The first B650 motherboards priced under $125 appear
Last August, AMD promised that the starting price for B650 motherboards on the new AM5 platform would be $125. However, when the Ryzen 7000 series processors and their accompanying motherboards were actually released, players found that the starting price for B650 motherboards was much higher than AMD’s promised $125, causing many players who intended to build AM5 platforms to hesitate.
Recently, ASRock launched the B650M-HDV/M.2 motherboard, which is now available on Newegg. The initial price displayed was $139.99. However, after offering discounts, the price has dropped to $124.99, making it the first motherboard to reach AMD’s promised $125. AMD Vice President and General Manager of Client Channel Business, David McAfee, expressed on his social media account that although the “timing may be a bit off,” he is happy to finally fulfill the $125 promise.
The B650M-HDV/M.2 motherboard is Micro-ATX in size, with an 8+1+1 phase power supply and 50A Dr.MOS. It offers two DDR5 memory slots, supports up to DDR5-6400+ specifications, has a maximum capacity of 64GB, and supports AMD EXPO and Intel XMP memory modules. It also has two PCIe 4.0 full-length slots, one in x16 mode and one in x4 mode, as well as one PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. It has one PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot and one PCIe 4.0 M.2 slot, both supporting the 2280 specification, and four SATA III interfaces. The motherboard also has a 2230 M.2 slot for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules, which supports Wi-Fi 6/6E modules.
In terms of rear I/O, the B650M-HDV/M.2 is equipped with one USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports, four USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI port, one DP 1.4 port, and one 2.5Gbps network card port (Realtek RTL8125B). The audio solution is Realtek ALC897, and it has a BIOS one-click update button. The motherboard has a USB 3.2 Gen2 connector, two USB 3.2 Gen1 connectors, and two USB 2.0 headers on the board, as well as a Thunderbolt connector that supports the ASRock Thunderbolt 4 AIC card, which means that the motherboard can provide a Thunderbolt 4 interface.
