There are a couple of new X570 & B550 motherboards for AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs on the horizon and Newegg has them listed for pre-order. The motherboards include the ASRock X570 & B550 Taichi Razer Edition and the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO which are planned for retail launch in the coming days.
ASRock X570 / B550 Taichi Razer Edition & ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark HERO Motherboards For AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs Listed For Pre-Order
Unveiled back in October, the ASRock X570 & B550 Taichi Razer Edition motherboards feature full support for AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs. They also retain the specifications of the original X570 and B550 Taichi design but come with full integration of Razer’s Chroma RGB technology along with updated aesthetics to match the Razer theme.
- ASUS ROG Crosshair DARK HERO Motherboard ($399.99 US @ Newegg)
- ASRock X570 Taichi Razer Edition Motherboard ($399.99 US @ Newegg)
- ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition Motherboard ($299.99 US @ Newegg)
ASRock X570 Taichi Razer Edition ‘AMD Ryzen 5000’ Motherboard
The ASRock X570 Taichi Razer Edition motherboard comes with the AM4 socket which supports up to AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000 ‘Vermeer’ CPUs. The CPU socket is powered by a 14 Phase VRM & gets power through an 8+4-pin connector configuration. The board features four DDR4 memory slots which are capable of supporting up to 4666 MHz (OC+) speeds and capacities of up to 128 GB. The board offers 60A Power Chokes and 50A MOSFETs.
Expansion options include three PCIe 4.0 x16, two PCIe 4.0 x1, and three M.2 slots, all of which are covered by full-length metal heatsinks. The storage options include 8 SATA III ports. There are also a handful of USB 3.1 and USB 3.0 front panel headers on the board itself. For I/O, the board comes with two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 6 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11ax WiFi, a BIOS flashback button, and a 7.1 channel audio jack. The motherboard is listed for a price of $399.99 US.
ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition ‘AMD Ryzen 5000’ Motherboard
The ASRock B550 Taichi Razer Edition motherboard comes with the AM4 socket which supports up to AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000 ‘Vermeer’ CPUs. The CPU socket is powered by a 16 Phase VRM & gets power through an 8+8-pin connector configuration. The board features four DDR4 memory slots which are capable of supporting up to 5200 MHz (OC+) speeds and capacities of up to 128 GB. The board offers 60A Power Chokes and 50A MOSFETs.
Expansion options include three PCIe 4.0 x16, two PCIe 3.0 x1, and two M.2 slots, all of which are covered by full-length metal heatsinks. The storage options include 8 SATA III ports. There are also a handful of USB 3.1 and USB 3.0 front panel headers on the board itself. For I/O, the board comes with two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI & Display Port, 2.5G Ethernet LAN, 802.11ax WiFi, a BIOS flashback & Clear CMOS button, and a 7.1 channel audio jack. The board is listed for a price of $299.99 US.
ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO ‘AMD Ryzen 5000’ Motherboard
Starting with the top model, the ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK Hero adopts a high-end 14+2 phase design which is made up of titanium power stages that are rated for 90A. The CPU is supplied juice through an 8+4 pin connector configuration and two large aluminum blocks cover the VRMs which are interconnected by a chunky heatpipe. The AM4 socket sites in the center with four DDR4 DIMM slots at the right side of the motherboard which will be able to support some really high-speed ram speeds.
For expansion, the motherboard features three PCIe 4.0 x16 slots (x16/x8/x4 electrical) and a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. There are also at least two M.2 slots on the motherboard which are Gen 4.0 ready. Storage includes 8 SATA III ports and front panel USB comes in the form of two USB 2.0, a single USB 3.0, and also a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 connector.
The overall look and feel of the motherboard are absolutely fantastic with a matte and metallic black color theme. The rear I/O panel comes with a pre-installed heatsink and has an RGB lit ROG logo which illuminates and can be configured through ASUS’s AURA Sync RGB software. The same is true for the ROG eye logo over the PCH. The PCH is also the most surprising aspect of the board as ASUS has completely removed the active cooling solution from its updated model which is a big plus for those who didn’t update due to the unnecessary cooling fans featured on several X570 boards.
As for the I/O, the ROG Crosshair VIII DARK Hero features WiFi capabilities with 12 USB ports out of which at least 8 are Gen 3.2 and four are Gen 3.1. There are dual LAN switches for 1Gbe & 2.5Gbe networking and a 7.1 channel HD audio jack. It wouldn’t be a Crosshair motherboard without the Q-Flash and reset switches on the rear panel either. The ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII DARK HERO has been listed for a price of $399.99 US too.
