ASUS AM4 motherboards for AMD's upcoming Ryzen CPUs have been listed online for pre-order with their specs, prices & launch dates made public. The motherboards include two medium-range models featuring the B350 chipset and two high-end models featuring the X370 chipset. The specific models are the ASUS Prime B350M-A, Prime B350-PLUS, Prime X370-PRO and the Crosshair VI Hero.
According to the product pages of all four boards, they're slated for release on the 24th of February. Which is less than two weeks from now. Ryzen CPUs are expected to be available on shelves approximately a week later on March 2nd. The retailer that has listed these AM4 motherboards is eyo, one of the biggest Australian PC hardware retailers.
Before we get into the specs and prices I should point out that because these product listings are for the Australian market, the prices are out of whack due to currency exchange rates, value added tax and other import fees. In fact, we looked at existing AMD and Intel motherboards on the same site and found prices to be on average 40% higher than US retail prices when compared to Amazon and Newegg.
For example, the site lists the GIGABYTE 990FX Gaming motherboard for $238 Australian Dollars. Which is equivalent to $183 USD, while Amazon has the same board for $129. We also looked at Intel motherboards and found prices to be ~40% higher than US retail prices across the board. Again, this likely do to Australia's high VAT & import fees. So we've taken that into consideration and accounted for the difference to extrapolate US retail pricing.
[UPDATED 02/14/2017 1:04:51 PM]
Wccftech's extrapolation of US retail pricing for the AM4 motherboards listed on eyo.com.au has been removed at the request of the motherboard maker. The motherboards have also been delisted from the Australian online retailer.
AMD Ryzen Asus AM4 Motherboards - Specs & Prices
| Wccftech | Asus Crosshair VI Hero | Asus Prime X370-PRO | Asus Prime B350-PLUS | Asus Prime B350M-A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chipset | X370 | X370 | B350 | B350 |
| Overclocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CrossfireX/SLI | Yes | Yes | TBC* | TBC* |
| PCIe 3 (Graphics) | x16 Lanes | x16 Lanes | x16 Lanes | x16 Lanes |
| PCIe 3 (Storage + I/O) | x8 Lanes | x8 Lanes | x8 Lanes | x8 Lanes |
| PCIe 2 | x8 Lanes | x8 Lanes | x6 Lanes | x6 Lanes |
| USB | 10 USB 3.1 Gen1, 2 USB 3.1 Gen2, 6 USB 2 | 6 USB 3.1 Gen1, 2 USB 3.1 Gen2, 6 USB 2 | ||
| MSRP | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
TBA : To be announced.
In theory B350 boards are capable of supporting CFX & SLI via two x8 PCIe 3 slots. AMD's initial statements -- which the company said were subject to change -- indicated that B350 boards will only be configured with a single x16 PCIe 3 slot. However, several B350 motherboards have been pictured featuring two or more full-length PCIe slots which suggests that the company may have changed its position on B350 multi-GPU support.
Overall, we find AM4 motherboards to be about 10% less expensive on average than their closest Intel LGA 1151 counterparts whilst offering noticeably more USB3, USB3.1, SATA 6Gb/s and overclocking functionality.
| Wccftech | Cores/Threads | L3 | TDP | Base | Turbo | XFR | Overclocking Unlocked | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | 8/16 | 16MB | 95W | 3.6GHz | 4.0GHz | 4.0GHz+ | Yes | $489 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 1700X | 8/16 | 16MB | 95W | 3.4GHz | 3.8GHz | 3.8GHz+ | Yes | $389 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 1700 | 8/16 | 16MB | 65W | 3.0GHz | 3.7GHz | N/A | Yes | $319 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1600X | 6/12 | 16MB | 95W | 3.3GHz | 3.7GHz | 3.7GHz+ | Yes | $259 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1500 | 6/12 | 16MB | 65W | 3.2GHz | 3.5GHz | N/A | Yes | $229 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1400X | 4/8 | 8MB | 65W | 3.5GHz | 3.9GHz | 3.9GHz+ | Yes | $199 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1300 | 4/8 | 8MB | 65W | 3.2GHz | 3.5GHz | N/A | Yes | $175 |
| AMD Ryzen 3 1200X | 4/4 | 8MB | 65W | 3.4GHz | 3.8GHz | 3.8GHz+ | Yes | $149 |
| AMD Ryzen 3 1100 | 4/4 | 8MB | 65W | 3.2GHz | 3.5GHz | N/A | Yes | $129 |
ASUS AM4 X370 Crosshair VI Hero
Let's start with the Crosshair VI Hero, one of the company's highest end motherboards that will be available on day one. The Crosshair VI Hero feature a monochromatic color scheme to match any custom color scheme builders are going for. Power delivery is provided by an ROG exclusive high quality 8+4 phase digital VRM design. We can see a beefy 12 phase Digi+ PWM design. In terms of storage, the motherboard comes with 8 SATA 6 Gb/s ports and a single M.2 slot.
ASUS AM4 X370 Crosshair VI Hero Features:
- Isolated DAC & AMP 8-channel audio design featuring the latest S1220A Codec and ROG exclusive SupremeFX audio.
- One M.2 SSD slot.
- 8 USB 3.1 Ports (rear I/O).
- 4 USB 2 Ports (rear I/O).
- Front USB 3.1 header.
- 8 SATA 3 6Gb/s.
- Customizable RGB Lighting with 2 LED headers
- 2 way SLI and 3 way CrossFire
- Auto and manual overclocking support
- Built in AC Wi-Fi
Asus AM4 Prime X370-PRO
The Pro series boards from ASUS have become staples in the company's lineup over the past several years. This is ASUS's sweet-spot board for gamers and professionals alike, coming in at a more affordable price point while sacrificing very little in terms of features and functionality.
ASUS AM4 Prime X370-PRO Features :
- Isolated DAC & AMP 8-channel audio design featuring the latest S1220A Codec
- One M.2 SSD slot
- 8 SATA 3 6Gb/s.
- 4 USB 3.1 ports (Rear I/O).
- 4 USB 2 Ports (Rear I/O).
- Front USB 3.1 header.
- RGB Lighting with 1 LED header
- 2 Way SLI and 3 way Crossfire
- Auto and manual overclocking support
ASUS AM4 Prime B350-PLUS & Prime B350M-A
At the more mainstream and entry level end of the market ASUS will be introducing two Ryzen compatible AM4 motherboards on day one. Both of these boards are based on AMD's mainstream B350 chipset and as such support overclocking. Both boards feature an isolated audio design, 4 DDR4 DIMMs and six SATA 3 6Gb/s ports.
The Prime B350-PLUS is a standard ATX board with two full length PCIe slots, two x1 PCIe slots and two legacy PCI slots. The Prime B350M-A is a Micro-ATX form factor board with one full length PCIe slot and two x1 PCIe slots. It's difficult to discern how many USB 3 and USB 2 ports each of these boards has but one thing that's immediately noticeable is that the B350-PLUS is equipped with VRM heatsinks while the B350M-A lacks any kind of VRM cooling. So even though the B350M-A board does support overclocking, it would be ill-advised to attempt any significant clock speed increases or high voltage adjustments.
And that concludes the four listed boards. Below you'll find a few chipset comparison tables that'll help you wrap your head around the AM4 platform.
AMD AM4 X370, B350, A320 & X300 Chipsets
AMD Ryzen AM4 Motherboards & Chipsets
| Wccftech | X370 | B350 | A320 | X300 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe 3 Lanes | 24 | 24 | TBA | TBA |
| CrossfireX/SLI | Tri-Fire/2-Way SLI | TBC | N/A | N/A |
| PCIe 2 Lanes | 8 | 6 | TBA | TBA |
| USB 3.1 Gen2 | 2 | 2 | TBA | TBA |
| USB 3.1 Gen1 | 8 | 4 | TBA | TBA |
| USB 2 | 6 | 6 | TBA | TBA |
| SATA 6Gb/s | 8 | 6 | TBA | 8 |
| DDR4 DIMMs | 4 | 4 | TBA | 2 |
| Overclocking Support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes | TBA | TBA |
| Form Factor | ATX | ATX, M-ATX | M-ATX, Mini-ITX | Mini-ITX |
| Estimated Price Range | ~$129+ | ~$99-$59 | ~$129+ |
