Listing Update...This is not so much an update as it is a brief comment about the computers and related parts I have available for sale. Personal computers (and in particular desktop computers) have always been a hobby of mine. I've enjoyed tinkering with this stuff over the years and have accumulated a number of items during this time...some new and some used. I am not an expert on the subject...more of an enthusiast...but I will still do my best to answer any questions as it relates to my computer related listings. Thank you.

Original Listing...
This offering is for a new GIGABYTE B550M K motherboard with the AMD AM4 socket. It's a Micro ATX (form factor) and considered an entry-level AMD motherboards (with the B550 chipset). This entry-level consideration begins with the relatively pedestrian 4 (Vcore) + 2 (Vsoc) phase VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) that includes decent quality (at best) MOSFETs, inductors and capacitors for each phase. Please also note there are no heatsinks anchored to the VRM. I don't mean to dissuade anyone from considering this motherboard offering, but please understand its limitations. In short, this GIGABYTE motherboard is of the budget variety and should be limited to Ryzen 3 or 5 third (3000 Series / Zen 2) or fourth generation (5000 Series / Zen 3) processors running at stock speeds. I would also not attempt any overclocking with this motherboard. Notwithstanding all its limitation, this motherboard is still equipped with the B550 chipset, so there is the upgrade to PCIe 4.0 as it relates to the first/top expansion slot running at x16 lanes and the first/top M.2 socket running at x4 lanes (assuming a Zen 2 or Zen 3 processor, except for "G" and all 4000 Series models that only support PCIe 3.0).

As a user of this motherboard in some inexpensive builds, I wanted to make a few other observations. First, there are no LEDs or addressable/non-addressable RGB headers on this motherboard. There are the basic headers for the front panel on a case, but not much else. I do appreciate the two fan headers strategically located on the motherboard. If I remember GIGABYTES entry-level B450M offering only included one fan header, and this was truly annoying (having to daisy chain or use a splitter to connect the cooler fan and case fans to just one header. At least with this motherboard, the cooler fan gets its own header and the case fans may be connected to the second fan header. I know, not a big deal in today's motherboard market, but its still an improvement over some B450 motherboard offerings. Finally, the GIGABYTE B550 fan control technology either through the BIOS or software is nice. It's compatible with PWM (4-pin) fans and even DC (3-pin) fans. As most already know, the latter 3-pin fans are limited in terms of their speed control (RPMs). GIGABYTE is able to manipulate the voltage that powers DC fans through their fan control technology to allow for some flexibility in the fan speed. This control is still not on par with PWM fans, but its better than the standard 12 volts powering DC fans that runs them wide open all the time. So again, another nice feature on an otherwise basic motherboard.

Having said the above, I thought it might also be helpful if I shared a specifications sheet of sorts that provides more details....

• Chipset / Socket Type: B550 chipset that supports the AM4 processor socket and compatible with AMD third generation Ryzen 3000 and 4000 series processors (Zen 2 micro-architecture) and AMD fourth generation Ryzen 5000 series processors (Zen 3 micro-architecture). Note: Ryzen 3000 Series "G" processors are based on second generation (Zen+ micro-architecture) and are not compatible with any B550 motherboards.

• Size: Micro ATX form factor that measures 9.6" x 9.6"

• Memory: 128 GB (max) of DDR4 memory (4 x 288 pin slots)...dual channel supported and max clock speed of 4733 MHz (with 3600 MHz more realistic).

• Audio: Integrated Realtek Audio ALC 887/897 that supports up to 7.1 (8 channel) surround sound w/8 speakers (integrated means the sound card is built onto the motherboard)

• LAN: Integrated Realtek RTL8111H chipset w/transfer rate up to 1000 Mbps or 1.0 Gbps

• Wireless LAN (aka WiFi) and Bluetooth: Not applicable on this motherboard. So if desired, will need to be added via a PCIe expansion card (recommended) or a USB adapter.

• Input/Output ports (rear shield): one PS/2, two video (HDMI and DisplayPort), four black USB Type-A (2.0 running at 480 Mb/s), four blue USB Type-A (3.2 Gen 1 running at 5 Gb/s), a RJ-45 Network (LAN) with LED indicator, blue audio input (various devices), green audio output (headphone, two-channel speakers or front speakers), pink audio input (microphone)

• Storage ports/sockets: four SATA 3.0 ports, one M.2 socket that will accommodate size 2280 (SATA 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 support up to x4 lanes for SSD) and one M.2 socket that will accommodate size 2280 (SATA 3.0 or PCIe 3.0 support up to x4 lanes for SSD). Note1: PCIe 4.0 requires a Zen 2 or Zen 3 processor, except for "G" and all 4000 Series models that only support PCIe 3.0. Note2: data transfer rates are as follows...SATA 3.0 is stated at 6 Gb/s (750 MB/s, but it's actually less due to the overhead caused by the 8b/10b SATA encoding scheme. This lowers the actual transfer rate to about 80%, or 4.8 Gb/s, which when divided by 8 bits gives us 600 MB/s.), PCIe 3.0 is 8 Gb/s (1 GB/s) per lane and PCIe 4.0 is 16 Gb/s (2 GB/s) per lane. So as it relates to PCIe supported sockets, just multiply the number of lanes available by the applicable PCIe transfer rate and this will give you the theoretical maximum bandwidth for that socket (FYI: PCIe overhead is about 3%, due to a more efficient encoding scheme. So PCIe transfer rates are closer to their theoretical maximums relative to SATA transfer rates.). Note3: We generally use bits-per-second to measure transfer speeds, but bytes-per-second to measure data, because it takes 8 bits (or 1 byte) to encode a single character of text.

• Expansion slots: one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot running at x16 lanes and one PCIe 3.0 x1 slot running at x1 lane. Note1: PCIe 4.0 requires a Zen 2 or Zen 3 processor, except for "G" and all 4000 Series models that only support PCIe 3.0. Note2: data transfer rates are as follows...PCIe 3.0 is 8 Gb/s (1 GB/s) per lane and PCIe 4.0 is 16 Gb/s (2 GB/s) per lane. So just multiply the number of lanes available in a particular slot by the applicable PCIe transfer rate and this will give you the theoretical maximum bandwidth for that slot.

• Other: There are other available headers/connectors on the motherboard and I can try to answer related questions or refer you to the manufacturer's website for a full motherboard description.