B850M-X [WiFi] quick review.

I have to concur on the audio situation. I recently put together a new build with the B650M-HDV/M.2 (which is an extremely similar board that also uses ALC897) and a 9800x3d. I'm very happy with the board, but the audio quality difference is stark. The audio chipset wasn't something I was really thinking about, but once I got back into Windows and started testing things out I immediately noticed how much worse the audio was compared to my previous build (on an old X99 motherboard with ALC1150). That's with earbuds.

Despite that, though, I'm satisfied with my B650M-HDV/M2 and will be recommending the B850M-X to people.

Audio isn't a deal breaker for a lot of people. There are so many bluetooth, USB
and other external audio options out there, many of which people already own, the
onboard audio is not as critical, particularly with more budget oriented boards.
Even your GPU has audio through it's HDMI/DP output. If audio is a big concern then
there are other board options available, both from ASRock and other manufacturers.

Eccential was simply noting that the onboard audio was an area that had been
compromised on with this board (B850M-X Wifi). There is always compromise on lower
cost boards, this is why there are so many models to choose from. Some may be OK
with weak audio, others may prefer not having as many M.2 slots, some may only
want or need 2 RAM slots etc. Personally, I use high end sound devices on my
systems so the onboard audio is completely unnecessary for me, I don't use it.
I am far from the only one.

I'm specing a new server to replace my 13 year old server, and I'm intrigued by this ASRock B850M-X motherboard paired with ECC memory.
Were to buy the ECC memory? Is this memory a good choice?
https://www.newegg.com/nemix-ram-64gb/p/1X5-003Z-01FR9?Item=9SIA7S6K3T3030
I usually only buy memory that is officially supported, but I don't see any ECC memory on their list:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B850M-X/index.asp#Support
Is it a safe bet that ECC memory will be compatible, assuming it is the right kind?

Thanks eccential for providing so much good information.

This information was especially vital:
"Remember, ECC will only work on PRO grade APUs (Phoenix, Kracken), whereas it will work on all chiplet CPUs (Raphael and Granite Ridge)."

I was planning on getting the cheap and efficient AMD 8500G, but, based on what you wrote, and what I see on the AMD Ryzen Wiki page, it sounds like that CPU does not support ECC memory.

If I understand correctly, the cheapest "chiplet" processor, that has integrated graphics, would be the 7600 or 9600.

And the ECC memory should be unbuffered 2R.

Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Note, at this point I'm just in a learning phase. I'd like my server to be rock solid stable, so the ECC sounds attractive. However, the cost is making me leery, so at this point I'm thinking I'll probably stick with a more mainstream consumer computer as my "server". They again, I'm hoping to use this "server" for at least 10 years, so an extra $200-300 isn't out of the question.

Thanks again for all the information!

Ryzen 5 8500G won't support ECC, unless you can find *PRO* 8500G. It's pretty hard to find them, especially so soon after their release.

You're absolutely correct about power consumption. In particular, idle power consumption is way lower with these monolithic APUs that were originally designed for mobile devices (laptops, tablets, mini-PCs). This is precisely why my current server is using Ryzen 3 PRO 4350G. This is a fairly neat Zen2 chip, in that only one of the two CCX's inside the chip is enabled (4-cores, 8MB L3). The other CCX is completely disabled. It's the APU equivalent of the Ryzen 3 3300X, as opposed to the Ryzen 3 3100. It is more than fast enough for my 24/7 server use, and it is incredibly power efficient. Mine is running off DC power supply + optional solar, using Mini-Box M3-ATX "pico" style power supply.

I'd love to be able to buy an AM5 PRO APU, like Ryzen 7 PRO 8700GE, but I don't know where to get one. I got the Ryzen 3 PRO 4350G from Amazon seller who imported them from South Korea. I also got my Ryzen 5 PRO 4650G from a Hong Kong seller. Is AMD an American company or what?

Yes, the lowest cost chiplet AM5 CPU would be R5-7600 or R5-9600. Their idle power consumption will be quite a bit higher than for monolithic APUs, though.

ECC memory just needs to be unbuffered. 2R just means dual-rank. 1R and 2R just indicates how the chips are arranged. All large capacity DIMMs will be 2R because chips just don't have enough bits to do 1R at that capacity. 16GB DIMMs are likely all 1R.

As for the cost of ECC memory, I agree. There's really not that much difference between regular unbuffered DIMM and ECC unbuffered DIMM. I wrote in Crucial.com review, "I'm paying 100% more for 25% more DRAM chips!" (laugh)

Funny enough, ECC RDIMMs (Registered DIMMs) are CHEAPER than ECC UDIMMs. I think this is purely because of the volume. Big data center EPYC/Xeon uses RDIMMs, so the sales volume is way higher than that of UDIMMs. I have no use for giant EPYC chips, though.

Note EPYC 4004 series chips for AM5 are basically the same thing as Ryzen 7000 series, and can only use unbuffered DIMMs.