When choosing a motherboard to your newly bought Ryzen 7000-series CPU, you’ll encounter three foremost choices: X670, B650, and the most recent entry-level addition, A620. However what do these names imply? How do X670E and B650E boards differ from X670 and B650 ones? Which do you have to select to your system? This information will present all of the solutions and extra.

The designations X670, B650, and A620 confer with the motherboard’s chipset – the chip (or two chips) that join the CPU to different elements within the system. Previously, the chipset consisted of a northbridge chip, which related the CPU to the RAM and graphics card, and a southbridge chip, which related the northbridge to the remainder of the elements. These days, nonetheless, the performance previously attributed to the northbridge is built-in into the CPU, which connects on to many elements.

Ryzen 7000 processors hook up with high-bandwidth elements by means of 28 PCIe lanes and help PCIe 5.0 speeds. Of those lanes, 16 are reserved for a graphics card (or two, with every using 8 lanes), and 4 are designated for an M.2 drive. One other 4 lanes are used to hook up with the chipset. The remaining 4 lanes might be employed for components equivalent to one other M.2 slot or a USB4 adapter that additionally connects to the CPU’s built-in graphics to allow DisplayPort tunneling. Moreover, the CPU helps 4 USB 3.1 (or “3.2 Gen 2”) ports and a single USB 2.0 connector.

All present chipsets on the AM5 platform help solely PCIe 4.0 speeds, which limits the full bandwidth of the units related to them at roughly 7GB/s. These units might comprise storage drives using both the NVMe or SATA interface, USB units, community playing cards, and different inside elements equivalent to soundcards. Some motherboards function extra connectors than their CPU and chipset help, both to permit you to select between a few of them or as a result of they make use of splitters to share their bandwidth.

With the fundamentals lined, let’s transfer on to the chipsets themselves…

What do you sacrifice with A620?

The A620 chipset is similar Promontory 21 chip utilized in B650 motherboards, however with a few of its connectors disabled or restricted. It provides help for 2 USB 3.1, two USB 3.0 (or “3.2 Gen 1”), and 6 USB 2.0 ports. It additionally incorporates eight PCIe 3.0 lanes, of which 2 or 4 might be employed for SATA ports.

The actual situation with A620 motherboards is not the chipset itself; moderately, it is that they’re designed to be reasonably priced boards with cheap voltage regulator modules (VRM) and don’t help PCIe 5.0 speeds. In addition they solely help a single graphics card, although the period of multi-GPU gaming has basically come to an finish in order that’s not a giant one. This limitation does imply that you just will not be capable of use a second graphics slot for an 8-lane PCIe 4.0 SSD, which might be as quick as a 4-lane PCIe 5.0 drive.

Lastly, A620 motherboards not solely disallow CPU overclocking, however they could additionally formally help CPUs with a TDP of as much as solely 120W, which excludes the Ryzen 9 7950X and 7900X; and even 65W, which solely contains the non-X Ryzen 7000 fashions for now.

So, who ought to take into account an A620 motherboard? So long as the most affordable appropriate CPU prices $220, only a few folks ought to. If you wish to construct an reasonably priced, fashionable system, you’ll be able to go for a B550 board at an analogous worth, paired with a cheaper Ryzen 5000 CPU and DDR4 reminiscence. As soon as AMD launches AM5 CPUs for beneath $150, the A620 possibility will turn into way more engaging.

Does B650 provide one of the best worth?

The B650 chipset is a completely enabled Promontory 21 chip. It provides eight PCIe 4.0 lanes, permitting an M.2 drive to totally make the most of the chipset’s bandwidth by itself. Just like the A620, it additionally contains 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes that can be utilized for as much as 4 SATA ports.

The B650 chipset supplies help for six USB 2.0 and 4 USB 3.1 ports, in addition to bandwidth that may be allotted for an extra two USB 3.1 ports or a single USB 3.2 (“Gen 2 x 2”).

Learn our evaluate: Most Reasonably priced AMD B650 Boards Examined

For those who had been questioning concerning the distinction between B650 and B650E motherboards, the reply is that B650E boards help PCIe 5.0 for each the graphics card and a minimum of one M.2 drive.

Common B650 boards should have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, which is more likely to turn into related to you a lot sooner. Apart from that, B650 boards do not restrict the CPU in any method and can help any Ryzen processor till 2025.

We advocate the B650 chipset for players and others who wish to get all the pieces the 600-series motherboards have to supply, however needn’t join many drives to their PC concurrently. One other benefit of B650 boards is their potential to suit all connectors right into a compact micro-ATX type issue, which is helpful in the event you’re looking for a compact case to put in your desk.

What do you get with X670?

The X670 chipset encompasses a Promontory 21 chip related to a different one by means of 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes, offering the second chip with the identical bandwidth because the one related to the CPU.

Mixed, the chipset provides twelve PCIe 4.0 lanes, permitting two or three M.2 drives to saturate the chipset’s bandwidth individually, and eight PCIe 3.0 lanes for as much as eight SATA ports. With SATA now turning into a legacy connector, it is common for a few of these lanes to be allotted to community playing cards, liberating up all PCIe 4.0 lanes for sooner storage.

The chipset additionally provides help for twelve USB 2.0 ports and one in all three choices: twelve USB 3.1 ports; ten USB 3.1 ports and one USB 3.2 port, or eight USB 3.1 ports and two USB 3.2 ports.

Learn our evaluate: The Finest AMD X670E Motherboards: 22 Board Roundup

Not like B650, all X670 motherboards function a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, and naturally, X670E boards help PCIe 5.0 graphics playing cards. If you buy such a card once they turn into obtainable, it in all probability will not even require all 16 lanes. So, in case your board has one other 16-lane PCIe 5.0 slot, you can use it for as much as two M.2 drives with an adapter (some X670E boards really include one).

The X670 chipset is the best selection for content material creators who continuously really feel the necessity to add one other drive to their system. With quite a few methods to make the most of the X670 chipset, notably, you should not purchase a motherboard primarily based solely on its title; as a substitute, make certain it has all of the connectors you require.