Consumers may finally have a reason to upgrade to the AM5 platform thanks to AMD’s entry-level A620 motherboards. A620 motherboards from various vendors are now being listed by overseas retailers for less than $100.
For consumers who don’t require all the features of a high-end chipset like the X670 or X670E, B650 motherboards are excellent choices. However, it wasn’t until recently that motherboard manufacturer began to distribute B650 motherboards for $125.
For customers on a tight budget, the A620 motherboards are the true heroes
Manufacturers must make compromises to release an AM5 motherboard in the sub-$100 range, so we should anticipate a significantly constrained feature set on the A620 chipset. Similar to the earlier A520 motherboards, this is likely to feature slower interfaces, more basic connectivity options, and very basic power delivery subsystems.
MSI Pro A620M-E is available from Polish retailer BuyIT and Slovakian retailer Edis Computers for $82.90 and $79.11, respectively, via momomo_us. Given their similarity, we don’t believe the prices are placeholders. Sadly, neither retailer provided any comprehensive information about the MSI Pro A620M-E on their websites.
Additionally, both misrepresented the specifications, falsely claiming that the motherboard has an LGA1700 socket. The MSI Pro A620M-E is a microATX motherboard with an HDMI and VGA port, according to the scant information that is currently available.
According to early rumours, there could be two different A620 chipset designs. Promontory 21 is allegedly a scaled-down version of the B650 chipset, while Promontory 22 appears to have a novel, more affordable design. The Promontory 21 design was allegedly used in the first wave of A620 motherboards, and the Promontory 22 design will be used in the later models. In order to meet AMD’s launch window, which is thought to be in the middle of the year, we believe vendors may initially stick with the first design before switching to the second design later.
The A620 chipset’s specifications haven’t been made public by AMD, but reputable hardware leaker chi11eddog claims to have some information on the forthcoming low-cost chipset. Eight PCIe 4.0 lanes are provided by the B650 chipset, and an uplink consists of four PCIe 4.0 lanes. On the other hand, the A620 ostensibly provides the same quantity of chipset lanes and an uplink, but they can only be used at PCIe 3.0 speeds.
A620 appears to lack PCIe 5.0 support, in contrast to B650. The 28 PCIe lanes from Zen 4 processors can only operate at PCIe 4.0 speeds as a result. Since PCIe 4.0 SSDs are still more than fast enough for the majority of consumer needs, it’s not a major letdown. Furthermore, having a budget chipset without PCIe 5.0 support isn’t a huge issue because even the best graphics cards are content with a PCIe 4.0 interface.
Since A620 motherboards are likely to lack robust power delivery subsystems, it is possible that the A620 chipset won’t support processor overclocking when it ships. For the same reason, it’s possible that some of the entry-level A620 motherboards won’t be able to handle the Ryzen 7000 chips with higher power consumption, like the 170W Ryzen 9 7950X.
Fortunately, the leaked information indicates that memory overclocking is still an option. There are reportedly additional compromises in the USB connectivity. The USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports on the A620 chipset might not be supported. It might only have two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, but the six USB 2.0 ports would still be present.
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