BIOSTAR introduced the A620MH Aurora, a Socket AM5 Micro-ATX motherboard based on the AMD A620A chipset. In case you're wondering, the A620A is a revision of the A620 that's based on the same physical chip as the ASMedia Promontory driving AMD B550 chipset, according to this user on the AnandTech forums. First party documentation from AMD is sparse. The A620 (without the "A" suffix) is based on the newer Promontory 21 silicon, and is essentially a B650 with a few features disabled. The A620A, on the other hand, is practically a B550 on the Socket AM5 platform. Why this matters is that the chipset bus for the A620A (aka B550) is PCI-Express 3.0 x4; whereas the A620 uses PCI-Express 4.0 x4. The A620A appears to have the same downstream connectivity as the A620, and since even the A620 has PCIe Gen 3 for its chipset-attached M.2 NVMe slot(s), for the most part the performance difference will be negligible, unless there are other bandwidth-hungry devices connected to the chipset. On both the A620 and A620A, motherboard designers are allowed to wire out one CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot capped at PCI-Express 4.0 x4.

The A620MH Aurora from BIOSTAR clearly mentions the A620A chipset on the box, and so you're making an informed buying decision. The board is built in the Micro-ATX form-factor, and draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. You can only install Ryzen 7000 and 8000G series processors that have a TDP of 65 W. The processor is wired to two DDR5 DIMM slots for a maximum of 96 GB of memory capacity; one M.2 NVMe slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring; and a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot. There are two PCI-Express 3.0 x1 slots from the A620A FCH. Storage connectivity besides the M.2 Gen 4 slot includes four SATA 6 Gbps ports. USB connectivity includes six USB 3.2 Gen 1 (including two from a header), and a handful of USB 2.0 ports.

AMD is readying the new 800-series motherboard chipset to launch alongside its next-generation Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processors that implement the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. The chipset family will be led by the AMD X870E, a successor to the current X670E. Since AMD isn't changing the CPU socket, and this is very much the same Socket AM5, the 800-series chipset will support not just "Granite Ridge" at launch, but also the Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael," and Ryzen 8000 series "Hawk Point." Moore's Law is Dead goes into the details of what sets the X870E apart from the current X670E, and it all has to do with USB4.

Apparently, motherboard manufacturers will be mandated to include 40 Gbps USB4 connectivity with AMD X870E, which essentially makes the chipset a 3-chip solution—two Promontory 21 bridge chips, and a discrete ASMedia ASM4242 USB4 host controller; although it's possible that AMD's QVL will allow other brands of USB4 controllers as they become available. The Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" are chiplet based processors just like the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael," and while the 4 nm "Zen 5" CCDs are new, the 6 nm client I/O die (cIOD) is largely carried over from "Raphael," with a few updates to its memory controller. DDR5-6400 will be the new AMD-recommended "sweetspot" speed; although AMD might get its motherboard vendors to support DDR5-8000 EXPO profiles with an FCLK of 2400 MHz, and a divider.

Back at Computex last year we got a look at the first USB4 add-in card, which was from MSI. Some six months later, ASUS has finally revealed its USB4 add-in card that simply goes by the name of USB4 PCIe Gen4 Card. The general design of the two cards appear to be more or less identical, at least in terms of outputs and inputs. As such, both cards feature two USB4 outputs and two DP 1.4 inputs for those that want to use the USB4 ports to connect to a display. Other inputs include a USB 2.0 header, a custom USB4 header for communication with the motherboard—similar to Thunderbolt add-in cards—and a 6-pin graphics card type power input. The card supports up to two monitors and three devices or one monitor and four devices when daisy chained.

ASUS has gone for a shroud on its card, so it's impossible to make out any real details, but based on the manual, ASUS has installed a heatsink on the ASM4242 USB4 host controller from ASMedia, albeit a smaller one than MSI. However, ASUS has only gone for 60 W USB Power Delivery compared to 100 W for the MSI card. If this makes any useful difference in a desktop PC is up for discussion though and would depend on specific use cases. On the other hand, ASUS allows for 60 W through both ports, whereas MSI only delivers 27 W through its secondary port. The card should work with any ASUS motherboard that has a TB/USB4 header. As ASUS has only just put up the product page, there's no word on pricing.

Patriot Memory brought their latest ware to the 2024 International CES that use recent advancements in tech on both the SSD and memory fronts. On the SSD front, this year sees 14 GB/s capable PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs thanks to Phison's E26 Max14um controller; and a new crop of USB4 portable SSDs; while the memory front sees DDR5 speeds go far north of DDR5-6000, thanks to on-module CKDs. Patriot showed us examples of each.

First up, there's the Patriot Viper PV573 Gen 5 NVMe SSD. This thing comes in capacities of up to 4 TB, and combines a Phison E26 Max14um controller with Micron's latest B58R TLC NAND flash chips that offer 2400 MT/s per flash channel. The controller also gets some incremental thermal optimizations, which means the cooling solution for the PV573 is a 16.5 mm-tall fan-heatsink. The drive offers up to 14 GB/s sequential reads, with up to 12 GB/s sequential writes. There's also a slightly de-rated version of this drive, the Viper PV553, which has the same combination of controller and NAND flash, but with transfer speeds of up to 12.4 GB/s reads, with up to 11.8 GB/s writes.

At Computex 2023, MSI was showing off its USB4 100 W Expansion Card—also known as the MS-4489—which is the first officially announced USB4 add-in card in the market. MSI didn't specify the actual chip being used, but we've verified that the card is based on ASMedia's ASM4242 USB4 host controller. Just as with Thunderbolt cards, the MS-4489 needs to be connected internally to the motherboard with a cable that handles some of the communication with interfaces that can be routed over PCIe and this is the reason for the lower pin-header on the card. We're not sure what the USB 2.0 pin-header is for, as on Thunderbolt cards, this would be an input, but the ASM4242 supports native support for USB 2.0, unlike Thunderbolt, but it could be a USB 2.0 output.

What makes this card stand out compared to MSI's Thunderbolt 4 card is that it offers 100 Watt USB PD support on the primary USB-C port, with the secondary port delivering up to 27 Watts of power. As with Thunderbolt add-in cards, the MS-4489 relies on a pair of full-size DP inputs if you want to use DP Alt mode over USB-C to connect displays to the card. To be able to deliver this much power, MSI has added a 6-pin graphics cards style power connector to the card to be able to deliver enough power to the USB-C ports. Another oddity with the card is that it has a physical PCIe x8 slot, but it's only wired up for PCIe x4. This could limit compatibility on motherboards that lack either an open ended PCIe x4 slot or a x16 slot that's wired up for four lanes of PCIe. We're expecting to see more products like this later in the year from all the other motherboard manufacturers and maybe even some third parties.

Regular readers of TPU might remember our in-depth USB4 article that we posted almost a year ago, but since then, very little has happened and ASMedia has as yet to make its ASM4242 USB4 host controller available to its partners and then ASM2464 USB4 to PCIe 4.0 bridge was suffering the same fate until May this year, when it was released to ASMedia's customers. It turns out most of it is related to USB-IF certification and the USB4 design documentation, as the certification wasn't quite ready for a third party host controller and the design documents were—shall we say—less than complete and relied too heavily on the Thunderbolt 3 spec. This meant that ASMedia had to retest and redo a lot of work they had done, due to a certain spec donator having assumed that other companies knew how it had designed its Thunderbolt products.

The good news is that we should see the ASM4242 in the market before the end of this year and ASMedia is busy testing it and its ASM2464 with a wide range of products to make sure compatibility is as good as possible. In the company suite at Computex, ASMedia was showing the ASM2464 connected to Apple's M2 silicon, as well as Intel's latest CPUs with integrated Thunderbolt 4 support. There had been some performance related issues from Apple's side, but this has apparently been resolved in a recent update from Apple. As far as Intel is concerned, there are no compatibility issues with the 13th and possibly 12th gen mobile chips, but older Thunderbolt hardware might require a firmware update, which may or may not exist. Older Intel hardware also doesn't perform as well as its most recent solutions, but it doesn't mean there will be compatibility issues outright. As for AMD, ASMedia informed TPU that there were no issues, since AMD has a USB4 implementation in its mobile products that follow the USB-IF spec.

Chinese RISC-V developers Milk-V Technology and SOPHGO recently announced their collaborative open source Milk-V Pioneer developer motherboard and workstation based on the SOPHON SG2042 RISC-V server SoC. The SOPHON SG2042 is a 64-core, 2 GHz SoC based on T-Head Semiconductor's XuanTie C920 64-bit processor design which features clusters of one to four cores, each a 12-stage out-of-order multiple issue superscalar pipeline, and a 128-bit vector engine based on the preliminary RISC-V V Extension version 0.7.1. The SG2042 packs in 64+64 KB (I+D) L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core cluster, 64 MB of L3 system cache, a quad-channel DDR4 controller, and 32 lanes of PCI-E Gen 4. The SG2042 contains no integrated graphics solution.

The Milk-V Pioneer incorporates this highly threaded RISC-V SoC with a modular and expandable standard mATX motherboard featuring four DIMM slots with support for up to 128 GB of DDR4, three full-length PCI-E slots wired for Gen 4 x8, two M.2 M-Key PCI-E Gen 3 x4, one M.2 E-Key for PCI-E 3.0 x1 and USB 2.0, eight USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports, five SATA 6 Gbps ports, and a pair of 2.5G Ethernet ports. The bulk of this I/O runs off an ASMedia ASM 2824 PCI-E switch, however the PCI-E Gen 4 ports run directly off the SG2024 SoC. Milk-V Pioneer is also being offered as a prebuilt small form factor workstation which puts the board into a small portable chassis called the Pioneer Box. The Pioneer Box includes 64 GB of DDR4-3200, 1 TB M.2 SSD, an Intel X520-T2 10G network card, an AMD Radeon R5 230 graphics card for display, and a 350 W power supply.

SK Hynix seems to be getting into being a retail brand in the storage market space and its latest addition to its product range looks pretty interesting, in more ways than one. The compact 74 x 46 x 14.8 mm (WxDxH) SSD goes under the name of Beetle X31 and judging by the packaging, it's meant to look like a golden Egyptian scarab, although SK Hynix was clearly not bold enough to follow through with the housing design. Regardless, the small golden puck looks pretty nifty, but it also hides some rather interesting technology under its shell.

Fortunately for us, a Korean YouTuber has already disassembled the drive and based on the specs, it appears to have an ASMedia ASM2362 PCIe 3.0 x2 to USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) bridge chip, which allows the internal NVMe drive to interface with the USB Type-C port on the device. The internal NVMe SSD is also rather intriguing and it'll most likely be found in some other devices. It appears to follow the M.2 2242 form factor, but it's only equipped with a single chip, which is said to house not only the NAND flash, but also the SSD controller and some kind of DRAM, as this is not a DRAM-less SSD. The Beetle X31 will be available in 512 GB and 1 TB sizes, with the 1 TB model retailing for 138,000 Korean won, or around US$103. An optional protective case is also available as an accessory.

ADATA SE920 is the company's first portable SSD to take advantage of USB4 and offer transfer-speeds that utilize that added interface bandwidth. The drive features a 40 Gbps USB4 interface, with a single cable handling both power and host connectivity. Internally, this is an M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD that's been wired to an ASMedia ASM2464PD chip that converts a 40 Gbps USB4 uplink to a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 downlink, and hence the internal drive has slightly more bandwidth than PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps).

The ADATA SE920 comes in capacity variants of 1 TB and 2 TB. Both variants offer sequential transfer rates of up to 3800 MB/s reads, with up to 3200 MB/s writes. The brushed aluminium enclosure has a mechanism that slides out a diagonal insert with air vents for an active cooling mechanism inside, which cools the internal drive, the bridge chip, and some power components. A USB4 type-C to type-C cable is included with the drive.

Taiwanese ASMedia appears to become the first peripheral chipset company to launch a USB4 host-controller chipset, based on reports from an event the company held this week. ASMedia is at least the first company to get certified by the USB-IF, as its ASM4242 host-controller is the first of its kind to get certified. The ASM4242 was certified alongside the ASM2464PD device controller, although it's unclear exactly what type of device controller this is, but the PD in the model name indicates that it has native support for USB PD power delivery, without the need of any additional chips. This should allow for simpler implementation, as well as it would be saving some PCB space that the extra components no longer take up.

The ASM4242 is said to have a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface and does as such support up to 64 Gbps of bandwidth. As this is a two port controller, it's still not quite enough to enable both ports to operate at the full 40 Gbps that USB4 Gen 3x2 supports, but it should be enough for most consumer implementations. ASMedia has also added support for DP Alt Mode and USB4 is of course also backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3. ASMedia is already sampling its partners. We should hopefully get a better look at what ASMedia is working on next week, but DigiTimes mentions that ASMedia has also developed PCIe 5.0 controllers of some kind and have finished the tape-out of said products.

As we approach the next generation of AMD's Ryzen processors, accompanying chipsets will follow the launch of their main co-host device. Enabling different levels of features across the new processor generation, chipset versions are limiting the number of options a platform offers to the end-user. AMD is designing its motherboard chipsets in collaboration with a Taiwanese design firm ASMedia. They usually develop a few chipset types covering low-end, middle-end, and high-end motherboards segments. However, it seems like the high-end motherboard segment could be populated with the same silicon as the middle-end section of the chipset stack; note a few Chinese forum members on BiliBili.

As they note, the high-end AMD X670 chipset could be a multi-chip module (MCM) design incorporating two middle-end B650 chipsets. A combination of two B650 dies is allegedly forming an X670 chipset, and that is what AMD could force motherboard makers to use. By doing so, the Mini-ITX motherboard form factor could be challenging to design and manufacture, meaning that the package of the X670 chipset could be rather extensive. This rumor should, of course, be taken with a massive grain of salt as we don't know how this would function. However, it financially makes sense as AMD wouldn't need to design and request manufacturing for an additional chipset variant.

SilverStone today introduced the MS12, an external SSD enclosure designed for M.2-2280 SSDs with PCIe/NVMe interface. The enclosure features a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface, which it converts to USB 3.2x2 (20 Gbps), put out from a USB-C connector, with a single handling both power and host-connectivity. The enclosure features an aluminium body which doubles up as a heatsink for the enclosed SSD. An ASMedia ASM23364 bridge chip is in-charge of things under the hood, and is capable of transfer speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s. The enclosure measures 106.5 mm x 33.3 mm x 15.3 mm (WxDxH), weighing about 53 g. A 30 cm USB-C cable, and thermal pad comes included. The company didn't mention pricing.

AMD today announced its entry-level A520 desktop chipset for 3rd Gen Ryzen "Matisse" processors, and possible readiness for Athlon and Ryzen 4000G processors based on the "Renoir" silicon. Much like the B550, it lacks support for Ryzen 3 3200G and Ryzen 5 3400G processors based on the "Picasso" silicon, as well as older 2nd- and 1st Gen Ryzen processors. The A520 succeeds the A320 chipset, and enables motherboards priced deep under the $100-mark, close to the $50 magic figure. The ASMedia-sourced chipset has quite a few similarities with the B550, but one big segmentation - complete lack of PCIe Gen 4.

Motherboards based on the AMD A520 completely lack PCIe Gen 4 support, even with a Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" processor. Even the PCI-Express x16 and M.2 NVMe slots wired to the AM4 SoC are limited to PCIe Gen 3. On the B550, these two slots run at Gen 4 speeds when paired with a capable processor. Much like the B550, the downstream (general purpose) PCIe lanes from the chipset run at PCIe Gen 3 speeds, although unlike the B550, the chipset only puts out 6 lanes. Other platform I/O includes up to five 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports (includes two from the AM4 SoC), two 5 Gbps USB 3.1 ports, four SATA 6 Gb/s (AHCI-only) ports, and six USB 2.0 ports. At launch, A520 motherboards only support Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" processors, with support planned for 4000G "Renoir" processors when they launch in the retail channel, and future "Zen 3" processors, through firmware updates.

Apple has recently announced its transition from Intel-based Mac computers to custom Arm-based Apple silicon equipped Macs. The speculations for such transition have lasted a few years and we finally got that confirmation. So the question remains: who will manufacture Apple's custom processors for Arm-based Macs? The answer is pretty simple. It is TSMC who will again become Apple's main supplier of silicon. With its broad offerings of the latest silicon nodes, it was no brainer choice for Apple. Combined with the history of collaboration with Apple, TSMC was the only choice for new Apple silicon. Whatever the company will use the new 5 nm node or use the "old" 7 nm one, the question remains.

TSMC expects to see huge orders from Apple in the second half of 2021, for Apple silicon, so Apple will become perhaps the biggest customer of TSMC. It is also worth pointing out that Apple will be using ASMedia's USB controller for Arm-based Macs, as the original report suggests.

AMD formally launched its B550 socket AM4 desktop chipset, with the promise of bring PCI-Express gen 4 connectivity to the masses. Motherboards based on the B550 support 3rd gen Ryzen desktop processors based on the "Matisse" silicon, and "Zen 2" microarchitecture. The chipset will, in the future, support Ryzen 4000G "Renoir" and "Zen 3" based "Vermeer" desktop processors. Based on an ASMedia-made design, the chipset lets you have PCI-Express gen 4.0 on the main x16 slot from the processor, and at least one M.2 NVMe slots (which is CPU-attached). The chipset itself puts out up to 8 general purpose PCI-Express gen 3.0 lanes, besides up to six SATA 6 Gbps ports, and USB 3.2 connectivity. Motherboards based on the B550 start at $99 MSRP (although $114 on Newegg), and some of the pricier models go all the way up to $300.Do read the TechPowerUp reviews for GIGABYTE B550 AORUS Pro | GIGABYTE B550I AORUS Pro AX | ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming

MSI, the world-leading motherboard manufacturer, proudly announces Intel B460 series motherboards. Since the current Intel 10th Gen processor has doubled the efficiency of the thread, it is an excellent match with the B460 series chipset on the mainstream i5 / i7 processor, this time MSI launched 4 models of MAG series at a time, including MAG B460 TOMAHAWK in ATX size and three mATX size models including MAG B460M MORTAR, MAG B460M MORTAR WIFI, and MAG B460M BAZOOKA. This completes an enriching amount of choices for mainstream gamers.

MAG B460 TOMAHAWK is equipped with MSI Extended Heatsink Design, which is well-prepared for the potential rise in temperature. Turbo M.2 with M.2 shield Frozr allows for maximum performance without throttling condition. Adopted ASMedia 3241 controller chip brings up to 20 Gbps transfer speed with Type-C connector. 2.5G Gigabit LAN with the LAN manager offers faster networking experiences. 12+1+1 Duet Rail Power System gives more stability for entry-level gamers.

In their briefing leading up to today's Ryzen 3 3100 and 3300X review embargo, AMD disclosed that its upcoming "Zen 3" 4th generation Ryzen desktop processors will only support AMD 500-series (or later) chipsets. The next-gen processors will not work with older 400-series or 300-series chipsets. This comes as a blow to those who bought premium X470 motherboards hoping for latest CPU compatibility running into 2020. At this time only B550 is available, but we expect more news on enthusiast chipsets as the Zen 3 launch date comes closer. AMD B550 is a fascinating new mid-range chipset by AMD. Launching today as a successor to the popular B450 chipset, B550 is a low-power silicon with roughly the same 5-7 W TDP as the older 400-series chipset. Although AMD won't confirm it, it's likely that the chipset is sourced from ASMedia. It brings a lot to the table that could draw buyers away from B450, but it also takes some away.

The AMD B550 currently only supports 3rd generation Ryzen "Matisse" processors. Ryzen 3000 "Picasso" APU are not supported. What's more, older Ryzen 2000 "Pinnacle Ridge," "Raven Ridge," and first gen Ryzen 1000 "Summit Ridge" aren't supported, either. The Athlon 200 and 3000 "Zen" based chips miss out, too. AMD argues that it ran into ROM size limitations when trying to cram AGESA microcode for all the older processors. We find that hard to believe because B450 motherboards with the latest ComboAM4 AGESA support 2nd gen and 3rd gen processors, including APUs and Athlon SKUs based on the two. On the bright side, AMD assured us (within its marketing slides for the B550), that the chipset will support upcoming processors based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture. The company also came up with a new motherboard packaging label that clarifies that the processors won't work with the 3400G and 3200G.

AMD's upcoming B550 desktop chipset, which plays second-fiddle to the premium X570, could bring relief to gaming PC builders wanting to put together 3rd gen Ryzen desktops with PCI-Express gen 4.0 graphics and M.2 SSD connectivity on the cheap. Pricing of a handful ASUS B550 motherboards was leaked to the web by Australian retailer ICIT.net.au, who listed the somewhat premium ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming for AUD $262.90, including GST (converts to USD $167 including all taxes). The retailer also lists TUF B550-Plus Gaming and Prime B550M-A at the same exact price, which could be pre-launch inflation (so we're going by the price of what could be the best-endowed SKUs among the three).

If this pricing holds up, B550 based boards could launch at prices close to those of B450 boards at launch. The B550 is AMD's mid-range desktop chipset that is expected to enable PCI-Express gen 4.0, at least where it matters the most (the main x16 slot and the M.2 slot that's wired to the AM4 SoC). Much like its predecessors, the B450 and B350, it could enable CPU- and memory overclocking. Reports dating back to Q3-2019 point to the B550 being ASMedia-sourced, and having a far lower chipset TDP than the X570 (making do with passive heatsinks like the AMD 400-series).

While many users were likely expecting AMD to launch their lower-tier alternatives B550 and A520 chipset solutions for their Ryzen 2 CPUs shortly after their release to the market last year, users who want to pair a more inexpensive motherboard have had to wait in the rain until now. At the time, industry sources pointed towards fabrication of ASMedia's B550 and A520 chipsets for the AM4 platform to begin shipping to motherboard manufacturers in Q4 2019.

Now, new reports say that production of these chipsets (simpler in features, and thus, in price, whilst also not requiring active cooling) will only begin in Q1 2020, which means likely retail availability (at least in significant volumes) in Q2 at the earliest. It seems that users will, for the time being, have to make do with the usually top-of-the-line chipset option for the AMD platform - which is, coincidentally, the one with bigger margins for AMD.

ASUS today rolled out the Pro WS X299 SAGE II, a redesign and refresh of its WS X299 SAGE series quasi-workstation motherboards, designed for those who want to use Intel's 10th generation Core XE "Cascade Lake-X" HEDT processors in a workstation-like environment (CEB form-factor) and can make do without ECC memory. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors, along with an optional 6-pin PCIe power input to stabilize add-on card power delivery. An 8-phase VRM conditions power for the socket LGA2066 processor. The board employs PLX PEX8747 bridge chips to convert two x16 PCIe gen 3.0 links from the LGA2066 processor to four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots with full bandwidth, or seven slots with x16/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8 wiring.

Storage options on the ASUS Pro WS X299 SAGE II include three U.2 ports, two M.2 slots (one right below the PCH heatsink, and the other vertical); and eight SATA 6 Gbps ports. Network connectivity includes two 2.5 GbE interfaces driven by a pair of Intel i225-LM controllers. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports driven by an ASMedia controller (from which one is type-C), a second such controller driving an internal port, and eight USB 3.2 gen 1 ports from the X299 PCH. A high-grade onboard audio solution featuring Realtek S1220A HDA codec, headphones amp, ground-layer isolation, and audio-grade capacitors, make for the rest of this board. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD X570 chipset is the industry's first PC platform core-logic to support PCI-Express gen 4.0, but has proven to be expensive and hot. Its 600-series chipset successor will be third-party sourced much like its 400-series predecessor, according to a MyDrivers report citing sources in the motherboard industry. AMD is reportedly sourcing its 500-series mid-range chipset, the B550, from ASMedia. The B550 uses PCI-Express 3.0 x4 as its chipset bus, and puts out eight PCIe gen 3.0 downstream general purpose lanes, however, B550 motherboards could still feature PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slots from the socket AM4 SoC (provided a 3rd gen Ryzen processor is installed), and at least one of the M.2 NVMe slots on B550 motherboards could have PCI-Express 4.0 x4, since they're wired to the SoC instead of the chipset.

The MyDrivers report predicts that the successor to X570, the supposed "X670," could be sourced from a third-party firm, much like the B550, and implement PCI-Express gen 4.0, not just as chipset-bus, but also putting out PCI-Express gen 4.0 general purpose lanes. A possible design goal of the X670 could be to implement PCIe gen 4.0 switching fabric without running too hot, resulting in a cooler chipset than can make do with fanless cooling solutions, much like the X470. AMD will continue to make "chipsets" in the form of I/O controller dies for use in its MCM processors, although the relatively low-margin motherboard chipset business could be axed.

Here is the first picture of a motherboard based on AMD's upcoming mid-range desktop motherboard chipset, the AMD "B550A," the ASRock B550AM Gaming. The board was spied inside a pre-built desktop at a Best Buy store. This is the first time we've seen the mid-range chipset being referenced as "B550A" and not "B550." The "A" may not be part of the motherboard's model name as the "M" denotes Micro-ATX and usually succeeds the chipset model in ASRock's nomenclature. The B550(A) will be an important chipset for AMD as it will enable motherboards priced under the $150 mark that support AMD's 3rd generation Ryzen processor's I/O natively.

While the X570 is an in-house development by AMD, the B550 is sourced from ASMedia, and is expected to be a new version of the "Promontory-LP" silicon. The only thing that sets this chip apart from the 400-series "Promontory-LP" is PCI-Express gen 3.0 certification. The chipset talks to the AM4 SoC over a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 link, and puts out up to 8 PCI-Express gen 3.0 downstream lanes. A 3rd gen Ryzen processor on a B550 motherboard still puts out PCI-Express gen 4.0 connectivity, which means you get one PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and one M.2 slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring. The rest of the chipset's I/O will be similar to the 400-series, which includes six SATA 6 Gbps ports, up to two 10 Gbps USB 3.1 ports, up to four 5 Gbps USB 3.1 ports, and eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports. If the AM4 SoC installed is a 3rd gen Ryzen, then you'll get a couple more 10 Gbps USB 3.1 ports. AMD partners could use the opportunity to launch some of the more upscale B550 motherboards with the latest 2.5 GbE wired LAN, and 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6.Update (16/10): We learn later down in the referenced Reddit thread, including from comments by AMD's Robert Hallock, that the B550A is a rebranded B450 targeted at OEMs. The B550 (non-A) is what is the upcoming chipset detailed in this article.

In recent years, MSI aims at motherboards in content creation market for the ever-increasing number of creators and the popularity. Together with the new launch of Intel Core X-Series processors, we are proud to introduce three new motherboards to anticipate every creator's need from high loading operation to general graphic design. For the high-end processors and X299 platform, MSI all aluminium design ensures CPU to run at full speed for the best performance. Larger heatsinks contains more surface for heat dissipation to cool down CPU while high-loading operation.

USB 3.2 Gen 2x2: Super Speed USB 20G: For all types of designers, large data and files transfer is always troublesome as it takes plenty of waiting time. All new MSI X299 motherboards support the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Super Speed USB 20G solution powered by ASMedia to meet creators' requirement. Transfer speed enhances to incredibly 4 times faster than USB 3.2 Gen1 solution so that designers can save time on backup and other essential data transfer processes. "We are pleased to have a strong and close relationship with MSI. ASMedia Technology Inc. offers the latest USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Super Speed USB 20G solution to the market and continues working closely with top motherboard vendor MSI," said Chewei Lin, President of ASMedia.

HP has listed new desktop consumer prebuilts that use previously unannounced hardware from AMD, namely the Radeon RX 5300 XT graphics card and the B550 chipset. B550 has been expected for a while — it's a lower-cost chipset for Ryzen 3000 "Zen 2" processors with reduced feature set. HP calls the chipset "AMD Promontory B550A" in their sheets which seems to be designed and produced by ASMedia (unlike X570, which is a fully AMD in-house design). One of the major differences between X570 and B550 is that the latter has no support for PCI-Express 4.0, which won't matter one bit in its target segment. This move not only reduces chipset cost, it also drives down the cost of motherboards significantly, as the more stringent signal integrity requirements for PCIe 4.0 won't apply here.

While we have heard rumors that AMD is working on a smaller chip for their "Navi" architecture (Navi 12 and Navi 14), it's uncertain whether RX 5300 XT is really based on Navi, or whether it will be yet another rebrand — we wouldn't be surprised if Polaris is making a comeback yet again. Both systems are listed for € 699 and € 899, with shelf availability expected for October 8th.

Motherboard manufacturers seem to be rushing the fill the void of cost-effective motherboards with out of the box Ryzen 3000 support, as AMD X570 motherboards start at $170. The latest entrant is the Racing X470GTA by BIOSTAR, priced around the $120-mark, and packing an interesting mix of modern- and legacy connectivity. Built in the ATX form-factor, the board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the SoC with a simple 4+3 phase VRM. Out of the box, the board supports all Ryzen 3000-series processors launched so far, in addition to 1st and 2nd generation Ryzen, A-series, and Athlon "Bristol Ridge," which make up pretty much every socket AM4 chip launched so far.

The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and the board's lone M.2 slot. Two PCIe gen 2.0 x1, and a PCI-Express x16 slot with gen 2.0 x4 wiring, make for the rest of the expansion area; while six SATA 6 Gbps ports make the remaining storage options. This is probably the only AMD X470 motherboard to feature legacy PCI slots, using an ASMedia bridge chip. USB connectivity includes two 10 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2 ports (from which one is type-C), and eight 5 Gb/s USB 3.1 gen 1 ports (from which four are by headers) The lone network interface is a 1 GbE driven by a Realtek 8118AS "DragonLAN" chip. The onboard audio solution is powered by an entry-level Realtek ALC892. Other legacy connectivity includes a PS/2 combo port and a serial COM header. Despite these, there are some wacky enthusiast-friendly features, including onboard buttons for automated overclocking, power/reset; dual-BIOS with a manual 2-way switch, and diagnostic LEDs.