ASUSTUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI AMD B650 AM5 Ryzen™ Desktop 9000 8000 and 7000 ATX motherboard, 14 power stages, PCIe® 5.0 M.2 , DDR5 memory, WiFi 6 and 2.5 Gb Ethernet, USB4® support Aura Sync

There are newer chipsets and I largely went with this because of the price to get to the AM5/DDR5 platform without having to sell a kidney. The firmware was pre-flashed with a version that already supported Zen 5 already, so I didn't have to try to figure out how the headless flash function works. There was still a newer firmware version out there, so I still recommend updating, but you should be able to do so as normal through the menus.There is a lot to be said about ASUS one way or the other, but the motherboard firmwares are pretty good with excellent options. There are bonus extras that many others forget like the uncore/memory "OC mode" which doesn't actually overclock (they should probably change that name) but can help with performance. There are lots of other little things here and there, some of which I haven't seen in a few of the other firmwares right now. Nothing major, but altogether you have a lot of control over your system configuration. This doesn't only allow for good overclocking, but just better control altogether (for example, even lowering clocks is easy to do if you want a system to run cooler and quieter.) It even can override CPU speed to a fixed speed if one was so inclined (you have to be _very_ careful with this, but it can yield good results if the cooling can handle it.)The WiFi and Bluetooth functions were a nice little bonus. In Linux they just worked right out of the box for me, so big plus there. (I half expected that they wouldn't work and I'm sure ASUS wasn't thinking of Linux users, but I'm really glad that it does work. Nice bonus feature.) I didn't even know about the Bluetooth until I saw it show up in Linux, but that's a very useful feature to have built in to the motherboard.It also has three M.2 slots, though I'm a bit confused about the PCI-E/M2 configuration in this system. I originally read this as a PCI-Express 5.0 system, but it may only be the first M.2 slot? Very confusing. If it's PCI-E 4.0 only on the PCI-E slot perhaps that will limit later GPU options, but today even if a PCI-E 5.0 card comes out I seriously doubt it could utilize the capabilities of 5.0.All in all a really good bang for the buck if you're looking for something that isn't the absolute top of the line but has plenty of features. The fact that it just works right out of the box with Linux also is an excellent plus.

Cons: only one 9-pin usb connector; ARGB has been finicky with my chassis (Montech Air100); and manual pdf doesn’t download / open on my iOS devices. Meh: the bios interface is fine. Pros: everything else; especially the manual (seriously)This is my third MoBo for a recent build (Gigabyte Gaming b650m quit after a month, ASRock pro B850m was DOA) so I feel like I’ve been through my paces. This board was a joy to build. It feels thick and heavy to hold—it barely gives when you press the DIMMs in, e.g. The plugs are located around the edges of the board in good, common locations. As noted in cons, there’s only one USB 9-pin plug but that’s easy enough to fix with a $7 splitter. The bios interface is fine—doesn’t stand out, but they at least have a good manual for it and it’s highly customizable. The pcie5 is noticeable on the ssd (I upgraded from a WD Black sn850 to the sn8100 2Tb). And I found the board’s instruction manual both helpful and well written. I had an ASUS TUF laptop for several years that barely showed any wear when I finally sold it to upgrade it on this rig. This board feels like the same quality. Ease of use:

This ASUS B850 Plus motherboard is an excellent product and a good value. I am a home user and the complete build went well without any problems. I installed an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU on it and was able to reuse my old AMD CPU fan from an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X mounted on the old AM4 socket. It worked perfectly on this new AM5 socket and cools the CPU to just under 50 degrees C. I also reused my old chassis with 3 quiet fans and a 550W power supply. I also installed a Crucial Gen5 SSD on this new board. What a major improvement. This new computer is lightning fast. I used Acronis True Image cloning software to transfer all software from my old HDD to the new SSD. It all worked without any issues and saved a lot of time. I upgraded from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11 Pro on this and had no issues. This major upgrade cost me under $1000.

I used this board for my niece’s PC but. I have a 550-Pro, and this board is identical minus the USB-c front panel, a few of the USB ports in the back, and a couple less RGB headers. Otherwise, it is the same. This does have Wi-fi and Bluetooth built in unlike the 550-Pro. Great board to build on. Quick tip just like the 550-Pro if you use the second NVME M.2 slot Sata port 6 will not work because they share the same lane. If you do not use the second NVME you have use of all 6 sata ports, but keep in mind you will lose one if you do. 5 Sata ports is more than enough these days especially if you have a massive Gen 3 NVME in the second SSD slot. And my final tidbit, you this MOBO supports up to a Ryzen 9 5950X if you flash the bios to version 0303. So, if you have a Ryzen 3, 5, 7, you can upgrade all the way up to the Ryzen 9 5950X with this board in the future.