AMD Motherboard buyers guide
How to choose an AMD motherboard
If the CPU is the brain of the PC, then the motherboard is like the nervous system, connecting all the other components together, such as the GRAPHICS CARD, memory and drives, enabling them to communicate with one another.
Just like with any component you need to make sure that you choose a motherboard that is compatible with your CPU. In this guide, we will be focussing our attention on motherboards for AMD CPUs.
Three main factors
There are three main factors to consider when choosing a new motherboard, the socket, the chipset and the size. You can see each of these three characteristics listed on the motherboard homepage on the Scan website and this guide will explain what you need to look out for.
1Socket
2Chipset
3Size
Motherboard Sockets
The first thing to look out for is the socket, which is where the CPU physically connects to the motherboard. CPUs are available in all sorts of shapes and sizes, each with their own socket, so it’s critically important to make sure that the socket of the CPU and motherboard is the same. While AMD does change the socket design from time to time when designing new CPUs, most current AMD CPUs fall into three main sockets: Socket AM5, Socket AM4 and Socket TR5
Motherboard Chipsets
After checking the socket type you also need to consider the chipset. The chipset determines a lot of the capabilities of the motherboard, such as the number of add-in cards, the number of memory slots and USB ports. Some CPUs are only served by one chipset while other times you have a choice of chipsets, so you can strike the right balance between features and budget.
Motherboard Size
The last thing you need to consider when choosing a new motherboard is the size. Size is important because you need to make sure that the motherboard you buy can fit in your case. Larger motherboards are beneficial because they support more add-in cards and memory, but you can still build very capable and high performance systems with smaller motherboards.
The computer industry uses codenames to refer to the size of the motherboard, but the good news is that those same codenames are used for the size of cases too. This diagram illustrates the dimensions of the most common motherboard sizes.
| Mini-ITX | Micro-ATX | ATX | E-ATX SSI-EEB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 170 x 170 mm | 244 x 244 mm | 305 x 244 mm | 305 x 330 mm |
Socket AM5 Motherboards
The latest socket type is Socket AM5, and is compatible with the most modern AMD 4th Ryzen 7000-series CPUs. These AMD CPUs include integrated graphics, so if you intend on using this instead of buying a graphics card make sure you choose a motherboard that has graphics outputs as not all models have them.
LATEST SUPPORTED CPU ARCHITECTURERyzen 7000-series, Zen 4
ZEN 4 MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS
X670E is the flagship chipset for AMD AM5 CPUs, supporting the fastest PCIe 5.0 GPUs and SSDs
X670 is a cut down version of the X670E, as it supports PCIe 4.0 GPUs and PCIe 5.0 SSDs.
B650E is the mid-range chipset with support for the fastest PCIe 5.0 GPUs and SSDs.
B650 is another cut down chipset, as it supports PCIe 4.0 GPUs and either PCIe 5.0 or 4.0 SSDs.
Socket AM4 Motherboards
The most common socket type is Socket AM4, and is compatible with a huge range of modern AMD DESKTOP CPUs. This includes three different AMD CPU families, entry-level Athlon APUs and Ryzen processsors. Some but not all AMD CPUs include integrated graphics, so you intend on using these instead of buying a graphics card make sure you choose a motherboard that has graphics outputs as not all models have them. Rest assured though that most Socket AM4 motherboards will support any Socket AM4 CPU, the only exception to this are older A320 motherboards which lack support for the latest Ryzen 5000-series processors.
LATEST SUPPORTED CPU ARCHITECTURERyzen 5000-series, Zen 3 & Athlon 3000-series, Zen
ZEN 3 MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS
X570 is the flagship motherboard chipset for AMD AM4 CPUs, supporting the most PCIe lanes and USB ports.
B550 and B450 are the two mid-range motherboard chipsets for AMD AM4 CPUs. B550 is the latest version, supporting the most PCIe lanes and USB ports.
A520 and A320 are the two entry-level motherboard chipsets for AMD AM4 CPUs. A520 is the latest version, supporting the most PCIe lanes and USB ports.
Socket TR5 Motherboards
The third main type of CPU socket is TR5, which is used by the Ryzen 7000 Threadripper PRO and Threadripper 7000 CPUs. These are ultra-powerful CPUs with lots of cores, ECC RAM and PCIe lanes, making them the ultimate choice for a workstation or content creation PC.
LATEST SUPPORTED CPU ARCHITECTURERyzen Threadripper PRO & Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series, Zen 4
ZEN 4 MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS
WRX90 is the flagship chipset for AMD TR5 CPUs, supporting the most PCIe lanes and PRO management features.
TRX50 is a cut down chipset for AMD TR5 CPUs, supporting fewer PCIe lanes and lacking PRO management features.
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