesn't work for some reason but I don't need it anyway, all the drivers are available for download. Get the AMD Chipset drivers from AMD as they are a little newer. * It's difficult to determine if V-Cache is working properly

Really REALLY good ITX board

Can't recommend this board enough. Mini ITX builds can be a headache, but this one was super simple and had ZERO issues.

Pros: No issues what so ever. Really enjoyed the way this board configures the front io, fan headers, TWO usb headers, and the THREE m.2 slots. Seriously easy to build with and had no isses.

Nice motherboard but defective ram slots *Updated*

- Returned for replacement. Other than the wait it was a very easy process. Replacement board worked without hassle. Though I'm now satisfied, it was irritating to have received a deflective board in the first place.

Pros: - Nice motherboard with decent features

Cons: *Update* - Replacement motherboard work flawlessly - Did not come with a manual or disk - M2 EZ snaps are simple and great but when you've never seen them before with no instructions how they work (not even the online manual), trying to figure out exactly how they work without breaking them was a pain. Push on the back and they pop open. - Dram B2 slot was defective preventing computer from booting when populated. A2 worked fine. - Gigibyte tech support non responsive to help requests - I expect more for the price

Best option for the price currently, you will need to update the BIOS

Works amazingly, however you will likely need to update the bios before it works. I had a Ryzen 5 7600x and 32GB of DDR5, and it would not boot until I did. To update, you will need a FAT32 USB drive (some of them are fickle, older USB2 ones work better), download the latest BIOS from the manufacturer website, put it on the USB and rename to GIGABYTE.bin, insert the USB into the USB port labelled BIOS, and click the Q-FLASH PLUS button on the back of the motherboard with a small screwdriver. If it works properly it will turn on the computer and take several minutes to update. There is a blinking orange light above the button that will turn solid when done. Do not power off during this time.

Very Versatile and More

So far so good. Just have to wait and see. Installation was easy and there were no issues. Some features of the X670 available in this B650 mobo.

Pros: - Bang for the Buck - It offers PCIE 5.0 even though its B650 - Lots of RGB Pins for Light Show.

Cons: - Typical bugs that come with the new platform. (Expected) - Waiting on Updates. (Expected)

All you need unless you're going crazy

The AM5 motherboard lineup at launch includes a lot of crazy overkill. After reviewing info from experts on youtube, I dodged the extremely futureproofed X670 boards for the modest B650, which has no less functionality for current gen parts. This one floated to the top because of the ports and expansion capacity.

Pros: I think it's the best option for the new AM5 CPUs for most people. Installation was fine, there's plenty of fan ports, and the rear panel connectors are more than I'll ever use. The included heatsinks and tool-less mounting for my m.2 drive was another bonus. Also comes with gigabyte's custom g-connector- a jig to clip all those annoying front panel header pins together and insert/remove them as a unit.

Cons: The early adopter price might make you want to wait. Didn't include printed manual. Not necessarily a problem anymore, I just opened it on my phone. Due to the large heatsink and integrated i/o shield, there's no room for a fan header on the top left of the board, and I had to rotate my top rear fan to reach