Today, we’ll be taking a quick look at the Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard. This motherboard utilizes the well-tested B550 chipset and comes in a micro ATX form factor, which is prefect for budget gamers, system builders and home theatre enthusiasts. It’s also compatible with all current 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors (Matisse or Renoir), with future compatibility for 4th Gen (5000 series with Zen 3 architecture) processors.
What makes B550 chipset motherboards so attractive, is that it supports PCIE 4.0 specifications as well as offering overclocking options. These features are normally found on higher-end and pricier X570 chipset motherboards. What’s more, B550 chipset motherboards tend to run a lot cooler, negating the need for an active fan cooling on the chipset.
The B550M DS3H comes with Gigabyte’s UD (Ultra Durable) feature and use a 5+3 phases pure digital PWM + Low RDS(on) MOSFETs design to support the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors. It offers incredible precision in delivering power to power-hungry and energy-sensitive components, as well as delivering enhanced system performance and ultimate hardware scalability.
As for the PCIE x16 slot … it now supports PCIE 4.0 specifications and delivers faster bandwidth and low latency gaming when matched with a discrete graphics card that is compatible with PCIE 4.0.
The motherboard also comes with 2 x M.2 slots … one supports NVMe PCIe 4.0, while the other supports PCIe 3.0. It also feature’s Realtek 8118 LAN for high performance and automatic bandwidth allocation to ensure the highest network priority for games and application.
If you’re not too sure what the main differences are between the X570 and the B550 chipset, here is an easy chart for comparison. Basically, the X570 offer full PCIE Gen4 support for both the General Purpose Lanes and CPU chipset uplinks, which will allow for faster performance. While the B550 can only provide PCIE Gen3 support for those lanes.
And to be honest, you’ll won’t see that much of a difference in performance between the two. One of the main advantages of the B550 chipset, is that their motherboards are cheaper and attractively priced, while offering similar performance to the X570.
Here’s a snippet from Gigabyte describing themselves, taken from their website:
GIGABYTE offers a comprehensive product lineup that aims to “Upgrade Your Life.” With expertise encompassing consumer, business, gaming, and cloud systems, GIGABYTE established its reputation as a leader in the industry with award-winning products including motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, mini PCs, and other PC components and accessories. As a perennial developer in PC and server hardware and solutions, GIGABYTE is poised to extend our scope in business servers and cloud systems with hardware and software solutions that integrate AI and AloT applications to allow customers to capture, analyze, and transform digital information into economic data, accelerating businesses’ success from edge to cloud.
“Upgrade Your Life” is the core essence in everything we do at GIGABYTE. We believe only technology made for you will speak to you. With a keen understanding of your needs, we have raised industry standards with game-changing DualBIOS™ technology; our patented Ultra Durable™ motherboards are designed to last and outlast, and our superior Windforce Stack 3x Cooling System exceeds all expectations.
We break new ground. We also continuously provide reliable cloud infrastructure to help businesses optimize their operations as well as to advance development and expansion in the digital realm. By combining innovation and practicality, GIGABYTE wields the technology of the future to improve your life today.
We’ll be testing the motherboard using our new Ryzen 7 PRO 4750G processor (Renoir) featuring 8 cores/16 threads with onboard Radeon Graphics (8 GPU cores), 16GB of Thermaltake Toughram DDR-3200, along with 500GB SSD from Gigabyte. I’m expecting the results to be somewhat similar to other B550 motherboards we’ve tested in the past. But before we start, I have to point out that this motherboard is NOT compatible with Ryzen 5 3400G or Ryzen 3 3200G (Picasso) processors. You can check out the CPU compatibility list here.
Let’s begin with a look at the specifications and features on the next page. You can buy the Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard for around USD $95 from Amazon – https://amzn.to/33vcszE
Related articles taken from Funky Kit
- ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax Motherboard Review
- AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750G (Renoir) Processor Review
- ASRock B550 Extreme4 Motherboard Review
- ASRock B550M Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock B550 Taichi Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X Motherboard Review
Features and Specifications
Features
- Supports 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Processors
- Dual Channel ECC/ Non-ECC Unbuffered DDR4, 4 DIMMs
- 5+3 Phases Pure Digital VRM Solution with Low RDS(on) MOSFETs
- Ultra Durable™ PCIe 4.0 Ready x16 Slot
- Dual Ultra-Fast NVMe PCIe 4.0/3.0 M.2 Connectors
- High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard for Ultimate Audio Quality
- GIGABYTE Exclusive 8118 Gaming GbE LAN with Bandwidth Management
- Rear HDMI & DVI Support
- RGB FUSION 2.0 Supports Addressable LED & RGB LED Strips
- Smart Fan 5 Features Multiple Temperature Sensors , Hybrid Fan Headers with FAN STOP
- Q-Flash Plus Update BIOS without Installing the CPU, Memory and Graphics Card
- Anti-Sulfur Resistors Design
Specifications
-
CPU
- AMD Socket AM4, support for: 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors/ 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors
(Please refer “CPU Support List” for more information.)
-
Chipset
- AMD B550
-
Memory
- 4 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 128 GB (32 GB single DIMM capacity) of system memory
- 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ Processors:
Support for DDR4 4400(O.C.) / 4000(O.C.) / 3600(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) /3200/2933/2667/2400/2133 MHz memory modules - 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors:
Support for DDR4 4733(O.C.) / 4600(O.C.) / 4400(O.C.) / 4000(O.C.) / 3600(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) /3200/2933/2667/2400/2133 MHz memory modules - Dual channel memory architecture
- Support for ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules
- Support for non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules
- Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
(Please refer “Memory Support List” for more information.)
-
Onboard Graphics
Integrated in the 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors:
- 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200@60 Hz
* The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter. - 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096×2160@60 Hz
* Support for HDMI 2.1 version, HDCP 2.3, and HDR.
Maximum shared memory of 16 GB
- 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200@60 Hz
-
Audio
- Realtek® ALC887 codec
- High Definition Audio
- 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
* To configure 7.1-channel audio, you need to open the audio software and select Device advanced settings > Playback Device to change the default setting first. Please visit GIGABYTE’s website for details on configuring the audio software.
-
LAN
- Realtek® GbE LAN chip (1000 Mbit/100 Mbit)
-
Expansion Slots
1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX16), integrated in the CPU:
- 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors support PCIe 4.0 x16 mode
- 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors support PCIe 3.0 x16 mode
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.
1 x PCI Express x16 slot (PCIEX4), integrated in the Chipset:
- Supporting PCIe 3.0 x4 mode
1 x PCI Express x1 slot (PCIEX1), integrated in the Chipset:
- Supporting PCIe 3.0 x1 mode
-
Storage Interface
1 x M.2 connector (M2A_CPU), integrated in the CPU, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 SSDs:
- 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ processors support SATA and PCIe 4.0 x4/x2 SSDs
- 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics processors support SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4/x2 SSDs
1 x M.2 connector (M2B_SB), integrated in the Chipset, supporting Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SSDs:
- Supporting SATA and PCIe 3.0 x2 SSDs
4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors, integrated in the Chipset:
- Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10
-
USB
CPU:
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports on the back panel
Chipset:
- 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports available through the internal USB header
- 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)
-
Internal I/O Connectors
- 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
- 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
- 1 x CPU fan header
- 2 x system fan headers
- 2 x addressable LED strip headers
- 2 x RGB LED strip headers
- 1 x CPU cooler LED strip/RGB LED strip header
- 2 x M.2 Socket 3 connectors
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
- 1 x front panel header
- 1 x front panel audio header
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 header
- 1 x USB 2.0/1.1 header
- 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header (2×6 pin, for the GC-TPM2.0_S module only)
- 1 x serial port header
- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
- 1 x Q-Flash Plus button
-
Back Panel Connectors
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
- 1 x DVI-D port
- 1 x HDMI port
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
- 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
- 1 x RJ-45 port
- 3 x audio jacks
-
I/O Controller
- iTE® I/O Controller Chip
-
H/W Monitoring
- Voltage detection
- Temperature detection
- Fan speed detection
- Overheating warning
- Fan fail warning
- Fan speed control
* Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the cooler you install.
-
BIOS
- 1 x 256 Mbit flash
- Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
- PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
-
Unique Features
- Support for APP Center
* Available applications in APP Center may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.
@BIOS
EasyTune
Fast Boot
Game Boost
ON/OFF Charge
RGB Fusion
Smart Backup
System Information Viewer - Support for Q-Flash Plus
- Support for Q-Flash
- Support for Xpress Install
- Support for APP Center
-
Bundled Software
- Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
- Realtek® 8118 Gaming LAN Bandwidth Control Utility
-
Operating System
- Support for Windows 10 64-bit
-
Form Factor
- Micro ATX Form Factor; 24.4cm x 24.4cm
More information on Gigabyte’s website.
The Box and Packaging
The box and packaging was surprisingly lacklustre. There’s no user manual. You only get a I/O shield, a pack of SATA cables (pair), and a quick installation guide. A little disappointing here 🙁
The Gigabyte B550M DS3H Motherboard
The motherboard comes in a micro-ATX form factor, which is fairly compact and is ideal for system builders and home theatre enthusiasts.
The heatsinks on the motherboard are a bit plain-looking. Just two small black chunks of Aluminum, one on the VRMs/Mofets and the other on the chipset. If you have components that support Gigabyte’s RGB fusion … then just plug them in to one of several RGB headers dotted around the motherboard.
A Closer Look
The motherboard comes with a fair amount of features including … 4 x SATA ports, 1 x PCIE 3.0 x16 slot, 1 x PCIE 3.0 x1 slots, 1 x PCIE 4.0 M.2 slot, 1 x PCIE 3.0 M.2 slots for SSDs, and 4 x DIMM slots supporting memory speeds of up to DDR4 4733 (O.C.).
And for connectivity, you have on the rear I/O panel, a PS/2 keyboard & mouse connector, 4 x USB 2.0, DVI-out, HDMI, 4 x USB 3.2 Gen1, Gigabyte 8118 Realtek gigabit LAN, and the usual array of connectors for HD audio.
Installation
No issues with installation whatsoever. We used an Inwin 103 midi-tower chassis as well as the massive Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler. All the components fitted nicely.
If you ever decide to use an AIO cooling solution for your processor … then check out LIAN LI Galahad AIO 240 RGB CPU Cooler. Read the full review on Funky kit.
BIOS
The main page of the BIOS includes the ‘EASY Mode’ which shows the CPU and memory status, as well as voltages and temperatures. Go to the more advanced pages, and you’ll be able to adjust and tweak your CPU and memory settings, including voltages, multipliers, and memory timings.
And of course can also enable/disable various onboard devices and well as monitoring the motherboard/system health. For memory, we used a pair of Thermaltake Toughram RGB DDR4-3200 and enabled XMP profiles. I would recommend you check out the Support List from Gigabyte for memory and SSD compatibility.
Test Setup
For our tests, we used a test rig which includes the Gigabyte B550M DS3H Motherboard, along with an AMD 7 PRO 4750G (Renoir) at default clock speed of 3.6GHz (turbo boost 4.4GHz), as well as 16GB of Thermaltake Toughram RGB (DDR4-3200) ram in dual channel mode.
All tests were conducted at turbo clock speeds at a resolution of 1920×1080. High or Ultra settings enabled.
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750G (Renoir) @ 3.6GHz / Boost @ 4.4GHz |
| Cooling | Noctua NH-D15 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B550M DS3H |
| Ram | 16GB of Thermaltake Toughram RGB (DDR4-3200) |
| XMP profiles | Yes |
| SSD/HDD | Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen4 500GB SSD (PCIE Gen4x4) |
| PSU | Thermaltake ToughPower 750W |
| VGA card | Onboard Radeon Graphics (8 GPU cores) |
| Drivers | Latest Radeon Software Adrenalin |
| OS | Windows 10 |
We didn’t use a discrete graphics card during our tests, but instead we enabled the onboard Radeon graphics and changed the UMA frame buffer to a maximum of 2GB.
AIDA64 Info
CPU-Z Info
Load Temps
Load temperatures reached a high of around 71 degrees Celsius, which is surprisingly low. I guess low TDP of only 65W is one of the reasons why. Generally, the whole system ran very cool.
Even the load temperatures for the onboard GPU were surprisingly low, reaching a high of only 57 degrees!
Benchmarks (Part 1)
I’ll let the numbers and scores do all the talking …
PCMark 10
PCMark 10 is the latest in our series of industry standard PC benchmarks. Updated for Windows 10 with new and improved workloads, PCMark 10 is also faster and easier to use. PCMark 10 features a comprehensive set of tests that cover the wide variety of tasks performed in the modern workplace. With express, extended, and custom run options to suit your needs, PCMark 10 is the complete PC benchmark for the modern office and an ideal choice for organizations that buy PCs in high volumes.
PassMark 9
Fast, easy to use, PC speed testing and benchmarking. PassMark PerformanceTest allows you to objectively benchmark a PC using a variety of different speed tests and compare the results to other computers.
Time Spy
3DMark Time Spy is a new DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spy is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built “the right way” from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, which supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal test for benchmarking the latest graphics cards.
Firestrike
Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for today’s high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today.
Benchmarks (Part 2)
AIDA64 CPU Queen
AIDA64 CPU Photoworxx
AIDA64 Memory Test
Cinebench R15
CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software Cinema 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more. CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and OS X).
HyperPi 32M
A simple-to-configure and portable software program that helps you calculate the pi value for a given number of digits and perform overclocking operations on multi-core machines
ATTO Disk Benchmark
ATTO has created a widely-accepted Disk Benchmark freeware software to help measure storage system performance. As one of the top tools utilized in the industry, Disk Benchmark identifies performance in hard drives, solid state drives, RAID arrays as well as the host connection to attached storage.
CrystalDiskMark
CrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software.It measure sequential reads/writes speed,measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed, select test data (Random, 0Fill, 1Fill), provide theme support and Multi-Language support.
GeekBench 5
Geekbench is a cross-platform processor benchmark, with a scoring system that separates single-core and multi-core performance, and workloads that simulate real-world scenarios. The software benchmark is available for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android and iOS.
Verdict and Conclusion
The Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard may look seemingly boring, but I can tell you that what it lack in looks, it certainly makes up for it in terms of features, compatibility and versatility.
The motherboard comes a decent amount of features including, PCIE 4.0 support, HD audio, Gigabyte 8118 gigabit LAN, USB 3.2 and Gen1 , 4 x SATA ports, 1 x PCIE 4.0 x16 steel slot, 1 x PCIE 3.0 x1 slots, 1 x PCIE 4.0 M.2 slot, 1 x PCIE 3.0 M.2 slots for SSDs, and 4 x DIMM slots supporting memory speeds of up to DDR4 4733 (O.C.).
The B550M DS3H’s micro ATX form factor, along with all the above features, makes it an ideal motherboard for gamers, system builders or home theatre enthusiasts.
Overall, the performance was pretty decent and I think it’s more than acceptable, thanks to our nippy Ryzen 7 PRO 4650G with its 8 cores/16 threads.
During our benchmarks, we got some decent scores including a Cinebench score of 2,019, and a PCMark 10 score of 5,649. For 3DMark Timespy and Firestrike, we got scores of 1,563 and 4,020 respectively, and finally for Geekbench 5 single core and multi-core scores, we got 1,211 and 8,224 respectively. All-in-all, I’m pretty happy with the results considering we’re using the onboard Radeon Graphics with 2GB UMA frame buffer.
There’s a couple of things I need to point out, and that is the B550M DS3H is NOT compatible with Ryzen 5 3400G or Ryzen 3 3200G (Picasso) processors, which I think is a real set back. You can check out the CPU compatibility list here. Also, the lack of M.2 heat spreaders, as well as the small heatsinks for the chipset/VRMs/Mosfets. They could have included some nicer looking ones. The lack of an I/O hood may not be vitally important, but it does add some decent aesthetics to the motherboard. And finally, the DVI-out connector … do people still use them anymore? A Displayport would have been a better option.
You can buy the Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard for around USD $95 from Amazon – https://amzn.to/33vcszE. At this price, it’s definitely worth considering if you’re after a B550 micro ATX motherboard that can used with all 3rd gen Ryzen processors (Matisse or Renoir).
Final Words:
So in conclusion, the Gigabyte B550M DS3H motherboard has enough advantages over its disadvantages … but only just. It does offer decent performance with a good amount of features, making it an ideal motherboard for gamers, system builders or home theatre enthusiasts. However, you need to make sure you’re using only 3rd Gen Ryzen processors (Matisse or Renoir) with this motherboard.
Check out the CPU compatibility list here.
Related articles taken from Funky Kit
- ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax Motherboard Review
- AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750G (Renoir) Processor Review
- ASRock B550 Extreme4 Motherboard Review
- ASRock B550M Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock B550 Taichi Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X Motherboard Review