Gigabyte B650E AORUS Master

[Bwaze]

Budget friendly?

Is this a satire site now?

B650 were suppised to launch at $125, as stated by Lisa Su.

Vader replies, threateningly, “I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further?”

Also, this:

It's hard to be enthusiastic about a tech company that deleted their own forums.

Truth be told, they weren't really involved in them for years, so topics mostly revolved about how nobody there listens to customers, and that bugs don't ever ger repaired.

After the ransomware hack in 2021 company really took a nosedive, trailing behind competitors in bios revisions. And their software does look like abandonware.

I bought Gigabyte X570 Aorous Elite, like many others - it was a bit cheaper than competition with the same specs. Was it worth it? No, I don't think it was.

 

[blackie]

Please include IDLE power consumption measurement of the whole PC (including Motherboard & RAM) when testing MB.
We all know IDLE consumption of Ryzen CPU package is good, but we don't know how bad is the consumption of the whole Ryzen 7000 PC.
In several tests of X670 boards IDLE power was measured at 75-95 Watts which is too high for PC doing nothing.
On older generations (Intel and AMD) with balanced windows power profile idle goes down below 50 Watts.
I was eager to see how much has the situation improved with B650E motherboard but you don't measure it. Thank you in advance

 

[ir_cow]

Please include IDLE power consumption measurement of the whole PC (including Motherboard & RAM) when testing MB.

This won't help anyone unless they have the exact same setup.

On 1st page table with specs, there is nothing about Wi-Fi. Can you please update it with information about wi-fi module name ?

I finally got around to taking it apart again. Its Mediatek Inc - Model: MT7922A22M. I'm guessing why Gigabyte didn't list it was because now it can change without having to specify. Just have to be Wi-Fi 6E.

 

[blackie]

I was under impression that the testing setup consists of the stable set of components so if the variable is a motherboard the result should be comparable between motherboards and indicate it's consumption. But it's your testing methodology, was only suggestion.
For me it's a very important test in these times of energy crisis.

 

[ir_cow]

I was under impression that the testing setup consists of the stable set of components so if the variable is a motherboard the result should be comparable between motherboards and indicate it's consumption. But it's your testing methodology, was only suggestion.
For me it's a very important test in these times of energy crisis.

I guess I should explain better. What I mean by not being helpful is that a waterpump adds power, so do fans, video card, etc. Unless you have the same setup, those idle numbers are not going to be helpful. It is possible to properly set up a test by using the basics by using iGPU and powering the watercooling stuff with a second power supply. I just do not see it to be that important compared to the extra time it would take to setup properly. A quick 1-time read isn't the issue and I can give you a number right now if you like. The problem is some validation to the procedure needs to be established. Otherwise how can the results be considered accurate and repeatable? This takes some time that could be spent elsewhere.

Edit: X670E Master is sitting at 80watt idle. Useless number out of context.

A serious question for you. Is your livelihood dependent on a low power bill? Another way to put it; Is a high power bill going to cause you to starve to death? If yes, I will make a serious effort to include this information in future reviews.

 

[blackie]

You don't need to be offensive. I'm not going to starve, but thank you for your concern.
Maybe I am minority, but I don't like my IT infrastructure to eat 300 Watts in idle so I try to choose my devices wisely.
So my rule is that routers, PCs, notebooks, SBCs and smart-home gateways around the house must be sensible in energy consumption.
I plan to upgrade my PC after many years and don't like the way PC industry is going regarding power.
Here in Europe we are more energy conscious and now preparing to spare as much energy as possible.
Releasing new products with significantly increased idle power consumption is the wrong way IMO. But most of reviewers are silent and don't comment this.
I was just asking you to include this measurement because it seems that now in idle MB is eating way more energy than CPU.
You can say it's too much work for you and I say OK, there are other sites that provide such measurement.

 

[ir_cow]

You can say it's too much work for you and I say OK, there are other sites that provide such measurement.

You are missing the point. "too much work" isn't the issue once its setup correctly to be repeatable. I just do not see the benefit of adding such metrics as explained previously. Other sites do add this, but the question is, how accurate is it? Does your line up with it? Do they explain exactly how its measured, or what is attached to the wall-meter. I've seen some sites that include the monitor in the readings lol. The further away you get from strictly the motherboard power draw, the more abstract it becomes. It loses it meaning and just a another metric that "looks good for the site", but actual is just fluff.

 

[Tek-Check]

On 1st page table with specs, there is nothing about Wi-Fi. Can you please update it with information about wi-fi module name ?

I finally got around to taking it apart again. Its Mediatek Inc - Model: MT7922A22M. I'm guessing why Gigabyte didn't list it was because now it can change without having to specify. Just have to be Wi-Fi 6E.

Gigabyte does list this chip on their website. Essentially, there are two AMD/MT WiFi 6E chips for AM5 motherboards and laptops:
RZ608 - 1.2 Gbps, 80 Mhz channels (M.2 2230)
RZ616 - 2.4 Gbps, 160 MHz channels (M.2 2230 and M.2 1216)

 

[blackie]

I take your point. But to be understood properly, I care little about the absolute values of the measurement and understand it has no sense comparing such values between different websites with different test beds. This time I was surprised because X670E results indicate quite significant increase of idle power consumption COMPARED to older platforms.
The important information for me is only the delta value (difference) in comparison to other tested models/platforms on the same website and same/similar testing setup (CPU, RAM, PSU, DGPU, Mouse+Keyboard).
I understand it's not easy to maintain stable testing setup just for 1 generation but it would be useful to find a way to compare efficiency between different MB models.
Idle CPU package consumption measurement does not help me to choose the more efficient motherboard if it's important parameter for me. Thanks & peace

 

[iGigaFlop2]

Picked the board up with 6000mhz ddr5 and a 7950X3d. It might be a b series but it had everything I wanted on it and is nicer than some of the x670 boards. I wanted gen 5 support, at least 3 nvme slots, decent vrm setup and I like the way it looked. Also I always get a board with a code readout and a bios flash button so no cpu is needed to flash it. And I really like the backplate makes it fill more sturdy and premium. Yea I know a board $100 less or more would’ve worked but I’m just glad I didn’t spend $500+. The 7950x3d is crazy efficient can’t believe it stays that close to a 7950x in productivity benchmarks with way less power draw and even beating it in some.

 

[Chrispy_]

Picked the board up with 6000mhz ddr5 and a 7950X3d. It might be a b series but it had everything I wanted on it and is nicer than some of the x670 boards. I wanted gen 5 support, at least 3 nvme slots, decent vrm setup and I like the way it looked. Also I always get a board with a code readout and a bios flash button so no cpu is needed to flash it. And I really like the backplate makes it fill more sturdy and premium. Yea I know a board $100 less or more would’ve worked but I’m just glad I didn’t spend $500+. The 7950x3d is crazy efficient can’t believe it stays that close to a 7950x in productivity benchmarks with way less power draw and even beating it in some.

Good luck!

DDR5-6000 with AM5 is still very much a gamble. You have a decent chance if you use only two single-rank DIMMs but it depends a lot on the board, the BIOS version, the RAM itself, and how well that particular kit has been tuned by the motherboard vendor.

Based on a few different review sites, Gigabyte do seem to have many of the better or best options for RAM tuning on B650 so your odds of enabling the DDR5-6000 XMP settings and getting a stable system are better than other vendors.

 

[ir_cow]

Based on a few different review sites, Gigabyte do seem to have many of the better or best options for RAM tuning on B650 so your odds of enabling the DDR5-6000 XMP settings and getting a stable system are better than other vendors.

I'm using the Gigabyte X670E Master for all the AMD memory benchmarks. Not many MBs can run 4x32GB at 4800

 

[Mussels]

I'm using the Gigabyte X670E Master for all the AMD memory benchmarks. Not many MBs can run 4x32GB at 4800

AMD have finally begun listing supported RAM configs on the CPU pages to help with consumer confusion on this stuff

AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X Desktop Processors | AMD

Getting from 3600 to 4800 is an achievement not many boards/CPU's will reach, people still haven't learned more RAM = slower speeds

 

[ir_cow]

@Mussels that's where I got it from originally. Was it not always on the CPU product page?

I ask because I can't keep track. Too many reviewer guides, etc that maybe it wasn't from the product page like I remember.

 

[Mussels]

@Mussels that's where I got it from originally. Was it not always on the CPU product page?

7000 series i think it was, but it's only recently been added to the older CPU's - i've seen it creeping in over time with more and more models showing up


The 5800x3D and 3400g have it listed, but the 5800x and 3700x don't
I just wasn't aware what order they started adding them in, and it's still not common knowledge - even in reviews

 

[hkpolice2]

Seems like this board had problems with not being able to run vdimm higher than 1.43v and also had batches of boards that would crash under AVX loads.

I'm wondering if the newest F8d BIOS has fixed all major issues as it's the only B650E board with 4x pcie5 m2 slots.

 

[ir_cow]

Seems like this board had problems with not being able to run vdimm higher than 1.43v and also had batches of boards that would crash under AVX loads.

I'm wondering if the newest F8d BIOS has fixed all major issues as it's the only B650E board with 4x pcie5 m2 slots.

DRAM voltage has since been fixed. I think the "enable high voltage option" was just missing. It vanished in the X670E Master too at one point, came back in a follow-up BIOS.

Now the SoC voltage is lowered / max of 1.3 and the DRAM voltage is no longer tied to it by default. That is why above 1.43v was missing in the first place.

What other issues did it have?

 

[hkpolice2]

DRAM voltage has since been fixed. I think the "enable high voltage option" was just missing. It vanished in the X670E Master too at one point, came back in a follow-up BIOS.

Now the SoC voltage is lowered / max of 1.3 and the DRAM voltage is no longer tied to it by default. That is why above 1.43v was missing in the first place.

What other issues did it have?

Awesome, good to hear!

Buildzoid says that the Aorus master boards have an issue with vdroop undershoot that is bios related (around 20min mark)

 

[Mussels]

Buildzoid says that the Aorus master boards have an issue with vdroop undershoot that is bios related (around 20min mark)

This might explain why they all overvolt out of the box (1.35 DDR4 comes out as 1.40v in software readings on AM4)

 

[ir_cow]

Awesome, good to hear!

Buildzoid says that the Aorus master boards have an issue with vdroop undershoot that is bios related (around 20min mark)

He is just saying the way Gigabyte & AMD specifications are setup, the high LLC messes with static voltage overclocking. If you plan on a static OC, just play with the LCC and see what works for you. For the X670E Master, I just leave it on auto and its fine for me. I actually like GB way of handling the vdroop. ASUS is too much and requires a ton of tinkering to get it just right. But of course this is my opinion and Buildzoid has his own as well.

It is kinda hard to follow what he is saying overall, but Buildzoid complaint seems to be 60 mV isn't enough (0.06V) for overclocking. I would argue that is a good number. That is saying if you are static at 1.3v, it would drop to 1.24 under load. Which is funny because I do exactly that for my static OC. Its like 1.25~, but close enough.

This might explain why they all overvolt out of the box (1.35 DDR4 comes out as 1.40v in software readings on AM4)

Well a MB overvolting DRAM is bad, it shouldn't be doing that.