ASRock B550 PG Riptide (AMD AM4)

The ASRock B550 PG Riptide has a number of faults that put it into a category that is hard to recommend for every user type. It sits between being a great choice for an entry-level computer build and just having too many shortcomings hidden behind the all to common asterisk pinned at the end of every sentence. These asterisks of course also refer to a footnote describing limits of sorts.

With the Asrock B550 PG Riptide, you get a single PCIe 4.0 for graphics (x16), two full-length PCIe 3.0 (one x4, the other x1), one PCIe 3.0, two M.2 slots, and the option to overclock the processor and graphics cards. The vast majority of consumers should be satisfied with this level of service. For this user base, the X570 is not worth the price premium over the X550. We should also point out that B450 motherboards were substantially less expensive; on the other hand, the vast majority of B550 products, including those in the VRM field, are extremely good. It should be able to handle even the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X/5900X processors (although we wouldn't recommend it for the 16-core 3950X/5950X processors, for obvious reasons). The price is approximately 160 USD, which is quite reasonable for a B-series chipset of this caliber. On the back panel, you'll find a glorious 2.5 Gbps LAN jack, a total of 7 fan headers are onboard (which is quite excellent), and a plethora of USB ports (there are ten of them). In contrast, there's an ALC897 audio codec, no integrated I/O shield, and WiFi (as well as an antenna connection point! ). Additionally, the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 connector is not available, therefore you will not be able to achieve the greatest feasible performance. We would prefer to see something at the very least from the ALC 11xx series. To summarize, we are unable to grant anything higher than the "Approved" designation, but this is a very decent motherboard for the money.

If you’re planning to build a AMD-based gaming PC, and want an affordable motherboard that does the job … then the ASRock B550 PG Riptide is your answer. It offers great value for money with good performance, and a decent amount of features to match.

ASRock adds yet another B550 chipset-based board to its ever-growing arsenal. Phantom Gaming Riptide's aim is to marry gamer looks with specification nearer the upper echelons of what users can expect. In isolation the board is robust enough. Decent power delivery, three full-length slots, 2.5Gb Ethernet, sensible layout and a modicum of RGB are all good points on this £133 offering. Yet we firmly believe that spending £15 more makes a lot of sense. Such an additional outlay brings forth boards with integrated WiFi, better audio, an integrated I/O section, and improved cooling. B550 PG Riptide therefore needs to be around the £120 mark to stand out. If ASRock and its retail partners can achieve that, the board goes from average to good.