AMD's new B650E motherboards: 'E for Extreme' with PCIe 5.0 SSD + GPU

AMD has its high-end new X670E and X670 series motherboards on the way, boasting next-gen PCIe 5.0 connectivity for new GPUs and SSDs... but the new mid-range B650E chipset is going to be a real star.

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The new B650E chipset ushers in PCIe 5.0 for the mainstream, as the big difference between the "E" and "non-E" motherboards -- where the E stands for "Extreme" is PCIe 5.0 for both GPUs and SSDs... not just one or the other. AMD will provide PCIe 5.0 lanes to at least one of the M.2 slots, while providing full 16 lanes to PCIe 5.0-based graphics cards.

B650E motherboards will benefit consumers greatly: a cheap entry cost with their B650E-based motherboard, a new Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" CPU and if you really wanted... a PCIe 5.0-capable graphics card and PCIe 5.0-capable SSD. It provides that elusive "future-proofing" there, as you've also got DDR5 memory here along with PCIe 5.0, so you'll be good for up to 2025 and beyond.

• Read more: ASRock B650E motherboards teased: next-gen PCIe 5.0 SSD + GPU support
• Read more: AMD's new X670 Extreme chipset: 'PCIe 5.0 everywhere' for GPU + SSD
• Read more: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X: up to 22% faster than 12900K in single-core tests

AMD's new mid-range Ryzen 5 7600X processor offers 6 cores and 12 threads of Zen 4-based CPU power at up to 5.3GHz, with a 105W TDP and a price of $299 it would be the perfect companion for a B650E-based motherboard. This is where AMD will do the most damage: the mid-range with a $299 processor and DDR5 + PCIe 5.0-capable B650E motherboard.

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AMD compared its new Ryzen 5 7600X in a bunch of games at 1080p during its Zen 4 reveal event, where the 7600X is made on the 5nm process node at TSMC, with it keeping up with the Core i9-12900K in 1080p gaming with titles like Middle-earth: Shadow of War, F1 2022, GTA V, Cyberpunk 2077, and Rainbox Six: Siege. In AMD's own internal benchmarks, we see the Ryzen 5 7600X ties with the Core i9-12900K in Cyberpunk 2077, is 3% slower (you wouldn't notice that) in GTA V, and beats the 12900K in everything else