Gigabyte Announces the B650E AORUS PRO X with USB4

[Minus Infinity]

This late in the game why wouldn't you wait for B850E unless they aren't coming out for another year.

 

[Prima.Vera]

So you need a dedicated sound card also, since there is only the crappy stereo port. Also 1 PCIE slot is x5, one is x4 and one is x3 ??

 

[Chaitanya]

So you need a dedicated sound card also, since there is only the crappy stereo port. Also 1 PCIE slot is x5, one is x4 and one is x3 ??

Both Gigabyte and either Asrock or MSI or Asus(only handful of boards unlike GB) have abondened onboard audio(ideally they will just remove that chip and provide a PCIe Slot for add-in card) on their latest generation boards. Atleast that board offer 3 PCIe slots unlike their flagship Z790 board.

Edit: Checked and its Asrock who has started to remove multi-channel audio outputs along with Gigabyte.

 

[JWNoctis]

So you need a dedicated sound card also, since there is only the crappy stereo port. Also 1 PCIE slot is x5, one is x4 and one is x3 ??

Par the course for a B650(E) board. Seems this one focused on USB4 connectivity by dedicating 4 lanes of PCIe from the processor, otherwise used for the second processor (i.e. marginally better-performing) M.2 slot, to this port.

The PCIe 4.0 x4 port would also become unusable, if the corresponding M.2 slot is occupied. Some other boards I've seen would let you split the same lanes x2/x2 between these two, enabling you to use both at the same time. Albeit it was located sufficiently far away from the x16 slot that no graphic card, even one with an absolutely preposterous quad slot cooling solution, should end up blocking it.

The PCIe 3.0 x2 port is wider than some others would offer, by doing away with the additional SATA adapter some would integrate into the motherboard, which takes a x1 lane. Why is it not 4.0 I'm not sure. 2.5G LAN and WiFi 7 only took 3.0 and it's configured by x4 block, maybe?

At least the integrated sound appears isolated and has the customary golden caps.

BTW I loved those diagrams earlier in the thread. If only more motherboard manufacturers provided them.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Bios chips sits right under the M2C slot and where SSD controller will be. Depending on the SSD it can cause heat damage to the BIOS chip in long run.

Unlikely, as the controller chip is usually on the top side of the M.2 drive, but point taken.

Why? Since when has proprietary connector become a good thing? Though I guess it would work, if the stock antenna is sufficient.

It's not, Asus and I think MSI has already had it on some of their higher-end boards.

I suppose it does work better than SMA connectors merely provisioned with a pair of walkie-talkie antennae that either stick out at weird angles, or get in the way of every other port on the I/O panel, and either way blocked by the case if your WiFi router is located somewhere outside the rear 180 degrees of it.

It does "work better" in the sense that it's easier to install the antennas, whereas many consumer users don't screw on the SMA connectors properly, which can lead to damage WiFi cards and obviously terrible or no signal.
It's also a single connector. There are no pictures of the actual antenna though.

This late in the game why wouldn't you wait for B850E unless they aren't coming out for another year.

As I already mentioned, there won't be any major changes to the chipset.

So you need a dedicated sound card also, since there is only the crappy stereo port. Also 1 PCIE slot is x5, one is x4 and one is x3 ??

You can combine the front panel outputs with the rear outputs for 5.1-channel audio. Messy wiring though.

Both Gigabyte and either Asrock or MSI or Asus(only handful of boards unlike GB) have abondened onboard audio(ideally they will just remove that chip and provide a PCIe Slot for add-in card) on their latest generation boards. Atleast that board offer 3 PCIe slots unlike their flagship Z790 board.

Edit: Checked and its Asrock who has started to remove multi-channel audio outputs along with Gigabyte.

Onboard audio connects directly to the chipset and doesn't use up any PCIe lanes. What Gigabyte did with some high-end boards was to include a USB DAC. Friend of mine gave me one and it's actually pretty good.

ESSential USB DAC Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

Why is it not 4.0 I'm not sure. 2.5G LAN and WiFi 7 only took 3.0 and it's configured by x4 block, maybe?

This should help explain why.

AMD Zen 4 & Socket AM5 Explained: PCIe Lanes, Chipsets, Connectivity

There has been a fair bit of confusion about AMD's upcoming AM5 platform when it comes to connectivity and we're going to break things down and explain what the difference is between the B650 and X670 boards. We're also going to cover the processor connectivity, since that's an integral part of...

www.techpowerup.com

The chipset has four PCIe 3.0 lanes that are muxed with SATA. That said, there seem to be two missing PCIe 4.0 lanes.
If you check the board block diagram you'll see that the Ethernet and WiFi is connected to the PCIe 4.0 bus.

 

[JWNoctis]

It's not, Asus and I think MSI has already had it on some of their higher-end boards.

It does "work better" in the sense that it's easier to install the antennas, whereas many consumer users don't screw on the SMA connectors properly, which can lead to damage WiFi cards and obviously terrible or no signal.
It's also a single connector. There are no pictures of the actual antenna though.
View attachment 349436



The chipset has four PCIe 3.0 lanes that are muxed with SATA. That said, there seem to be two missing PCIe 4.0 lanes.
If you check the board block diagram you'll see that the Ethernet and WiFi is connected to the PCIe 4.0 bus.

Point taken. It's only today that I found out SMA connectors technically have a torque requirement that could be difficult to reach with fingers alone. 0.3 to 0.6 N*m for copper ones, to be specific. I've been doing it all wrong.

I think it's likely that these two PCIe 3.0 lanes are the two missing PCIe 4.0 lanes, downgraded, as I see no mention of the SATA ports and that slot blocking each other out of use, like one of the M.2 slots does with the 4.0 x4 slot above. For what reason, I cannot imagine.

 

[TheLostSwede]

On the topic of the "new" chipsets from AMD (which TPU covered back in February)

Gigabyte confirms new B840 chipset: no CPU OC support and no PCIe Gen5 - VideoCardz.com

AMD B840 chipset replaces the cheaper B650 series Gigabyte leak has confirmed a new chipset for the upcoming AM5 Ryzen CPUs. AMD will introduce at least four new chipsets for its AM5-based CPUs. The X670E and X670 chipsets will be succeeded by the X870E and X870, respectively. The Extreme...

videocardz.com

Also, there's a pic of the new antenna.

AORUS X870 leak confirms Ryzen 9 9950X Zen5 flagship CPU - VideoCardz.com

AORUS X870 and Ryzen 9000 details leaked ahead of launch The new motherboard for next-generation AMD Ryzen CPUs. It appears that Gigabyte has now confirmed that the new AM5 motherboards will indeed carry X870. This means AMD will be skipping the X770 series for its new generation of...

videocardz.com

 

[rv8000]

On the topic of the "new" chipsets from AMD (which TPU covered back in February)
View attachment 349467

Gigabyte confirms new B840 chipset: no CPU OC support and no PCIe Gen5 - VideoCardz.com

AMD B840 chipset replaces the cheaper B650 series Gigabyte leak has confirmed a new chipset for the upcoming AM5 Ryzen CPUs. AMD will introduce at least four new chipsets for its AM5-based CPUs. The X670E and X670 chipsets will be succeeded by the X870E and X870, respectively. The Extreme...

videocardz.com

More segmentation, not sure this will be a welcome move. I wonder how they’ll end up pricing these in comparison to the 600 series boards.

 

[TheLostSwede]

More segmentation, not sure this will be a welcome move. I wonder how they’ll end up pricing these in comparison to the 600 series boards.

Add another $25 for USB4? That's my guess.
Pretty much everything else remains the same, except maybe some overall PCB refinements, but all of the changes that matter are inside the CPU.

 

[A Computer Guy]

More segmentation, not sure this will be a welcome move. I wonder how they’ll end up pricing these in comparison to the 600 series boards.

Earlier in the week I thought I read somewhere that AM5 EPYC chips won't be supported on non-Server boards so if I want an AM5 EPYC chip I'm stuck to server boards with crappy I/O and not enough PCIe lanes for expansion. Why so difficult to allow consumer boards that are already enabled for AM5 PRO CPU's to use EPYC CPU's too?

 

[Prima.Vera]

You can combine the front panel outputs with the rear outputs for 5.1-channel audio. Messy wiring though.

Wait. What?!

 

[trsttte]

Both Gigabyte and either Asrock or MSI or Asus(only handful of boards unlike GB) have abondened onboard audio(ideally they will just remove that chip and provide a PCIe Slot for add-in card) on their latest generation boards. Atleast that board offer 3 PCIe slots unlike their flagship Z790 board.

Edit: Checked and its Asrock who has started to remove multi-channel audio outputs along with Gigabyte.

This will be an unpopular opinion but I'd say good, those onboard audio jacks and the chips to support them are always pretty crappy and the cheap speaker systems that support them are even worse. If you want to have a real 5.1 setup in all likehood you're either jumping up to a high end receiver or a soundbar with some satellite in the back, both of which are unlikey to support and/or will have better ways to connect the computer. If you're that into surround audio you'll also be better served by a better audio interface instead of the cheap decoder onboard.

Having those 5 or 6 silly audio jacks in the back of the motherboard it's something that we've been used but replacing them with something better and more usefull is a bit overdue.

BTW I loved those diagrams earlier in the thread. If only more motherboard manufacturers provided them.

Indeed, ASUS provides them sometimes as well but I think Gigabyte is the most consistent doing so.

Onboard audio connects directly to the chipset and doesn't use up any PCIe lanes. What Gigabyte did with some high-end boards was to include a USB DAC. Friend of mine gave me one and it's actually pretty good.

Asus had a board with a USB-C audio port in the and included a cable for it as well, don't know if was a real dac or one of those audio over usb-c tricks like a lot of phones use.

On the topic of the "new" chipsets from AMD (which TPU covered back in February)
View attachment 349467

Gigabyte confirms new B840 chipset: no CPU OC support and no PCIe Gen5 - VideoCardz.com

AMD B840 chipset replaces the cheaper B650 series Gigabyte leak has confirmed a new chipset for the upcoming AM5 Ryzen CPUs. AMD will introduce at least four new chipsets for its AM5-based CPUs. The X670E and X670 chipsets will be succeeded by the X870E and X870, respectively. The Extreme...

videocardz.com

What's prom19, a cutdown prom21? Restricting overclock like the A series won't go down well but turning B650E into B850 would be a welcome change. As product segmentation goes I kind like this move, with B850 we can get a B650E with pcie5.0 and all that without paying for USB4 that has very limited applications in a desktop. And with X870 you get a X670 without the silly dual chipsets. Not terrible imo

 

[TheLostSwede]

What's prom19, a cutdown prom21? Restricting overclock like the A series won't go down well but turning B650E into B850 would be a welcome change. As product segmentation goes I kind like this move, with B850 we can get a B650E with pcie5.0 and all that without paying for USB4 that has very limited applications in a desktop. And with X870 you get a X670 without the silly dual chipsets. Not terrible imo

It's known as the A620 today. I'm guessing they'll enable 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 support on the B840 though.

Wait. What?!

You didn't know this?

 

[Chaitanya]

This will be an unpopular opinion but I'd say good, those onboard audio jacks and the chips to support them are always pretty crappy and the cheap speaker systems that support them are even worse. If you want to have a real 5.1 setup in all likehood you're either jumping up to a high end receiver or a soundbar with some satellite in the back, both of which are unlikey to support and/or will have better ways to connect the computer. If you're that into surround audio you'll also be better served by a better audio interface instead of the cheap decoder onboard.

Having those 5 or 6 silly audio jacks in the back of the motherboard it's something that we've been used but replacing them with something better and more usefull is a bit overdue.

Onboard audio always was quite crappy and with advent of RTX cards its gotten a lot worse. I am currently using a Creative sound card with my headphones and speakers(Blaupunkt soundbar) which is miles better than crappy Realtek onboard audio. Hardware sound needs to comeback(in much better way than what we had previously).

 

[ARF]

Onboard audio always was quite crappy

My motherboard's Realtek® ALC1200 Codec is actually really good, and I'm quite happy with it - high-resolution sound of exceptional quality with the Superlux headphones.

But my motherboard is normal, not like that gigabyte crapshow. Meh!