B550 Motherboard specs released & AM4 for Ryzen Gen 3

[Dellenn]

Specifications for B550 motherboards released, and AM4 confirmed for Ryzen Gen 3

AM4 for Ryzen Gen 3:
https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2020/05/07/the-exciting-future-of-amd-socket-am4

B550 Motherboard specs (Courtesy of TechPowerUp)
https://www.techpowerup.com/266710/amd-b550-chipset-detailed-its-ready-for-zen-3-older-am4-motherboards-not-compatible


AMD supporting 4 generations of CPUs on the same socket is really great for consumers - though I wonder if we're getting close to the edge of power delivery with that socket and the number of cores on the traditional desktop boards.

[wall03]

cool! I can't wait till june! I might even delay the build I am planning and see what a good B550 mobo will cost for later expansion

[icase81]

I thought they had said that Zen 3 would work OK on B450 boards, previously?

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-4000-zen-3-vermeer-desktop-cpus-compatible-existing-am4-motherboards/

 

Quote

 

Talking about the XMG APEX 15, the enthusiast-grade gaming laptop features a barebone design and comes with the AM4 socket on a B450 chipset powered motherboard. According to XMG, the motherboard will receive a BIOS microcode update sometime in the future, probably after AMD releases its Zen 2 lineup, to support Ryzen 4000 desktop processors. The XMG APEX 15 is a high-end design featuring support for up to a Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core and 32 thread processor so if there was something better to replace the CPU, it would be the Ryzen 9 4950X or whatever AMD wishes to call its next-generation flagship.

 

[patricklai3]

Will the 3300x run well with rx5700xt?

[5x5]

9 minutes ago, patricklai3 said:

Will the 3300x run well with rx5700xt?

Wrong thread/sub-forum but to answer your question, yes. Bottlenecking will be minimal or non existent.

[porina]

21 hours ago, Dellenn said:

 

This slide seems to be giving some confusion. This is the minimum official support. If you have chipset and CPU combinations outside of this, it is up to the mobo manufacturer to support beyond that.

 

I think I saw reference to the bios size limitations that already exist. A smaller bios chip to keep costs down will result in having to choose which CPUs to support or not. So lower cost B550 boards might be limited to Zen 2 only. More expensive ones might support further back.

 

Edit: new info:

 

[Ben Kirby]

So I am currently planning my first PC build on a budget, and was going to use a Ryzen 5 3600X but that now seems like a silly option with the new 3300X being released later this month. However I can't seem to get my head around the compatibility of the new 3300X with the B450 motherboard that I plan to use in the build. Will the two work together without an update of the BIOS? I will only be using the PC for gaming and general internet usage so the extra cores and threads of the 3600X are not required in my very unprofessional opinion. 

 

Any answers would be greatly appreciated 

[WambleCropped]

7 minutes ago, Ben Kirby said:

So I am currently planning my first PC build on a budget, and was going to use a Ryzen 5 3600X but that now seems like a silly option with the new 3300X being released later this month. However I can't seem to get my head around the compatibility of the new 3300X with the B450 motherboard that I plan to use in the build. Will the two work together without an update of the BIOS? I will only be using the PC for gaming and general internet usage so the extra cores and threads of the 3600X are not required in my very unprofessional opinion. 

 

Any answers would be greatly appreciated 

I recoomend starting another thread in "build planning"

[Ben Kirby]

2 minutes ago, Benji said:

@Ben Kirby a) This thread is not made for consultation over future builds, there is a subforum for it

b) Most B450 boards don't support them as they were a later addition; for example: My ROG Strix B450-F Gaming does not even list the new CPUs. So, if you want to go with a CPU like that you either have to wait quite some time for some motherboard manufacturer to release a BIOS update that supports the CPU, or you go with a B550 or X570 board (that has the latest firmware).

Okay sorry for miss use of this thread. Thanks for your help, I will now add a post in the build planning thread.

[KaitouX]

9 hours ago, porina said:

This slide seems to be giving some confusion. This is the minimum official support. If you have chipset and CPU combinations outside of this, it is up to the mobo manufacturer to support beyond that.

 

I think I saw reference to the bios size limitations that already exist. A smaller bios chip to keep costs down will result in having to choose which CPUs to support or not. So lower cost B550 boards might be limited to Zen 2 only. More expensive ones might support further back.

Adding a example to this, officially A320 doesn't support Ryzen 3000, but a lot of A320 boards were updated to support Ryzen 3000 CPUs.

This seems to be a "If it doesn't work, it's not our problem" from AMD, basically throwing the responsibility to the boards manufacturer which is fair considering that they are the ones that fucked up by not planning ahead even though AMD had already said that they were planning to keep AM4 for multiple generations. But AMD is likely going to get a lot of complaints, just like it happened when they announced that A320 would not have official support to Ryzen 3000, and that B350/X370 depends on the board maker.

 

8 hours ago, Benji said:

b) Most B450 boards don't support them as they were a later addition; for example: My ROG Strix B450-F Gaming does not even list the new CPUs. So, if you want to go with a CPU like that you either have to wait quite some time for some motherboard manufacturer to release a BIOS update that supports the CPU, or you go with a B550 or X570 board (that has the latest firmware).

According to some reviewers(and some motherboards CPU support lists), it seems like support for these Ryzen 3 CPUs were added some time ago, apparently you don't need the latest BIOS for it to work. The MSI B450 Gaming Plus for example says it supports these CPUs since the BIOS released on 2019-06-24, so the same as all other Ryzen 3000 CPUs, the same seems to apply to most MBs that I checked, with some exceptions that list slightly newer versions(mostly BIOS released in 2019) or still didn't add them to the list.

[cj09beira]

2 hours ago, porina said:

This slide seems to be giving some confusion. This is the minimum official support. If you have chipset and CPU combinations outside of this, it is up to the mobo manufacturer to support beyond that.

 

I think I saw reference to the bios size limitations that already exist. A smaller bios chip to keep costs down will result in having to choose which CPUs to support or not. So lower cost B550 boards might be limited to Zen 2 only. More expensive ones might support further back.

really hope thats the case 

[Dellenn]

3 hours ago, porina said:

This slide seems to be giving some confusion. This is the minimum official support. If you have chipset and CPU combinations outside of this, it is up to the mobo manufacturer to support beyond that.

 

I think I saw reference to the bios size limitations that already exist. A smaller bios chip to keep costs down will result in having to choose which CPUs to support or not. So lower cost B550 boards might be limited to Zen 2 only. More expensive ones might support further back.

 

Dunno what to tell you - that was directly from the AMD page. 

[Letgomyleghoe]

Wait my b450 motherboard has usb 3.2 gen 2, unless I’m getting confused by all these usb names again

[TOMPPIX]

https://www.overclock3d.net/news/cpu_mainboard/amd_s_zen_4_ryzen_5th_gen_cpus_will_likely_require_a_new_socket_-_they_told_us_in_2017/1

[Arika]

I've run out of brain power with it being friday afternoon.

 

so basically Zen 3 is only "officially" supported by AMD on #5xx motherboards, but board manufacturers may be able to BIOS update to allow for the newer chips to work?

 

pretty sure i've seen people running 3rd gen non-apu ryzen on b350

[mr moose]

13 hours ago, porina said:

This slide seems to be giving some confusion. This is the minimum official support. If you have chipset and CPU combinations outside of this, it is up to the mobo manufacturer to support beyond that.

 

I think I saw reference to the bios size limitations that already exist. A smaller bios chip to keep costs down will result in having to choose which CPUs to support or not. So lower cost B550 boards might be limited to Zen 2 only. More expensive ones might support further back.

Either way, these are just some of the limitations and problems with trying to support a specific socket for too long.   Which is what I have been trying to point out for god knows how long now.  Yes it's great when you can get away with a CPU only upgrade,  but rarely does that ever pay off over the life time of the build as you inevitably get gimped somewhere along the line.

[mr moose]

1 minute ago, Arika S said:

I've run out of brain power with it being friday afternoon.

 

so basically Zen 3 is only "officially" supported by AMD on #5xx motherboards, but board manufacturers may be able to BIOS update to allow for the newer chips to work?

 

pretty sure i've seen people running 3rd gen non-apu ryzen on b350

I'm running a 3600 on a B350.  Looks like you can do it on some 320's as well.  

[GreatnessRD]

Feel like a heel turned has happened with no support of Zen3 with my B450 motherboard. Guess I can't be too mad, it had a good 3 year run. Guess I'll start saving my pennies for an X570 to be prepared for Zen3. The future still looks pretty, pretty good.

[porina]

1 hour ago, Arika S said:

I've run out of brain power with it being friday afternoon.

 

so basically Zen 3 is only "officially" supported by AMD on #5xx motherboards, but board manufacturers may be able to BIOS update to allow for the newer chips to work?

 

pretty sure i've seen people running 3rd gen non-apu ryzen on b350

Without AMD making a clearer statement it is hard to say. The way I see it, if you follow the chart, it should 100% work. What's less clear is the level of support you get if your combination is not on the chart. Is it supported but not guaranteed? That is, if present it will work. Or is it potentially working but not supported and to be used at your own risk e.g. like the so called ECC support.

 

I'm running a 3700X on a X370 right now.

 

57 minutes ago, GreatnessRD said:

Feel like a heel turned has happened with no support of Zen3 with my B450 motherboard. Guess I can't be too mad, it had a good 3 year run. Guess I'll start saving my pennies for an X570 to be prepared for Zen3. The future still looks pretty, pretty good.

Let's not jump to conclusions. Wait and see what future mobo bios updates bring. Also, with B550 almost here, wouldn't rule that out over X570.

[Soppro]

So it seems that AMD in posting its 'official' motherboard/CPU compatibility chart sparked a lot of confusion, mainly because mobo manufacturers do their own thing and have supported CPUs outside their 'designations' for a while now. This is because motherboards with larger BIOS chips (which is most of them) can be updated to support other, newer processors (this issue came up with B450 and launch of 3rd gen Ryzen).

 

Also to add: it seems Zen 3 will be the final generation on AM4, the subsequent generation will likely switch to AM5 (but that's still a while away)

[MyName13]

Remember when back in 2017 people said things like "You can get cheap B350 mobo, overclock that CPU and plop down some future CPU"...

[Dujith]

9 minutes ago, MyName13 said:

Remember when back in 2017 people said things like "You can get cheap B350 mobo, overclock that CPU and plop down some future CPU"...

What do you mean? Since B350's do still support the Zen 2 series. 

So 2017 would have been correct  Its 3 years later and current CPU's will work in it.

[MyName13]

12 minutes ago, Dujith said:

What do you mean? Since B350's do still support the Zen 2 series. 

So 2017 would have been correct  Its 3 years later and current CPU's will work in it.

By the time people choose to upgrade their Zen 1 CPU, Zen 2 will be obsolete.If someone buys a new CPU every generation then he has enough money to also buy a new motherboard.

[Patrik_]

So If I get it right now Its up to manufacturer If they want to make older boards support Zen 3? 

[Void Master]

3 minutes ago, Patrik_ said:

So If I get it right now Its up to manufacturer If they want to make older boards support Zen 3? 

As for the 3 series chipsets ... it not recommended and they had stability issues with zen 2 ( not all of them).

but anything b450 and higher should theoretically work fine since the 4 series chipset mobos are much higher build quality. 

So for 3 series... probably not ( thus the manufacture won't release a bios update).

but for 4 series and above... zen 3 should work fine and thus it's up to AMD and manufacturers to decide.

but there is a big chance that b450 mobos will work with zen 3.