Verdict and Conclusion
I have to say, in terms of price, performance and features, the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax is an extremely attractive motherboard. It offers very good performance, costs under $200 and comes packed with a load of great features, including the support for PCIE 4.0 and future AMD processors, such as the Ryzen 4000 series when they get released later this year.
What I really like about this motherboard is the fact that this is only ITX motherboard that I’ve seen that features two M.2 slots for SSDs. One Hyper M.2 (PCIE 4.0/Gen4) and the other, Ultra M.2 (PCIE 3.0/Gen3). Most mini-ITX motherboards that I’ve come across only come with one M.2 slot.
During our benchmarks, we got some really good scores including a Cinebench score of 2,088, and a PCMark 10 score of 7,314. For Port Royal, we got a score of 6,688 and a DLSS score of 44.99 fps. For 3DMark Timespy and Firestrike, we got scores of 11,031 and 23,359 respectively. Overall, I’m extremely happy with the results.
The B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax comes with a pretty packed feature list which includes, PCIE 4.0 support, 7.1 Nahimic Audio, Intel 2.5GB LAN, Wifi 6 support, USB 3.2 Gen2 (both Type-A and C), 4 x SATA ports, 1 x PCIE 4.0 x16 steel slot, 1 x Hyper M.2 slot (PCIE 4.0/Gen4) and 1 x Ultra M.2 slots (PCIE 3.0/Gen3) for SSDs.
All the above adds up to the enticement, making the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax, an extremely attractive motherboard in terms of price, performance and features. Don’t let the X570 sway your decision away from the B550. It is by in all purpose, the same except of course the difference in PCIE lanes, which to be honest is unnoticeable.
You can buy the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming ITX/ax motherboard
Pros:
- Supports all AMD Ryzen 3rd Gen processors (and future Ryzen 4000-series)
- AMD B550 chipset
- Very good performance
- Intel 2.5GB LAN
- Wifi 6 support
- Support PCIE 4.0
- Polychrome Sync
- 1 x Hyper M.2 slot (PCIE 4.0/Gen4)
- 1 x Ultra M.2 slot (PCIE 3.0/Gen3)
Cons:
- None I can think of
Final Words:
All-in-all, the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax is in my opinion, one of the best mini-ITX motherboards you can get for the price. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to build a decent performing, compact ITX based gaming system that’s packed with features.
Related articles
- ASRock B550M Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock B550 Taichi Motherboard Review
- ASRock Z490 PG Velocita Motherboard Review
- ASRock Z490 Steel Legend Motherboard Preview
- ASRock X570 Creator Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Steel Legend Motherboard Review
- ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X Motherboard Review
