Motherboard msi B550I Gaming Edge Wifi

[AlexTSG]

I received an email from the retailer where I ordered my MSI MPG B550I (Wootware in South Africa), confirming that it should be delivered by Wednesday or Thursday next week.

If anyone who doesn't have the board wants to see some specific feature, or area, or get a measurement of anything, then let me know.

I'll take some photos/video once I have it and post them here.

 

[Valantar]

Not specifically related to this product, but I'd say there are good reasons to not buy MSI products beyond their stupid backplate design right now.

Make your own choices, but at least try to make informed ones.
(And yes, that GN thumbnail is utterly cringeworthy, but it doesn't change the contents of the video.)

 

[AlexTSG]

Yeah, I watched that earlier, and had I been torn between two choices, it would have probably swayed me to get the non-MSI board.

However, as it stands this is the only board that’s in stock anywhere I can buy from, and it was my first choice.

I do hope this kind of exposure of MSIs marketing practices does force them to make some serious internal changes though.

 

[Valantar]

Yeah, I watched that earlier, and had I been torn between two choices, it would have probably swayed me to get the non-MSI board.

However, as it stands this is the only board that’s in stock anywhere I can buy from, and it was my first choice.

I do hope this kind of exposure of MSIs marketing practices does force them to make some serious internal changes though.

That's often the case for end users, sadly, and it's part of why "conscientious consumers" as a market force is largely a myth. The choice between buying something you want/need and not buying anything for ethical reasons is ... not really a choice. Some people will always do this, but expecting this to happen on a large enough scale to matter? Essentially impossible. The good thing is, this isn't on you (/us) either. The fault is with MSI. While we as customers aren't powerless, we are clearly the weakest party in any exchange like this. Thus we don't need to shoulder much of the responsibility either, and shouldn't feel bad for having to pick an option we know to be problematic. Being conscious of this is of course a good thing, but not to the degree of actually feeling bad about it.

 

[IISNAFUII]

I do want a specific call out, and GamerNexus did this too, it's the marketing team and not related to the engineers/product/etc. Steve makes that specific distinction (which I think the majority of the general community will miss it). Now, whether this is higher up in the MSI chain who knows, though they should also be sending directives down to stop this behaviour.

Not trying to MSI fanboi-ism here, I'd say the same for a company that's similar (I've also worked on the side where I strongly disliked sales/marketing practices in the company I worked for, but the product, etc we did and the people behind it were great).

 

[zenpressocup]

I do want a specific call out, and GamerNexus did this too, it's the marketing team and not related to the engineers/product/etc. Steve makes that specific distinction (which I think the majority of the general community will miss it). Now, whether this is higher up in the MSI chain who knows, though they should also be sending directives down to stop this behaviour.

Not trying to MSI fanboi-ism here, I'd say the same for a company that's similar (I've also worked on the side where I strongly disliked sales/marketing practices in the company I worked for, but the product, etc we did and the people behind it were great).

Yeah he did state that in the video but I think it'll go past others notice. The unfortunate thing is that marketing/support is the frontline that has most contact with consumers, and not the actual engineers themselves.

 

[Valantar]

I do want a specific call out, and GamerNexus did this too, it's the marketing team and not related to the engineers/product/etc. Steve makes that specific distinction (which I think the majority of the general community will miss it). Now, whether this is higher up in the MSI chain who knows, though they should also be sending directives down to stop this behaviour.

Not trying to MSI fanboi-ism here, I'd say the same for a company that's similar (I've also worked on the side where I strongly disliked sales/marketing practices in the company I worked for, but the product, etc we did and the people behind it were great).

My impression is that this is typically the case: the people actually making the products generally want them to be as good as possible and to sell them on their merits, while both profit-oriented higher-ups (which is the vast majority of executives) are much more oriented towards cutting costs ("efficiency" in neoliberal doublespeak) and making up the deficit by shady marketing tactics, in which they tend to have solid support from PR (not technical marketing, which often aligns with product development). This of course a generalization, but I believe it applies pretty well to most large companies. There are of course many degrees of this along various axes; what we're seeing here from MSI is a notably bad example, but by no means unique.

 

[AlexTSG]

My MSI B550I arrived, and it's going back to the supplier tomorrow...

I can only imagine the courier did something similar to Jim Carrey in the opening scene of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Looks like I'll probably need to wait till sometime next week to get a replacement. They managed to abuse it enough to get the memory retention clip to go through the anti-static bag, and to pierce the top of the box...

I did look at the board before I packed it back up, and it looks great. I'll be doing a "dark" build, with no RGB anywhere, and the HyperX Fury DDR4 is going to be a great match.

 

[dKenGuru]

Making of "Panic Button"



I previous have Gigabyte X570 I. And already have pluses and minuses list. Will post later, need some correction from russian to english language.

 

[NOKYARD]

My B550I arrived in good shape. The price dropped by $13 right before they shipped it so that was a nice bonus.

Too bad i can't fire it up until Ryzen 4000 hits the shelves.

Making of "Panic Button"

I planned to do that as well. I have the connectors and switch, but don't know which button to get. I might just zip-tie it to the chassis, rather than damaging the motherboard.

 

[dKenGuru]

https://aliexpress.ru/item/32901668929.html 6x6x4.3mm or 6x6x5mm. 2 pin.

U can glue it to IO shield. Not need touch motherboard PCB.

 

[dKenGuru]

MSI MPG B550 I.

Cons:
- No Ultra Fast Boot. Asrock and Gigabyte has it. 2-3 seconds more long system cold boot.
- PWM for fans/pump working really strange. 5-7 second delay after I change it in bios or in Argus monitor. I don't find option to change this. On Gigabyte all working instantly.
- I don't like this big buttons BIOS this useless empty space. Lite version of this BIOS for old motherboard is much better. Asus is best, Asrock old school style and Gigabyte BIOS much better in visual aspect.
- Non standard backplate with extra components. I use EKWB waterblock and bend a little their plate for avoid contact or damage this elements. In future I will use Optimus and their block can mount in base AM4 backplate. Barrow block also can do this.
- At first look memory overclock a little worse then on my X570 Gigabyte. Need more testing.
- This ClearCMOS jumper position.
- After WakeUp from a sleep my keyboard has lights off. It's working, but no backlit. Need unplug-plug in or reboot. Gigabyte or Asrock doesn't have this problem.

Pro:
- Chipset not so hot as is X570 and don't warm all around (actual for SFF builds). Fan on it don't spin. It start spin if I do stress testing. Also easy removable.
- Power delivery strong and stable. If I set in BIOS vCore 1.275 it is 1.275 in any way, idle or heavy load (with no LLC). Same for SoC, Dram. On Gigabyte was decent scatter, vCore drop ~0.10, dram voltage was higher in idle.
- Debug LED. Usefull.
- No RGB

 

[zenpressocup]

Making of "Panic Button"



I previous have Gigabyte X570 I. And already have pluses and minuses list. Will post later, need some correction from russian to english language.

I plan to have a button for this as well but found from the sffpc subreddit the following:

If you have the latest BIOS version 7C92v11, try to hold power button for 5sec till mobo power off, then press power again to restart. Following screen instruction press F1 to clear CMOS.
Apparently MSI noticed the hardware design flaw and added above function in their latest BIOS. It kind tricky, so make sure to hold down the power button for exactly 5sec, or it will just shut down at 4sec without resetting the CMOS.

I'm not sure where he got this info and if it's accurate, but might be useful to try.

 

[AlexTSG]

@dKenGuru Hopefully over time most of those cons can be fixed with BIOS updates, although not the terrible BIOS reset location or backplate design.

My cooler of choice uses the standard backplate, fortunately.

I'm also hoping I won't need to reset the BIOS too frequently. I may try some memory tuning later, when I get a better graphics card, but for now it's going to be a basic setup with the XMP profile loaded.

 

[dKenGuru]

Reset via power button does not work after fail IF overclock. 5sec, yes, power off the system. But after start system not offer screen with instructions to press f1. It try memory training and has no video signal.
Bios clear button just 1 sec.

 

[AlexTSG]

Making of "Panic Button"

Thanks for showing this.

I think I'll put this into my next Amazon order and place the switch somewhere a little easier to access.

 

[dKenGuru]

Tested USB ports.
So, USB 2.0 can't handle properly keyboards with RGB.
In bios no light, after wake up, too.

In USB 3.2 ports all is fine.

One more strange decision. All other vendors put all USB 3.2 ports to back IO. ASRock - 5 ports, Gigabyte - 4. MSI only 3 and two useless 2.0. And it in ITX board.

So newbie engeeniring mistakes.

 

[zenpressocup]

Tested USB ports.
So, USB 2.0 can't handle properly keyboards with RGB.
In bios no light, after wake up, too.

In USB 3.2 ports all is fine.

One more strange decision. All other vendors put all USB 3.2 ports to back IO. ASRock - 5 ports, Gigabyte - 4. MSI only 3 and two useless 2.0. And it in ITX board.

So newbie engeeniring mistakes.

Oof. The more I'm reading about this the more I just want to cancel my pre-order.

 

[dKenGuru]

Asus has only three USB 3.2 ports too, on the back. And one USB 2.0. Same shit.

MSI board is only one with 3A 4pin connector and can handle D5 pump directly.

 

[NOKYARD]

I found this PS2 adapter in my spare parts drawer.

Will it free up a USB port if i use it for my wired mouse?
Will it drive a (non RGB) white backlit keyboard (Steelseries Apex RAW)?