Now is a great time to score an AM5 motherboard and CPU combo for less, and it just so happens this one is down to its lowest price of the year on Amazon. Originally $589.99, you can now get this AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and MSI MAG B650 motherboard for $539.99.
This is a good deal for those of you looking to kick off more of a mid-range AM5 build, as this processor packs a punch when it comes to both gaming and handling heavy duty workloads, and this motherboard provides a good cost-effective foundation to build further on.
Black Friday is back, and with it comes huge savings on some of the market’s most popular gaming and tech products. We’ll be covering all the best deals in more details over in our deals hub, but if you haven’t got time to read through those, why not see our top picks below.
What we like about the Ryzen 9 7900X and MSI MAG B650
The Ryzen 9 7900X was released back in September 2022, and brings a lot to the table for the money. In our review, it showcased strong multi-core performance and made for a great mid-range pick for a high performance build. Sure, the 9000 series would be the next level up, but you’re looking at around $499.00 for the CPU alone.
This MSI MAG B650 motherboard is a lower to mid-end AM5 option, which means it has support for newer Ryzen AM5 socket CPUs, but scales back a bit when it comes to PCIe 5.0 connectivity. Here you’ll find support for DDR5 RAM, but you won’t be able to make the most out of Gen 5 SSDs on this board. That’s not really an issue, unless you want the very, very best components on the market.
Core CPU specs: 12 cores, 24 threads, 5.6 GHz boost clock, 76MB L3 cache, and 170W TDP.
Powerful performance: Great for single-core and gaming performance thanks to its boost clock and high L3 cache, but also good for multi-tasking as it packs a fair few threads.
Runs hot: This has a very high TDP, meaning you’ll want to grab a cooler for this CPU to ensure it’s working at its best.
Core motherboard specs: AM5 socket, DDR5 support up to 256GB, 3x PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type C support, Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
ATX form factor: One of the most popular form factors, and allows for more space between components and better cooling, plus loads of options for PC cases.
Amazon pricing history of this motherboard and CPU bundle – via. camelcamelcamel
Who’s this deal for and more alternatives
This deal is great for those looking for higher-end performance, both for gaming and productivity, but for a reasonable price-point. It’s also good for those who want to upgrade to AM5, but don’t think they’ll need all the PCIe 5.0 bells and whistle, which is arguably overkill for even high-powered setups in all honesty.
There are a number of alterntive motherboard and CPU bundles on sale right now that would be better for gaming specifically. I’d recommend looking at some of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and B650 bundles, which are coming in at around $100 more than this.
The world’s fastest gaming processor, built on AMD ‘Zen5’ technology and Next Gen 3D V-Cache.
8 cores and 16 threads, delivering +~16% IPC uplift and greatpower efficiency
96MB L3 cache with better thermal performance vs. previous gen and allowing higher clock speeds, up to 5.2GHz
Drop-in ready for proven Socket AM5 infrastructure
Cooler not included
This dominant gaming processor can deliver fast 100+ FPS performance in the world’s most popular games
8 Cores and 16 processing threads, based on AMD “Zen4″ architecture
5.4 GHz Max Boost, unlocked for overclocking, 80 MB cache, DDR5-5200 support
For the state-of-the-art Socket AM5 platform, can support PCIe 5.0 on select 600 Series motherboards
Cooler not included
Base Clock – 4.5GHz
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