Update 19/05: AMD later clarified some new plans but they come with plenty of caveats.
If you're keeping an eye on the latest AMD processors coming, you might want to sit down and take a look at a recent post from AMD detailing their support plans for socket AM4 and Zen 3 compatibility.
Writing in a post on their community forum, AMD developer Robert Hallock announced their plans. Going over a little history, how in 2016 they said they would support socket AM4 until 2020 and since then processors have expanded a lot across the Excavator / Zen / Zen+ and Zen 2 architectures.
Starting off with the big question answered: the upcoming Zen 3 will be compatible with the X570 (2019) and B550 (2020) motherboards through a BIOS update. While they also mentioned "no plans" to have Zen 3 support older chipsets so if you were waiting on it you're likely going to need to spend more.
They've also provided a picture of their support status and plan:
For the full details, see here.
Curious about their upcoming Zen 3? AMD stated recently that it and their next-generation GPU architecture with RDNA 2 are on target for this year.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Mohandevir May 7, 2020
If i am not mistaken there are a few people using ryzen 3000 processors on 300 series chipsets with updated BIOSes. Only some motherboards allow that. If confirmed some users of 400 series chipsets may have a good surprise. AMD users seem to enjoy cheaper upgrades on more durable mainboards and could protest if it is not the case.
At least it is what i gather from forum posts i have read elsewhere.
Quite sad... The 400 series is not that old... Tought it would get the Zen 3 treatment.
Anyway, I tend to keep my builds complete (motherboard/RAM/CPU) and use them as secondary computers, instead of swapping only my CPU... Having a sleeping CPU in a cupboard makes me itch. :)
Last edited by Mohandevir on 7 May 2020 at 8:29 pm UTC
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I don't get their happiness from the fact that the socket AM4 survived 4 years (2016-2020). AM3 socket debuted in 2009 and was partially compatible with AM2 released in 2006! It makes 10 years of support of the general socket design. Of course, not every motherboard supported all processors, but the same is true with AM4.
Moreover there is no gain from the fact that motherboard from 2016 and current one both use the same socket if they support different processor. I can't take 4 year old mobo and put a new Ryzen there. So, why I should be happy that the socket didn't change? Similarly, latest generation chipset won't work with Zen 1 architecture CPUs.
Moreover there is no gain from the fact that motherboard from 2016 and current one both use the same socket if they support different processor. I can't take 4 year old mobo and put a new Ryzen there. So, why I should be happy that the socket didn't change? Similarly, latest generation chipset won't work with Zen 1 architecture CPUs.
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Fine by me. I see no reason to support more than 2 generations of CPUs on the same motherboard. Look at how troublesome Ryzen 3000 support was at launch, with a scramble to update BIOSes on old boards that ended loosing support for older processors.
I want to buy a motherboard without too much research to know if what I'm buying have the necessary update for the CPU I chose.
Last edited by M@GOid on 7 May 2020 at 8:45 pm UTC
I want to buy a motherboard without too much research to know if what I'm buying have the necessary update for the CPU I chose.
Last edited by M@GOid on 7 May 2020 at 8:45 pm UTC
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You are only reconfirming my point - they have nothing special to brag about :)
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If i am not mistaken there are a few people using ryzen 3000 processors on 300 series chipsets with updated BIOSes. Only some motherboards allow that. If confirmed some users of 400 series chipsets may have a good surprise. AMD users seem to enjoy cheaper upgrades on more durable mainboards and could protest if it is not the case.
At least it is what i gather from forum posts i have read elsewhere.
I have an ASUS Prime B350-Plus which states Ryzen 3000 support. I was planning to upgrade so the image here worries me. I will need to do more research.
Last edited by cbones on 7 May 2020 at 8:56 pm UTC
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Ouch, that's a bummer. I have a B450 and was planning to swap my r5 2400g for a zen 3 r7 in order to have a long lasting computer. I might have to skip this generation and get zen 4 or zen 5 instead.
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X370 works with Ryzen 3000 though (at least Asrock X370 Taichi does).
Last edited by Shmerl on 7 May 2020 at 11:14 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 7 May 2020 at 11:14 pm UTC
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holisticboy May 8, 2020
Yeah so a lot of the discussions regarding the lack of support is due to the UEFI/BIOS capacity as opposed to AMD not making CPU's compatible with older boards. For example, my Asrock X370 Gaming K4 is capable of supporting Ryzen 3 series (e.g. Ryzen 7 3700x), but by updating my UEFI for support for it, it removes support for anything below the 3 series as there is not enough ROM space.
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It's always a nice thing when new things and old things get along well, but in this specific case for me it doesn't make a difference - there's usually too much time passing between upgrades. Still running an Athlon X4 860K here. And while I'm thinking about upgrading ever since Ryzen released, there's always a new version of them coming up on the "horyzen" that I fell there's never the point where I "have to" upgrade. After all, my machine is still working for the things I feed it.
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It's always a nice thing when new things and old things get along well, but in this specific case for me it doesn't make a difference - there's usually too much time passing between upgrades. Still running an Athlon X4 860K here. And while I'm thinking about upgrading ever since Ryzen released, there's always a new version of them coming up on the "horyzen" that I fell there's never the point where I "have to" upgrade. After all, my machine is still working for the things I feed it.
That is very true upgrades are nice but if you constantly upgrading and the most demanding thing you play is esports titles its not like you need 20 cores its nice to have but you dont need it. I had that processor back in the day and i had no issue playing witcher 3 or fallout 4 back in my dual boot days.
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Is it possible that they might release AM5 in 2021 with Ryzen 5000 series processors as they have stated in previous correspondences that AM4 will be supported till 2020 only. I am asking this to check the viability of support for the new B550 motherboards in the coming years. I am thinking of getting it but might wait if it is only going to support one generation of CPU's.
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I have 3700X on Asus Prime X370 Pro and it works without any issues. so the image is a bit off i would say.
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I bought a B450 not too long because every "expert" out there claimed AMD will definitely support it with at least Zen 3. :/
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This makes the X570/B550 rather pointless boards. They will die off with AM5 socket entering the market.
Really disappointed about lack of B450 support for Zen 3 but this only means I won't get myself another AMD CPU as an upgrade in another 5 years till I completely switch the platform (CPU/RAM/PCIExpress version). Until then the R3600 should suffice.
Last edited by Alm888 on 8 May 2020 at 11:52 am UTC
Really disappointed about lack of B450 support for Zen 3 but this only means I won't get myself another AMD CPU as an upgrade in another 5 years till I completely switch the platform (CPU/RAM/PCIExpress version). Until then the R3600 should suffice.
Last edited by Alm888 on 8 May 2020 at 11:52 am UTC
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If i am not mistaken there are a few people using ryzen 3000 processors on 300 series chipsets with updated BIOSes. Only some motherboards allow that. If confirmed some users of 400 series chipsets may have a good surprise. AMD users seem to enjoy cheaper upgrades on more durable mainboards and could protest if it is not the case.
At least it is what i gather from forum posts i have read elsewhere.
I'm not really angry at AMD, they've offered upgrades way beyond what Intel have in recent years, but I guess I wanted to see how far I could wait until I upgrade the CPU on my B350 mobo. I'm quite happy with my 1700, but when I first built my PC I was expecting AMD to be already hitting around ~5Ghz by now, Zen2 is a good upgrade, but wasn't significant enough for me to warrant the cost.
If I can't upgrade and need to buy a new mobo, does it make sense to invest in a new mobo with no upgrade potential? I'm not sure of AMD's plans for Zen 4>, but I wouldn't be surprised if they choose to go with a new socket when DDR5 is launched.
Let's see what mobo manufacturers do.
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Well, I shouldn't have written badly about AMD yesterday since today my mobo died (as far as I can diagnoze). At the moment there is no reasonable replacement. Buying B450 is a bit pointless, as it won't support Zen 3 and there are no B550 mainboards yet to buy. I could get X570 board but they are rather pricey.
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I have a 3700X running on an X370 motherboard (Asrock X370 Gaming X), though I did have to upgrade the firmware. The first upgrade had the RDRAND bug, but a later update fixed it. When I got the processor, the bug had already been fixed in the newest firmware, though the notes left something to be desired about properly explaining this. There has been another firmware update since. It seems to run pretty well at this point.
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I'm planning to buy a whole new desktop so this is very interesting to me. at least I'll buy a X570 motherboard.
I prepared this configuration yesterday before read this entry, what do you think about it?
I prepared this configuration yesterday before read this entry, what do you think about it?
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Looks like it was a good decision to postpone a bit. Had I bought back when I looked at prices, it would have been a B450 motherboard, since X570 were stupidly expensive. Hopefully their prices will be more reasonable whenever the new hardware is out. Intention right now is to get an AMD CPU + GPU.
May not have mattered all that much tbh, because I tend to keep whatever hardware I buy for 5+ years and not upgrade a CPU for example, but it's nice to have the option, and to be more future proof.
May not have mattered all that much tbh, because I tend to keep whatever hardware I buy for 5+ years and not upgrade a CPU for example, but it's nice to have the option, and to be more future proof.
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