AMD and its motherboard manufacturers have announced A520 motherboards for the budget market segment. They supersede the existing A320 motherboards that were released more than two years ago. Almost all of these motherboards are expected to be priced under $100, making them suitable for budget builders. They are generally used in offices and other non-enthusiast workplaces. With the AM4 B550 motherboards costing significantly more than their B450 counterparts, these A520 motherboards may be a lucrative offering for mainstream buyers as well.
AMD A520 Chipset Specifications vs. A320, B550, X570
AMD’s A520 chipset can be thought of as an upgrade of the A320 chipset. Most of its specifications are the same as the older AM4 budget chipset. It still supports PCIe 3.0 for graphics and CPU storage, like the A320 chipset. In comparison, AMD’s mainstream B550 and X570 motherboards support PCIe 4.0 for the GPU and CPU storage. PCIe 3.0 is acceptable for the budget A520 chipset as most people building entry-level systems will not be using an expensive PCIe 4.0 storage device. Also, mainstream GPUs like the 5600/5700 class from AMD and the 2060/2070 class from Nvidia (including the next Gen ones from AMD and Nvidia) will not be bottlenecked by an x16 PCIe 3.0 slot.
The only significant difference from the A320 chipset is that the A520 chipset upgrades the general-purpose lanes from PCIe 2.0 to PCIe 3.0. AMD’s older A320 chipset had four PCIe 2.0 lanes. It does not support dual GPUs or overclocking like the A320 chipset. The B550 chipset has four additional PCIe 3.0 lanes when compared to the A520 chipset. X570 only uses PCIe 4.0 lanes and has no PCIe 3.0 lanes.
AMD A520 chipset for AM4 motherboards supports the following
- 1x SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2) port
- 2x SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 1) port
- 6x USB 480Mbps (USB 2.0) ports
- 2x SATA 6Gbps ports for storage media
- 4x PCIe 3.0 lanes for add-in cards
- 2x PCIe 3.0 lanes that can be configured for add-in cards or used to add two additional SATA 6Gbps ports
CPUs Supported by A520 motherboards
The A520 motherboards will support Zen 2 based Matisse CPUs and Renoir APUs (4000G Series). They will not support older 1st or 2nd Gen Ryzen CPUs or Ryzen 3200G/3400G APUs. Most motherboard manufacturers have hinted that the A520 chipset will support future CPUs. However, Asus has gone one step further and accidentally listed that the future Cezanne and Vermeer processor families will work with AM4.
AMD A520 Motherboards List
Almost all motherboard vendors have announced their A520 offerings. Some of them have listed only a few models on their websites while others have added almost half-a-dozen products. The manufacturers may add more models in the future if required.
Gigabyte A520 Motherboards List
Gigabyte has announced the broadest range of A520 motherboards to date. It has listed seven A520 motherboards on its website. These range from the entry-level A520M H all the way to the A520 Aorus Elite. Most of them are in the M-ATX form-factor except the Aorus Elite, which is an ATX motherboard. Gigabyte is also introducing an ITX A520 motherboard that looks quite good.
- GIGABYTE A520 Aorus Elite
- GIGABYTE A520M Aorus Elite
- GIGABYTE A520I AC
- GIGABYTE A520M DS3H AC
- GIGABYTE A520M DS3H
- GIGABYTE A520M S2H
- GIGABYTE A520M H
MSI A520 Motherboards List
MSI has announced four A520 motherboards. Three of these are for the professional market, and the fourth one (Vector WIFI) is for the mainstream segment. All of them feature the M-ATX form-factor.
- MSI A520M Vector WIFI
- MSI A520M Pro
- MSI A520M-A Pro
- MSI A520M Pro-C Dash
ASUS A520 Motherboards List
ASUS has listed three A520 motherboards on its website. Two of them are in the Prime Series, while the third one is being marketed under the TUF branding. All three are M-ATX motherboards.
- ASUS Prime A520M-K
- ASUS Prime A520M-A
- ASUS TUF Gaming A520M-Plus
ASRock A520 Motherboards List
ASRock is introducing five A520 motherboards for the AMD Ryzen AM4 platform. Four of them have the M-ATX form-factor, while the fifth one is an ITX motherboard.
- ASRock A520M Pro4
- ASRock A520M-HVS
- ASRock A520M-HDV
- ASRock A520M/ac
- ASRock A520M-ITX/ac
Biostar A520 Motherboards List
Biostar has released a single motherboard, the A520MH. It is an M-ATX motherboard that comes with two DIMM slots for RAM.
- Biostar A520MH
The A520 motherboards for the AM4 platform can be a suitable substitute for the B450 motherboards, depending on how they perform. Their prices have not been confirmed yet, but a few of these motherboards have been listed online by retailers. Newegg has listed the ASUS PRIME A520M-K for $75.99, while the Gigabyte A520M DS3H was spotted for $74.99 on the website.
