Is the asrock b650m-c a good budget board for Ryzen what are the pros and cons?

[Brayan]

Thinking about the asrock b650m-c for a midrange build. Can anyone share real-world experience with its VRMs, M.2 slots, firmware stability, and whether it needs BIOS updates for newer CPUs?

 

[captainghost]

Yes good for a midrange Ryzen build, but know the limits.
Pros: 12+2+1 Dr.MOS VRM which is solid for 7600X / 7700X class chips, full DDR5 support (4 DIMMs), and a Blazing M.2 PCIe Gen5 x4 slot + a Gen4 M.2 and a Gen3/SATA M.2 so storage options are great for the price. It also has a BIOS Flashback button so you can update BIOS without CPU installed (handy if you buy a newer Ryzen).
Cons: VRM cooling and parts are fine for midrange use but not for sustained heavy draws / aggressive overclocking on big cores (7950X territory) temps will climb. Audio is Realtek ALC897 (okay but not premium), and some features (like beefy heatsinks, fancy I/O) are missing compared to higher-end boards. Also update BIOS out of the box AGESA/BIOS fixes matter on AM5.

 

[AnnP111966]

I’ve got one in a micro-ATX case with a 7700X and a Gen4 SSD in the M.2_2 slot. Boots fine, stable, no weird crashes VRM temps are warm under long Blender renders but nothing that crashed the system. The PCIe Gen5 M.2 is great if you want future-proof speed, but put a heatsink on top of any NVMe you plan to hammer. BIOS Flashback saved my life when I wanted to test a newer CPU no need to hunt for an older chip.

 

[megamind]

If you want “does the job and won’t bankrupt you” yes.
If you want to overclock a 7950X to the moon and back no, buy a better VRM board. Also: update the BIOS before installing an X3D or newer chip (lots of AM5 BIOS drama recently keep it current).

 

[jameswill8520]

A heads up there were some headlines about AM5/BIOS issues that did involve certain boards and caused AMD + vendors to push firmware changes. That’s not unique to ASRock necessarily, but it means you should not skip BIOS updates and keep PBO/voltage settings conservative unless you know what you’re doing. For most users who just want a solid gaming/workstation board for a 7600/7700 series part, this ASRock board is fine. If you’re buying a 7950X or wanting extreme tuning, spend more on an X670/B650 board with heavier VRMs

 

[ArthurMex]

TL;DR Good budget/midrange pick: nice M.2 lineup (PCIe5 + PCIe4 + PCIe3/SATA), BIOS Flashback (update without CPU), 12+2+1 Dr.MOS phases enough for most Ryzen 7000 builds.
Buy it if: you’re building a 7600/7600X/7700X or similar and want DDR5 + future storage.
Don’t buy it if: you plan heavy OC on a top-end 16-core chip get a stronger VRM board. And whatever you do, update BIOS before stress-testing.