ASUS Prime B650-PLUS AMD B650 AM5 Motherboard

No funciono con mi ryzen 7 7700 y rx7800xt, simplemente nunca dio video

I’ve purchased this motherboards with 2X 32 gigs of DDR 5 memory sticks. Turns out that the memory sticks were high density ones and was not supported by the motherboard out of the box. I couldn’t even boot the pc to get to the UEFI. This motherboard has a USB port that’s dedicated for BIOS flashing. It can actually flash the motherboard BIOS without turning the PC on. I just downloaded the updated bios to a usb stick and used the flash port to get the updated firmware onto the motherboard. After I pressed the button I had to wait until the LED turned off and it was done it worked, posted and booted. I don’t know if this is an industry standard or if it is for how long has it been a standard because I had been using a laptop for 8 years but I’m very happy to have this function.

I picked up an Amazon Warehouse open box for some nice savings and as always they are hit or miss. Luckily in regards to shape this is a hit but I can see why it was returned and Amazon marks this as a frequently returned item.

This is a 7600x, 32GB (2x16GB) of manually tuned memory and a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD driving a 7900xtx.

Unit was used but in great shape with all pack ins. No bent pins and ready to go…kinda. Let’s talk about the issues with this board.

Memory compatibility and BIOS issues:

BIOS on board was 1811 which is 4-5 months old.

Using the DDR5 memory in the pic, the unit would not post at all and without LED diagnostic lights appears to be DOA (which it is not)

I tried a few other sticks from M-die generic sticks to G.Skill and no post
I finally found a circa 2022 M-die DDR5 stick and it posted.

Once I was able to post, I updated the BIOS to the newest 2413 BIOS and retried all my sticks and they all worked except the one in the pic which after testing in other boards was DOA.

So one of the main problems with this board is memory compatibility which the newest BIOS update seems to address BUT you of course need compatible memory to get it to post so you can update it since it doesn’t have BIOS flashback. If the memory isn’t compatible, it won’t post and can even appear to be DOA without any diagnostic lights…brilliant.

No diagnostic LED:

For a $200 board, the lack of any type of debug diagnostic LEDs is simply unacceptable. You have no idea what’s going on or what is failing. I’ve seen diagnostic lights on B650 boards costing almost half as much as the Asus board.

Weak VRMs:

As has been reported, this board has weak VRMs *IF* you’re trying to power a top end AM5 CPU. I tested it with a 7600X and a 7950X3D running CB23 multi. The 7600X didn’t even break 60c and stayed right around 50-55 for the entire run. The 7950X3D *did* get quite warm hitting into the 80s and 90s. A 7950X will definitely topple it long run.

So is it worth it?

With all that, there is something about the design and look of this board and its heatsinks I really like especially the chipset heatsink. It kind of just works aesthetically.

If you can snag this open box for a good price, have patience and most importantly have access to the right memory then yes. I was lucky enough to have many sets of DDR5 laying around to get it to post and update the BIOS to 2413. Once updated, it works fine. I’ve been testing and running it for several days now and it has been rock solid. For the retail price of almost $200? Look elsewhere.

I like it enough that I picked up both this and an Asus Strix X670E motherboard at the same time and I’ll be returning the Strix unopened as this gets the job done at a fraction of the price.

I usually get the less-featured asus board and have for years. I read reviews on this one and folks said it wouldn’t run memory at 6000. It’s running my expo ram at 6000 cl30 just fine. I put a 7950X in it. No issues there either. The bios let me set the TDP so I dropped it to 120W. It was nice to have a granular setting for this and not a stupid “eco mode” setting. Phoronix unigine-heaven says I’m tied for the best result with my video card (7900XT) at 2K. You really can’t ask for anything more than that on a system with reduced TDP. Nothing gets hot. The onboard RGB was picked up by Linux just fine and worked with OpenRGB. I don’t use the wifi or blutooth but I’m sure they are fine. Plenty of room for a huge Noctua cpu cooler. Benchmarks are fantastic. I didn’t even have to update the bios. It had the most recent. The only thing I had to do in bios after turning off wifi and blutooth and setting TDP was turn on Resize Bar. For some reason it wasn’t on by default. Oh, and I had to turn on EXPO for my ram. But that was it. Boom, saw the ram, overclocked it.

Rarely do I build a system and it’s just working the first time I hit the power button. That’s how it was this time.

Save your money on an AM5 build. Use this board.