ASRock B550 User manual

Version 1.0

Published May 2020

Copyright©2020 ASRock INC. All rights reserved.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this documentation may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted, or
translated in any language, in any form or by any means, except duplication of
documentation by the purchaser for backup purpose, without written consent of
ASRock Inc.

Products and corporate names appearing in this documentation may or may not
be registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are used
only for identication or explanation and to the owners’ benet, without intent to

infringe.

Disclaimer:

Specications and information contained in this documentation are furnished for
informational use only and subject to change without notice, and should not be
constructed as a commitment by ASRock. ASRock assumes no responsibility for
any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.

With respect to the contents of this documentation, ASRock does not provide
warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
the implied warranties or conditions of merchantability or tness for a particular
purpose.

In no event shall ASRock, its directors, ocers, employees, or agents be liable for
any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including damages for
loss of prots, loss of business, loss of data, interruption of business and the like),
even if ASRock has been advised of the possibility of such damages arising from any
defect or error in the documentation or product.

is device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
(1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that

may cause undesired operation.

CALIFORNIA, USA ONLY

e Lithium battery adopted on this motherboard contains Perchlorate, a toxic substance
controlled in Perchlorate Best Management Practices (BMP) regulations passed by the
California Legislature. When you discard the Lithium battery in California, USA, please
follow the related regulations in advance.
“Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply, see ww w.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/
perchlorate”

ASRock Website: http://www.asrock.com

AUSTRALIA ONLY

Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian
Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and
compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage caused by our
goods. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail
to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure. If
you require assistance please call ASRock Tel : [phone] ext.123 (Standard
International call charges apply)

e terms HDMI® and HDMI High-Denition Multimedia Interface, and the
HDMI logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC in the
United States and other countries.

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Package Contents 1

1.2 Specications 2

1.3 Motherboard Layout 8

1.4 I/O Panel 10

Chapter 2 Installation 12

2.1 Installing the CPU 13

2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink 15

2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM) 23

2.4 Expansion Slots (PCI Express Slots) 26

2.5 Jumpers Setup 27

2.6 Onboard Headers and Connectors 28

2.7 Dr. Debug 33

2.8 CrossFireXTM and Quad CrossFireXTM Operation Guide 39

2.8.1 Installing Two CrossFireXTM-Ready Graphics Cards 39

2.8.2 Driver Installation and Setup 41

2.9 M.2 WiFi/BT Module Installation Guide (M2_WIFI_1) 42

2.10 M.2_SSD (NGFF) Module Installation Guide (M2_1) 44

2.11 M.2_SSD (NGFF) Module Installation Guide (M2_2) 47

Chapter 3 Software and Utilities Operation 50

3.1 Installing Drivers 50

3.2 ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning) 51

3.2.1 Installing ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning) 51

3.2.2 Using ASRock Motherboard Utility (A-Tuning) 51

3.3 ASRock Live Update & APP Shop 54

3.3.1 UI Overview 54

3.3.2 Apps 55

3.3.3 BIOS & Drivers 58

3.3.4 Setting 59

3.4 Nahimic Audio 60

3.5 ASRock Polychrome SYNC 61

Chapter 4 UEFI SETUP UTILITY 64

4.1 Introduction 64

4.1.1 UEFI Menu Bar 64

4.1.2 Navigation Keys 65

4.2 Main Screen 66

4.3 OC Tweaker Screen 67

4.4 Advanced Screen 71

4.4.1 CPU Conguration 72

4.4.2 Onboard Devices Conguration 73

4.4.3 Storage Conguration 75

4.4.4 ACPI Conguration 76

4.4.5 Trusted Computing 77

4.4.6 AMD PBS 78

4.4.7 AMD Overclocking 79

4.4.8 AMD CBS 80

4.5 Tools 81

4.6 Hardware Health Event Monitoring Screen 82

4.7 Security Screen 85

4.8 Boot Screen 86

4.9 Exit Screen 89

Chapter 1 Introduction

ank you for purchasing ASRock B550 Steel Legend motherboard, a reliable

motherboard produced under ASRock’s consistently stringent quality control.

It delivers excellent performance with robust design conforming to ASRock’s

commitment to quality and endurance.

In this documentation, Chapter 1 and 2 contains the introduction of the

motherboard and step-by-step installation guides. Chapter 3 contains the operation

guide of the soware and utilities. Chapter 4 contains the conguration guide of

the BIOS setup.

Becau se the motherboard specications and the BIOS soware might be updated, the
content of this documentation will be subject to change without notice. In case any
modications of this documentation occur, the updated version will be available on
ASRock’s website w ithout f urther notice. If you require technical support relate d to
this motherboard, please vi sit our website for s pecic information about the model
you are using. You may nd the l atest VGA cards and CPU suppor t list on ASRock’s
website a s well. ASRock website ht tp://www.a srock.com.

B550 Steel Legend

1.1 Package Contents

ASRock B550 Steel Legend Motherboard (ATX Form Factor)

•

ASRock B550 Steel Legend Quick Installation Guide

•

ASRock B550 Steel Legend Support CD

•

2 x Serial ATA (SATA) Data Cables (Optional)

•

3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets (Optional)

•

2 x Standos for M.2 Sockets (Optional)

•

English

1

English

1.2 Specications

Platform

CPU

Chipset

Memory

•

•

•

* Not compatible with AMD RyzenTM 5 3400G and RyzenTM 3

3200G.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

* Please refer to Memory Support List on ASRock’s website for

more information. (http://www.asrock.com/)

* Please refer to page 23 for DDR4 UDIMM maximum

frequency support.

•

•

•

ATX Form Factor

2oz Copper PCB

Supports 3rd Gen AMD AM4 RyzenTM / future AMD RyzenTM

Processors (3000 and 4000 Series Processors)*

Digi Power design

14 Power Phase design

AMD B550

Dual Channel DDR4 Memory Technology

4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots

AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse) support DDR4 4733+

(OC)/4666(OC)/4600(OC)/4533(OC)/4466(OC)/4400

(OC)/4333(OC)/4266(OC)/4200(OC)/4133(OC)/4000

(OC)/3866(OC)/3800(OC)/3733(OC)/3600(OC)/3466

(OC)/3200/2933/2667/2400/2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-

buered memory*

AMD Ryzen series APUs (Renoir) support DDR4 4733+

(OC)/4666(OC)/4600(OC)/4533(OC)/4466(OC)/4400

(OC)/4333(OC)/4266(OC)/4200(OC)/4133(OC)/4000

(OC)/3866(OC)/3800(OC)/3733(OC)/3600(OC)/3466

(OC)/3200/2933/2667/2400/2133 ECC & non-ECC, un-

buered memory*

Max. capacity of system memory: 128GB

Supports Extreme Memory Prole (XMP) memory modules

15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

2

B550 Steel Legend

Expansion
Slot

Graphics

AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Matisse)

2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1: Gen4x16 mode; PCIE3:

•

Gen3 x4 mode)*

AMD Ryzen series APUs (Renoir)

2 x PCI Express x16 Slots (PCIE1: Gen3x16 mode; PCIE3:

•

Gen3 x4 mode)*

* Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

2 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 Slots

•

Supports AMD Quad CrossFireXTM and CrossFireX

•

1 x M.2 Socket (Key E), supports ty pe 2230 WiFi/BT module

•

15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)

•

Integrated AMD RadeonTM Vega Series Graphics in Ryzen

•

Series APU*

* Actual support may vary by CPU

DirectX 12, Pixel Shader 5.0

•

Shared memory default 2GB. Max Shared memory supports

•

up to 16GB.

* e Max shared memory 16GB requires 32GB system memory

installed.

Dual graphics output: support HDMI and DisplayPort 1.4

•

ports by independent display controllers

Supports HDMI 2.1 with max. resolution up to 4K x 2K

•

(4096x2160) @ 60Hz

Supports DisplayPort 1.4 with max. resolution up to 5K

•

(5120x2880)@120Hz

Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Color (12bpc), xvYCC and

•

HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI 2.1 Port (Compliant

HDMI monitor is required)

Supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) with HDMI 2.1

•

Supports HDCP 2.3 with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4

•

Ports

Supports 4K Ultra HD (UHD) playback with HDMI 2.1 and

•

DisplayPort 1.4 Ports

Supports Microso PlayReady®

•

TM

English

3

Audio

LAN

7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek

•

ALC1220 Audio Codec)

Premium Blu-ray Audio support

•

Supports Surge Protection

•

120dB SNR DAC with Dierential Amplier

•

NE5532 Premium Headset Amplier for Front Panel Audio

•

Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)

Pure Power-In

•

Direct Drive Technology

•

PCB Isolate Shielding

•

Impedance Sensing on Rear Out port

•

Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel

•

Gold Audio Jacks

•

15μ Gold Audio Connector

•

Nahimic Audio

•

2.5 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000/2500 Mb/s

•

Dragon RTL8125BG

•

Supports Dragon 2.5G LAN Soware

•

- Smart Auto Adjust Bandwidth Control

- Visual User Friendly UI

- Visual Network Usage Statistics

- Optimized Default Setting for Game, Browser, and

Streaming Modes

- User Customized Priority Control

Supports Wake-On-LAN

•

Supports Lightning/ESD Protection

•

Supports Energy Ecient Ethernet 802.3az

•

Supports PXE

•

English

4

Rear Panel
I/O

2 x Antenna Ports (on I/O Panel Shield)

•

1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port

•

1 x HDMI Port

•

1 x DisplayPort 1.4

•

1 x Optica l SPDIF Out Port

•

1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD

•

Protection)

1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (Supports ESD

•

Protection)

Storage

2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)

•

4 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)

•

* Ultra USB Power is supported on USB_34 ports.

* ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB_34 ports.

1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED

•

LED)

HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in /

•

Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0,

•

RAID 1 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*

* M2_ 2 and SATA3_5_6 share lanes. If either one of them is in

use, the other one will be disabled.

1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1), supports M Key ty pe

•

2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen4x4

(64 Gb/s) (with Matisse) or Gen3x4 (32 Gb/s) (with Renoir)**

1 x M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type

•

2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module

and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x2 (16 Gb/s)**

** Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks

** Supports ASRock U.2 Kit

B550 Steel Legend

Connector

1 x SPI TPM Header

•

1 x Power LED and Speaker Header

•

2 x RGB LED Headers

•

* Support in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

2 x Addressable LED Headers

•

* Support in total up to 5V/3A, 15W LED Strip

1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)

•

* e CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of ma ximum

1A (12W) fan power.

1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan

•

Speed Control)

* CPU_FAN2/WP_3A supports the water cooler fan of maxi-

mum 3A (36W) fan power.

5 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan

•

Speed Control)

* e Chassis/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of

maximum 2A (24W) fan power.

English

5

BIOS
Feature

* CPU_FAN2/WP_3A, CHA_FAN1/WP, CHA_FAN2/WP,

CHA_FAN3/WP, CHA_FAN4/WP and CHA_FAN5/WP can

auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Con-

•

nector)

1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connec-

•

tor)

1 x 4 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connec-

•

tor)

1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connec-

•

tor)

2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports

•

ESD Protection)

1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)

•

(Supports ESD Protection)

1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Supports ESD

•

Protection)

1 x Dr. Debug with LED

•

AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support

•

Supports “Plug and Play”

•

ACPI 5.1 compliance wake up events

•

Supports jumperfree

•

SMBIOS 2.3 support

•

CPU, CPU VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, VTT_DDR O-

•

set, CPU VDD 1.8 Voltage Multi-adjustment

English

6

Hardware
Monitor

Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Wa-

•

ter Pump Fans

Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water

•

Pump Fans

Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU tempera-

•

ture): CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/Water Pump Fans

Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU/Water Pump, Chassis/

•

Water Pump Fans

Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, CPU

•

VDDCR_SOC, DRAM, VPPM, CPU VDD 1.8V

Microso® Windows® 10 64-bit

OS

Certica­tions

* For detailed product information, please visit our website: http://ww w.asrock.com

Please realize that the re is a certain r isk involved with overclocking, including
adjusting the setting in the BIOS, applying Untied Overclocking Technol ogy, or using
third-party overclocking tool s. Overclocking may aect your system’s stability, or
even cause dam age to the components and devices of your system. It should be done
at your own risk and expense. We are not responsible for poss ible damage caused by
overclocking.

•

FCC, CE

•

ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

•

B550 Steel Legend

English

7

1.3 Motherboard Layout

English

8

No. Description

1 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V1)

2 ATX 12V Power Connector (ATX12V2)

3 CPU Fan Connector (CPU_FAN1)

4 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A1, DDR4_B1)

5 CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (CPU_FAN2/WP_3A)

6 2 x 288-pin DDR4 DIMM Slots (DDR4_A2, DDR4_B2)

7 RGB LED Header (RGB_LED2)

8 Addressable LED Header (ADDR_LED2)

9 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN5/WP)

10 ATX Power Connector (ATXPWR1)

11 Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (USB31_TC_2)

12 USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (USB3_3_4)

13 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN4/WP)

14 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_2)

15 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_1)

16 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_3)

17 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_5)

18 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_6)

19 SATA3 Connector (SATA3_4)

20 Clear CMOS Jumper (CLRCMOS1)

21 System Panel Header (PANEL1)

22 Power LED and Speaker Header (SPK_PLED1)

23 USB 2.0 Header (USB_7_8)

24 USB 2.0 Header (USB_5_6)

25 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN2/WP)

26 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN3/WP)

27 RGB LED Header (RGB_LED1)

28 Addressable LED Header (ADDR_LED1)

29 Front Panel Audio Header (HD_AUDIO1)

30 SPI TPM Header (SPI_TPM_J1)

31 Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connector (CHA_FAN1/WP)

B550 Steel Legend

English

9

1.4 I/O Panel

1

7

2

3

4

658

15

14

13

12

11

910

No. Description No. Description

1 DisplayPort 1.4 9 Microphone (Pink)

2 PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port 10 Optical SPDIF Out Port

USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A Port

3

(USB31_TA_1)

2.5G LAN RJ-45 Port

4

(Dragon RTL8125BG)*

11 USB 2.0 Ports (USB_34)***

USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port

12

(USB31_TC_1)

5 Central / Bass (Orange) 13 USB 2.0 Ports (USB_12)

6 Rear Speaker (Black) 14 USB 3.2 Gen1 Ports (USB3_12)

7 Line In (Light Blue) 15 HDMI Port

8 Front Speaker (Lime)**

* ere are two LEDs on each LAN port. Please refer to the table below for the LAN port LED indications .

ACT/LINK L ED

SPEED LE D

LAN Por t

English

10

Activity / Link LED Speed LED

Status Description Status Description

O No Link O 10Mbps connection
Blinking Data Activity Orange 100Mbps/1Gbps connection

On Link Green 2.5Gbps connection

B550 Steel Legend

** If you use a 2- channel speaker, plea se connect the speake r’s plug into “Front Speaker Jack”. See the table below
for connection d etails in accordance w ith the type of speaker you use.

Audio Output

Channels

2 V -- -- --
4 V V -- --
6 V V V --
8 V V V V

*** Ultra USB Power is su pported on USB_ 34 ports. ACPI wake-up f unction is not supported on USB_34 ports.

Front Speaker

(No. 8)

Rear Speaker

(No. 6)

Central / Bass

(No. 5)

Line In

(No. 7)

11

English

Chapter 2 Installation

is is an ATX form factor motherboard. Before you install the motherboard, study

the conguration of your chassis to ensure that the motherboard ts into it.

Pre-installation Precautions

Take note of the following precautions before you install motherboard components

or change any motherboard settings.

Make sure to unplug the power cord before installing or removing the motherboard.

•

Failure to do so may cause physical injuries to you and damages to motherboard

components.

In order to avoid damage from static electricity to the motherboard’s components,

•

NEVER place your motherboard directly on a carpet. Also remember to use a grounded

wrist strap or touch a safety grounded object before you handle the components.

Hold components by the edges and do not touch the ICs.

•

Whenever you uninstall any components, place them on a grounded anti-static pad or

•

in the bag that comes with the components.

When placing screws to secure the motherboard to the chassis, please do not over-

•

tighten the screws! Doing so may damage the motherboard.

English

12

2.1 Installing the CPU

Unplug all power cables be fore installing the CPU.

1

B550 Steel Legend

2

English

13

3

English

14

2.2 Installing the CPU Fan and Heatsink

Aer you install the CPU into this motherboard, it is necessary to install a larger

heatsink and cooling fan to dissipate heat. You also need to spray thermal grease

between the CPU and the heatsink to improve heat dissipation. Ma ke sure that the

CPU and the heatsink are securely fastened and in good contact with each other.

Please turn o the power or remove the power cord before changing a CPU or heatsink.

Installing the CPU Box Cooler SR1

1

B550 Steel Legend

2

English

15

3

English

16

4

1

N

FA

_

U

P

C

Installing the AM4 Box Cooler SR2

1

B550 Steel Legend

2

English

17

3

English

18

B550 Steel Legend

4

1

N

FA

_

U

P

C

*e diagrams shown here are for reference only. e headers might be in a dierent position on

your motherboard.

19

English

Installing the AM4 Box Cooler SR3

1

English

20

2

B550 Steel Legend

4

3

English

21

5

CPU_FAN1

6

English

22

1

N

FA

_

U

P

C

2

D

E

L

_

B

RG

+12V

*e diagrams shown here are for reference only. e headers might be in a dierent position

on your motherboard.

2.3 Installing Memory Modules (DIMM)

is motherboard provides four 288-pin DDR4 (Double Data Rate 4) DIMM slots,

and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology.

1. For dual channel conguration, you always need to install identica l (the same

brand, speed , size and chip-type) DDR4 DIMM pairs.

2. It is unable to activate Dual Channel Memor y Technology with only one or three
memor y module installed.

3. It is not allowed to install a DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 memory module into a DDR4
slot; otherwise, this motherboard and DIMM may be damaged.

4. We suggest that you instal l the memory modules on DDR4_A2 and DDR4_ B2 rst
for better DRAM compatibility on 2 DIMM s conguration.

AMD non-XMP Memory Frequency Support

Ryzen Series CPUs (Matisse):

B550 Steel Legend

UDIMM Memory Slot

A1 A2 B1 B2

- SR - - 3200

- DR - - 3200

- SR - SR 3200

- DR - DR 3200

SR SR SR SR 2933

SR/DR DR SR/DR DR 2667

SR/DR SR/DR SR/DR SR/DR 2667

Frequency

(Mhz)

English

23

Ryzen Series APUs (Renoir):

UDIMM Memory Slot

A1 A2 B1 B2

- SR - - 3200

- DR - - 3200

- SR - SR 3200

- DR - DR 3200

SR SR SR SR 2933

SR/DR DR SR/DR DR 2667

SR/DR SR/DR SR/DR SR/DR 2667

SR: Single rank DIMM, 1Rx4 or 1R x8 on DIMM module label

DR: Dua l ran k DIMM, 2Rx4 or 2R x8 on DIMM module label

Frequency

(Mhz)

English

24