ASRock B650 PG Lightning ATX Motherboard — AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0 M.2, 2.5G LAN, USB 3.2 Gen2x2

Budget AM5 with a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot and the I/O most gamers actually use.

The ASRock B650 PG Lightning is an ATX motherboard for AMD Ryzen 7000, 8000 and 9000 processors on Socket AM5. It offers four DDR5 slots, a PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot, three M.2 slots in total, 2.5G LAN and a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port. It suits budget gaming and productivity builds.

A Low-Cost Path to AM5 That Still Supports Gen5 SSDs

Entry-level AM5 boards usually limit storage to PCIe 4.0, which means a Gen5 SSD runs at half its rated speed. Upgrading to X670 or X870 just to get a Gen5 M.2 slot costs much more.

The B650 PG Lightning includes a Blazing M.2 slot wired for PCIe 5.0 x4 from the CPU. You can start with a Gen4 SSD today and move to Gen5 storage later without replacing the board.

Graphics, Storage and Expansion

Two PCIe 4.0 x16-size slots support a graphics card and an expansion card, and a PCIe x1 slot adds further options. Three M.2 slots (one Gen5 and two Gen4) and four SATA3 ports with RAID 0/1/10 provide plenty of storage.

Connectivity for Gaming

A 2.5G LAN port handles fast wired networking, and the rear USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port supports 20Gbps external drives. HDMI output supports Ryzen integrated graphics, and 7.1-channel audio with Nahimic covers headsets.

Setup Instructions

How to Install the ASRock B650 PG Lightning

1. Install the AM5 Ryzen processor and cooler, then fit DDR5 memory (A2 and B2 for two sticks) and your M.2 SSD before mounting the board.
2. Mount the board in the case and connect the 24-pin ATX, CPU power and front-panel headers.
3. Install the graphics card in the top PCIe x16 slot and place your fastest SSD in the Blazing M.2 (Gen5) slot.
4. Power on into the UEFI BIOS, enable the XMP/EXPO memory profile, update the BIOS using Instant Flash, and install ASRock chipset, LAN and audio drivers.