News Incoming AMD A620 Chipset Looks to Fulfill $125 Motherboard Pledge

[Admin]

The A620 chipset slots in below the B650, and could be limited to PCIe 4.0 support.

Incoming AMD A620 Chipset Looks to Fulfill $125 Motherboard Pledge : Read more

 

[kerberos_20]

i still remember buying mine x370 mobo for 150 eur q.q

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Right. I remember a b350 board that is still in my gaming pc actually for 70-80 bucks.

That board still runs and is running a 5800x today.

 

[LokkenJP]

Unfortunately, this move by AMD can only address half of the issue.

The worst part of the pricing problems AMD are suffering with Zen 4 comes from DDR5 memory. Due to it being so new and, at this point, overly expensive almost everywhere.

This is not much an issue on the high end. If you are willing to spend thousands of dollars, it doesn't mater that much to spend a couple hundred more for DDR5 memory.

But in the mid/low end, where the Ryzen 5 and this new A620 chipset is expected to live, the difference from going DDR4 or DDR5 is, as of today, a killer, as the premium you must pay for DDR 5 can easily go instead to a beefier processor on Intel side which still support DDR4 on their latest Raptor Lake CPUs.

 

[TechieTwo]

There are a number of decent Asrock (and probably a few other brands) AM5 mobos from $300 on down with the X670E and B650/B650E chipsets, some below $200.

Unfortunately DDR5 will always be more expensive than DDR4 because of the complexity of producing DDR5. It's worth noting that Newegg and I believe Best Buy were doing some AM5 packages where when you bought a mobo they include 16 MB of DDR5 DRAM. While it was not the fastest speed DRAM it was still a good deal cost wise and name brand DRAM that more than met the 7000 series CPU needs.

 

[spongiemaster]

Will these have PCIe 3.0 slots, or will you be limited to PCIe 2.0 slots? Hope you get at least 100mbps onboard LAN.

 

[spongiemaster]

Right. I remember a b350 board that is still in my gaming pc actually for 70-80 bucks.

That board still runs and is running a 5800x today.

And that's why current boards are no longer that cheap. Motherboard makers learned their lesson from AM4 boards. Where's the money for them if you're using a $70 board for years and years?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

The worst part of the pricing problems AMD are suffering with Zen 4 comes from DDR5 memory. Due to it being so new and, at this point, overly expensive almost everywhere.

This will also apply to Meteor Lake for Intel next time around. Releasing this year IIRC. Then the value prospect might be a little closer.

 

[kerberos_20]

Will these have PCIe 3.0 slots, or will you be limited to PCIe 2.0 slots? Hope you get at least 100mbps onboard LAN.

pcie 4.0

 

[spongiemaster]

This will also apply to Meteor Lake for Intel next time around. Releasing this year IIRC. Then the value prospect might be a little closer.

With the expectation that there is going to be a Raptor Lake refresh this year, the assumption is that Meteor Lake will be mobile only.

 

[spongiemaster]

pcie 4.0

Corners are going to be need to cut in places to get the price down.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

With the expectation that there is going to be a Raptor Lake refresh this year, the assumption is that Meteor Lake will be mobile only.

Yeah, I've read that all right. It seems unconfirmed by Intel as of yet.

 

[DavidLejdar]

I don't know about the U.S., but over here in Europe the price difference between 32GB DDR5 and 32GB DDR4 (dual kits) is now around 50 Euro. That's still money of course. But when going for a current-gen CPU to get as much performance as possible, it isn't that much of a price step anymore to get some DDR5 (and MB) with it. Or if the budget is very small, then going e.g. for a 13900K may perhaps not be the best option to begin with?

Not that I wouldn't understand myself that there are ever so often limitations to disposable income (and not everyone lives in Berlin, where a monthly pass for public transportation currently costs 29 Euro, which is a lot less than e.g. in New York City or when one has a car), and pushing prices is likely to sell more than less. But just meaning to say that if I would have just about enough for a sports car, while then hoping to find some tires for it made out of paper mache to save some money, perhaps I should settle for a cheaper car with additionally less fuel consumption?

 

[btmedic04]

Unfortunately, this move by AMD can only address half of the issue.

The worst part of the pricing problems AMD are suffering with Zen 4 comes from DDR5 memory. Due to it being so new and, at this point, overly expensive almost everywhere.

This is not much an issue on the high end. If you are willing to spend thousands of dollars, it doesn't mater that much to spend a couple hundred more for DDR5 memory.

But in the mid/low end, where the Ryzen 5 and this new A620 chipset is expected to live, the difference from going DDR4 or DDR5 is, as of today, a killer, as the premium you must pay for DDR 5 can easily go instead to a beefier processor on Intel side which still support DDR4 on their latest Raptor Lake CPUs.

just an FYI, the difference between a kit of ddr4 3600c18 and a kit ddr5 6000c36 is about $60 on newegg. its not an insignificant difference when considering budget builds, but the price difference is far less than it was just a few months ago. continuing on with newegg pricing, the cost difference between an i5 13400f and an i5 13600kf is about $100. you'd still be $40 short of the next step up cpu wise if you went ddr4+raptor lake in your alternative

 

[King_V]

Yeah, the whole "but DDR5 is way too expensive" is a much weaker argument than it was a few months back...

Plus, I'm pretty sure that DDR4 isn't making up 100% of the RAM purchases of Intel 12th and 13th gen systems.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

And that's why current boards are no longer that cheap. Motherboard makers learned their lesson from AM4 boards. Where's the money for them if you're using a $70 board for years and years?

Good point I suppose. Who knows I don’t overclock, if the vrms are decent I might just get an a620 with a 7700 or something. I get where they are coming from by the high prices are getting old.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

But there's still no reason to choose Socket AM5 over Socket AM4 for pretty much anyone, that's Socket AM5's biggest issue. Games are GPU limited, especially at high resolutions and detail levels, and Zen 3 is 4k60+ chips. Applications may run faster on AM5, but how many consumers need the potential 20% faster than Zen 4 that they would invest hundreds into a Socket AM5 system? For anyone using anything pre-2017, what's the reason for them to upgrade to the latest and greatest when Zen 3 is -far- faster than what they have now and significantly less expensive for what you get?

 

[Bamda]

Unfortunately, this move by AMD can only address half of the issue.

The worst part of the pricing problems AMD are suffering with Zen 4 comes from DDR5 memory. Due to it being so new and, at this point, overly expensive almost everywhere.

This is not much an issue on the high end. If you are willing to spend thousands of dollars, it doesn't mater that much to spend a couple hundred more for DDR5 memory.

But in the mid/low end, where the Ryzen 5 and this new A620 chipset is expected to live, the difference from going DDR4 or DDR5 is, as of today, a killer, as the premium you must pay for DDR 5 can easily go instead to a beefier processor on Intel side which still support DDR4 on their latest Raptor Lake CPUs.

Microcenter has you covered.

Microcenter is currently selling AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Raphael AM5, G. Skill Flare X5 32GB DDR5-6000 Dual Channel, CPU / RAM Combo for $343, less than Best Buy, Newegg, B&H Photo, and Amazon.

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Raphael AM5, G. Skill Flare X5 16GB DDR5-5600 Single Channel, CPU / RAM Combo is $244.

 

[Ar558]

$125 for the most pared down board ? Still a rip off, what is the point of getting a new system if you end up with no PCI Gen 5, and like 4 USB 3 ports! They need to fix the price of the fully equipped chipsets not fobbing people off with overpriced old tech.

 

[lmcnabney]

So A620 might get down to $125 and in doing so will discard the benefits that AM5 boards had previously had.

That means the A620 will be competing against Intel's H610 boards with sell for $90.

So instead of paying $35 more than Intel's B660 for B650 you will be paying $35 more for A620 instead of H610. Prices aren't dropping, they are just releasing stripped-down SKUs.

The math remains the same. There is a $100 platform (board + memory) price premium for AMD right now. That means that if you have the money for a 7600X system you could actually save money and get a 13600K. Intel wins that competition in every metric except power consumption.

 

[lmcnabney]

Microcenter is currently selling AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Raphael AM5, G. Skill Flare X5 32GB DDR5-6000 Dual Channel, CPU / RAM Combo for $343, less than Best Buy, Newegg, B&H Photo, and Amazon.

Impressive. That is a full $100 less than PCpartpicker can find.

 

[CircuitJammer]

But there's still no reason to choose Socket AM5 over Socket AM4 for pretty much anyone, that's Socket AM5's biggest issue. Games are GPU limited, especially at high resolutions and detail levels, and Zen 3 is 4k60+ chips. Applications may run faster on AM5, but how many consumers need the potential 20% faster than Zen 4 that they would invest hundreds into a Socket AM5 system? For anyone using anything pre-2017, what's the reason for them to upgrade to the latest and greatest when Zen 3 is -far- faster than what they have now and significantly less expensive for what you get?

Longevity. AM4 is at the end of the road. For less than $200 more, you're not only getting a faster system, but one that will be able to get CPU upgrades for several more years with AM5. By the time these boards ship that delta will be nearing $100. Well worth it for the long term. Only those with existing AM4 platforms and old chips or tight budget considerations and limited needs should be looking at anything else right now.

 

[CircuitJammer]

So A620 might get down to $125 and in doing so will discard the benefits that AM5 boards had previously had.

That means the A620 will be competing against Intel's H610 boards with sell for $90.

So instead of paying $35 more than Intel's B660 for B650 you will be paying $35 more for A620 instead of H610. Prices aren't dropping, they are just releasing stripped-down SKUs.

The math remains the same. There is a $100 platform (board + memory) price premium for AMD right now. That means that if you have the money for a 7600X system you could actually save money and get a 13600K. Intel wins that competition in every metric except power consumption.

The 13600k has the same problem as AM4... it's on a dead-end Socket. AM5 is the only platform you can buy today that will guarantee you at least two more CPU generations of upgrades.

 

[lmcnabney]

The 13600k has the same problem as AM4... it's on a dead-end Socket. AM5 is the only platform you can buy today that will guarantee you at least two more CPU generations of upgrades.

I have built every PC I have owned going back to K6-2. (I was on Amiga and Apple before that). I have never ever replaced a CPU that didn't fail. I typically upgrade a GPU mid-life for my PCs, but the price of a socket compatible CPU upgrade is always a minimal increase for a hefty price. A socket being EOL is irrelevant for almost everybody.

 

[dennphill]

Crippled crap from AMD - AGAIN! When will they ever learn? Makes a guy wanna just say sh*t and quit AMD entirely and reach down to grab the soap and let Intel have their way with me. God, I am sick of AMD.