This board has a great miniITX layout, which isn't understandable, coming from more budget-oriented boards. The fan adjustment and overall EFI/BIOS menu is what you'd expect from Gigabyte and overall the same as for their other boards.
It's worth noting that I had to update the motherboard's firmware/BIOS to a newer version for a Ryzen 5600x. This worked even though the system wouldn't boot with the CPU installed. I could still prepare a USB thumb drive with the update files, plug it into the appriopriate USB port, boot the BIOS, and start Q-Flash with the newer CPU installed.
After that update everything went flawlessly. PBO2 is easy enough to activate with this board, the power delivery seems rock solid, it doesn't have issues with a slight undervolt, and remains stable. The built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet port, and Bluetooth all worked perfectly (your mileage may vary; update the BIOS) and the on-board RGB is a nice and subtle touch. That said, it's not possible to adjust the RGB lightning in the BIOS beyond turning it on or off, and I'm not a fan of installing Gigabyte's software for this sole RGB light in my build.
The fan headers are positioned perfectly in opposing spots on the board. One of them needs an adaptor that's included in the box. But, it does feature two ports, which would be unseen on budget boards. Also, the board having two M.2 NVMe ports is welcome, although one is only capable of PCIe 3.0 speeds (which will be fine even for years to come, given that the other does support PCIe 4.0). The front port with PCIe 4.0 also comes with a fiddly but welcome heatsink.
Even with an AIO, in a miniITX build I'd be careful with this board to make sure that there's enough airflow running over the board itself. While the temperature of a Ryzen 5xxx processor is easy enough to control, especially with PBO 2, the power delivery parts and the M.2 area do heat up and can impact your CPU's performance. This can be solved with minimal airflow on the board, which is notable since if you're using an AIO you may not think of running another fan that provides some airflow for the board itself.
| Brand | Gigabyte |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 17 x 17 x 3.5 cm; 790 g |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. |
| Item model number | B550I AORUS PRO AX |
| Manufacturer | Gigabyte |
| Series | B550I AORUS PRO AX |
| Colour | Black |
| Form Factor | Mini ITX |
| Processor Type | Ryzen 3 |
| Processor Socket | Socket AM4 |
| Memory Technology | DDR4 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR4 SDRAM |
| Maximum Memory Supported | 64 GB |
| Memory Clock Speed | 5300 MHz |
| Graphics Card Interface | PCI Express |
| Connectivity Type | Wi-Fi |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ax |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 7 |
| Number of HDMI Ports | 2 |
| Number of Ethernet Ports | 1 |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Lithium Battery Energy Content | 0.2 Watt Hours |
| Lithium Battery Packaging | Batteries contained in equipment |
| Lithium Battery Weight | 0.07 g |
| Number Of Lithium Ion Cells | 1 |
| Number of Lithium Metal Cells | 1 |
| Item Weight | 790 g |
| Guaranteed software updates until | unknown |
