The cost-effective AMD motherboards are now here, incorporating the B500 series of chipsets; these share a lot of useful features with their more expensive X570 boards, but in smaller quantities such as less high-speed USB ports, less SATA ports, while PCIe 4.0 slots are only served by the CPU, in case we are running with a Ryzen 3000 series processor. One other interesting feature is that these chipsets no longer need active cooling, since the TDP has been minimized to about 5W (the X570 one had about 15W, so three times more).

BIOSTAR does have available two boards with this chipset, one being the B550GTA which is a full-ATX model, while the other being a micro-ATX (B550GTQ). Since the B550GTQ is more compact, we would surely recommend it for midi-Tower cases or even more compact enclosures. From generation to generation we are constantly seeing BIOSTAR evolving in terms of motherboard design, features and UEFI, this board being no exception to the rule.

Our sample B550GTQ sample has arrived in a compact cardboard box, with the RACING signature right on the top cover; here we will also learn that these boards are ready to be equipped with 3000 series Ryzen CPUs:

The main product features are described in on the bottom, but also here we will be informed regarding the full product specifications and the I/O interfaces:

On the top packaging layer, we will get to see the main product, wrapped inside an anti-static bag, but also surrounded by foam material:

Underneath, we will spot four black SATA cables, a DVD with drivers, a set of nice stickers but also a Quick Installation Guide leaflet; the previous BIOSTAR boards we have tested were included with a fully-fledged installation manual, but now this one can be only found in electronic format:

Here is a closer look at the two stickers, which can be applied to our computer case:

A PC cleaning guide was also supplied with the product:

The board does come with a clean design and features the well-known black/grey RACING series theme. Onboard RGB is only enabled for the I/O plastic cover and not for the chipset cooler itself; the chipset cooler is much less visible anyway after installing a dedicated video card, so this should not be considered an issue:

Near the I/O plastic shroud, we will find the 8-pin CPU power connector:

The shroud does also cover the aluminum headsink of the power phases, but there is some room left for ventilation: