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AMD has ended production of its B650 chipset and requested motherboard manufacturers to switch to the newer B850 platform. This news comes from Channel Gate, which reported that AMD officially announced it would cease producing its B650 PCH and transition to the AM5 800-series chipsets, such as B850.
#### Official Announcement
AMD has officially replaced the B650/B650E chipset with the B850 chipset. Motherboard manufacturers are no longer allowed to purchase B650 chips and should fully transition to the B850 series product line. While motherboard manufacturers’ inventory clearance plans will likely conclude before October, retail inventories may take some time to clear.
#### Background on B650 Chipset
The AMD B650 chipset series was introduced in October 2022. Initially designed as a budget-tier offering for AM5 motherboards priced around $125-$150 US, the initial boards did not meet this price point. After some months, prices dropped, and many now sell sub-$100 US. Many B650 motherboards are currently being replaced by newer B850 series chipsets.
#### Key Differences
The main difference between AMD’s B850 and B650 chipsets is PCIe 5.0 support. The B850 offers optional PCIe 5.0 lanes for NVMe, while the B650 provides 24 dedicated PCIe 5.0 lanes similar to the X870 (Non-E) chipset.
#### Availability
Currently, several AMD B850 motherboards are available for around $100-$130 US. Meanwhile, older B650 motherboards are similarly priced but lack higher memory frequencies offered by newer designs. The Ryzen 9000 and Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs do not require any BIOS updates to support these chips.
#### Resale Market
Even with older 600-series motherboards being capable of running the latest AM5 CPUs, the B850 offers better value for new builds. AMD’s continued socket support ensures compatibility and great resale value.
Sales of B850 motherboards are expected to start in October 2023.
