MotherboardsReviews

ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax Motherboard Review

Features and Specifications

Features

  • Supports 3rd Gen AMD AM4 Ryzen™ / Future AMD Ryzen™ Processors
  • 8 Power Phase Design, Digi Power, 90A Dr.MOS
  • Supports DDR4 5400+ (OC)
  • 1 PCIe 4.0 x16
  • Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort
  • 7.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec), Nahimic Audio
  • 4 SATA3, 1 Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4 x4), 1 Ultra M.2 (PCIe Gen3 x4 & SATA3)
  • 3 USB 3.2 Gen2 (Rear Type A+C, Front Type-C), 6 USB 3.2 Gen1 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
  • Intel® 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4Gbps) + BT 5.1

 

 

A SOLID M.2-SOLUTION PERFORMER

Dual M.2 For SSD, Supports Type 22110 M.2

Ready for higher capacity and even faster Type 22110 M.2 NVMe SSD to fulfill the need of performance. Hyper M.2 socket that supports PCIe Gen4 x4 while Ultra M.2 socket is capable of running PCIe Gen3 x4 and SATA3 mode.

M.2 Armors

Good M.2 SSD protection is important for longevity and stability. ASRock provides a completed M.2 armor solution that makes SSDs to run in a certain low temperature.

Nahimic Audio

Whether you are using headphones, a headset, external or internal speakers, via USB, Wi-Fi, analog output or even HDMI, Nahimic Audio offers you the most engaging listening experience, vibrant and rich with details.

The Sound Tracker is a visual indicator that points out the directions from which predominant sounds are coming. Each sound is properly positioned in 360° on a radar for a full immersion during the game.

Dr. MOS

Dr.MOS is the integrated power stage solution which is optimized for synchronous buck-set down voltage applications! Compared to traditional discrete MOSFETs, it intelligently delivers higher current for each phase, thus providing improved thermal result and superior performance.

Premium 90A Power Choke

Compared to traditional chokes, ASRock’s premium 90A power chokes effectively make the saturation current up to three times better, thus providing enhanced and improved Vcore voltage to the motherboard.

8LAYER & 2OZ COPPER PCB

The 8 Layer PCB comes with 4 sets of 2 ounce copper inner layers, providing stable signal traces and power shapes and delivering lower temperature and higher energy efficiency for overclocking! Thus, it’s able to support the latest DDR4 memory modules with most extreme memory performance!

Intel® 2.5G LAN

The 2.5G Ethernet configuration were introduced to support higher bandwidth on widely deployed CAT5e and CAT6 cabling in enterprise and metro area networks. The industry’s leading Intel® LAN always provides the best throughput performance, lower CPU utilization, enhanced stability and is able to deliver ultimate network experience to users!

Reinforced Steel Slot [PCIe 4.0 Version]

The reinforced steel slot comes with the next generation PCI Express 4.0 standard. The various benefits include:
✔ Extra anchor points
✔ Stronger latch
✔ Ensure signal stability
✔ Make sure heavy graphics cards to be well-installed.

 

RULE YOUR OWN LIGHTING WAY – POLYCHROME RGB

ASRock motherboards deliver stunning performance and superior aesthetics to rule your own colorful lighting way! ASRock offers a very comprehensive control to perform the built-in RGB LEDs or the connected LED strips, CPU fans, coolers, chassis and any RGB devices smoothly. Devices can be synchronized across the Polychrome RGB Sync-certified accessories as well.

Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax

Welcome to the new Wi-Fi standard! ASRock’s motherboard equipped with next generation Intel® Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax adapter. The speed will be working up to 2.4Gbps and it will also natively operate with both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz simultaneously. Significant improvement in bi-directional MU-MIMO support is another attractive feature as well.

Front USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C

Front USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C header delivers up to 10 Gbps data transfer rate and next generation reversible USB design to the front panel of computer case.

Dual USB 3.2 Gen2 (Type-A + Type-C)

This motherboard has a pair of onboard Type-A and Type-C USB 3.2 Gen2 ports built on the rear i/o for supporting next generation USB 3.2 Gen2 devices and to deliver up to 10 Gbps data transfer rates.

Flexible Integrated I/O Shield

Unlike most so called pre-mounted I/O shield that is only decorated with fancy color schemes. We reserve more tolerance space and allow IO shield is adjustable when installing, thus fitting chassis perfectly without any mechanical issue.

Dual Graphics Outputs

Complete with two types of most used connectors! Packed with a HDMI + DisplayPort combo, you have more graphics output options now.

 

 

Specifications

  • Gaming Armor
    Power
    – Hi-Density Power Connectors (24 pin and 8 pin)
    Memory
    – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots
    VGA Card
    – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)
    Internet
    – Intel® 2.5G LAN
    Audio
    – Nahimic Audio
  • Unique Feature
    ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2
    – ASRock Front Panel USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Header (10 Gb/s)
    – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s)
    – ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s)
    ASRock Super Alloy
    – Premium 90A Power Choke
    – 90A Dr.MOS
    – Premium Memory Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke)
    – Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
    – I/O Armor
    – Matte Black PCB
    – High Density Glass Fabric PCB
    – 8 Layer PCB
    – 2oz Copper PCB
    Intel® 2.5G LAN
    Intel® 802.11ax WiFi
    ASRock Steel Slot Gen4
    ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink
    ASRock Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4)
    ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)
    ASRock Live Update & APP Shop
  • CPU
    – Supports 3rd Gen AMD AM4 Ryzen™ / future AMD Ryzen™ Processors*
    – Digi Power design
    – 8 Power Phase design

    *Not compatible with AMD Ryzen™ 5 3400G and Ryzen™ 3 3200G.
  • Chipset
    – AMD B550
  • Memory
    – Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
    – 2 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
    – AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse) support DDR4 5100+(OC) / 5000(OC) / 4933(OC) / 4866(OC) / 4800(OC) / 4733(OC) / 4666(OC) / 4600(OC) / 4533(OC) / 4466(OC) / 4400(OC) / 4333(OC) / 4266(OC) / 4200(OC) / 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3466(OC) / 3200 / 2933 / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory*
    – AMD Next Generation Ryzen series APUs support DDR4 5400+(OC) / 5300(OC) / 5200(OC) / 5100(OC) / 5000(OC) / 4933(OC) / 4866(OC) / 4800(OC) / 4733(OC) / 4666(OC) / 4600(OC) / 4533(OC) / 4466(OC) / 4400(OC) / 4333(OC) / 4266(OC) / 4200(OC) / 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3466(OC) / 3200 / 2933 / 2667 / 2400 / 2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-buffered memory
    – Max. capacity of system memory: 64GB**
    – Supports Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
    – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

    *Ryzen Series CPUs (Matisse):
    Ryzen Series CPUs:
    SR: Single rank DIMM, 1Rx4 or 1Rx8 on DIMM module label
    DR: Dual rank DIMM, 2Rx4 or 2Rx8 on DIMM module label**Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.
  • BIOS
    – 256Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
    – Supports “Plug and Play”
    – ACPI 5.1 compliance wake up events
    – Supports jumperfree
    – SMBIOS 2.3 support
    – CPU, CPU VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, Chipset 1.05V, 2.50V, +1.8V, VDDP Voltage Multi-adjustment
  • Graphics
    – Integrated AMD Radeon Vega Series Graphics in Ryzen Series APU*
    – DirectX 12, Pixel Shader 5.0
    – Shared memory default 2GB. Max Shared memory supports up to 16GB.**
    – Dual graphics output: support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4 ports by independent display controllers
    – Supports HDMI 2.1 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K (4096×2160) @ 60Hz
    – Supports DisplayPort 1.4 with max. resolution up to 5K (5120×2880)@120Hz
    – Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI 2.1 Port (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
    – Supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) with HDMI 2.1
    – Supports HDCP 2.3 with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 Ports
    – Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 Ports
    – Supports Microsoft® PlayReady

    *Actual support may vary by CPU

    **The Max shared memory 16GB requires 32GB system memory installed.

  • Audio
    – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
    – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
    – Supports Surge Protection
    – 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
    – Pure Power-In
    – Direct Drive Technology
    – PCB Isolate Shielding
    – Impedance Sensing on Rear Out port
    – Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
    – 15μ Gold Audio Connector
    – Nahimic Audio
  • LAN
    – 2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s
    – GigaLAN Intel® I225V
    – Supports Wake-On-LAN
    – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
    – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
    – Supports PXE
  • Wireless LAN
    – Intel® 802.11ax WiFi Module
    – Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ax
    – Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
    – Supports WiFi6 802.11ax (2.4Gbps)
    – 2 antennas to support 2 (Transmit) x 2 (Receive) diversity technology
    – Supports Bluetooth 5.1 + High speed class II
    – Supports MU-MIMO
  • Slots
    AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse)
    – 1 x PCI Express x16 Slot (PCIE1: Gen4x16 mode)*
    AMD Ryzen series APUs
    – 1 x PCI Express x16 Slot (PCIE1: Gen3x16 mode)*- 1 x Vertical M.2 Socket (Key E) with the bundled WiFi-802.11ax module (on the rear I/O)
    – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)

    *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
  • Storage
    – 4 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
    – 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key type 2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) (with Matisse) or Gen3x4 (32 Gb/s)*
    – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket, supports M Key type 2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)*

    *Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
    Supports ASRock U.2 Kit (M2_1)
  • Connector
    – 1 x RGB LED Header*
    – 1 x Addressable LED Header
    * Supports in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip
    – 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
    * The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.
    – 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
    – 1 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
    * The Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 2A (24W) fan power.
    * CPU_FAN2/WP and CHA_FAN1/WP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.
    – 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
    – 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
    – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
    – 1 x USB 2.0 Header (Supports 2 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
    – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
    – 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen2 Header (Supports ESD Protection)

    *Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip
  • Rear Panel I/O
    – 2 x Antenna Ports
    – 1 x HDMI Port
    – 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
    – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
    – 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD Protection)
    – 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
    – 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
    – HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone
  • Software and UEFI
    Software
    – ASRock Motherboard Utility (Phantom Gaming Tuning)
    – ASRock Polychrome SYNC
    – ASRock Key Master
    – ASRock XFast LAN
    UEFI
    – ASRock Full HD UEFI
    – ASRock Instant Flash

    *These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
  • Support CD
    – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar
  • Accessories
    – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD
    – 2 x SATA Data Cables
    – 1 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antenna
    – 1 x Screw for M.2 Socket
  • Hardware Monitor
    – Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
    – Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
    – Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
    – Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans
    – Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore
  • Form Factor
    – Mini-ITX Form Factor: 6.7-in x 6.7-in, 17.0 cm x 17.0 cm
    – 8 Layer PCB

More information can be found on ASRock’s website.

 

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