AMD Combat Crates To Help DIY Builders Evade Crypto Miners With Radeon Graphics, Ryzen And Motherboard Bundles

Following the recent launch of AMD's second generation Ryzen processor family, the company is gathering up its first generation chips and packaging them into 'Combat Crates', which are like PC starter kits for enthusiasts. There will be at least two different versions, each one containing a first generation Ryzen processor bundled with a Radeon RX 500 series graphics card and a motherboard.

What has been seen so far seems to suggest a partnership with MSI, at least for the first couple of Combat Crates. The folks at Videocardz posted a pair of press renders, one of which outlines the contents of that particular bundle—an AMD Ryzen 7 1700 processor, MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor 8GB OC graphics cards, and an MSI B350 Tomahawk AM4 motherboard. Apparently there is another version with a Ryzen 5 1600 CPU inside.


Hardware bundles like these can be a convenient way of laying out a foundation for a new build. We are not sure of AMD's full reasoning, but this could also be a way of sidestepping cryptocurrency miners and getting graphics cards in the hands of actual gamers. The Combat Crates would be a little more interesting in that regard if they came with Radeon RX Vega cards inside, but even the previous generation Polaris lineup is popular among miners.

"The AMD Combat Crate comes stocked with essential hardware you need to push your game to the next level and lay waste to the competition. With a lightning-fast Ryzen processor, powerful RX graphics backed by revolutionary Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition and a feature-ready MSI motherboard—the AMD Combat Crate is the ultimate arsenal for gamers," AMD states on its Combat Crates.

Another benefit for AMD (and MSI, in this case) is these Combat Crates could help offload inventories of last generation parts, to make room for newer hardware. It will be interesting to see how many Combat Crates show up in the marketplace, and if AMD extends its partnership beyond MSI.

UPDATE

The lower end of these two Combat Crates (the one with a Ryzen 5 1600 processor tucked inside) is now available on Amazon for $549. Unfortunately the current price reflects the markup on GPUs right now, rather than the MSRPs. Breaking that bundle down, the Ryzen 5 1600 sells for $175 and the MSI B350 Tomahawk for $85, which adds up to $260. That means you're paying $339 for the Radeon RX 580 8GB graphics card. Normally these should sell for around $230, so you're looking at a greater than $100 markup. It's actually cheaper to buy all three parts separately at the moment, as the MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor 8G OC is listed for $327.67 on Amazon right now.