Unlocking the Power: ASRock B550M Steel Legend Micro ATX Motherboard Review

Introduction: ASRock B550M Steel Legend

The ASRock B550M Steel Legend Micro ATX Motherboard is a true legend in the realm of motherboards, designed to support 3rd Gen AMD AM4 Ryzen processors and future AMD Ryzen processors. In this review, we delve into the key features and specifications that make the Steel Legend series a top choice for daily users and mainstream enthusiasts.

Robust Power Delivery: 10 Power Phase Design, Dr. MOS

At the heart of the ASRock B550M Steel Legend is a robust 10 Power Phase Design with Dr. MOS, offering optimized power delivery for synchronous buck-set down voltage applications. This intelligent solution delivers higher current for each phase, resulting in improved thermal performance and superior overall motherboard efficiency.

Enhanced Vcore Voltage: Premium 60A Power Choke

ASRock B550M Steel Legend’s premium 60A power chokes, compared to traditional counterparts, significantly enhance the saturation current, providing improved Vcore voltage to the motherboard. This upgrade ensures stable and reliable performance for demanding tasks and overclocking.

Advanced Connectivity: Dragon 2.5G LAN

The ASRock B550M Steel Legend features Dragon 2.5G LAN, an intelligent 2.5Gb/s LAN platform built for maximum networking performance. With up to 2.5 times the bandwidth of standard gigabit Ethernet, users can enjoy faster and uncompromised connectivity for gaming, file transfers, and high-quality streaming media.

Immersive Audio Experience: Nahimic Audio

Nahimic Audio takes your listening experience to the next level, whether you’re using headphones, a headset, external or internal speakers. Offering vibrant and rich details, Nahimic Audio ensures an engaging and immersive audio experience for users.

Specifications of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

Unique Feature

ASRock USB 3.2 Gen2

– 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

– XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink

– Premium 60A Power Choke

– 50A Dr.MOS

– Nichicon 12K Black Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)

– I/O Armor

– Matte Black PCB

– High Density Glass Fabric PCB

– 2oz Copper PCB

2.5G LAN

ASRock Steel Slot Gen4

ASRock Full Coverage M.2 Heatsink

ASRock Hyper M.2 (PCIe Gen4x4)

ASRock POST Status Checker (PSC)

ASRock Full Spike Protection (for all USB, Audio, LAN Ports)

ASRock Live Update & APP Shop

CPU of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

Supports 3rd Gen AMD AM4 Ryzen / future AMD Ryzen Processors

Digi Power design

10 Power Phase design

*Not compatible with AMD Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G.

Chipset

AMD B550

Memory

Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology

4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots

AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse) support DDR4 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 Ryzen series APUs support DDR4 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: 128GB

Supports Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

15µ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

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, 1.05V_PROM_S5, 2.5V_PROM, 1.8VSB, VDDP Voltage Multi-adjustment

Graphics of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

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

Audio of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1200 Audio Codec)

Premium Blu-ray Audio support

Supports Surge Protection

PCB Isolate Shielding

Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel

Gold Audio Jacks

Nahimic Audio

LAN

2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s

Dragon RTL8125BG

Supports Dragon 2.5G LAN Software

Smart Auto Adjust Bandwidth Control

Visual User Friendly UI

Visual Network Usage Statistics

Optimized Default Setting for Game, Browser, and Streaming Modes

User Customized Priority Control

Supports Wake-On-LAN

Supports Lightning/ESD Protection

Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az

Supports PXE

Slots

AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse)

– 2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1: Gen4x16 mode; PCIE3: Gen3 x4 mode)

AMD Ryzen series APUs

– 2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1: Gen3x16 mode; PCIE3: Gen3 x4 mode)

1 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slot

Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX and CrossFireX

15µ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)

1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports type 2230 WiFi/BT module

Storage of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

6 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 M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x2 (16 Gb/s)

Connector

1 x SPI TPM Header

1 x Power LED and Speaker Header

2 x RGB LED Headers

2 x Addressable LED Headers

1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)

1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)

4 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)

1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)

1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)

1 x 4 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)

1 x Front Panel Audio Connector

2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)

2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)

Rear Panel I/O

2 x Antenna Mounting Points

1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port

1 x HDMI Port

1 x DisplayPort 1.4

1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port

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 (ASMedia ASM1074 hub) (Supports ESD Protection)

2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)

1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)

1 x Clear CMOS Button

HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

Software and UEFI

Software

– ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning)

– ASRock Polychrome SYNC

UEFI

– ASRock Full HD UEFI

– ASRock Instant Flash

Support CD

Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar

Accessories of ASRock B550M Steel Legend

Quick Installation Guide, Support CD

2 x SATA Data Cables

2 x Screws for M.2 Sockets

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, CPU VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, 1.05V_PROM_S5, 1.8V, VDDP

Form Factor

Micro ATX Form Factor: 9.6-in x 9.6-in, 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm

2oz Copper PCB

OS

Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit

Certifications

FCC, CE

ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)