AMD A620 Motherboard Review Ft. ASRock PRO RS WIFI & Gigabyte A620M Gaming X

The ASRock A620M PRO RS WIFI motherboard comes in a standard cardboard package. The front is themed in white and black. The front side also lists down support for AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPU, DDR5 memory, and Polychrome SYNC.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as the Dr.MOS power design, Deluxe M.2 options, WiFi 6E support, Pre-installed I/O Shield, and the USB 3.2 Type-C connectors for front and back.

The box is smaller due to the mATX design of the motherboard and contains the board and its accessories in the same package.

Following is the full list of accessories in the package.

• 1 x User Manual
• 2 x SATA Data Cables
• 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5/6 GHz Antenna
• 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets
• 1 x Standoff for M.2 Socket

The motherboard is housed beneath the accessories and has anti-static wrapping to protect it from any built-up electrical resistance that can affect the board.

The ASRock A620M PRO RS WIFI is styled in white and grey. The vast majority of A620 boards come in mATX design with a few featuring ITX form factors. The Pro RS WIFI is on the high-end side even in the A620 category with added features such as better heatsinks & I/O compared to the baseline offerings which start at $85 US.

The board uses the LGA 1718 socket to support AMD Ryzen 7000 processors. The socket is compatible only with Ryzen 7000 CPUs for now but will also support future iterations on the AM5 platform.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 128 GB of dual-channel memory. These slots are rated to support EXPO profiles up to 6000 MHz (OC Plus).

The DIMM slots feature metallic shielding around them for extra durability. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage.

The ASRock A620M Pro RS WIFI  features a 6+2+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX)  phase digital power delivery that makes utilizes 50A Dr.MOS MOSFETs. The motherboard makes use of the Vishay SiC654 MOSFET and Richtek RT3674AE PWM controller.

As you can see, the VRMs are getting ample cooling from the VRM heatsink which is definitely huge for a VRM of this caliber. Do note that the A620 series isn't particularly designed with overclocking in mind and only EXPO is officially supported. You can tinker around but the limited VRM isn't going to give you a whole lot of extra performance as some of the high-end motherboards.

A better option would be to undervolt the chip or use motherboard-specific tuning profiles to gain extra juice out of the chip while running cooler and sipping in lower power.

The CPU is supplied power through a single 8-pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. The AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs are very power-hungry with the maximum package power rating of 230W but once again, you have to keep in mind that these A620 boards aren't designed for overclocking.

Getting a closer look at the VRM heatsinks reveals an aluminum fin design on both heatsinks. Each heatsink has thermal pads located underneath for efficient transfer of heat.

Expansion slots include a single PCIe Express x16 (1 x Gen 4.0 x16) and three M.2 slots.

ASRock is using a metallic cover on the sides of the expansion slots which provides protection to some extent. It adds more retention and shearing resistance by reinforcing the slots with metal plates. Aside from adding more protection, they do look really sweet.

Only one of the three M.2 slots is cooled off by the M.2 Armor heatsink which adds a thermal pad and aluminum baseplate cooling. This will ensure stable operation for M.2 storage devices. The thermal adhesive has a plastic cover over them which needs to be removed before being used with the storage devices.

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There are two Hyper M.2 (Gen 4x4) slots and a standard M.2 slot (Gen 3x2) which runs off the PCH. A 4th M.2 WIFI slot can also be seen which comes equipped with a WIFI 6E module. Following is the M.2 config on the motherboard:

CPU:

• - 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_1, Key M), supports type 2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode
• - 1 x Hyper M.2 Socket (M2_2, Key M), supports type 2260/2280 PCIe Gen4x4 (64 Gb/s) mode

Chipset:

• - 1 x M.2 Socket (M2_3, Key M), supports type 2260/2280 PCIe Gen3x2 (16 Gb/s) mode

The A620 PCH is housed beneath a standard heatsink with the ASRock logo etched over it.

The motherboard is void of any kind of RGB LEDs on the front but you do get a few RGB and ARGB headers on the board itself. There are a few LEDs on the upper front side but they are on the back-side of the PCB and barely visible.

Storage options include just four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. There are also two USB 3.2 front panel connectors (2 x Gen1). 2x USB 2.0 connectors are also included.

ASRock is using a Realtek ALC897 Audio Codec for audio output through a 3-channel HD audio jack that comes with high-end audio capacitors (front outputs).

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• - 1 x SPI TPM Header
• - 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
• - 1 x RGB LED Header
• - 3 x Addressable LED Headers
• - 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)
• - 1 x CPU/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 3 x Chassis/Water Pump Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
• - 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector
• - 1 x 8 pin 12V Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
• - 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector
• - 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Header (Supports 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
• - 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.2 Gen1 Header

ASRock is using a standard Gigabit LAN switch along with the latest 802.11ax WiFi 6E (Realtek 8111H) module to power connectivity. The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• - 2 x Antenna Ports
• - 1 x HDMI Port
• - 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• - 3 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A Ports
• - 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C Port
• - 4 x USB 2.0 Ports
• - 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port
• - 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
• - HD Audio Jacks: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone