Initial images of AMD's "upcoming" B850 motherboard have surfaced online, giving us a look at what to expect with Team Red's next set of "budget-oriented" motherboards.
AMD Is On Track To Release Its "Budget-Friendly" B850 & B840 Motherboards By CES 2025, Supply Has Already Started
Usually, AMD releases its high-end offerings before releasing the budget products, and this has been the case for most of its CPU, motherboard, and GPU lineups. However, in a twist of events, AMD decided not to release its affordable 800-series chipset motherboards in 2024 and instead pushed the release up to the following year, creating a void in the markets. Now interestingly, Videocardz has managed to obtain images of a Gigabyte B850M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E ICE motherboard, suggesting that the B850 series is finally hitting the supply chain.
While the photos surfaced don't depict anything exciting, mainly because we know what to expect with AMD's B850 chipset, it has revealed some images of the motherboard, showing off the packaging, along with how the board looks overall. This particular variant, the Gigabyte B850M AORUS ELITE WIFI6E ICE, comes with four DIMM slots, along with an all-white design and the traditional AORUS branding all over the VRM heatsinks.
Diving a bit into the specifics of the B850 chipset in general, it is said that the chipset will offer both Gen5 and Gen4 capabilities, with Gen5 primarily being used for NVMe storage devices and Gen4 for graphics. The motherboard makers will have the option to dedicate the Gen5 lanes to a discrete graphics card if they want. The exciting element is that B850 motherboards will support memory and CPU overclocking, giving the lineup an edge over Intel's counterparts.
In terms of the release dates, AMD's B850 and B840 "budget" motherboards are set to launch at CES 2025, giving consumers a wider option of choosing a chipset best suited for their Ryzen 9000 series CPUs and hopefully falling under a price segment that can be seen as a "budget-friendly" option.
AMD AM5 Chipset Comparisons:
| Chipset Name | PCIe Lanes Gen (PCH) | USB Support (Max) | Overclocking Support | Graphics Configs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X870E | Gen5 (GPU & NVMe) | USB4 | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| X670E | Gen5 (GPU & NVMe) | USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) USB4 (Optional) | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| X870 | Gen5 (GPU & NVMe) | USB4 | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| X670 | Gen5 (NVMe) Gen4 (GPU) | USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) USB4 (Optional) | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| B850 | Gen5 (NVMe / GPU Opt) Gen4 (GPU) | USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| B650E | Gen5 (NVMe / GPU) | USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) USB4 (Optional) | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| B650 | Gen5 (NVMe) Gen4 (GPU) | USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) USB4 (Optional) | CPU+Memory | 1x16, 2x8 |
| B840 | Gen3 (NVMe / GPU) | USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) | Memory Only | 1x16 |
| A620 | Gen4 (NVMe / GPU) | USB3.2 (10 Gbps) USB4 (Optional) | Memory Only | 1x16 |
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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