Budget-friendly AMD A620 motherboards quietly launch, some miss full support for 65W+...

[AlphaX]

The big picture: Budget buyers can rejoice as AMD's A620 motherboards have finally arrived. AMD had promised that A620 boards would start at a low price of just $85, and while the price point seems to have panned out, some caveats come with the new chipset.

When AMD launched the AM5 platform, enthusiast and gamers alike were impressed by the level of performance the new Ryzen 7000 series processors could offer. However, there was one glaring issue: motherboards were incredibly expensive at launch. In some cases, the processor was less than the motherboard itself.

Although AMD mostly settled these qualms following the release of B650 motherboards, many users still wanted a proper "budget" option. These demands increased once more affordable non-X CPUs reached the shelves earlier this year. Last weekend, AMD finally allowed motherboard makers to start selling motherboards featuring AMD's true entry-level A620 chipset.

The A620 chipset offers features that you'd typically expect from a budget-tier option. Motherboards are limited to PCIe 4.0 speeds with no support for PCIe 5.0 SSDs, unlike the B650 and X570. The A620 boards also feature weaker USB support, altogether forgoing USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports. There is no overclocking either, though this has been circumvented in previous generations.

However, there's one final restriction on the chipset that AMD did not mention before: by default, A620 motherboards carry a power limit of 65W TDP. So these new budget motherboards are only well-suited for the recently launched non-X CPUs unless the manufacturer expressly changes this power limit.

Manufacturers are pushing such variants, as seen on the first (and currently only) listing of an A620 motherboard on Newegg. Asrock sells a plus and a non-plus model of its A620M-HDV/M.2. The former has increased the power limit to 120W, whereas the latter features the 65W default cap.

Based on Asrock's release, we would expect other manufacturers like Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte to launch their motherboards in the coming days and weeks. While US prices for alternative options are currently unknown, European pricing suggests that Asrock's offerings may be the most affordable.

Overall, the AMD A620 chipset launch is an excellent option for budget-minded users looking for a cheaper entry into the AM5 platform. Buyers can now spend under $400 for a new CPU, motherboard, and 16 GB of DDR5 memory. Compared to AM5's initial release, this new price level is nearly half of what it was for Zen 4 late last year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/98176-budget-friendly-amd-a620-motherboards-quietly-launch-miss.html

 

[yRaz]

Considering the price I see this as only a minor disappointment. The 7950X does very well in AMD's 65 watt eco mode and people buying $80 motherboards aren't going to be running $500 CPUs. The issue I see here is that the current cheapest AM5 CPU is the 7600 which is $230. If they start releasing CPU's in the sub $200 segment for AM5 then we might have a winner. It'd be hard to justify going with a 7600 for $230 rather than a 5600g for $150 if you're on this tight of a budget. The price difference alone could buy you an $80 AM4 motherboard and you also get access to cheaper DDR4.

AMD definitely needs cheaper AM5 motherboards but who exactly is this product for? I have my own reasons for supporting the AM5 platform but I just don't see a large market for this if it's limited to 65 watts or less. The difference between Asrocks 65w and 120w motherboards is only $5 so why even bother making a 65watt variant? Imagine the frustration less-educated buyers would have with the 65W version when they find out their CPUs aren't running as fast as possible. Is trying to save a customer $5 really worth the potential costumer flak they would have to deal with in the future?

 

[EdmondRC]

I used to factor $150-175 in my build for the motherboard and I have always been pleased with their performance. I'm not really a CPU overclocker, so I never really needed X or Z boards, and $250+ motherboards always seemed unecessary. With AM5 though, looks like at least $220 for the motherboard if you want something decent. These A620 boards are complete garbage.

 

[takaozo]

This is the new "it works but don't expect too much". Asrock boards are cheap for some reasons. Just like some Dell and HP boards, they work but not at expected performance.

 

[hahahanoobs]

To be fair, Intel board makers do the same with H series. They will target the 125W TDP for cheaper board models which can and usually does affect VRM quality and number of phases resulting in lower performance when overclocking and/or using them with i7's and i9's as an example. The rub we are well aware of comes from not knowing which boards are built well enough to support an entire range of CPU's without severe throttling.

 

[DukeJukem]

To be fair, Intel board makers do the same with B series. They will target the 125W TDP for cheaper board models which can and usually does affect VRM quality and number of phases resulting in lower performance when overclocking and/or using them with i7's and i9's as an example. The rub we are well aware of comes from not knowing which boards are built well enough to support an entire range of CPU's without severe throttling.

u mean h series