GIGABYTE is ready with two Aorus branded motherboards based on the upcoming AMD B450 mid-range socket AM4 chipset. These include the B450 Aorus Pro in the ATX form-factor, and the micro-ATX B450 Aorus M. The B450 Aorus Pro packs many of the features you’d expect from a more expensive board based on the pricier X470 chipset. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the AM4 SoC using a 11-phase VRM with high-current chokes. The AM4 SoC is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and the board’s sole reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The second x16 slot is physically gen 3.0 x4 and shares its lanes with the top M.2-22110 slot; which is wired directly to the AM4 SoC. With an M.2 SSD installed, auto-switching gates the second x16 AIC slot. The third x16 slot is gen 2.0 x4, and wired to the chipset. The second M.2-2280 slot is gen 2.0 x4, too. A single PCIe x1 slot makes for the rest of the expansion.
Both M.2 slots on the B450 Aorus Pro feature heatsinks. Six SATA 6 Gbps ports, from which two come from the AM4 SoC, make for the rest of the storage connectivity. As part of the “gamer-grade” varnishing, this board gets rather high-end onboard audio, including a Realtek ALC1220 (120 dBA SNR) codec with EMI shielding, audio-grade WIMA and Muse capacitors, and ground layer isolation. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 type 2 ports (one each of type-A and type-C); and six USB 3.1 gen 1 (four on the rear panel, two by headers). Display outputs include DVI and HDMI. The sole networking connectivity is a 1 GbE interface. Its controller is unknown. You get RGB LED illumination and headers, and an integrated rear I/O shield.
Next up, is the B450 Aorus M. This board maxes out the micro-ATX form-factor at 250 mm x 250 mm PCB dimensions. This board has a similar power-delivery setup to its ATX sibling, including the 11-phase SoC VRM, with the exception of a heatsink over the SoC power phases (not that they badly need one unless powering an APU with an overclocked iGPU). There’s just the one M.2-22110 slot on this board, and like the B450 Aorus Pro, it has auto-switching with the second PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical gen 3.0 x4) slot. The rest of its storage connectivity is identical. The onboard audio solution is slightly slimmer. This board has slightly more legacy connectivity, including a PS/2 combo port on the rear panel, and LPT/COM headers. USB connectivity is the same, although there’s no type-C port.
