AMD B550 motherboards will be available starting June 16, 2020. Retailers should be stocking their shelves by now, and some have already posted the new motherboards on their online stores. Hardware investigator @momomo_us spotted some B550 listings from Interconnect IT Solutions, a distributor in Australia.
Keep in mind that we should take preliminary listings with a healthy dose of salt, since some retailers commonly use placeholders for upcoming products, while others randomly fabricate prices.
The Australian retailer posted the Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wi-Fi), Asus TUF Gaming B550M-Plus (Wi-Fi) and Asus Prime B550M-A all with the same price tag. Given the different tiers in which the motherboard compete, it’s extremely unlikely that Asus would price the trio identically.
The B550 motherboard prices are listed in Australian dollars and include GST (goods and services tax). The GST in Australia is 10% for the the majority of products and services that are consumed in the country. For easy reference, we’ve deducted the GST from the prices and converted them to U.S. dollars.
For reference, the ROG Strix B450-F Gaming and TUF B450M-Plus Gaming currently retail for $129.99 and $89.99, respectively, in the U.S. Let’s look at the panorama from two different angles.
If Interconnect IT Solutions’ price corresponds to the ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wi-Fi), we’re looking at an increase of roughly 17.8%. If it’s for the TUF Gaming B550M-Plus (Wi-Fi), then the difference jumps to 70.2%. The first scenario is likely more accurate, since a 70% price inflation is very high and absurd.
AMD B550 motherboards should usher in PCIe 4.0 support for budget builders. PCIe 4.0 requires motherboard traces with wider spacing in comparison to PCIe 3.0. While you can carry a PCIe 3.0 signal on a single PCB layer, you need need at least six layers for PCIe 4.0, which should make B550 motherboards cost a little bit than B450 offerings.
Depending on the brand and model, a B450 motherboard can cost from $70 to up to $200 for the best motherboards in this category. Even if the B450 boards were around $150, it’d be a hard sell, considering that AMD X570 motherboards are going for a low as $160 with more premium features.