To use AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 processors, you must equip yourself with new motherboards under socket AM5. And as we can see from online sellers, the price of entry into this new technology is rather high.
AMD’s newest series of processors, the Ryzen 7000s, have just been released. Prices range from €369 for the most affordable, the Ryzen 5 7600X, at €849 for the most powerful of them all, the Ryzen 9 7950X. Who says new processor usually says a new motherboard. In this case, AMD ushers in the era of the AM5 socket with its four new CPUs. Just like with processors, the price of motherboards varies greatly depending on the number and variety of connectors.
We note first of all that the transition to socket AM5 will not be done without a substantial budget. The Asus Prime X670 P is the most affordable socket AM5 motherboard at the moment. If you are lucky enough to find it (its relatively low price making it rare), you will still have to pay around 330 €. The majority of motherboards in X670 are placed in a price range between 380 and 500 €. Passed this course, one reaches the high spheres of the performance, and the prices are felt some. These can easily reach €900, the entry price to take advantage of the extreme variant of the X670 chipset, the X670E.
Upgrading to Ryzen 7000 processors is a big investment
Beyond the price of the components, there is the problem of their availability. In the best case, it will be necessary to wait a week to obtain a motherboard compatible with the Ryzen 7000. The Ryzen 7000 have just been released, so it is normal that stocks are not yet full… if they have to be one day. The combination of component rarity and the gradual disappearance of mid-range cards leads to a natural price increase.
For several months AMD and Nvidia have been trying more or less skilfully to prepare the public for this reality: the prices of their most recent processors and graphics cards will only increase. AMD is expected to raise prices for its Zen 4 chips while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been very blunt in saying that “the idea that chips will come down in price is ancient history.”
