A new report shows how the budget-friendly AMD B650 Micro-ATX form factor motherboard is the number one choice in South Korea. While this report is limited to a specific region there’s no denying the growing popularity of mATX motherboards in recent years as they can offer many features formerly limited to their full-sized counterparts while at a lesser price and giving PC builders options to use smaller cases. The AMD B650 Micro-ATX series continues this trend for AM5 with PC enthusiasts looking to use AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 and 9000 processors. Those looking to build with such a motherboard in North America can find models ranging in price from ~$135 – $220, depending on features.
The report comes from Danawa who states that sales have increased 8 to 10 times in just one year as motherboard prices continue to drop. This has led to Mirco-ATX motherboards occupying roughly 88% of all sales in that region with the B650 holding just over 80% of the market share. Another incentive for the increased adoption rate among PC builders is the low power consumption of AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors which can lessen the need for higher-priced high-wattage power supplies and then also mean less heat produced by their systems.
Sales Trends
As can be seen in the above graphics full-sized ATX boards hold only around 11% of the market share and Mini-ITX is invisible on the graph at 1%. Danawa’s report also showed how sales for B650 motherboards with 3x M.2 SSD slots are also increasing. Currently, sales figures for boards with two slots sit at 61.8% while boards with three slots are at 36..5% and reported as rising. This too further makes the platform more attractive to builders who now have the option of increased storage with a smaller footprint.
Entry-level A620 boards are seeing their sales totals diminishing as B650 numbers increase while the more expensive B650E holds a smaller presence at 2% of sales. Given that the non-E versions retail for considerably less while offering most of the same features as the E-versions it’s not a huge surprise that the premium boards haven’t gained popularity among budget-oriented builders.
Per TechPowerUp:
“The B650 (non-E) has nearly all platform features, with motherboards based on the chipset providing at least one Gen 5 M.2 NVMe slot that doesn’t eat into the lanes of the x16 PEG slot; and with the current generation of GPUs not featuring the PCIe Gen 5 host interface, customers seem more than happy with the Gen 4 x16 PEG slot provided by B650 motherboards.”