ASRock's new 'Pro X3D' motherboard named for the Ryzen CPUs it is designed for

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Some might be led to believe that X3D CPUs only work on premium motherboards.

B650M Pro X3D
(Image credit: ASRock)

ASRock has released the brand's first X3D-branded AMD motherboard, seemingly optimized for AMD's Ryzen X3D chips, which are among the best CPUs. The new board, the B650M Pro X3D, is a mid-range micro-ATX AM5 motherboard sporting a silver and black aesthetic.

According to the B650M Pro X3D's description, "this motherboard is optimized for AMD Ryzen X3D processors, delivering superior stability, compatibility, and enhanced performance, making it ideal for gaming and creating."

The X3D branding on ASRock's new B650M Pro X3D motherboard appears purely aesthetic. The board does not have any fancy gizmos or features tailor-made to enhance the performance of AMD's Ryzen X3D chips, such as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D; in fact, it technically has worse specs than the outgoing B650M Pro RS.

The B650M Pro X3D is a twin brother to the outgoing B650M Pro RS. Both boards share identical specifications, save for a tiny difference in connectivity. The Pro RS comes with a single Thunderbolt AIC connector for connecting to ASRock's Thunderbolt 4 add-in card. At the same time, the Pro X3D lacks this port altogether, making it incompatible with ASRock's Thunderbolt card.

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B650M Pro X3D
(Image credit: ASRock)

The only other difference with the Pro X3D is the paint job ASRock designed for the board: the Pro X3D sports silver heatsinks and a fully blacked-out PCB. The Pro RS variant has a black and white themed PCB and a slightly different designed chipset, M.2, and VRM heatsinks.

The motherboard is compatible with all Ryzen 9000, Ryzen 8000G, and Ryzen 7000 series CPUs (including X3D parts) and features four DDR5 DIMM slots rated at up to "7200+" MHz. It also sports an 8+2+1 power delivery system, a 6-layer PCB, an ALC897 7.1-channel audio chip, and PCIe 5.0 speeds for the primary M.2 slot.

The board's entire load of PCIe and I/O connectivity consists of the following: a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, a single PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, and two M.2 slots, one rated at PCIe 5.0 speeds and the other at 4.0 speeds. The rear I/O consists of dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one being Type-C and the other Type-A, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, four older USB 2.0 port, one HDMI port, one DisplayPort 1.4 output, audio connectors, and a single RJ-45 LAN port capable of 2.5 Gbps (there is no WiFi).

ASRock hasn't revealed the pricing or the availability of the B650M Pro X3D.

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Aaron Klotz
Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Nitmare64
    I only care about the 870E Apex Board by ASUS. Where is this?
    Reply
  • passivecool
    Nitmare64 said:
    I only care about the 870E Apex Board by ASUS. Where is this?
    And I only care about OREO doublestuffed cookies. ... maybe we are both in the wrong thread :unsure:
    Reply
  • Nitmare64
    😂
    Reply
  • HardwiredWireless
    Admin said:
    ASRock introduced its first X3D-branded motherboard, identical to the Pro RS, except for the lack of Thunderbolt 4 support. The board features no apparent changes optimized for AMD X3D processors.

    ASRock's new 'Pro X3D' motherboard named for the Ryzen CPUs it is designed for : Read more
    They are really working hard to sell these chips. If AMD would spend half of the money they're spending for these promotions they might be able to produce a decent GPU.
    Reply
  • Crystalizer
    HardwiredWireless said:
    They are really working hard to sell these chips. If AMD would spend half of the money they're spending for these promotions they might be able to produce a decent GPU.
    That's an odd saying of I have no idea how to run a business
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    Poor
    Rustic
    Onboard

    PRO ONLY MEANS MILK THE CONSUMER... It's likely tell the Motherboard has military grade hardware! lol
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    My asrock motherboard Have a fatal1ty mouse port with the fastest USB EVER MADE!
    put my logitech Gayming mouse with poling rate of 1000hz make awfull sound "Supreme coil wine"
    Reply
  • Mr Majestyk
    Shameful marketing and in Australia would draw the ire of the ACCC if they could not demonstrate it has additional capabilities for the X3D. They would probably have to change the boxes and wording to comply, or face large fines. This type of crap is all too common a way to hoodwink consumers.
    Reply
  • CelicaGT
    So, no optimizations for X3D (I can't think what they would be anyway?). I'm just gonna grab a sharpie and write "Pro X3D" on my B550-F with a 5800X3D snuggled comfortably in the socket and call it square then. Probably double the Cinebench score after doing it.
    Reply
  • lmcnabney
    HardwiredWireless said:
    They are really working hard to sell these chips. If AMD would spend half of the money they're spending for these promotions they might be able to produce a decent GPU.
    The processes are still stuck on 4nm so 5090 is 750sq/mm and the 9070 GPUs are in the mid 300s. The high end will always buy Nvidia regardless of the value proposition so why chase it? There is serious demand so they would rather get twice as many SKUs made per wafer for the mid-tier market which has consumers that haven't already made up their mind.
    Reply