ASUSROG Strix B650-A Gaming WiFi AMD Ryzen AM5 ATX motherboard, 12 + 2 power stages, DDR5, three M.2 slots, PCIe 4.0, 2.5G LAN, WiFi 6E, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port, and Aura Sync RGB

Review:I’ve just upgraded my PC with the ASUS ROG Strix B650-A, and it’s been an amazing experience so far. This is my first time building with a Ryzen 5 processor, and this motherboard has made everything incredibly smooth.First Impressions:When I unboxed it, I was immediately impressed by the sleek design. The silver accents and the RGB lighting really make it stand out—it looks amazing in my case! It feels solid and well-made, which gave me confidence right from the start.Setup Experience:As someone who doesn’t have massive storage needs, the three M.2 slots are more than enough for me. Installing the components was straightforward, and the BIOS is super easy to navigate, even for someone who’s not a hardcore PC builder. It didn’t take long before my system was up and running.Performance:Paired with my Ryzen 5 processor, this board handles everything I throw at it without breaking a sweat. From gaming to casual multitasking, it’s fast, responsive, and reliable. I’m not a storage-heavy user, but I love the speed of my NVMe drive on this board—it’s made a noticeable difference in load times for games.Connectivity:The WiFi 6E is a fantastic addition. My online gaming sessions have been smooth with no lag, and the dual USB-C ports make connecting devices effortless. The PCIe 5.0 slot is a nice bonus for future upgrades as well.Final Thoughts:This motherboard is perfect for someone like me who’s building a solid mid-range gaming PC without going overboard. It’s easy to work with, looks great, and has all the features I need. Highly recommend it to anyone looking to build or upgrade a Ryzen system!

The ROG STRIX B650E-I GAMING WiFi is a fantastic board to build a mini-ITX build. With only minor improvements to the feature-set that comes with B850 motherboards, the ROG STRIX B650E-I remains the best purchase for AM5 in this form-factor given the reduced price unless the new features of B850 or X870 are a requirement for you.The layout of the board is best-in-class, with fan headers in the right place at the top of the board, and other connectors where they are easily accessible. Where some manufacturers make assembling a small form factor PC frustrating, which difficult to reach connectors or awkward cable management, ASUS make life easy with assembly a breeze (or at least as much as it can be in this form factor.The rear i/o is good, although not perfect. AM5 motherboards, particularly in the mini-ITX form-factor are unfortunately lacking when it comes to the number and speed of ports, however ASUS' B650E-I is better than the alternatives in the same price range. The USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port is a nice addition on a B650I board.The m.2 heatsink is good and enough to cool a gen 5 NVMe drive if you decide to fit one into your system. The heatsink is however set up for dual-sided NVME drives by default and requires a plastic support to be installed manually to prevent flexing single-sided NVMe drives when installed. I experienced no issues with a single-sided NVMe drive by avoiding overtightening, but some users online still report flexing with the support installed. Overall, this is still the best offering of the B650/B850 mini-ITX board heatsinks with no noisy inbuilt fan, insufficient thermal mass, or excessive height causing compatibility issues.My example has no issues with coil whine, which was one of the commonly reported issues online with this device. It seems that newer boards don't have coil whine. My example was manufactured in late 2024, as I expect most being sold now will be. In addition to this, my board shipped with the Ryzen 9000 series ready BIOS version as identified on the serial number of the board and the sticker on the box, so there was no need to flash the BIOS or use another CPU to update prior to installing a 9800x3d.Overall, this board is still the best to get for those looking to build a mid/high end mini-ITX PC on the AM5 platform unless to have specific requirements that the typical person does not (e.g. Thunderbolt, 3 m.2 slots, etc.)

The motherboard looks fantastic in black with subtle hints of red throughout. Essentially, I wanted an AM5 board with lots of M.2 storage, lots of fast USB ports, high quality onboard audio, onboard WIFI, and lots of connectors for ARGB. This board delivers - and the 3 M.2 slots is perfect for me; one for OS, one for video editing and one for future upgrades. The customisable ARGB cover is a nice touch, as are the POST lights! Overall, an excellent, well designed motherboard for the money!