MSI is set to launch its most advanced AM5 motherboard to date: the MEG X870E GODLIKE. This flagship model is designed to support AMD's Ryzen 9000 series processors and beyond. The MEG X870E GODLIKE boasts an impressive 28-phase power delivery system with 110 A power stages, surpassing its predecessor's capabilities. This robust VRM design ensures a stable power supply even for the most demanding scenarios of next-generation CPUs. The motherboard's E-ATX form factor provides ample space for its array of features, including support for DDR5 memory speeds exceeding 8000 MT/s and a capacity of up to 256 GB. Connectivity is a strong suit for this motherboard, featuring eight USB Type-C ports with varying speeds of up to 40 Gbps. Storage options include five M.2 slots (two PCIe Gen 5 and three Gen 4) and four SATA III ports.

For graphics, the board offers two PCIe Gen 5.0 slots. MSI has also included several user-friendly features, such as EZ M.2 and PCIe release mechanisms, making component installation and removal a breeze. The M.2 slots are equipped with MSI's Shield Frozr heatsinks, ensuring optimal thermal performance for NVMe SSDs. Perhaps most intriguing is the inclusion of an additional 8-pin power connector, specifically designed to support future multi-GPU setups like NVIDIA's anticipated RTX 50 "Blackwell" series. While pricing details are yet to be announced, the MEG X870E GODLIKE is expected to carry a premium price tag, reflecting its top-tier status in MSI's lineup. With the high-end power delivery setup, overclockers will find this motherboard interesting, and users are planning to upgrade to next-generation RTX 50 series GPUs. Availability is also unknown as of time of writing.

ASRock, a global leader in motherboards, graphics cards, gaming monitors, and small form factor PCs, is proud to announce the release of the X600TM-ITX, the world's first thin mini ITX motherboard supporting AMD AM5 series processors. This revolutionary motherboard brings exceptional performance and versatile features to users, enhancing their computing experience in various applications.

The X600TM-ITX stands out as the first thin mini ITX motherboard compatible with AMD AM5 series processors in the world. This compatibility ensures unprecedented performance, allowing users to experience faster computing speeds, better multitasking capabilities, and improved overall efficiency. Ideal for those who demand power in a compact form factor, the X600TM-ITX sets a new standard in motherboard technology.

GIGABYTE today debuted its AMD 800-series motherboards with the launch of the premium X870E AORUS Master. This will go on to be the company's second most premium product on this chipset, as the company is also planning the X870E AORUS Xtreme. The AORUS Master is still packed to the gills with everything this chipset has to offer, along with high-end onboard devices. The board is built in the ATX form-factor, and draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors. It offers a 16+2+2 phase digital VRM featuring 110 A power stages. The board is laid out on a premium 8-layer PCB. You get tall extruded aluminium heatsinks for the CPU VRM, and the topmost M.2 NVMe Gen 5 slot.

The AMD Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots that support up to 192 GB of dual-channel DDR5, at speeds of over DDR5-8000. It also puts out no less than three M.2 NVMe Gen 5 slots. Two of these are wired to the dedicated x4 interfaces from the AMD "Raphael" or "Granite Ridge" processor, while one of them subtracts 4 lanes from the board's PCI-Express 5.0 x16 PEG slot. The board's fourth M.2 NVMe slot is Gen 4, and wired to the chipset. The only other expansion slots are a couple of PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x1). Besides the M.2 slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports completing the board's storage connectivity.

AMD has reportedly pushed the launch of mid-tier models from its AMD 800-series chipset to early 2025, reports ComputerBase.de. With the Ryzen 9000-series "Zen 5" processors already launched earlier this month, and compatible with existing AMD 600-series chipset motherboards with a BIOS update, motherboard vendors are leisurely announcing their motherboards based on the AMD X870E and AMD X870 chipsets. Motherboards based on both offer drop-in compatibility with Ryzen 9000-series processors, and introduce new connectivity features such as 40 Gbps USB4 and Wi-Fi 7.

The company probably wants the two to have some time in the Sun before they're joined by the more affordable B850, which gamers could be drawn to. The AMD B850 has mostly identical platform I/O to the AMD X870, except Gen 5 support for the PCI-Express x16 slot is optional (motherboard vendors can choose to wire this out as Gen 4). The 40 Gbps USB4 is also optional here. You still get CPU overclocking support. The B840 is an entry-level chipset that's being launched to probably phase out the A620 and A620A, since it features similar I/O features to the A620A, but will probably come with drop-in compatibility for 65 W Socket AM5 processors. A deferred launch of the mid-tier chipset isn't too off character for AMD. It launched its popular B450 and B550 chipsets several months after the X470 and X570, respectively.

Recent reports suggest that AMD's Zen 5 desktop processors may soon receive a significant power upgrade. The upcoming AGESA 1.2.0.1A Patch A is rumored to increase the default power limits (TDP) from 65 W to 105 W for certain models, specifically the 8-core Ryzen 7 9700X and the 6-core Ryzen 5 9600X. This development comes as a surprise given that the first reviews of the Ryzen 9000 series were published just last week, with lower power consumption praised as a major advantage over previous generations. The potential TDP increase, while not as high as the 120 W initially rumored for the 9700X, still represents a substantial boost in power allocation.

The rationale behind this significant TDP increase appears to be addressing the lower than expected performance of the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X compared to their predecessors. Initial testing showed that both CPUs performed similarly to earlier models, especially in gaming scenarios, with notable improvements only visible when using Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO). Even at 65 W, the Ryzen 7 9700X struggled to outpace the 7800X3D in gaming performance, highlighting the need for improved power delivery.

Phanteks today launched the Polar ST line of air-type CPU coolers. These include the Polar ST4 (chrome) and the Polar ST5 (black). The aluminium fin-stack tower type fan-heatsinks. The Polar ST4 features four nickel plated copper heat pipes, and is rated for a maximum thermal load of 235 W, while the Polar ST5 has a more upmarket appearance with its black powder coating, and a die-cast metal top plate. The Polar ST5 has five nickel-plated copper heat pipes instead of four, which takes its thermal load value up to 255 W.

Both the Phanteks Polar ST4 and Polar ST5 include a 120 mm fan, specifically the Phanteks M25-120 PWM DRGB. As its name suggests, this is a conventional 25 mm-thick 120 mm fan with PWM control, and addressable RGB lighting control. Its ARGB LEDs are located in the impeller hub. The fan turns between 400 and 2,000 RPM, pushing up to 84.26 CFM of airflow, at up to 2.67 mm H₂O static pressure, and a maximum noise output of 35.7 dBA. Phanteks is including a thermal paste with 4.3 W/m-k thermal conductivity. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1851, LGA1700, LGA1200, AM5, and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASRock has released the AGESA 1.2.0.0a patch A BIOS update for its AM5 motherboards, enhancing compatibility and performance for AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors. The update is available for ASRock's AM5 motherboard lineup, including models with X670E, B650E, B650, and A620 chipsets. This new BIOS version allows users to fully leverage the capabilities of the Ryzen 9000 series processors, providing improved system performance and stability.

Users can easily download and install the update from the ASRock official website or use features like BIOS Flashback and Instant Flash. ASRock recommends updating to the latest BIOS version to ensure optimal system compatibility and performance for AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors.

MSI is excited to announce the launch of the latest AMD Ryzen 9000 Series processors, set to debut on the AM5 platform. Powered by advanced 4 nm CPU process technology, the Ryzen 9000 Series promises to revolutionize the computing landscape with unmatched performance, efficiency, and versatility for gamers and content creators. At launch, August 8th, AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X are available while the Ryzen 9 9950X and 9900X will launch on August 15th. These processors will feature up to 16 cores and 32 threads, with a theoretical maximum boost clock speed of 5.7 GHz, 64 MB of L3 cache, and a maximum TDP of 170 W.

AMD Ryzen 9000 Series will also support PCIe 5.0 for the GPU and M.2 while enhancing DDR5 memory speed. Notably, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X offers approximately 12% better overall performance than the first-gen AMD 3D V-cache CPU. All these processors are compatible with the AM5 socket, and existing AMD 600 Series motherboards and Ryzen 9000 Series processors can seamlessly integrate by updating to the latest BIOS, available on MSI's product support page.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, IPC solutions, and storage devices, today is excited to announce a brand-new BIOS update for its AMD AM5 motherboards, designed to support AMD's latest Ryzen 9000 series processors, including Ryzen 9 9950X, Ryzen 9 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X. Incorporating the latest AMD AGESA 1.2.0.0.a Patch A BIOS update on BIOSTAR official website, BIOSTAR AM5 series motherboards consisting of X870E, X670E, B650E, B650, A620, and A620A are now primed and ready to unleash the full potential of AMD's ZEN 5 processors with superior stability.

AMD's latest Ryzen 9000 series processors, built on the groundbreaking Zen 5 architecture, represent a significant leap forward in computing performance and efficiency. These processors offer up to 16 cores and 32 threads, with clock speeds reaching up to 5.7 GHz. Featuring enhanced IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) performance and advanced Ryzen AI capabilities, the Ryzen 9000 series is engineered to handle intensive gaming, content creation, and professional workloads with ease. The new architecture also introduces improved power efficiency, ensuring cooler operation and lower energy consumption. With these cutting-edge processors, users can experience unprecedented levels of speed, responsiveness, and overall computing power.

Thermalright introduced the Royal Knight 120SE, a dual fin-stack CPU cooler with a design focus on clearance with the memory area of your motherboard. It does this by offsetting its two fin-stacks away from the memory area, with one of them being almost directly above the CPU base, and by using a slim 15 mm-thick intake fan. The heatsink measures 122 mm × 114 mm × 155 mm (DxWxH), with the intake fan adding another 15 mm depth. The cooler features a nickel-plated copper base, from which six 6 mm-thick copper heatpipes pass through, skewering the two aluminium fin-stacks on both ends.

The intake fan is a Thermalright TL-C12015B. This 15 mm-thick 120 mm spinner features a 2nd generation fluid dynamic bearing, turns at up to 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 59 CFM of airflow at 1.24 mm H₂O static pressure, and 26.1 dBA maximum noise. The second fan is meant to be installed between the two fin-stacks. It is a TL-C12B V2, a 120 mm fan of conventional 25 mm thickness, and featuring a fluid dynamic bearing. It turns at speeds of up to 1,500 RPM, pushing up to 66.17 CFM of airflow, at 1.53 mm H₂O static pressure, and 25.6 dBA maximum noise. Both fans lack any kind of lighting, and use a standard 4-pin PWM power input. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1851, LGA1700, AM5, and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is excited to announce an ultra-low latency specification of DDR5-6000 CL28-36-36-96 in 32 GB (2x16GB) and 64 GB (2x32GB) kit capacities, and DDR5-6000 CL28-38-38-96 in 48 GB (2x24GB) and 96 GB (2x48GB) kit capacities under the new Trident Z5 Royal Neo series, designed for compatible AMD AM5 platforms. Including AMD EXPO technology for an easy memory overclock experience in BIOS, this overclock performance memory kit with low timing is the ideal DDR5 memory solution for enthusiasts and overclockers.

Optimization with Memory Timing
For enthusiasts and overclockers, memory timing or latency is a key factor in squeezing performance out of a memory kit. Since memory timing is the delay between specific actions, a lower latency is desired; and performance may be improved by finding the best mix of memory speed and latency. Compared to a standard DDR5 memory speed and latency of DDR5-4800 CL40, this new DDR5-6000 CL28 memory specification aims to deliver a more optimized combination on compatible AMD AM5 platforms.

ASRock has silently unveiled the X600TM-ITX, currently the "world's only" AM5 Thin Mini-ITX motherboard designed for AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" processors along with 8000 and 7000 series CPUs with a max TDP of 65 W. Its "Thin" Mini-ITX form factor (17.0 cm x 17.0 cm) stands out with a compact 25 mm I/O shield height compared to the standard 44 mm.

Unlike traditional Mini-ITX boards, the X600TM-ITX utilizes SODIMM memory (max. 96 GB of Dual DDR5 6400+) and supports onboard power supply via one DC Jack on the rear panel I/O, eliminating the need for a separate ATX PSU. This makes it an ideal choice for DIY mini PC enthusiasts. However, the board lacks PCIe slots for discrete GPUs, limiting its gaming potential. Nevertheless, the integrated graphics in AM5 processors should handle most games at lower settings, especially with higher-end CPUs.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, announced BIOS updates for X670, B650, and A620 Motherboards to support AMD Ryzen 9000 processors. The critical BIOS updates for GIGABYTE X670, B650, and A620 series motherboards ensure the compatibility and optimized performance with the upcoming AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors.

GIGABYTE remains committed to providing the best possible experience for users and works closely with AMD to ensure prompt updates as new AGESA versions become available. Beta BIOS will be regularly updated on the GIGABYTE website. Users can easily update the BIOS using GIGABYTE's ＠BIOS, Q-Flash, or Q-Flash Plus technology.

Alphacool presents the ES 1 1U. This cooler was specially designed for the requirements of server cooling and is based on the proven technology of the Core 1. Alphacool combines the best of two worlds with the ES 1 1U. The innovative 3D jetplate in combination with the proven cross-slot technology ensures that the coolant is distributed evenly across the cooler base. Inside the cooler, an O-ring ensures a precise flow of water and thus guarantees reliable cooling.

The cooler has a particularly compact design. With side connections and a flat profile, the ES 1 1U can be easily installed in small systems with limited space, including 1U server casings. The new mounting system and use of acetal for the housing reduce both assembly effort and costs for large-scale production. The ES 1 1U is now available in the Alphacool online store.

AMD "Granite Ridge" is codename for the four new Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors the company plans to launch on July 31, 2024. The processor is built in the Socket AM5 package, and is meant to be backwards compatible with AMD 600-series chipset motherboards, besides the new 800-series chipset ones that will launch alongside. "Granite Ridge" is a chiplet-based processor, much like the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael," Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer," and Ryzen 3000 "Matisse." AMD is carrying over the 6 nm client I/O die over from "Raphael" in an effort to minimize development costs, much in the same way it carried over the 12 nm cIOD for "Vermeer" from "Matisse."

The SoC I/O features of "Granite Ridge" are contemporary, with its awesome 28-lane PCI-Express Gen 5 root complex that allows a PCI-Express 5.0 x16, two CPU-attached M.2 Gen 5 slots, and a Gen 5 x4 chipset bus. There's also a basic integrated graphics solution based on the older RDNA 2 graphics architecture; which should make these processors fit for all use-cases that don't need discrete graphics. The iGPU even has multimedia accelerators, an audio coprocessor, a display controller, and USB 3.2 interfaces from the processor.

MINISFORUM is proud to announce the MS-A1, the world's smallest and most expandable AM5 platform Mini PC. Equipped with the latest AMD AM5 platform, the MS-A1 offers a replaceable CPU, ensuring a longer motherboard lifecycle and sustainable upgrades for future generations of CPUs. Integrated with the AMD Radeon 780M graphics card, the MS-A1 includes 12 GPU cores and a GPU frequency of up to 2900 MHz, effortlessly handling both graphical and gaming demands. Additionally, it incorporates a dedicated NPU unit with up to 16 TOPS of processing power, making it the first desktop processor to include a specialized AI neural processing unit (NPU).

At its highest configuration, the MS-A1 features the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G desktop processor, built on the Zen 4 architecture. This powerhouse boasts 8 cores and 16 threads, a maximum boost clock of 5.10 GHz, and a 65 W TDP, delivering unparalleled performance. The MS-A1 supports dual-channel DDR5 5200 MHz high-speed memory, with a capacity of up to 96 GB, enabling users to achieve fast and efficient multitasking. It also features four M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD slots, offering transfer speeds of up to 7000 MB/s. These extensive expansion slots allow for a maximum system capacity of up to 27 TB, catering to the vast storage needs of creative and multimedia professionals.

Prices of AMD's current generation flagship desktop processor, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, dropped earlier this week, to a record low $464.99 on Amazon and Newegg. The 16-core/32-thread Socket AM5 processor features 3D V-cache technology, and roughly matches the gaming performance of Intel Core i9-14900K, in our testing. It also offers a much stronger productivity and content creation performance than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D owing to its 16-core compute muscle. The $465 new price is exactly two-thirds the processor's launch price of $700. The chip was designed to topple the Core i9-13900K "Raptor Lake." The price cuts are triggered by the impending launch of the Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" processors based on the newer "Zen 5" microarchitecture.

MSI introduced the PRO B650-A WIFI, a feature-rich entry-mainstream Socket AM5 motherboard under its PRO series. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, the board features a 6-layer PCB, and includes heatsinks for all its M.2 slots, The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors and uses a 14+2+1 phase VRM solution that's capable of even the top 170 W TDP Ryzen 9 chips. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and two M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots. The board's third M.2 Gen 4 slot is wired to the B650 FCH.

The MSI PRO B650-A WIFI offers a fairly premium onboard audio solution driven by a Realtek ALC4080 CODEC. USB connectivity includes a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 type-C port, three 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, four 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1, and a few USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports by internal headers. Display outputs include HDMI and DisplayPort. Networking connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE interface driven by a Realtek 8125B controller, and an AMD/Mediatek sourced WLAN module with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Besides the three M.2 Gen 4 slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports. The board supports USB BIOS Flashback. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD is about give the new "Zen 5" microarchitecture a near-simultaneous launch across both its client segments—desktop and mobile. The desktop front is held by the Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" Socket AM5 processors; while Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" powers the company's crucial effort to capture Microsoft Copilot+ AI PC market share. We recently did a technical deep-dive on the two. HardwareLuxx.de scored two important bits of specs for both processors in its Q&A interaction with AMD—die sizes and transistor counts.

To begin with, "Strix Point" is a monolithic silicon, which is confirmed to be built on the TSMC N4P foundry node (4 nm). This is a slight upgrade over the N4 node that the company built its previous generation "Phoenix" and "Hawk Point" processors on. The "Strix Point" silicon measures 232.5 mm² in area, which is significantly larger than the 178 mm² of "Hawk Point" and "Phoenix." The added die area comes from there being 12 CPU cores instead of 8, and 16 iGPU compute units instead of 12; and a larger NPU. There are many other factors, such as the larger 24 MB CPU L3 cache; and the sizes of the "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" cores themselves.

AMD Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs combine "Zen 4" CPU cores with a powerful iGPU based on the RDNA 3 architecture, and are the first desktop processors to pack an NPU with 16 TOPS of performance on tap. These Socket AM5 processors based on the "Hawk Point" silicon have been on a downward price trend. Last month, the top Ryzen 7 8700G asked for $299 compared to its $329 launch price; and the 6-core Ryzen 5 8600G went for $199, down from its $229 launch price. This month, the downward pricing trend continues.

According to the latest prices charted on B&H Photo, the Ryzen 7 8700G is now just $269, a $60 cut from its launch price; while the Ryzen 5 8600G faces its biggest ever cut, sending it all the way down to $152, a $77 or a 33% reduction from its launch price. At this price, the 8600G is a formidable processor, with a 6-core/12-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" architecture (all 6 of which are full-sized "Zen 4" cores); a 16 TOPS NPU, and a Radeon 760M iGPU with 8 compute units (512 stream processors). The Ryzen 5 8500G based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, with a combination of 2 "Zen 4" and 4 "Zen 4c" cores, is now priced at $139, a $40 cut from its original.

AMD's Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" family of Socket AM5 desktop processors based on the "Zen 5" microarchitecture arrive in July, with four processor models in the lead—the 9950X 16-core, the 9900X 12-core, the 9700X 8-core, and the 9600X 6-core. AMD is building the CCDs (CPU core dies) of these processors on the slightly newer 4 nm foundry node, compared to the 5 nm node that the Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" processors based on "Zen 4" are built on; and generally lowered the TDP values of all but the top 16-core part. The company is reportedly reconsidering these changes, particularly in wake of company statements that the 9000X series may not beat the 7000X3D series in gaming performance, which may have sullied the launch, particularly for gamers.

From the company's Computex 2024 announcement of the Ryzen 9000 series, the 9950X has the same 170 W TDP as its predecessor, the 7950X. The 9900X 12-core part, however, comes with a lower 120 W TDP compared to the 170 W of the 7900X. Things get interesting with the 8-core and 6-core parts. Both the 9700X 8-core, and the 9600X 6-core chips come with 65 W TDP. The 9700X succeeds the 7700X, which came with a 105 W TDP, while the 9600X succeeds the 7600X that enjoys the same 105 W TDP. The TDP and package power tracing (PPT) values of an AMD processor are known to affect CPU boost frequency residence, particularly in some of the higher core-count SKUs. Wccftech reports that AMD is planning to revise the specifications of at least the Ryzen 7 9700X.

Prices of AMD Ryzen 8000G "Hawk Point" desktop APUs in the Socket AM5 package saw reductions over the week. The Ryzen 7 8700G, the fully unlocked part, is now available for $299, a $30 cut from its launch price of $329. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5 8600G has now slipped under the $200-mark, with a $199 price-tag. The chip had originally launched at $229. Both these chips feature a 16 TOPS NPU, and are the first desktop processors that are capable of on-chip AI acceleration. Both processors are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" monolithic silicon, and feature "Zen 4" CPU cores. The 8700G packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU with an RDNA 3 iGPU that has 12 compute units (CU); while the 8600G is 6-core/12-thread, with an iGPU that has 8 CU.

Things get interesting with the Ryzen 5 8500G, which is now down to $159 from its launch price of $179. This new price makes the processor competitive with the 13th Gen Core i3 and the lower end of the Core i5 lineup. Unlike the other two 8000G series chips, the 8500G lacks an NPU, and is based on the 4 nm "Phoenix 2" silicon that has two "Zen 4" and four "Zen 4c" CPU cores for a 6-core/12-thread CPU configuration. Both kinds of cores share a 16 MB L3 cache. It has a heavily cut-down RDNA 3 iGPU with just 4 CU. The Ryzen 8000G desktop APU series only features PCIe Gen 4 (no Gen 5), which may not mean much for today's discrete GPUs, but limit your SSD upgrade path to Gen 4 (Gen 5 SSDs will be limited to 7 GB/s).

EVGA designed an enthusiast segment AMD X670E chipset motherboard for the Socket AM5 platform, which never made it to the mass market. It had even planned to give the board its coveted Classified brand, and sell as the X670E Classified. Prototypes of this board fetched over $1,300 in auction. The board is built in the E-ATX form-factor like most of the EVGA Classified series motherboards; and packs a powerful CPU VRM, besides several overclocker-friendly features, such as top-oriented DDR5 memory slots, side-facing I/O (including power inputs), and in general, a decluttered layout that won't get in the way of extreme cooling solutions.

There were four such prototypes with Jiacheng Liu, a hardware enthusiast, each of which went under the hammer. The only trouble with these prototypes is that they're bare—they don't include heatsinks for the CPU VRM or the chipset, let alone heatsinks for the two M.2 Gen 5 NVMe slots that don't eat into the Gen 5 x16 PEG. Another problem with these boards is that they're not supported by EVGA, and only come with their initial BIOS that supports Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" processors, but not the upcoming Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5." We doubt if these even support the Ryzen 7000X3D series, which is probably the main reason the boards didn't fetch way more than $1,300 a piece at the auctions. Enthusiasts might still figure out a way to BIOS-mod and encapsulate the latest AGESA.

A market research of AMD Socket AM5 motherboards sold in South Korea by Danawa, provide some interesting insights on how gamers approach the platform. This research is confined to Korea, but can be extrapolated to other similar markets. The research studies the chipset model, and form-factor of Socket AM5 motherboards sold in the market. The most interesting finding of the research is that the AMD B650 is by far the most popular chipset for the platform, dwarfing even the entry-level A620 chipset by a factor of 8. A staggering 80% of the Socket AM5 motherboards being sold are based on the B650.

It's important to note here, that this figure does not include the B650E, which is separately shown making up just 2% of the volumes. The B650 (non-E) has nearly all platform features, with motherboards based on the chipset providing at least one Gen 5 M.2 NVMe slot that doesn't eat into the lanes of the x16 PEG slot; and with the current generation of GPUs not featuring the PCIe Gen 5 host interface, customers seem more than happy with the Gen 4 x16 PEG slot provided by B650 motherboards. What's more, you get CPU overclocking and memory overclocking on this mid-range chipset, so it appeals to a very wide demographic. The B650E, on the other hand, provides a Gen 5 x16 PEG slot, and motherboards based on this chipset tend to offer premium I/O features, such as a high-end onboard audio solution, premium wireless networking, among others.

Ocypus is a new PC casing and cooling brand we've met at Computex 2024. The brand has a formidable lineup of contemporary gaming PC cases, fans, and CPU coolers (both air and liquid). The Iota L36 line of AIO liquid CPU coolers come with high static pressure FDB fans, and a glossy rounded-square pump-block with a segmented display that puts out coolant temperature as measured in the pump (rather than pulled from ACPI over USB/software). The cooler comes in white and black trims, and there's just one radiator size on display—360 mm x 120 mm. The Delta L36 is a "lite" variant of the Iota L36, with a silicon RGB LED diffuser crowning the pump-block instead of the temperature display. Both coolers support the upcoming LGA1851, LGA1700, AM5, and AM4 sockets.

The CPU air cooler lineup is topped by the Iota A62, a large dual fin-stack cooler, which comes in silver and black color variants. It uses a pair of 120 mm FDB fans in push-pull configuration, with the second fan located between the two fin-stacks. The top-plates of the fin stacks have perforations, and the LED segment display peeks out from these in what is a neatly executed design. The Delta A62 is identical to this, but without the display. What's interesting is that the Iota A62 lacks fan illumination, but the Delta A62 has plenty of it.