B550 vs X570 Motherboards
Both are AM4 chipsets that run a Ryzen 5000 processor at the same speed, and both give the graphics card and the first M.2 drive a PCIe 4.0 connection straight from the processor. The difference is in the chipset itself: on X570 the chipset's own lanes are PCIe 4.0 as well, so a second M.2 drive and the extra slots can also run at that speed, while on B550 everything hanging off the chipset is PCIe 3.0. X570 boards also tend to be built with heavier power delivery, which the figures below show.
For one graphics card and one fast NVMe drive, B550 does everything X570 does and usually costs less. X570 is worth it when you want two or more PCIe 4.0 drives, several fast add-in cards, or the strongest power delivery for a 16-core processor under sustained load.
What you give up, in numbers
How the two sizes actually differ once you look at every board on sale, rather than at what the standard permits. Measured across 62 B550 and 37 X570 boards at the retailers we track (61 and 37 in stock today), and updated daily.
The picks on each side
The cheapest board on each side, and the cheapest one that clears a floor worth clearing: enough power headroom for the socket’s top processor, and Wi-Fi 6E or better. Recalculated daily from live prices.
B550
X570
Best all-round
$271.62 · cheapest with the power headroom and Wi-Fi worth having
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Common questions
Is X570 better than B550 for gaming?
Not in frame rate. Both feed the graphics card through the same PCIe 4.0 slot from the processor and run the same chips. X570 adds PCIe 4.0 on the chipset's lanes, which matters for extra drives and cards, not for games.
Do B550 and X570 support the Ryzen 7 5800X3D?
Yes, both do. Boards made before that processor launched need a BIOS update first, which is easiest on a board with a BIOS flashback button.
Does B550 support PCIe 4.0?
Yes, for the main graphics slot and the first M.2 slot, which are wired to the processor. Slots and drives connected through the B550 chipset run at PCIe 3.0.
Do X570 boards still have a chipset fan?
The first X570 boards cooled the chipset with a small fan. Later boards, often sold as X570S, use a larger passive heatsink instead. Check the individual board if noise matters to you.
Keep going
Browse every B550 board or X570 board with filters, put two specific boards head to head, or read up on choosing a case to fit the board you pick.