The X570 mainboards for Ryzen 3000 will probably be more expensive than expected. A leaked price list from Asus shows dramatically higher prices.
AMD wants to get away from its budget image
With the Ryzen processors, AMD has successfully fought its way back into the processor market. After the debacle with the FX processors, the company succeeded in developing a sustainable and successful processor strategy. A good performance, high number of cores and last but not least low prices forced even the competition in the form of Intel to break new ground. Six and eight cores have thus become the mainstream standard, and that in less than two years – after ten years of quad cores through the popular Intel Core i processors.
However, an important point in AMD’s strategy has always been a relatively low price compared to the competition. This now ends with the new Ryzen 3000 processors. The mainstream processors are still relatively cheap to have. So the Ryzen 7 3700X costs $32, and also the Ryzen 5 series remains cheap. However, if you want 12 cores, you have to put $499 on the table. The Ryzen 9 3950X with 16 cores presented yesterday exceeds this price again clearly with $749 price tag. Really strongly the prices rise however with the Mainboards, as the MSI CEO confirmed in a conversation. Accordingly, AMD no longer wants to be the low-cost manufacturer in the shadow of Intel. The new strategy therefore includes not only very well equipped X570 mainboards, but also high prices. This is also confirmed by a leaked price list from Asus.
Leak: cheapest Asus X570 mainboard for $160, ROG variants extremely expensive
The colleagues from TechPowerUp have received a price list from a reliable source in Taiwan that matches the statements of the MSI CEO. These are Asus’ MSRP prices for their X570 lineup. The prices are quite frightening. The cheapest X570 mainboard is the Asus Prime X570-P. This costs $159.99 and thus a decent bit more than the X470 predecessor. The Asus TUF X570-Plus is available in a version with and without WiFi 6. The version without costs $169.99, the version with WiFi 6 starts at $184.99.
However, the really high price increases come after that. According to this list, the Asus Prime X570-Pro costs $249.99, which represents a price increase of $100 compared to its predecessor, the Prime X470-Pro. The ROG Strix variants add yet another dimension to this. The cheapest model is the Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming, whereby cheap is the wrong name. The motherboard starts for $299.99, the Asus ROG Strix X570-E costs $329.99. Even more expensive will be the ROG Crosshair series. The Asus ROG Corsshair VIII Hero costs a gigantic $359.99, the WiFi variant $379.99. The absolute top model, the Asus ROG Crosshair VII Formula, comes with an exorbitant price tag of $699.9. The motherboard is even more expensive than the Asus Maximus XI Extreme for Intel’s Coffee Lake Refresh processors.
More profit for AMD?
Why the prices of the X570 mainboards have risen so sharply is difficult to say from today’s perspective. On the one hand, AMD definitely wants to move away from the budget image. But such high prices are unusual. A further factor is certainly the self-developed X570 chipset, which costs more than the ASMedia chipset on the one hand and with 15 watts also causes higher costs for the necessary cooling. PCIe 4.0 and the resulting increased demands on the motherboards also play a role for the price.
But the biggest factor is probably also AMD’s pursuit of profit. With Ryzen 3000, the company has gained a big advantage over Intel. Probably AMD would like to convert this now also into more profit. Although the processors remain inexpensive, AMD also earns money on every motherboard. It remains to be hoped that at least the upcoming B550 chipset, of course with some cutbacks, will remain reasonably cheap. The X470 motherboards should also remain on the market and represent inexpensive alternatives.
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