First AMD AM5 motherboard now available under $125

[GFreeman]

While AMD was promising cheaper AM5 motherboards back in August last year, specifically talking about a starting price of $125, it took some time before we actually got them, as now, ASRock's B650M-HDV/M.2 microATX motherboard is listed at $124.99.

The motherboard in question is still not available and it has a launch price of $139.99, but has been discounted down to $124.99 on Newegg, which means it still fits the "starting from $125" announced by AMD during the launch of Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. Previously, the cheapest motherboard, based on the same B650 chipset, was listed at around $150.



The motherboard listing was rather proudly pointed out by David McAffee, AMD's CVP and GM of Ryzen channel business, over at Twitter. He also noted that his "timing might have been a bit off," but nevertheless, it should be available soon.

The ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 is a microATX motherboard with 8+2+1 Dr.MOS VRM, supports up to 64 GB of DDR5-6400+ memory in two slots, and can happily run AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. Bear in mind that the B650 chipset lacks PCIe 5.0 support for graphics cards but does come with PCIe Gen 5 x4 M.2 slot. This means that you get one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, one PCIe 4.0 x4, and one PCIe 4.0 x1 slot, as well as one M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 5 x4. There is also another M.2 2230 for WiFi/BT PCIe module, one M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 slot, and four SATA 6 Gbps ports.

The rest of the specifications include a couple of USB 3.2 Gen 1 and Gen 2 Type-C and Type-A ports, a couple of standard USB 2.0 ports, Dragon 2.5 Gb Ethernet based on Realtek's RTL8125BG chip, and 7.1-channel Realtek ALC897 audio.

Priced at $124.99 for pre-orders is definitely a good deal, as the next in line is Gigabyte's B650M DS3H motherboard which is similar and selling at $149.99, also on Newegg.com. In Europe, the least expensive AM5 motherboard over at Mindfactory is the ASRock B650M PGR, listed at €182.72, while the least expensive available motherboard is the MSI PRO B650M-A WiFi, selling at €200.99.

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[LabRat 891]

Not enthused about lacking 5.0 on the x16, but this is a good sign.


How's bifurcation support on AMD's non X-series chipsets this generation?

 

[Daven]

Component suppliers should really stop making public assumptions about the products where they are found.

 

[Space Lynx]

newegg? motherboards... ha... no thanks, gamersnexus already taught me better.

have fun with that.

 

[Octavean]

Looks a little too barebones for me but it is a somewhat surprising that it has what looks like a Thunderbolt header. Perhaps USB4 (semantics) is just cheaper to implement.

 

[lukart]

Glad to see Asrock doing entry level models with proper vrm heat sinks! Usually brands on the lower end they somehow forget that we actually appreciate some cooling on the power delivery.
Other should take note.

 

[ymdhis]

The board with the same feature set on B450 still costs half as much, so if you just want a machine that works, B650 is still a horrible choice.

 

[Garrus]

Looks great! The Ryzen 7600 + motherboard + DDR5 + Jedi Survivor has never been cheaper.

 

[thewan]

Looks a little too barebones for me but it is a somewhat surprising that it has what looks like a Thunderbolt header. Perhaps USB4 (semantics) is just cheaper to implement.

That would be no. Regardless if you buy a current AMD motherboard with USB 4 or a PCIE Thunderbolt 4 add-in card for your AMD motherboard that has a header for it, both use the exact same Intel Thunderbolt 4 Maple Ridge controller. Until the competition comes up with USB 4 controllers, Intel has the monopoly so USB 4 is not cheaper to implement when majority of those costs (from implementing sad thunderbolt chip) just go to Intel.

 

[evernessince]

Not enthused about lacking 5.0 on the x16, but this is a good sign.


How's bifurcation support on AMD's non X-series chipsets this generation?

It depends on the vendor. I have an x670E taichi and the bifurcation support is poor. That said ASUS had pretty good support on their high end B and X class motherboards this gen. Not sure about their lower end ones though, never tried them and ASUS tends to limit features based on price tier relative to the chipset class.

 

[Kodehawa]

Doesn't even look like such a cheap motherboard, tbh.

 

[tabascosauz]

Ah yes, the classic ASRock strategy of leaving 25% of the board wholly unsupported because they make it way wider than "narrow" mATX but just narrow enough to forgo 2 of the mATX mounting holes.

 

[Arkz]

Not enthused about lacking 5.0 on the x16, but this is a good sign.


How's bifurcation support on AMD's non X-series chipsets this generation?

Does it matter? No GPU comes close to fully saturating PCIE4x16. By the time that's a limiting factor this will be old and out of date.

 

[Nostras]

Huh, actually suprising. I expected an A620 boards to be the first to dip below 125$. Guess they got delayed so much a B650 board dropped first.

 

[AsRock]

The board with the same feature set on B450 still costs half as much, so if you just want a machine that works, B650 is still a horrible choice.

Although with that you will not have any chance to upgrade the CPU later.

 

[Octavean]

Doesn't even look like such a cheap motherboard, tbh.

Perhaps, but ASRock put some plastic parts on the heat sinks covering the rear IO and part of the MOSFETs on my B650E PG Riptide WiFi which is a more expboard. It’s unnecessary and doesn’t do the cooling any justice.

So, ASRock at times puts form over substance.

 

[The Von Matrices]

Doesn't even look like such a cheap motherboard, tbh.

That's the flip side of AMD having such strict requirements on the AM5 platform. While it means that you can't get a dirt cheap (<$50) motherboard, the AM5 boards that are on the low end still have somewhat good quality because AMD has high minimum specifications for the platform.

 

[ixi]

Still too high price. Got in past B550 for 65€.

 

[Taraquin]

Finally a cheap mobo. Thank god for 2dimm, will make it 3asier to oc/tune ram due to far less complex wiring vs 4dimm. I'm hoping GB releases B650m S2H 2dimm. B550m/B450m S2H was ram oc champions on Zen 1-Zen 3 getting some Zen 1 part to run ram at 3800!!! While me and 2 others I talked to managed running Zen 3 at 4133/2066fclk WHEA19 free. Getting 1t working is also far easier than on 4dimm MBs

 

[ymdhis]

Although with that you will not have any chance to upgrade the CPU later.

If I go for a cheap computer then its main purpose is to do work, not to whore benchmarks or look at the elaborate custom watercooling loop.

Besides, I could put in a 4600g now and change it to a 5800x3d later, but by the time the CPU is inadequate then chances are I'd buy a whole new system anyway.

 

[AsRock]

If I go for a cheap computer then its main purpose is to do work, not to whore benchmarks or look at the elaborate custom watercooling loop.

Besides, I could put in a 4600g now and change it to a 5800x3d later, but by the time the CPU is inadequate then chances are I'd buy a whole new system anyway.

But that's just you, not everyone is like that, well except for the wanting to do a task which is what ever some one requires it for. Sorry when i said you i did not personally mean just you.

Like there are people using 350\450 AMD boards with the newer 5 series.

 

[ymdhis]

But that's just you, not everyone is like that, well except for the wanting to do a task which is what ever some one requires it for. Sorry when i said you i did not personally mean just you.

Like there are people using 350\450 AMD boards with the newer 5 series.

It's not just me but most people who require a computer for work. A B650 board offers nothing beyond increased price.

 

[GamerNerves]

More boards like this please! If the VRM is adequate for any six-core X part in the future, then a board such this is a good choice for budget oriented shoppers. PCI-E 5 X16 will likely not matter in the lifespan of AM5, or at least not in any significant way, but if one wants a very fast SSD, then M.2 PCI-E 5 X4 speed is good to have for slotting in one day a super fast drive, if we indeed see some ported PS5 titles that utilize all the potential speed of the storage in that console - just in case if there is even a few titles that could benefit from the extra fast storage. Two memory slots is fine if you get 32 GB straight away and two M.2 slots are fine, since many people will need only one or buy another drive if it truly becomes necessary, and SATA3 SSD drives for mass storage are actually significantly cheaper and they are still not slow in practice I'd like to remind, even if the write/read numbers have a huge difference compared to NVMe drives. Eight USB ports is a minimum for me (preferably USB-A), so I will not buy a board with any less, but as I understand most people don't use up many backside ports, perhaps like three or four; this really depends on the peripherals at hand, like if you use an external sound device, printer - or perhaps the printer is connected wirelessly, but in any case a pure gamer doesn't need many.

Promising job from Asrock, I think, since the VRM always needs to be checked first before a conclusion. Budget boards are in the current market space the thing! Tech media please cover the most promising budget stuff!

 

[chrcoluk]

Yeah so PCIE 5.0 is a wasted cost, good decision, and keeps people happy who really want a 5.0 SSD.

Sadly though I expect we will only see it on bottom tier boards like this.

Give me a PCIE4 AM5 board with full USB load out, at least 4 PCIE slots, 8 SATA ports for under £250, then I am interested.

 

[LabRat 891]

The board with the same feature set on B450 still costs half as much, so if you just want a machine that works, B650 is still a horrible choice.

Mark that as B550, and I 100% agree.
In the consumer-space, there's nothing 5.0 availible, yet. Even then, only 5.0 on the M.2, with Gen4 drives falliing fast?
So, from a 'normal customers'' perspective, yes.

Does it matter? No GPU comes close to fully saturating PCIE4x16. By the time that's a limiting factor this will be old and out of date.

The answer lies in the second part of my post: one can 'split' that x16 5.0 and expand to one's content.
While the kit stays spendy for a few years, there's lots of surplus Gen3 and incoming Gen4 Switch/NVMe RAID cards. Not to mention the dregs of GPU mining's 'ancillary needs'.
Personally, I use retired server and mining kit, for fun. (I'm weird, it's okay if you can't relate.). Regardless, there are some legit uses for why I and other customers would like bifurcatable-latest-gen x16.
-SOHO/Sm.Biz server boxes come to mind. (more than few of my 'retro' purchases have included mid-tier 'enthusiast' boards, clearly used as a server in an office, etc.)