The mess that is AM5 Chipsets!!!

I'm not touching my BIOS then, my B650M Gaming X AX runs my 5080 at PCIE 5.0 no issues.

 

My crystal ball is telling me, when the 10xxx series are released are and 20-30% faster, everybody who wants to upgrade will be forced to upgrade.

Unfortunately using the Am4/Am5 platform is like beta testing..
Every single bios update seems to bring about additional stability and compatibility... particularly with memory and unexplained crashes.

I wodner how many people were still using the B350/450 pci-express 4.0 enabled bioses.

 

So 2x of you have crystal balls I only have ball bearings. Just jokes Happy Saturday

 

I have brass balls.

 

Been tasked with building a PC for someone with a budget of $1k - $1.2k
Recommendations?
Doesn't game with it, so thinking the 8500G would be fine, but what mobo/ram please?

 

Office tasks only?
Just get a nice minipc with high end AMD CPU, often between $600-800 on amazon depneding on the specials at the moment.. Usually then come with free windows 11 as well.. and you may get USB4 as well...

 

Office tasks only yes, but personally I'd prefer to get her something that can be upgraded in the future if she wants

 

Going to cost you a lot more money going that way..


The current best value boards I see are

Asus B650M-E Tuf gaming.. around $200 with $20 USD steam voucher.
Asus B650EM-E Tuf gaming around $231 with scorptec discount with offical PCI-express 5.0 support being a 650e chipset. (I haven't bought or tried out this one as yet)
Asus X870P - pro prime. $375 at centrecom with a $40 usd steam voucher (gives you usb4 support as well). but full size atx


the Ryzen 8500 are plain awful at CPU tasks and have cut down pciexpress lanes and support but the iGPU is good.
you are much better off with a 7600 / 7500F with a basic dGPU.... or if its just pure officework only, the non F CPU ahv ea basic iGPU in them already. (not great though)..

I have built the followign combination together which works well
aliexpress 7700 cpu
aliexpress Metalfish S5 max
Asus b650M-e tuf gaming
Corsair CX750 PSU
Thermalright Peerless assassin 120 Mini, you could use the Thermalright si100 I reckon (which is cheaper)..
and a couple of stick of hynix based DDR5
3x thermalright 90mm fans from aliexpress

its a 15L mATX build... the issues are the 90mm fans, which can be hard to soruce.. using an short ATX powersupply saves a bit of money..

 

Yeah I'll recommend her the 7600 then... comes with a HSF
Without a dGPU for now... it should be OK for office work etc surely?

 

It'll destroy office work lol

 

That's probably not what she wants to hear

 

Prime X870-P WIFI CSM
$306.60 with the TCB, and $40USD steam voucher. finishes at 18.59 today..
Asus Prime X870-P WIFI-CSM & US$40 Steam Voucher $416.60 + $16 Delivery & 30% TCB Cashback @ Umart Woolworths Everyday Market - OzBargain

 

Do I bother with either the B650EM Prime or B650EM TUF?

Or do I go cheapest X670E I can find?

Or wait for an X870 deal?

 

I did a full value analysis and for me (and a bit of future proofing) the X670E was the way to go. Got the MSI Tomahawk X670E personally, upgraded from the same X570 one. Zero issues either board.

 

the B650EM prime - will have garbage VRms.. so don't buy..

If I had to buy right now..
it would be one of the following

Asus TUF B650m-e wifi - $199 from Computer alliance, mine had a slip of paper with confirms PCIExpress 5.0 support on the GPU slot with 7000 and 9000 cpus.. (with $20 USD steam card on redemption)

Asus TUF B650EM-e wifi - $231 from Scorptec with OCAU discount... slot palcement is different, has provision for 3 M2 storage devices (versus 2).. and officially Pciexpress 5.0 support

Asus Prime X870P-e wifi as link abotve $365 from Centrecom with $40 USD steam card on redemption. full ATX, and has USB4...support..

 

Can any one comment on the MSI X670E GAMING PLUS?

How are the VRMs?

Looking to purchase it to pair with a 7950X3D

 

The Best AMD X670E Motherboards | TechSpot

the board wasn't included in the round up..
but both MSI boards a tier above and below the X670E gaming plus.. are okay..

 

Might bite the bullet and purchase it. $350.00 from Scorptec ATM, has a nice mix of USB IO at the rear. At lease compared to some of the 870 boards in a similar price range.

This seems to have them beat.

Unless there is a better option with a min 10x rear USB ports (more GEN 2) the better.

 

Decided to install a 9060XT into old mates Threadripper. I had a 7900XT for him but we had a run in and I'd rather have the 7900 TBH, so he got a 9060XT. What.A.Fucking.Pain installing this thing was.
Firstly, I could NOT install an OS via any standard means. It seems to have USB issues without Windoze.
In the end, the solution was to create an installation media using a cheap Sata SSD, and installing the Kingston 2TB NVME from that.

I've come to the conclusion I do not like early threadripper rigs
He is stoked though, he only gives a crap about his quad channel RGB ram

 

I had a similar issue with a Quadro GPU. Had to boot my OOBE windows into safe mode, install the drivers, then reboot and oobe when through ok.