AMD Allegedly Prepares an Even Cheaper A620 Chipset, Set to Deliver $125 Motherboards

[Assimilator]

What this actually means is that AMD's marketing slides were a lie. After all, if they could hit the $125 mark with their existing chipset, why would they need to create a different, cheaper one?

And what form exactly is this cheaper chipset going to take? What exactly is left to cut? The 4 PCIe lanes that are reserved for chipset-to-chipset or chipset-to-CPU communication? How much cheaper can it really be to build a completely new, discrete chipset line for bottom-end boards?

 

[Wirko]

Considering the cost on supporting high wattage CPUs and also providing long term support (over 3 years), I wouldn't be surprised if AMD is forced to risk becoming a target for press and consumers by choosing the cheaper version to NOT support anything over 65W and have NO warranty of supporting future Zen processors (no Zen 5 support for example). If the cheapest boards are build for supporting only Zen 4 at 65W, their cost will drop significantly. And while we could call them crap and blame AMD for not keeping their word, those cheap boards might be really what the platform needs for office PCs and HTPCs.

Every board should support every CPU that exists, or has been announced, at the time the board is launched. However the power can be restricted to 65W. I think that would be fair.

 

[GeorgeMan]

Every board should support every CPU that exists, or has been announced, at the time the board is launched. However the power can be restricted to 65W. I think that would be fair.

I remember some super bottom end AsRock A320 boards limited to 65W CPUs. https://www.asrock.com/mb/amd/a320m-dgs/index.asp#CPU
But we're looking at some super low end bottom of the barrel VRMs here...

 

[randomUser]

I had always dreamed of a CPU which could run nvme/ssd + 2 x usb2 + 2 x usb3

I can't seem to find the I/O diagram of ryzen cpus, could somebody give a link?

 

[Denver]

My bet: The most basic version should only support low TDP APUs and CPUs...

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

For a bottom tier motherboard yes it is too expensive. These grade boards should be around $60-$80

Being an A series chipset doesnt necessitate the boards be low grade. Once could easily make a decent board with an A series chipset, things like VRMs or PCB layers ar enot dictated by chipset.

Arguably we need more decent A series boards, most people dont need even all the features B series chips have, especially for ITX builds.

 

[Deleted member 185088]

125$ should the price of B650 not the A series.

 

[Broken Processor]

What I'd like to see is a motherboard with features instead of being clad in armour to make it look flash. Pcie 4.0 is fine, more than one type c with alt-dp, 2x nvme, decent sound, 2.5gb nice 10 would be better and you can skip over clocking and bloat ware features that are rubbish and enough vrm that I can put in any processor in the range. I want my money to go on things that matter.

 

[Zareek]

For a bottom tier motherboard yes it is too expensive. These grade boards should be around $60-$80

This is a direct result of modern business practices/ideals. During the covid tech explosion, profits went through the roof. Modern businesses are only happy if their profits are in constant growth. To make more profit from selling less, you must have larger margins. With a drop in demand in 2022 and an even bigger drop likely in 2023, the only way for the profits to go up is to make things more expensive.

 

[mb194dc]

Why would they do such a thing. Sales of AM5 are in the toilet?

No surprise given incipient economic issues and the fact almost no use case needs it. AM4 will do just fine...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Considering the cost on supporting high wattage CPUs and also providing long term support (over 3 years), I wouldn't be surprised if AMD is forced to risk becoming a target for press and consumers by choosing the cheaper version to NOT support anything over 65W and have NO warranty of supporting future Zen processors (no Zen 5 support for example). If the cheapest boards are build for supporting only Zen 4 at 65W, their cost will drop significantly. And while we could call them crap and blame AMD for not keeping their word, those cheap boards might be really what the platform needs for office PCs and HTPCs.

This is my assumption with the pricing as well. By making AM5 a higher-power socket, the power delivery can’t be scrimped on like with AM4. I bet most of the cost on these boards is invested in that and modern features like DDR5. The platform wasn’t exactly setup to be economical in the first place. Will prices come down over time? Probably, but right now it’s not looking good if you want to do AM5 on the cheap.

 

[john_]

This is my assumption with the pricing as well. By making AM5 a higher-power socket, the power delivery can’t be scrimped on like with AM4. I bet most of the cost on these boards is invested in that and modern features like DDR5. The platform wasn’t exactly setup to be economical in the first place. Will prices come down over time? Probably, but right now it’s not looking good if you want to do AM5 on the cheap.

Tom's Hardware had an article about that a few months ago
Why AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and Motherboards Cost So Damn Much | Tom's Hardware

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Tom's Hardware had an article about that a few months ago
Why AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and Motherboards Cost So Damn Much | Tom's Hardware

Explanation that sounds like paid content and advertising. No thanks!

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Tom's Hardware had an article about that a few months ago
Why AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and Motherboards Cost So Damn Much | Tom's Hardware

LOL toms hardware. They lost their legitimacy a decade ago.

 

[Deleted member 177333]

Just glad to see them getting the message from the lack of sales that the current pricing scheme is unacceptable.

 

[john_]

Explanation that sounds like paid content and advertising. No thanks!

LOL toms hardware. They lost their legitimacy a decade ago.

I totally agree. And I think they lost their legitimacy at about 2003 when they where testing the new Athlon64 with slow memory against overclocked Extreme Edition Intel chips, IF I remember correctly. At least then was when they lost me. But this article does look credible. I know I know. Tom's Hardware is (in my opinion and probably yours also) a site that follows the money. Agreed on this.

 

[RH92]

If $125 is too expensive, then go AM4

This has nothing to do with $125 being too expensive , this has to do with $125 for a A series mobo being a blatant ripoff .

To put things into perspective , just previous gen one could buy a decent B550 board at that price point .... entry level A520 were in the $ 60 mark .

So you deem reasonable to pay double what you used to pay last gen for what , bottom of the barrel garbage ? I mean why one would become complacent with multi-billion corporation ripping them off is beyond me !

Just glad to see them getting the message from the lack of sales that the current pricing scheme is unacceptable.

The message is to lower their astronomical margins on their current offering , not to make us pay good money for garbage !

 

[john_]

To put things into perspective

How about less than 100 euros for an X470 motherboard? Because my MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max costed me less than 100 euros and it's MSRP was I think $120.
So, from an X470, to a B550, to barely an A620.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

How about less than 100 euros for an X470 motherboard? Because my MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max costed me less than 100 euros and it's MSRP was I think $120.
So, from an X470, to a B550, to barely an A620.

Good God high class chipset high level motherboard with lot of ports and support of 3 way Crossfire cheaper than near future MB's with lowest budget class chipset and mostly nude PCB.

 

[RH92]

How about less than 100 euros for an X470 motherboard? Because my MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max costed me less than 100 euros and it's MSRP was I think $120.
So, from an X470, to a B550, to barely an A620.

Yeah the more you go back in time the more ripoff becomes obvious . I mean 120-170eur would buy you a decent X300/X400 board and 200eur would buy you a high end X300/X400 board . With 500 series AMD pushed the 150-200 eur bracket to B550 , now they want to push it to A620 series .... What's next A720 series for 300 bucks ? They have lost their mind but fortunately majority of the customers are showing them the middle finger ( which is showcased by the catastrophic 7000series sales ) so sooner rather than later AMD and board partners will be forced to come back to reason !

Good God high class chipset high level motherboard with lot of ports and support of 3 way Crossfire cheaper than near future MB's with lowest budget class chipset and mostly nude PCB.

Welcome to progress

 

[Deleted member 177333]

The message is to lower their astronomical margins on their current offering , not to make us pay good money for garbage !

Hang in there, I look at it as a starting point. Hopefully pricing will drop in the other areas as well for people who are waiting for it.

 

[LabRat 891]

$39.99-69.99 were entry-level boards; my X570 was ~$120... what?

I get inflation and all that, but the (consumer) electronics industry has trained us to expect 'cost-reduction' to compensate.


Guess I'll be waiting for 'lucky number 7'-series or 'crazy 8'-series

 

[RH92]

$39.99-69.99 were entry-level boards; my X570 was ~$120... what?

I get inflation and all that, but the (consumer) electronics industry has trained us to expect 'cost-reduction' to compensate.

Guess I'll be waiting for 'lucky number 7'-series or 'crazy 8'-series

Agreed and by the way people throw ''inflation'' in the debate as a scapegoat as if inflation has raised by 200% throughout 2022 ... it really hasn't . For instance in the US inflation has fluctuated between 6,5% and 9,1% throughout 2022 with an average of 8% , even if we take the extremes that's 40% increase .

Meanwhile mobo prices have literally increased by 200% for the low end segment and much higher for mid to high end segment . So yeah even when accounting for inflation and what not current pricing is just pure ripoff ! Board partners and AMD know the have fewer customers due to global recession so they try to milk the few customers they have to the extreme which explains those ridiculous prices .

 

[freeagent]

Don't worry fellas.

All the big players will figure out we don't have the money we used to and therefore we cannot buy their sh**

Prices will come down sooner or later.. who is going to be more stubborn? You who likes to hoard your money, or the company that needs your money?

 

[chrcoluk]

So they know the cost barrier is too high, but instead of cutting their margins we might get an overly stripped chipset instead.