Owning a Ryzen 7000 build is getting more affordable than ever. AMD’s partners have started releasing budget motherboards with PCIe Gen 4 support starting at just over $100. The ASRock B650M-HDV is the first such SKU. Featuring a micro-ATX factor, the motherboard will go on sale in March with a market price of just $124.
The other cheapest PCIe Gen 5 compatible (as far as I can see) costs nearly $200. Nearly all B650 boards under $200 lack PCIe Gen 5 support of any sort and are limited to Gen 4 lanes. The ASRock B650M-HDV supports one Gen 5 M.2 slot, a Gen 4 M.2, and two Gen 4 x16 slots for discrete graphics.
It’s worth noting that the motherboard lacks a network chipset, and you’ll need to acquire a WiFi adapter separately. There’s only one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port and three Gen 1 ports at the back. You get an HDMI and a DP port to connect the integrated Radeon graphics and the much-needed flashback switch.
Under the hood, the B650M-HDV/M.2 sports an 8+2+1 power phase and a 2-ounce copper inner layer for stable PCIe Gen 5 operation. This is a significant step down from most B650 motherboards that feature 14 vCore phases (twin phase or doubled?), but it should be fine for the Ryzen 5 7600X and the R7 7700X.
