Here are the first pictures of an assortment of five premium AMD B550 chipset motherboards by five different manufacturers. With PCI-Express gen 4.0 (where it matters), CPU+memory overclocking, and multi-GPU being enabled for the B550, and more importantly, the chipset not needing any fan-heatsink, the B550 could be an important chipset for AMD in the battle to come against the 10th generation Core processor and Intel B460 chipset.

We begin with the MSI MPG B550 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi, the company's most premium B550 offering, picking up the mantle from the immensely successful B450-based predecessor. The MSI board offers a single PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, that's reinforced, one M.2 PCIe gen 4.0 x4 slot, a second M.2 slot that's gen 3.0 x4; and a number of x1 slots. The board uses a 14-phase CPU VRM to support CPU overclocking. Connectivity includes 802.11ax WLAN, 1 GbE wired networking, a premium ALC1220-based AudioBoost solution, and heatsinks over both M.2 slots. As a Carbon, it features plenty of RGB LED embellishments.

Earlier this week, a small selection of MSI's upcoming socket LGA1200 motherboards based on Intel Z490 chipset were leaked to the web, along with pricing for the entire series. The company posted teaser pictures of one of the motherboard models that was missing from that picture leak - the Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon, which MSI refers to as the "next Carbon." The pictures suggest a premium-looking ATX motherboard with an elaborate PCH heatsink that extends into heatsinks for 2-3 M.2 slots; studded with RGB LEDs, and an elaborate rear I/O shroud that extends into the CPU VRM heatsink, with more LED embellishments. The Gaming Pro Carbon is still slotted in the company's MPG (MSI Performance Gaming) family, and positioned a notch above the MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi, and below the MEG Z490 Unify.

A large selection of socket LGA1200 motherboards by MSI, based on Intel Z490 chipset, was leaked to the web. MSI is bringing at least 10 motherboard models based on the Z490, with prices starting around 200€ (likely inclusive of taxes). It looks like socket LGA1200 motherboards will be significantly pricier than the previous-generation, owing to steeper CPU VRM requirements, or Intel merely aligning its partners to march AMD X570 chipset in average motherboard pricing. The lineup begins with the Z490-A Pro at 200€. The Z490 Gaming Plus and Z490 Tomahawk are allegedly priced at 210€ and 240€, respectively. The Z490M Gaming Edge WiFi, Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi, and Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon go for 250€, 250€ and 330€, respectively. The premium MEG lineup includes the Z490I Unify at 330€, its ATX sibling, the Z490 Unify at 360€, the Z490 Ace at 520€, and the crown jewel, the Z490 GODLIKE, at a whopping 960€, according to pricing leaked by momomo_us.

Komachi Ensaka posted pictures of four motherboard models. Besides all the modern connectivity options you could possibly want, including Thunderbolt, 10 GbE, USB 3.2 x2 (20 Gbps), 802.11ax WLAN, and five M.2 slots, the MEG Z490 GODLIKE appears to have an HEDT-like 18-phase VRM that pulls power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, and enough overclocking muscle to try and justify its near-four-figure price. The MPG Z490M Gaming Edge WiFi forms the "mid-range" of the lineup, covering all the bases for serious gaming PC builds with any of the upcoming 10th generation Core LGA1200 processors. The MPG Z490 Gaming Plus is a fascinating board design, in that it finally sheds the red+black color scheme of its predecessors, trading it with a solid black color scheme with just a touch of RGB LEDs. It covers all the essentials that the platform has to offer. Lastly, there's the Z490-A Pro, the "entry level product that still appears to have a beefy VRM and platform essentials.

MSI, a world-leading motherboard manufacturer, proudly introduces two new B450 MAX motherboards, B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI and B450M BAZOOKA MAX WIFI. For the 3rd Gen Ryzen processors, the new MAX motherboards are optimized with best compatibility in every aspects. These two new MAX motherboards can satisfy more gamers and users.

As the most iconic motherboard for mainstream gamers, this time GAMING PRO CARBON also includes a MAX version for stylish gamers to perfectly match with 3rd Gen Ryzen processors. With millions colors and 17 LED effects, Mystic Light offers customization options for ever-changing RGB experience. B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI is also equipped with USB 3.2 Gen2 solution with up to 10 Gbps transfer speed. Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 3 provides stable and high quality sound effects with premium components. Furthermore, concerning the higher performance-based 3rd Gen Ryzen processors, B450 GAMING PRO CARBON MAX WIFI includes Extended Heatsink Design and M.2 Shield to ensure better heat dissipation effects and lower temperature for CPUs and M.2 devices. Flash BIOS Button becomes more and more important and gives more convenience for BIOS updates.

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With motherboard vendors going big on the AMD "Valhalla" platform (a combination of 3rd generation Ryzen processor and AMD X570 chipset), we got to see MSI pull out every single high-end motherboard label it has, including MEG GODLIKE and MEG Creation. We sneaked into the MSI booth to take some snaps of the other X570 boards, including a close-up of the MEG X570 Ace, and three other MPG series boards. The MEG X570 Ace is largely carved out of the MEG X570 GODLIKE with a little toning down of the style and features. This is still a formidable board built for serious manual overclocking. We also get the sense that MSI is replacing its "Gaming M7" moniker with MEG Ace in its product stack, as we couldn't find an "X570 Gaming M7" anywhere.

With the MEG GODLIKE and MEG Creation expected to be priced north of $300, the MEG X570 Ace could be priced around the $260-mark. Positioned below it around $200-220, is the MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon. This board offers everything you need to build a super high-end rig where the focus is on gaming. It has decent CPU overclocking chops, too. The onboard audio and networking features are premium, and we expect MSI to deploy 802.11ax Wi-Fi. The new MPG X570 Gaming Edge is a lighter variant of the Gaming Pro Carbon, and is largely based on the same PCB. If you don't care all that much about board design, the MPG Gaming Edge is the way to go, with its roughly-$180 price. The MPG X570 Gaming Plus is a cost-effective product, and has all of the essentials gamers need for this platform. It is expected to go for around $150.

The folks over at Videocardz have treated us to a leak on MSI's upcoming X570 motherboards. The company's mid-tier MPG motherboards usually include the likes of the Gaming Carbon and Gaming Plus motherboards, and this round of motherboard development is no different. Both motherboards join leaked designs from other brands that showed active cooling being mounted on top of the chipset, a throwback to another era.

The leaked Gaming Plus is the lower-tier of the two leaked solutions of today, cutting on reinforcements on some expansion ports (such as the PCIe 16x slot). The Gaming Pro Carbon features a fancier design (with RGB lighting); the chipset hroud also serves as cooling for M.2 slots you can populate underneath (or so it seems). The Gaming Pro Carbon has more attention to detail on the placement of connectors such as SATA, and seems to have a slight advantage on the overall motherboard power delivery circuits, but these are just being eyeballed. One thing we can see is that while the Gaming Pro Carbon features MSI's Audio Boost feature, the Gaming Plus doesn't. Expect more details to be available closer to launch.