Motherboards

For Ryzen 7000/9000 (AM5) B650 chipset boards are the balanced choice: they support PCIe 5.0, DDR5 and have good VRM for moderate overclocking. X670E adds more PCIe 5.0 lanes for next-gen NVMe drives. The A620 chipset is the budget option without overclocking support.

Form factor determines the physical size of the board and the case it fits. ATX (305×244mm) is the standard with the most slots and expansion options. mATX (244×244mm) is more compact but loses some slots. Mini-ITX (170×170mm) is ideal for small builds though it limits expansion. Choose based on the case size you want.

For pure gaming a mid-range chipset (B650, B760, B550) is more than sufficient. Premium chipsets (X670E, Z790) provide more PCIe lanes, advanced overclocking support and enthusiast features but do not improve in-game FPS. The VRM (voltage regulators) matters if you plan to overclock.

It depends on the board and CPU combination. New B650/X670 boards may ship with older firmware that does not support Ryzen 9000. Many manufacturers include BIOS Flashback (update without a CPU installed). Check the manufacturer website to confirm the minimum compatible BIOS version for your CPU.