AMD Confirms Zen 3 Compatibility ONLY on B550 & X570 Motherboards

AmazingAvery

In case you missed it, AMD have announced upcoming processors built on ZEN 3 architecture will not work on 400 series and older chipset motherboards. No Plans To Support X470, B450, X370 Chipsets.

So desktop Ryzen 4000 chipsets that will launch later this year will only work on X570 and B550 chipsets plus the new chipset likely to be called the 600 series when it comes out. If you bought anything other than the new X570 motherboard or recently released B550 type motherboards then you will be out of luck if you have your eye on / wanting to upgrade once ZEN 3 comes out... Unless AMD changes their mind but it seems they will lockout motherboard makers from updates.

This announcements comes with a mixture of reactions out there regarding the announcements however, when AM4 was released, AMD promised socket compatibility until 2020. So really they held their promise and they have been great supporting multiple generations.

You read read the official update here: https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2020/05/07/the-exciting-future-of-amd-socket-am4

Q: What about (X pre-500 Series chipset)?

A: AMD has no plans to introduce “Zen 3” architecture support for older chipsets. While we wish could enable full support for every processor on every chipset, the flash memory chips that store BIOS settings and support have capacity limitations. Given these limitations, and the unprecedented longevity of the AM4 socket, there will inevitably be a time and place where a transition to free up space is necessary—the AMD 500 Series chipsets are that time.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the new ZEN 3 chips that hopefully come in the fall/ before the year is out.

Quizzical

Well that's disappointing.  The only real reason for consumers to care about socket longevity is if it means that you can drop a new CPU into an old motherboard.  If you can't do that, it might as well be a new socket.

I'm not buying the stated reasoning, though.  If a 400 series motherboard can support first, second, and third gen Ryzen, and a 500 series motherboard can support second, third, and fourth gen Ryzen, then why couldn't they make an alternate BIOS for a 400 series motherboard that supports second through fourth gen just like the 500 series parts do?

Quizzical

AMD has now reversed themselves:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15807/amd-to-support-zen-3-and-ryzen-4000-cpus-on-b450-and-x470-motherboards

1. We will develop and enable our motherboard partners with the code to support “Zen 3”-based processors in select beta BIOSes for AMD B450 and X470 motherboards.
2. These optional BIOS updates will disable support for many existing AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processor models to make the necessary ROM space available.
3. The select beta BIOSes will enable a one-way upgrade path for AMD Ryzen Processors with “Zen 3,” coming later this year. Flashing back to an older BIOS version will not be supported.
4. To reduce the potential for confusion, our intent is to offer BIOS download only to verified customers of 400 Series motherboards who have purchased a new desktop processor with “Zen 3” inside. This will help us ensure that customers have a bootable processor on-hand after the BIOS flash, minimizing the risk a user could get caught in a no-boot situation.
5. Timing and availability of the BIOS updates will vary and may not immediately coincide with the availability of the first “Zen 3”-based processors.
6. This is the final pathway AMD can enable for 400 Series motherboards to add new CPU support. CPU releases beyond “Zen 3” will require a newer motherboard.
7. AMD continues to recommend that customers choose an AMD 500 Series motherboard for the best performance and features with our new CPUs.

I'm expecting that this means that they'll have an alternate BIOS available for B450 and X470 motherboards that will support Zen+ and later CPUs, but not the plain Zen CPUs (Ryzen 1000 series and 2000 series APUs), and definitely not the old Excavator or Carrizo based ones.  That alternate BIOS would have the same CPU support as X570.  If that fits in a 16 MB BIOS chip on an X570 motherboard, then it should fit in a 16 MB chip on X470 or B450.

Asm0deus

The new upgrade path will be a one way ticket they say.  If you upgrade to zen 3 apparently there will be no downgrading to previous bios.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/gmp45o/the_zen_3_architecture_is_coming_to_amd_x470_and/

Asm0deus

DMKano said:

B550 cant come soon enough 

Also I hope that am5 mobos will have an affordable chipset option 

Just be aware the b550 mobo's are "partial" pcie 4.0 and not fully 4.0 like the x570 mobo's.

It's probably not a big deal for the average consumer but something to be aware of.