Gigabyte B650M Aorus Elite AX ICE WIFI M-ATX Motherboard

The GIGABYTE B650M Aorus Elite AX ICE is a Micro-ATX motherboard built on the AMD B650 chipset for the AM5 socket, supporting AMD Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen 9000 series processors. Designed for compact yet capable builds, it pairs a 12+2+2 phase digital VRM solution with robust thermal heatsinks to maintain stable power delivery under sustained workloads. Memory support is a strong point: four DDR5 DIMM slots accommodate up to 256 GB of system memory (64 GB per DIMM maximum) in dual-channel configuration, with speeds ranging from 4400 MT/s up to 8000 MT/s (OC). Both AMD EXPO and Intel XMP profiles are supported, giving builders flexibility when selecting high-speed kits. Storage options are equally compelling. The primary M.2 slot (M2A_CPU) runs directly from the CPU and supports PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs with Ryzen 7000 and 9000 processors, along with form factors up to 25110. A second CPU-attached M.2 slot (M2B_CPU) supports PCIe 4.0 x4. Both slots feature M.2 Thermal Guard heatsinks to manage drive temperatures. Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports are also available, with RAID 0, 1, and 10 support across both NVMe and SATA arrays. GIGABYTE's EZ-Latch mechanism enables screwless M.2 installation. Connectivity is handled by a Realtek 2.5 GbE LAN controller and a Realtek Wi-Fi 6E (RTL8852CE) module supporting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands with 160 MHz channel width and Bluetooth 5.3. The rear I/O panel provides one USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2), two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, five USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 3840×2160 @ 144 Hz), HDMI 2.1 (up to 4096×2160 @ 60 Hz), optical S/PDIF out, and dual audio jacks. An internal USB Type-C header adds front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20 Gb/s) capability. For system management, Smart Fan 6 controls fan and pump headers using multiple temperature sensors and supports FAN STOP. Q-Flash Plus allows BIOS updates without installing a CPU, memory, or GPU. RGB and ARGB headers (two each) plus a CPU cooler LED header support lighting ecosystems managed through GIGABYTE Control Center software. Key Verified Specifications: - Socket: AMD AM5 - Chipset: AMD B650 - Compatible CPUs: AMD Ryzen 7000, 8000, and 9000 series - Form Factor: Micro-ATX (244 mm × 244 mm) - Memory: 4× DDR5 DIMM, dual-channel, up to 256 GB, 4400–8000 MT/s (EXPO/XMP) - M.2 Slot 1 (M2A_CPU): PCIe 5.0 x4, up to 25110 (Ryzen 7000/9000) - M.2 Slot 2 (M2B_CPU): PCIe 4.0 x4, up to 25110 - SATA: 4× SATA 6 Gb/s - GPU Slot: 1× PCIe x16 (CPU, PCIe 4.0 x16 with Ryzen 7000/9000) - LAN: Realtek 2.5 GbE - Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E (2.4/5/6 GHz, 160 MHz), Bluetooth 5.3 - Audio: Realtek HD Audio, 7.1-channel, S/PDIF optical out - Display: DisplayPort 1.4 + HDMI 2.1 (iGPU) - BIOS: AMI UEFI, 256 Mbit flash, Q-Flash Plus - OS Support: Windows 10 / Windows 11 (64-bit) - Warranty: 3 years