Abdul Rauf
Despite AM5 CPUs and motherboards out in the market, a majority of the users, particularly those on a budget, still prefer the older AM4 based systems.
This mostly has to do with the fact that the latest AM5 based Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series CPUs DO NOT HAVE a budget line. In other words, there are NO AM5 based Ryzen 3 or Athlon series CPUs – both of which are considered entry level CPU lines.
As such, for a budget build featuring the cheaper Ryzen 3 CPUs or AMD Athlon CPUs, you will have to stick with the AM4-based motherboards.
With that said, there is a long list of affordable AM4-based motherboards many of which can be found under the $100 range.
Of course, you cannot expect to find high-end X series X570 or even mid-range B550 series motherboards in this range. A majority of the motherboards will belong to the inferior A520 chipset.
It should be noted that below $100 is considered a budget range and hence you should not expect premium features such as overclocking, Gen 4 SSD support etc. in this range.
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What Can You Expect From AMD Motherboards Under $100?
Motherboards under $100 are considered general-purpose motherboards. They bring the minimum specs to the table.
The majority of the users do not prefer to spend top dollar on motherboards. This is particularly true for those who are on a limited budget and want to maximize the proportion of their budget for more important components like the CPU and the graphics card.
Hence, it is not uncommon to find even gamers looking for motherboards under $100 for their budget gaming rig.
However, there are a few caveats you need to be aware of when buying AM4 motherboards under the $100 range.
You Will Be Limited to the A520 Chipset Mostly
The chipset determines a lot of aspects regarding your PC. From the number of PCIe and M.2 slots to whether it can offer overclocking ability or not.
AMD has three chipsets for the AM4 socket:
- A520 – Budget
- B550 – Midrange
- X570 – Top of the line
In the under $100 range, the majority of the AM4 motherboards you find will belong to the A520 chipset.
There are older A320 motherboards too but they have been discontinued.
We recommend that you stick with the newer chipsets because they support the latest processors from the get-go. On the older chipsets, you may have to update the BIOS to support newer Ryzen Gen 3 or 4 processors.
There are Only a Handful of AM4 Motherboards Under $100
With a budget as restrictive as $100, there are only a few handful of motherboards you can find.
Again you will note that a majority of them feature the A520 chipset. The B550 chipset is an even rarer find on motherboards and is often only available on lesser-known brands like on ASRock motherboards.
With that said,
Again, A520 motherboards are the cheapest out there for AM4 socket.
Availability is often an issue when it comes to budget motherboards. So you may have to do some further digging in case one becomes unavailable.
AMD Ryzen 3000, 4000, 5000 
AM4 | B550 | 2 x M.2 Slot (1 x Gen 4 slot)
If you are looking for something more robust, then ASRock B550 Phantom gaming is recommended. This is as cheap as it gets for an AM4 motherboard with B550 chipset.
The best part about this motherboard is that it even offers a Gen 4 M.2 slot. Plus, the first x16 slot on this motherboard also conforms to PCIe v4.0.
Other Potential Pitfalls of an Economical AM4 Motherboard
Limited PCIe Expansion
If you choose to go for A520 chipset, you can only find a single PCIe x16 expansion slot because this chipset can only support a single GPU.
You may or may not find the smaller X1 slots.
The B550 and B450 are a bit more versatile. These can handle dual graphics cards so you may find two x16 slots here albeit the second x16 slot generally operates at x4 speed (enough to run an AMD card).
PCIe Version 3.0 Mainly
If you want to go for a motherboard featuring the latest PCIe v4.0, then B550 is the way to go. The PCIe v4, like all the previous gen, improves by doubling the lane speed.
With a motherboard that supports PCIe v4.0, you’d be able to install Gen 4 NVMe SSDs as well.
The A520 chipset does not feature PCIe v4.0. Instead, its CPU and general purpose lanes from the chipset all conform to PCIe V3.
Form Factor
Most of the motherboards in this price range are Micro ATX motherboards with a 9.6 inch by 9.6 inch dimensions.
I would discourage looking at ATX or Mini-ITX motherboards because they are naturally more expensive.
M.2 Slots (Gen 3 SSD Mainly)
The A520 motherboards offer a max of a single M.2 NVMe SSD slot belonging to PCIe 3.0 version.
The B550 can offer 2 x M.2 slots one of which belongs to PCIe 4.0.
The X570 offers multiple M.2 slots all of which conform to PCIe 4.0.
Again, having a budget motherboard implies that you are okay with a Gen 3 SSD. If you want to reap the benefit of Gen 4 SSDs, you will have to invest in a more expensive B550 AM4 motherboard.
Overclocking Not an Option
If you are an enthusiast who loves tweaking their system, then we recommend sticking to the B550 chipset.
The A520 motherboards DO NOT allow overclocking.
This has mainly to do with the fact that in order to save cost, the A520 and the cheaper chipsets lack the amount of VRMs or the VRM heat sinks to stabilize voltage or temperature in overclocked situations.
So if you are going for absolutely budget builds with the A520 chipset, you will need to sacrifice the overclocking ability.
Conclusion
If you are looking to save cost on the motherboard while building an AMD rig so you can maximize your budget on the rest of the components then you need to look in to the best AM4 motherboards under $100.
Here we looked at some of the latest and most popular options. We recommended sticking with the latest chipset for future-proofing yourself.
We have talked in detail about what you can expect in this price range as well.
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