22/03/2026 12:10 pm
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building my little brother a pc for his bday next month and im stuck on the motherboard part. its gonna be a mid range build with a 7600x mostly for gaming and school work. ive been looking around and everyone says the msi tomahawk is the way to go but thats like 200 quid here which pushes me over my 150 budget. then i saw people hyping up the asrock b650m hdv/m.2 as the best budget pick but it looks so tiny and only has two ram slots which feels a bit limiting for the future. is there something in the middle that isnt a total piece of junk? i just want something reliable that wont overheat if i swap the cpu in a few years...
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22/03/2026 12:35 pm
I picked up the ASUS TUF Gaming B650-PLUS WIFI and am super satisfied with it.
- great VRMs
- 4 RAM slots Tbh it works well and doesnt overheat at all...
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22/03/2026 12:11 pm
I get why you are wary of those two-slot boards, its really limiting for memory expansion later on. If you want a solid middle ground that handles power delivery properly, I would suggest looking at the ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi AM5 mATX. It is significantly better built than the HDV model and usually sits right around that 130 mark. You might want to consider these technical points:
- It features three M.2 slots which is rare at this price point.
- The VRM heatsinks are actually decent enough to handle a beefier CPU upgrade later.
- Be careful with the entry-level ASUS Prime options because their thermal performance can be pretty disappointing under load. The Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 is another one to watch if you want a full ATX size. Just make sure to check the specific revision since they sometimes swap parts. For a 7600X build, the Pro RS is the most logical choice imo... it just works.
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22/03/2026 12:25 pm
> I get why you are wary of those two-slot boards, its really limiting for memory expansion later on. To add to the point above: I totally agree! I actually went cheap on my first build and regretted it when I wanted more RAM. It was a massive headache. I love it now that I have a board with proper cooling! Stuff I learned:
- Four slots are essential for flexibility
- Good VRM cooling prevents throttling My current setup stays incredibly cool during 12-hour sessions! It makes a huge difference!
