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BIOSTAR B550M-Silver Motherboard Review | TechPorn

The BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is a relatively budget friendly AMD B550 chipset based motherboard. This is a $150 USD mATX (microATX) model with all the expected standard issued features of the said AM4 platform.

Such features includes the now standard PCIe 4.0 support for both expansion and storage devices, support for the AMD Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and high frequency DDR4 memory kits. Now notable in-house features includes a dedicated row of LED headers, surge protected 2.5GbE LAN, auto overclocking and support for an additional M.2 2230 Wi-Fi card.

Disclosure: BIOSTAR sent the B550M-Silver for the purpose of this review. The brand did not ask me to say anything particular about it so all thoughts and opinion are of my own. I’ve had this motherboard for months so the measurements you’ll see here are way past the product’s FOB (fresh out of the box) state.

Product Page: BIOSTAR B550M-Silver
Price: $150 USD (Amazon)
Release Date: Q3 2020

Technical Specifications

Processor
CPU Support	AMD Ryzen 3rd Gen (Matisse/ Renoir), Ryzen 4th Gen (Vermeer)
Chipset	AMD B550
Socket	AMD AM4
Memory
SDRAM	DDR4 (ECC, Non-ECC)
Slot	4x DIMM
Channel	Dual Channel
Frequency	4400 MHz (OC)
Capacity	128 GB (max)
Graphics
GPU	—
Multi-GPU	AMD CrossFire Technology
Expansion
PCI Express	1X PCIe 4. 0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1x PCIe 3.0
Bifurcation	—
Storage
SATA	6x SATA III
M.2	1x PCIe 4.0 x4, 1x PCIe 3.0 x4
RAID	RAID 0/1/10 (SATA III)
Network
LAN	Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet
WLAN	Add-on via M.2 2230 slot
Bluetooth	—
Audio
DAC	ALC1150
ADC	ALC1150
Amplifier	—
Channel	7.1
Rear IO
USB	2x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4x USB 2.0
eSATA	—
Thunderbolt	—
LAN	RJ-45
Audio	3x 3.5mm
Display	DisplayPort 1. 4, HDMI 2.1, DVI-D
Front IO / Internal
USB	USB 3.2 Gen 1, 4x USB 2.0
SATA	6x SATA III
M.2	3x M.2
Audio	AAFP
Fan	4x 4-Pin
LED	4-Pin RGB, 2x 3-Pin RGB
Dimensions
Length	244mm
Width	244mm
Height	45mm
Weight	—

Packaging and Accessories

BIOSTAR had the B550M-Silver packed inside a standard motherboard packaging. Nothing fancy about it.

The packaging should come with the following items inside:

BIOSTAR B550M-Silver
4x SATA III cable
Driver and software DVD
Back plate
Quick installation guide

Pretty standard scope of delivery we got here. Not whole a lot else going on here.

Design, Build and Connectivity

The BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is, for the lack of better word, a motherboard designed with simplicity in mind – with a bit of edginess in tow. Layout is simple and we’ve got proper heat-sinks for the most important components. This is a microATX motherboard featuring four memory slots and two full size PCIe slots, along with support for three M.2 expansion devices – one of which is dedicated for a Wi-Fi card.

The back shows more about the soldering job involved into making the motherboard. No issue to see here – as with many electronic products designed at Taiwan.

I am not entirely sure about the power phase configuration of the motherboard but it appears it comes with at least 6 power phases plus another one for the memory. We of course have the 8-pin power connector here, the 4-pin fan header and three LED headers.

Internal storage ports are decent enough this side of the board. We have four of the 6 SATA III ports here, an internal USB 3.2 Gen1 header and the 24-pin power connector for the motherboard.

We have the usual assortment of headers down below along with the remaining 4-pin fan, SATA and USB headers. We also get a glimpse of the reinforced full size PCIe slots here.

Rear I/O port configuration is more than adequate – with added support for legacy devices (combo PS/2, DVI-D, USB 2.0). We also have dual SMA terminals here for a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth add-on.

I don’t have much to complain with the B550M-Silver’s design, build quality and layout – yet. Perhaps a nitpick would be the CMOS battery location.

Firmware Interface

BIOSTAR had the B550M-Silver shipped with their firmware interface dubbed as the UEFI BIOS Utility. It comes with two modes like most motherboard interfaces nowadays – EZ and Advanced mode. EZ mode is a simplified UI where the most important options are already laid out for you to get started.

Advanced mode is where the money is at if you want to maximize this motherboard’s potential – especially if we’re going to talk about the Tweaker menu. CPU and memory overclocking could be configured here with ample enough control over the voltage and frequency.

The B550M-Silver also comes with a dedicated menu for fan control. Nothing’s A.I. about this but I appreciated BIOSTAR’s decision to provide full control up to 100% PWM Duty Cycle. Well known motherboard vendors has limitations here for safety reasons but for those who knows what they were doing, this is awesome.

Not sure why a lighting option is called Vivid LED DJ but BIOSTAR added such feature to the plate. Not particularly fond of RGB lighting stuff but you get firmware support for such customization if you wish to use the LED headers.

Aside from the 4:3 screen ratio, a somewhat finicky mouse support and fan profiles saving on their own even if you don’t, I have no other complaints with this board’s UEFI.

Test Setup and Methodology

Our test setup relies on the measurements taken from industry standard benchmark tools and real-world applications. It is important to note that we are testing the review sample after burn-in, with at least 24-hours of uptime. This is done so to negate the FOTB (fresh out the box) state of the DUT (device under test), yielding better benchmarking consistency.

Test System Specifications
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	BIOSTAR B500M-Silver
Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S Redux
Memory	ADATA Premier 2666MHz 16 GB
GPU	GALAX RTX 2060 EX White 6 GB
Storage	Plextor M9PE NVME 512GB
Case	Mechanical Library JXK-K2
PSU	Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 850 W
Display	LG UF680T
OS	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

The DUT is tested with the following configuration from our test system:

UEFI configuration: Default
Windows Power Plan: Balanced

Arithmetic

Pi calculation speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via SuperPI.

Roots calculation speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via WPrime.

No surprise here. The Ryzen 5 3600 equipped BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is the slowest system on the arithmetic benchmarks. You’d see this trend on most benchmarks simply due to the fact that everything else we measured with the same parameters are expensive TOTL products from their categories – respectively.

3D Rendering

Cinema 4D score is measured in Points (pts). This is done via Cinebench R20.

V-Ray 5 score is measured in V-Ray samples (vsamples). This is done via V-Ray 5 Benchmark.

Same trend we got here on the rendering benchmarks. Not a bad result though.

Digital Content Creation

Image editing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via RealBench and its built-in GIMP benchmark.

Video encoding speed is measured in Seconds (s).This is done via RealBench and its built-in HandBrake benchmark.

While the Core i5-12600KF is a newer processor and is paired with a faster DDR4 kit, the Ryzen 5 3600 with the B550M-Silver is actually faster – HandBrake benchmark considered.

Web Browsing

Web browsing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in Chromium benchmark.

Web browsing speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in Firefox benchmark.

As for browser performance, I don’t see any reason to castrate the B550M-Silver from the rest. It is slower but not that it would matter – unless you’re working on script heavy pages.

Office Productivity

Productivity speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in LibreOffice Writer benchmark.

Productivity speed is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via PCMark 10 and its built-in LibreOffice Calc benchmark.

Same thing could be said for the office productivity benchmarks.

Compression

Compression speed is measured in Kilobytes per Second (KB/s). This is done via WinRAR and its built-in benchmark.

Instruction speed is measured in Giga-Instructions per Second (GIPS). This is done via 7-Zip and its built-in benchmark.

Trend continues here. Nothing to complain.

Gaming

Frame rate is measured in Frames per Second (FPS). This is done via Final Fantasy XVI: Endwalker and its official benchmark.

Frame rate is measured in Frames per Second (FPS). This is done via Sid Meier’s Civilization VI and its built-in benchmark.

Gaming performance is acceptable for the setup. Now let us move on to motherboard specific benchmarks and or measurements.

POST Speed

Time to finish POST is measured in Seconds (s) at warm and cold boot. This is done via Windows Task Manager and its Last BIOS Time feature.

Last BIOS Time performance is the best so far among the boards tested. This is most likely due to efficiency or how easy the UEFI loads the required resources.

DPC Latency

Kernel timer latency is measured in Microseconds (μs) at current and highest. This is done via LatencyMon.

DPC latency is the best out of the bunch. This could be due to the latest Windows update but it is definitely surprisingly good. If you’re working in a music production environment, then this is a motherboard to consider.

Memory Latency

Memory latency is measured in Nanoseconds (ns). This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its Cache and Memory Benchmark.

Memory latency is the weakest out of all the boards tested but that’s a given since we’re comparing it to up to date systems.

Storage Performance

Storage throughput is measured in Megabytes per second (MB/s) at read and write. This is done via CrystalDiskMark and its sequential benchmark.

Pretty good storage performance we got here for the B550M-Silver.

Audio Performance

Sound level is measured in decibels, A-weighting (dB, A). This is done via the RightMark Audio Analyzer and its Test Report.

Now while the BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is capable of driving my Sennheiser HD600 to loud enough levels, it is sadly lagging behind when it comes to technical performance – both for the DAC and ADC. The DAC and its amplifier is actually still usable for high impedance headphones but it is just not a good solution for powered monitors due to the noise. It is also not enough to satisfy other low impedance devices such as planar magnetic headphones.

Network Performance

Network throughput is measured in Megabits per second (Mbps) at download and upload. This is done via LAN Tester.

Good results we got here for the LAN adapter.

Thermals

VRM temperature is measured in degree Celcius (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.

VRM’s thermal performance checks out just on the warmer side – same thing with the PCH.

Power Consumption

System power consumption is measured in Watts (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.

Now power consumption is considerably lower compared to the other systems tested. This is no surprise since the Ryzen 5 3600 comes with a TDP of 65 W. Couple that with an almost bone stock motherboard and you’d get this kind of power efficiency.

Software, Lighting and Special Features

BIOSTAR is not known for their software suite but they’ve got some downloadable stuff on the product page – aside from the usual assortment of drivers and BIOS updates. These are the BIOSCreen Utility, BIOS Update Utility and the RACING GT EVO Utility. I did not test them simply because most of the functions you could adjust on these utilities are also found within the UEFI.

Now what’s note worthy to add in this section is the ability to add an M.2 2230 card for a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth adapter. An IPX to SMA cable has been installed already so you just need to purchase your desired wireless adapter and an SMA compatible antenna to get started. We also have the 2.5Guard here which is basically a surge protector for the LAN port.

Final Thoughts

The BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is a simple B550 motherboard. it comes with the bells and whistles expected for the chipset with added bonuses just to make sure it is not a 100% bone stock motherboard with BIOSTAR’s brand name on it.

General performance is good but if I were to nit pick, its audio performance could be better. This wont matter much though if you’re going to use the said components casually – like with most onboard solutions actually.

Luckily, the rest of the board’s performance checks out on a positive note. I like how fast it boots, how its fan controller is implemented and its super low DPC latency – on top of the abundant input and output options.

For the price of around $150 USD, the BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is actually a rock solid motherboard to start with. I just wish they added a wireless adapter in the first place. But then again, nothing is perfect.

BIOSTAR B550M-Silver Motherboard

8/10

Summary

The BIOSTAR B550M-Silver is a good motherboard to start with for a Ryzen powered build. Sadly, the audio performance is a weak spot for production purposed. So, if you’re planning to do some work with it, best invest on a proper audio interface.

BIOSTAR B550MH Motherboard Review — The FPS Review

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October 8, 2020

Welcome to a new entrant in our motherboard reviews, BIOSTAR. Today we have the brand new micro-ATX BIOSTAR B550MH Version 6.0 Motherboard (AB55AM4S-R01 VER:6.0) for review. The BIOSTAR B550MH motherboard is only $96.99 on Amazon, so this is a very budget-oriented motherboard running the AMD B550 chipset that was just released this summer in 2020. If you want an under $100 B550 chipset based motherboard, then read on.

BIOSTAR is a well-known name, BIOSTAR has been with us as far back as 1986 when it was established. BIOSTAR has been producing and manufacturing motherboards since that time. Over the course of time, BIOSTAR has expanded in the design and manufacturing of add-on cards, multi-media system products and now produces SSDs, GPUs, Keyboards and Mice, SOCs, IPCs, and Accessories. Motherboards are still a primary mainstay from BIOSTAR, so this will be our first review of a BIOSTAR motherboard here at TheFPSReview.

Motherboard Goals

The first thing to note is that BIOSTAR’s “M” or “MH” series motherboards are not new. The “MH” series date far back. On the AM4 platform there is an AMD A320 “MH” motherboard, an AMD B350 “M” motherboard, an AMD X470 “MH” motherboard, an AMD B450 “MH” motherboard, and now a B550 “MH” and even a newer A520 “MH” motherboard. Therefore, the AMD B550MH motherboard we are reviewing is simply the “MH” series with the latest AMD chipset.

The MH series is BIOSTAR’s micro-ATX budget-oriented entry level motherboard for said chipset. The BIOSTAR B550MH Version 6.0 motherboard can be described as a fully capable motherboard for AMD Ryzen (Zen 2 and Zen 3) but with a lean configuration of the chipset, and legacy connectivity.

These motherboards are supposed to offer you the base features of the chipset in terms of CPU, RAM, and PCI-Express support. They are however outfitted with minimal configurations to offer the lowest price of entry to the AMD Ryzen AM4 ecosystem. They are still backed by BIOSTAR specific features however that boosts the motherboard from a reference spec.

The BIOSTAR B550MH Version 6.0 motherboard is geared toward the business and casual user and designed to be efficient and reliable. There is no RGB at all on this motherboard, and it also lacks RGB headers. However, BIOSTAR has added a bit of flair and interest to the motherboard with a stylish black PCB design, so while it is all business, it still looks unique and appealing. Again, this is a no RGB design, and with no RGB headers, you won’t be able to control case lighting or components.

Motherboard Box

The box art is simple, refined, classy, and all the important information is printed on the box. Inside the box, you will find a minimal assortment of included parts and manuals. There is a quick install guide, a cleaning guide, and a CD. Hardware components only include two SATA III cables and the I/O shield cover for the back. This motherboard does not have an integrated I/O shield, part of the budget-oriented nature means you will be installing it manually. The motherboard itself simply sits in the box wrapped in an anti-static bag.

At first, we thought the M.2 screw was missing, but instead of having it in a bag in the accessories, BIOSTAR has actually screwed the screw into the 2280 length standoff on the motherboard. Therefore, if you are wondering how to screw your M.2 SSD in, look on the motherboard, there it is. Just unscrew the screw, and then you can install your M.2 drive and screw it into the standoff already installed for the 2280 length SSDs. The standoff can be removed if you have a shorter length. There is no M.2 heatsink included at all. Therefore, you might want to purchase an aftermarket heatsink to install if you have a fast NVMe PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 SSD to keep it cool and avoid throttling.

Motherboard Hardware

While the BIOSTAR B550MH Version 6.0 motherboard is configured to be very lean, that doesn’t mean BIOSTAR has wimped out on the design and components. This motherboard supports BIOSTAR features that elevate it beyond just a reference specification. It has a digital PWM to increase system efficiency with faster transient performance and stable power delivery. This motherboard uses BIOSTAR’s Durable+ component selection. It has Super Durable Ferrite Chokes for higher current capacity and lowers energy loss and better power delivery. It uses Super Durable Solid Caps with ultra-low ESR design which doubles the lifespan. It uses 100% Solid Caps with armor-plated BIOSTAR technology so that all capacitors have a long-life cycle, durability, and stability.

This motherboard also features BIOSTAR’s Moistureproof PCB which has a resistance to oxidizing and ionic migration or Conductive Anodic Filament so it will have higher reliability in moist or damp areas. The motherboard also has OC/OV/OH Protection. There is a special circuit design that detects overvoltage conditions and prevents voltage surges from spreading in real-time. It also actively cuts off the overvoltage supply to protect the system. Over-current protection protects when doing overclocking creating an unusual current import and Overheat protects from the motherboard and CPU from burning up exceeding temperature limitations.

Motherboard Configuration

This is an m-ATX (micro-ATX) motherboard and measures 24.4cm (9.6 inches) in width and 20.8cm (8.1 inches) in length. Based on the AMD B550 chipset this motherboard supports Socket AM4 and AMD 3^rd Gen Ryzen (Matisse/Renoir) processors. This is Zen 2, and with a BIOS update will support Zen 3. With 3^rd Gen AMD Ryzen Matisse CPUs, it can support up to DDR4 4400+ (OC) memory frequencies. With 3^rd Gen Ryzen Renoir APUs, it can support up to DDR4 4933+ (OC) memory frequencies.

With 2x Dual-Channel DDR4 DIMM slots it supports a maximum of 64GB of DDR4. This is more limiting than most Ryzen boards, but it does support high frequencies and 64GB is plenty for most uses in this class, remember this is a budget-oriented motherboard so you are likely to have either 16 or 32GB of RAM for a likely configuration in this level of the motherboard. Even though it doesn’t look it, that is two separate channels so it is dual-channel DDR4. Therefore, its maximum supported capacity and frequencies are expansive enough.

Because this is based on the B550 chipset PCI-Express 4.0 is supported. You will see that the chipset has a very simple passive heatsink installed. This motherboard supports a primary PCIe 4.0 slot for the GPU at 31.5GB/s, and it is also backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0. Second, with PCIe Gen 4 there is support for NVMe PCIe Gen 4×4 (64GB/s) on the M.2 slot for the best SSD performance you can buy today. The M.2 slot is also backwards compatible with NVMe PCIe 3.0 and SATA. The M.2 slot accepts sizes 2242/2260 and 2280.

Therefore, in terms of support, you can install the fastest PCIe Gen 4 SSDs on the market today and get super-fast storage performance that is not held back on this motherboard. The downside though, there is only one M.2 slot on this motherboard. If you need more hard drives you will either have to utilize the four SATA III ports onboard or put an SSD on a PCI-Express add-on-card. Therefore, natively, you get 1 M.2 SSD and 4 SATA hard drives that you can install on this motherboard. Thankfully there is support for hardware RAID 0, 1, and 10 on the SATA ports. The remaining expansion slots include 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots.

LAN onboard is handled by a Realtek RTL8111H chipset and can operate up to 1Gbps. This motherboard supports BIOSTAR Super LAN Surge Protection. This strengthens electrical stability and prevents damage from electrical surges. The audio chipset is ALC887 7.1 channel, High-Definition Audio, and Hi-Fi (Front) support. BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Ground (Golden Line) is supported which provides noise-blocking multi-layer PCB design to isolate analog audio signals from digital sources.

There are 8x USB 3.2 (Gen 1) ports, 4 on the rear I/O panel, and 4 via internal headers. There are also 6x USB 2.0 ports, 2 on the rear I/O panel, and 4 via internal headers. There are no type-C ports, only type-A. USB 3.2 Gen 1 is capable of data speeds up to 5Gbps.

Motherboard I/O

Uniquely there is a PS/2 keyboard and separate mouse connector on the rear I/O panel. There is also a VGA port. These are of course legacy connections now, but this motherboard supports them if you are upgrading from older hardware. You do also get an HDMI port if you are using an APU which supports 4K, with the 4x USB 3.2 gen1 ports and 2x USB 2.0 Ports and audio jacks.

Internally there are 2x USB 2.0 headers and 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers. There is only 1 system fan connector, that’s right, only one chassis fan can be connected via the motherboard, which is very limiting. Otherwise, it has 1 front panel header, 1 front audio header, 1 clear CMOS header, an internal stereo speaker header, and a COM port header, another legacy device we don’t see much anymore.

In terms of power, it has the standard 24-pin power connector and 1x 8-pin EPS 12V power connector.

Motherboard VRMs

Let’s talk about the VRMs for a moment. The BIOSTAR B550MH Version 6.0 motherboard supports an 8-phase power design with no passive heatsinks installed. Keep in mind, this is a budget-oriented entry-level motherboard. Still, the inclusion of some kind of heatsink would have been nice to see, even if it was minimal. With no heatsink attached at all, you are highly relying on your case cooling and the movement of air, specifically in the top part of your case.

The 8-phase design is the bare minimum for this chipset in our opinion. On B550 motherboards above $200 we’ve seen exactly double the phase configuration with 16-phase designs. Even above $100, in the mid-$100 range, there are 10-phase designs. This 8-phase design is on the minimal side. However, there’s a bit more to that.

Firstly, the VRMs are controlled by a Renesas RAA 229004 controller. Looking closely at the VRM layout we first find that the spacing is quite wide, so it can get some air around the inductors, which is good. The configuration uses discrete MOSFETs and drivers instead of integrated power stages. BIOSTAR is using Sinopower SM4377 chips for the high side on all phases. However, on 5 of the phases there are two Sinopower SM4364A low side MOSFETs, and on 3 phases just one Sinopower SM4364A low side MOSFET. Doublers are used on some of the phases it appears.

From this configuration, it appears (our best guess because we have no datasheets) that this is a 5-phase configuration for CPU Voltage and 3 phases for SOC. We could be wrong, but that’s what it looks like from our end. We don’t have any technical documents to confirm this. We are purely going on the fact that 3 of the phases only have one low side, while 5 have two low sides. It makes sense that SOC would only get one low side whole CPU Voltage gets two low sides.

Typically, when we see a VRM arrangement like this for SOC it is for boards targeting APUs, and the B550 chipset motherboard is certainly one that targets the use of APUs. However, this means for actual CPU Voltage there are 5 phases available. However, BIOSTAR has at least provided two low side MOSFETs for each phase where they could have cheapened out with just one, so that’s good at least. I’d still be cautious about installing a 16-core 3950X on this motherboard though.

Motherboard BIOSTAR Features

There are some other features supported as well. BIOSTAR has hardware monitoring of CPU and System Temperature and System Fan monitoring. It also has a Smart CPU Fan Control called A.I FAN or Manual CPU Fan Control and System Voltage Monitoring. There is software you can download called BIOSTAR UEFI BIOS Utility to monitor these items from within Windows as well as overclock from within Windows.

Updating the BIOS is also easy thanks to BIOSTAR’s UEFI BIOS and BIO-Flasher utility. You can update the BIOS effortlessly from a USB flash drive with the utility from the BIOS.

Biostar — brand page on i2HARD

Biostar is a Taiwanese computer components company. The main part of the range is represented by motherboards and video cards, but the company is also engaged in the production of other components, as well as accessories.
Biostar was founded in 1986 and initially produced only budget motherboards in the XT form factor. The company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Taiwan and China.
It is noteworthy, but it was Biostar who was among the first companies that allowed the owners of their devices to overclock without losing the warranty.

Publications

Biostar became the fourth company to produce graphics cards from AMD, Intel and NVIDIA

At Comutex 2023, it showed Arc A380 in its performance.

BIOSTAR releases Storming-V DDR4 RAM

It will be able to offer 3200 or 3600 MT/s speed, and the volume will be 8 or 16 GB.

BIOSTAR announced the motherboard B760T-SILVER

The novelty is remarkable in that it is made in the Mini-ITX form factor and can become a good basis for a compact system.

BIOSTAR motherboards to support Intel Raptor Lake

processors

The new processor family is expected to be introduced in September this year.

BIOSTAR is ready to release video cards Radeon RX 6650 XT and RX 6750 XT

The company is ready to release at least two video cards in the faces of Radeon RX 6750 XT Extreme Gaming and Radeon RX 6650 XT Gaming.

BIOSTAR introduced the motherboard B660M-SILVER

It differs from the older model in chipset, equipment and form factor.

Overclocking DDR4 RAM on AMD Ryzen and Intel Core

A complete guide to overclocking RAM: frequency, timing settings, useful software

Guide: how to start mining?

A short guide to mining for a beginner.

We study the calculator for memory settings on AMD Ryzen. DRAM Calculator for Ryzen by 1usmus

We study and use one of the useful tools on AMD platforms — DRAM Calculator for Ryzen

BIOSTAR releases Z690A-SILVER

motherboard

Its heatsinks are white with ribbed surface for better heat dissipation.

BIOSTAR introduced iMiner 660MX8D2 with eight Radeon RX 6600M video cards

To power the entire system, the manufacturer equips the miner with a 2000 W power supply.

BIOSTAR uses Radeon RX 580 graphics cards to create the iMiner A588X8D2 miner

The use of eight gaming graphics cards allowed us to demonstrate a performance of 232 MH / s when mining Ethereum.

Biostar confirms work on 700 series motherboards for Intel Raptor Lake

Motherboards with Z790 and B760 chipsets have been spotted in the database of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Biostar to release Racing and Valkyrie Z690 motherboards

The company was the first to tease motherboards with an LGA1700 socket.

BIOSTAR Introduces TZ590-BTC Duo Motherboard for Ethereum and Chia Miners

It Can Simultaneously Run 9graphics cards, 4 M.2 NVMe SSDs, and 10 hard drives.

How to overclock an AMD Ryzen processor: getting the most out of the latest

processors

AMD’s revolutionary Ryzen processor technology delivers high levels of performance at a competitive price point. And while early adopters are still struggling with…

Exploring AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition. Working with drivers and more

AMD Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 9 Ultimate Review0006

Problems and Solutions for AMD Radeon RX 5000 Series Graphics Cards

Material about pressing problems, bugs, features and, most importantly, their solutions for AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, RX 5600 XT, RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT video cards

BIOSTAR introduced the B450MX

motherboard It is equipped with a good CPU power subsystem that can easily handle overclocking of older models.

BIOSTAR Introduces A520MH V6.1 and B550MH V6.1 Motherboards

Simple appearance and equipment indicate a reasonable price.

BIOSTAR Introduces B450NH Compact Motherboard

The BIOSTAR B450NH motherboard is capable of handling all generations of Ryzen processors and Ryzen hybrid APUs from Bristol Ridge to Picasso.

BIOSTAR Releases X470NH Mini-ITX Motherboard

The BIOSTAR line of motherboards has another addition, this time in mini-ITX format. This is the X470NH, which is equally well suited for both office and gaming computers.

BIOSTAR Announces S120 Solid State Drive Line

BIOSTAR has announced the release of a range of S120 SSDs, including models in 4 sizes.

BIOSTAR releases X470MH motherboard

BIOSTAR is once again expanding its range of motherboards.

What does the motherboard consist of: structure, element base?

Technology Behind Computer Components

Using FreeSync with NVIDIA

graphics cards

Using AMD FreeSync with NVIDIA graphics cards. Miracles, and more!

Review and test of the Intel Core i5-9600k processor: 6-core for overclocking!

What can the 6-core Intel Core i5-9600k offer for overclockers, and to what frequency can this processor be overclocked on a mid-range motherboard? Answers to these and other questions in the material of the I2HARD.ru editorial board.

BIOSTAR Announces Racing X470GTA Motherboard Supporting Ryzen 3000 and Legacy PCI 9 Versions0006

BIOSTAR has announced the Racing X470GTA

to keep up with competitors planning to release motherboards with support for the new Ryzen 3000 processors.

BIOSTAR adds PCIe 4.0 support to its AMD 400 chipset motherboards

BIOSTAR motherboards now support PCIe 4.0. However, this only applies to 4 motherboards.

Top 5 Mining Motherboards

All computers — and even smartphones — are built around a motherboard. This is a microcircuit to which the rest of the system modules are connected, it acts as a link and provides data transfer between components. Mining farms based on video cards are no exception — they also need motherboards. True, most often they choose not ordinary, but special ones. In this article, we will figure out how to choose motherboards for mining, how they differ from standard ones, and what options are on the market.

Mining motherboards
Mining motherboards: how to choose
How to mine on a home computer

Mining motherboards

Champion — A SRock h210 Pro BTC+

This motherboard is truly a legend in the world of cryptomining. It was introduced back in 2017, but since then it has been regularly sold.

Which processors it supports: The motherboard has an Intel LGA1151 socket. The chipset allows you to install processors up to the seventh generation. Theoretically, it will be possible to put a newer one in it, but you need to check in advance whether it will be supported.

Up to 13 graphics cards can be connected. The motherboard has one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and twelve PCIe 2.0 x1 slots.

How much you can buy: the motherboard is popular, so in the current shortage of semiconductors, the price of it has risen significantly. At the beginning of February 2022, ASRock h210 Pro BTC+ could be found on sale for about ₽40 thousand. Nevertheless, the company actively maintains its line of schemes tailored for mining. Although the board is not as popular as the ASRock h210 Pro BTC+, it offers a wider range of features.

What processors it supports: The Biostar TB360-BTC also uses the Intel LGA1151 socket, but the newer chipset expands the list of processors that can be installed in it. The motherboard supports 8th and 9th generation Intel processors.

Up to 12 graphics cards can be connected. The motherboard has one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and eleven PCIe 3.0 x1 slots.

How much you can buy: at the beginning of February 2022, ASRock h210 Pro BTC + was sold at a price of about ₽17 thousand

Easier to find — Asus Prime Z390-P

This motherboard itself is not designed specifically for mining. It is intended for ordinary computers with a bias in video games. However, its features, especially the price and the number of ports for connecting video cards, have made it a popular choice among miners.

Which processors it supports: As in previous boards, the Asus Prime Z390-P has an Intel LGA1151 socket. It supports 8th and 9th generation Intel processors.

How many video cards can be connected: up to 6. There are two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots on the motherboard, as well as four PCIe 2.0 x1.

How much you can buy: at the beginning of February 2022, Asus Prime Z390-P was sold for ₽18 thousand

Motherboards for mining: how to choose

will prohibit you from assembling a gaming PC based on motherboard mining. And vice versa.

At the same time, there is a significant difference between different specializations. So, in mining boards, old sockets and chipsets, as well as other slots, are most often used. As a result, a gaming computer based on a mining board will show much worse results.

However, the cost of production and the use of outdated components make it possible to place additional slots for connecting video cards on the board. The choice of a motherboard for mining in the end will depend on your goals — for example, if your farm has 2-3 video cards, then taking a motherboard with 19 slots will not be practical.

Therefore, first of all, look at the number of PCIe ports for connecting graphics cards. Also check which socket is declared on the motherboard and find out which processors it supports. Most often, such information can be found on the manufacturer’s website.

It is also important to pay attention to the motherboard manufacturer. There are a few companies that inspire more consumer confidence than others. These include, for example, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock. With these boards, there is less chance of stumbling upon a marriage.

How to mine on a home computer

Naturally, in order to start mining cryptocurrency, you cannot do without buying a single motherboard for mining. It can only become the basis for the farm. In addition to the board, you will need:

Video cards . It is best to pay attention to new models, since the difference between generations in mining is very noticeable. You can learn more about choosing a video card here. And it’s also important not to forget to buy extenders for video card slots, which are called risers .

Power supply . It must be powerful enough to keep the entire system running. Larger farms may use two power supplies. Energy-efficient modules are labeled 80 Plus Gold, Platinum and Titanium.

Processor . If you are only going to mine, then it should not be the latest generation and very powerful. It should be enough for the system to work.

RAM . As in the case of the processor, here they are usually guided by what is necessary for the operation of the entire system.

Hard disk . There is no need to install a high-speed SSD. It will be enough to have a regular hard drive on which you will install everything you need, including the operating system. However, you should not install a very cheap disk — if it is too slow, then the whole system will slow down.

Housing . Most often it is open so that the air circulates freely and the components do not overheat.

What processor is needed for mining?

If we are talking about a mining farm based on video cards, then the processor in it is a secondary matter. Usually, miners assemble systems based on processors of past generations. Roughly speaking, they select one whose power is enough to maintain the operation of the operating system.

How does the motherboard affect mining?

The mining farm cannot work without a motherboard. The motherboard determines how many video cards can be connected to the farm. At the same time, it does not directly affect the hash rate — the difference can only appear in comparison with very old models.

What do you need to buy for mining?

A set of components for a mining farm is not much different from what is needed to build a home computer. You will need a power supply, motherboard, processor, RAM, hard drive, and video cards.