The early-adoption tax for AMD AM5 motherboards is in full force

[AlphaX]

Why it matters: The new Ryzen 7000 series of processors hit the market earlier this week, bringing AMD's first architecture update since it released AM4 in 2017. With any new architecture comes a ton of motherboards, but many have noticed an insane price hike for even the cheapest AM5 motherboards.

With the recent launch of new AMD processors, reviewers and consumers alike have been dropping their opinions on the chips, with reviews generally favorable. However, one negative aspect that people are pointing out is the sheer cost of upgrading to AM5.

So far, we've only seen the launch of X670 and X670e motherboards, with B650 and B650e motherboards arriving sometime in October. Unsurprisingly, the X670 and X670e boards are more expensive since they have the current flagship chipset for AM5. But not everyone wants to spend nearly as much money on a motherboard as they did on their brand-new processor, which is what they are required to do now.

Currently, the cheapest AM5 motherboard available for consumers is the ASRock X670E PG Lightning, retailing at $259.99 on Newegg. The board does come equipped with future-proofed support for PCIe 5.0 capable graphics cards and a single USB-C port. However, it does not include onboard WiFi and Bluetooth or the multiple USB-C ports seen on most motherboards. Two features that some users may find essential.

Consumers who swear by Mini ITX are bound to spend even more money. Currently, the only available AM5 Mini ITX motherboard is the Asus ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi. That board sells for $469.99, and while it comes with many useful features, it is still a hefty amount of money to pay for a motherboard.

Completely upgrading from AM4 to AM5 could prove too costly for some. The Ryzen 5 7600X currently retails for $299. The cheapest 32 GB kit of DDR5 on Newegg sells for $139.99. Coupled with the ASRock X670E PG Lightning at $259.99, this basic setup brings the total outlay to an astounding $698.98 before tax.

Early adopter "taxes" like these happen with nearly any technology. We saw it happen with DDR5 memory, we're seeing it now with AM5, and we'll likely see it again in the future.

The good news is we expect B650 and B650E motherboards will be noticeably cheaper than the X670 and X670E boards, so if budget-oriented consumers can wait another month or two, AM5 will likely be a much more attractive option for them.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96137-early-adoption-tax-am5-motherboards-full-force.html

 

[bexwhitt]

And water is wet.

 

[bviktor]

The problem is that existing mobos also received generous price hikes... Like the B550 Tomahawk.

 

[kiwigraeme]

The problem is that existing mobos also received generous price hikes... Like the B550 Tomahawk.

that's rough

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The problem is that existing mobos also received generous price hikes... Like the B550 Tomahawk.

No kidding. 33-50% price hikes is absolutely ridiculous. No reason a b550 mortar should cost $210 now when it was $140 at launch.

 

[Jrfeimst2]

All this talk about AMD being expensive to upgrade but no one seems to be talking about Intel. Their new MBs are just as expensive and cpus around the same price and you’d still have to get ddr5. What gives? At least with amd you’ll be able to upgrade just the cpu in 3-4 years but with intel you’ll have to buy a whole new system. I don’t get it

 

[Moochy]

Everyone bend over and grab your ankles. Big bucks for hardware no one REALLY needs.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Well the MB makers can get stuffed. What sort of fwits would gouge so egregiously in the midst of a global recession. You've just shat in your own nests.

 

[Snazz]

All this talk about AMD being expensive to upgrade but no one seems to be talking about Intel.

Maybe they expected more from AMD?

Hypothetical. Lets say AMD was your neighbour, and Intel was their dog. Which of them would you be talking about after they both deposited on your lawn?

 

[MyIOnU]

On the bright side, it will warm you up for the winter.

 

[punctualturn]

Funny how little the same description and opinion has been used with nvidia prices for the new 40 series.

Love hit pieces and double standards.

 

[takaozo]

I'm so glad I upgraded to Zen3 before this madness, a few months back.
5600x I got with $180, now $225
MSI B550-A Pro $100,now $186
32Gb from 8Gb x 4 Kinston Fury 3200mhz CL16 $120, now $160
Whole upgrade from 4790 to Zen3 was $400.

I was sure new Zen4 would be a beast, but also aware of price hikes, early tax, DDR5 and all this.
For me "good enough" should to the trick and I have more budget now for GPU.

But for that waiting for prices to relax after all this, maybe March or April.

And btw a 7600x is $370-400 here..........

 

[doolybird]

Yup in OZ AM5 motherboards are all priced north of $550 AUD up to an eye watering $1200......"tell em they're dreamin".....to quote from The Aussie movie "The Castle"

 

[nodfor]

Raising prices during a recession
This will go well

 

[Fatboy0310]

All this talk about AMD being expensive to upgrade but no one seems to be talking about Intel. Their new MBs are just as expensive and cpus around the same price and you’d still have to get ddr5. What gives? At least with amd you’ll be able to upgrade just the cpu in 3-4 years but with intel you’ll have to buy a whole new system. I don’t get it

You do have a point here. If you consider AM4, AMD should come through with their support of AM5. However, I think people are trying to point that costs in general have gone up, and maybe people were hoping that it wouldn't be the case with AMD's 7000 series CPUs. Unfortunately that isnt the case

 

[Burty117]

Here in the UK:
7600X - £325
7700X - £430
7900X - £600
7950X - £820

Cheapest X670 Motherboard - £270
Cheapest X670E Motherboard - £320

Whats even crazier is if you wanted a slightly higher end motherboard and the highest end are more expensive than the most expensive CPU you can put in it (7950X)

MSI X670E CARBON WIFI X670E - £530
ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI - £520
MSI X670E ACE - £850
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO - £660

What on earth is going on here. Since when did the motherboards cost more to develop and produce than the actual CPU's?

Edit: Pricing from Scan.co.uk

 

[R00sT3R]

These prices are only sustained by people upgrading for no other reason than they want to for yet another 'E-peen High' that they get from always wanting to have the latest & greatest kit inside their girlfriend/boyfriend substitutes.

 

[takaozo]

Raising prices during a recession
This will go well

I remember an article here about Intel wanting to raise prices a few weeks ago.
Looks like AMD took the bait on this one, after yesterday Intel reveal.
What goes up must come down.

 

[Uncle Al]

Not to worry, as fast as they come out with bigger/better systems these upgrades will fall in costs in about a 12-18 months making upgrading more affordable.

 

[neeyik]

What on earth is going on here. Since when did the motherboards cost more to develop and produce than the actual CPU's?

Definitely not to develop, but the manufacturing of motherboards comprising hundreds of components, all sourced from a variety of supply chains. Demand is still very high in a number of these areas, so invariably component prices will be higher than they should be.

Global shipping costs (every mobo is manufactured in China/Taiwan) have risen too, so that gets added on. Yes, CPUs are affected by this, but you can ship far more of these, per unit volume/weight, than you can with motherboards.

Oh and there's the 'they paid huge amounts before, so they'll do it again' tax, as well.

 

[trparky]

I'm really hoping that their more, shall we say, mainstream boards are going to be cheaper because these boards are way too rich for my blood.

 

[Nobina]

Nobody really needs to buy new hardware at launch. Even if you wait for an entire year it will still be good. Fortunately, I have no need for new hardware for quite some time. I'm hoping in the future they calm down with increasing prices every generation for no good reason.

 

[Burty117]

Definitely not to develop, but the manufacturing of motherboards comprising hundreds of components, all sourced from a variety of supply chains. Demand is still very high in a number of these areas, so invariably component prices will be higher than they should be.

Global shipping costs (every mobo is manufactured in China/Taiwan) have risen too, so that gets added on. Yes, CPUs are affected by this, but you can ship far more of these, per unit volume/weight, than you can with motherboards.

Oh and there's the 'they paid huge amounts before, so they'll do it again' tax, as well.

You know what actually, because I haven't needed to build a PC for myself in quite some time, I hadn't noticed Motherboard pricing going crazy.

Just had a quick look at the last gen Asus ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero and they're going for £430.

I just hadn't noticed Motherboards had gone up such a substantial amount.
My current Motherboard that I bought back in early 2018 which is a high end Asus ROG Maximus X Code (the second highest motherboard you could buy at the time) was £315 and that was pretty extreme, usually £200 would get you a half decent motherboard.

Crazy to think something similar is now £660.

 

[neeyik]

Depends very much on the product, though. For example, the Asus X570-F Gaming has been pretty consistent, around the £175 mark, since October 2019 (using PriceRunner to check). The ProArt X570-Creator Wifi, on the other hand, was around £150 for half this year, before bouncing back up to £380-ish. The Crosshair VIII Hero did something similar, but the drop was much smaller and for a shorter period of time -- about £340 in the Autumn of 2019, with a slow rise to £400 or so by the start of this year, before dropping £70 in Feb, and now back up to £380.

 

[Burty117]

Depends very much on the product, though. For example, the Asus X570-F Gaming has been pretty consistent, around the £175 mark, since October 2019 (using PriceRunner to check). The ProArt X570-Creator Wifi, on the other hand, was around £150 for half this year, before bouncing back up to £380-ish. The Crosshair VIII Hero did something similar, but the drop was much smaller and for a shorter period of time -- about £340 in the Autumn of 2019, with a slow rise to £400 or so by the start of this year, before dropping £70 in Feb, and now back up to £380.

Jeez, pricing has been a bit of a yo-yo for a while then.

I am in the market to build myself a new PC, I'm running into CPU/GPU bottlenecks now for not just gaming but work and hobbies as well.

I'm not exactly in a rush but it's probably about time I upgraded.
Do you reckon Pricing might calm early next year? I've pretty much settled on waiting for the X3D versions of the 7000 CPU's anyway so I've got time.