ASRock preparing at least five B650E motherboards
AMD might have been reluctant to confirm the existence of B650E chipset, but it is definitely happening.
The extreme version of the B650 chipset with support for PCIe Gen5 storage and graphics will be included into the upcoming ASRock/AMD 600-series lineup. We have received a list of new motherboards which completes the lineup of AMD 600-series motherboards.
Just recently we shared a list of ASRock’s Z790 and H770 motherboards for Intel new 13th Gen Core series codenamed “Raptor Lake” (and in case you are wondering, ASRock did ask us to remove this post). However, those are not the only new CPU series launching in the coming months. Motherboard makers are also developing 600-series motherboards for AMD Ryzen 7000 series known as “Raphael”.
Thus far, the company has already revealed and listed its X670E motherboards officially, so there are no surprises in regard to which models are planned here. On the other hand, ASRock did not confirm its mid-range B650 lineup yet, which is why this post might provide some idea on proposed lineup. And there are quite a few models coming, including Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and even a model developed in collaboration with NZXT:
ASRock/AMD 600-series motherboards, Source: VideoCardz.com
Officially, there is only EXTREME version of the X670 chipset which basically adds PCIe Gen5 support for graphics. The all-around Gen5 B650E chipset will cost a premium due to the additional cost of Gen5 redrivers. Furthermore, the B650E series will also have much better PCB for better signalling to comply with strict Gen5 protocol specs.
Those features will increase pricing of the Extreme series, but in return one gets a PCIe Gen5 and DDR5 compatible motherboard that should (given AMD commitment to long-term support) serve for another few years.
Official AMD 600-series lineup, Source: AMD
It is said that both X670 and B650 series will support CPU and memory overclocking. It is not exactly clear what ‘extreme overclockability’ brings the X670E chipset over X670 ‘enthusiast overclocking’ though. AMD is yet to disclose all details on its 600-series in the coming weeks.
It is important to note that B650 motherboards are rumored to launch later than X670 series. The latter may already appear in September with Ryzen 7000 series, while B650 might slip to October. The timing for B650E specifically is unknown, but those are clearly developed at the same time as non-Extreme variants.