There has been a lot of talk going on regarding AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPU and Smart Access Memory support on X470 and B450 motherboards over on the internet. Some board vendors are enabling early support for the latest Ryzen processors on their 400-series boards while others are prepping to add SAM support to these motherboards but it looks like an official firmware is still planned for January launch.
AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU & Smart Access Memory Support on X470 & B450 Motherboards Only Through Unofficial BIOS, Proper Firmware Rolls Out in January
Talking to our sources from board partners, we were able to confirm a few tidbits regarding AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPU & SAM (Smart Access Memory) support on X470 & B450 motherboards. There are already motherboard makers who have landed early support for Ryzen 5000 CPUs on their boards based on the 400-series chipsets.
As of right now, only AMD’s 500-series motherboards based on the X570 and B550 chipset have the official BIOS to support Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs and Smart Access Memory technology. The AMD 400-series motherboards based on the X470 and B450 chipsets have no official support as of right now and all board makers who have released preliminary BIOS are based on older AGESA firmware and not the official one which will be launching in January.
AGESA 1.1.0.0 Firmware BIOS
ASRock was the first to release (unofficial) BIOS support for AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs on its B450 line of motherboards. The respective BIOS’s can be found at ASRock’s official website of each motherboard which they announced here.
The ASRock BIOS is based on the AGESA 1.1.0.0 firmware and hence it’s not as updated as the new version which is meant to be released later. Gigabyte also followed suit and released an unofficial BIOS for its B450 lineup which is now listed for each respective B450 motherboard. Gigabyte’s BIOS is also based on the AGESA 1.1.0.0 firmware.
ASRock & Gigabyte 400-Series BIOS Based on AGESA 1.1.0.0 Firmware:
AGESA 1.1.8.0 Firmware BIOS
ASUS on the other hand has released unofficial BIOS for its entire X470 and B450 line of boards. The BIOS is based on the AGESA 1.1.8.0 firmware. From what I was able to gather, the 1.1.8.0 firmware is not meant to be released to the public or marketed which ASUS has done so far.
AMD has guided board makers that the 1.1.8.0 firmware is not meant to be released to consumers and that they should instead wait for a newer version which lands in January.
ASUS 400-Series BIOS Based on AGESA 1.1.8.0 Firmware:
AGESA 1.1.9.0 / 1.2.0.0 Firmware BIOS
We have confirmed from internal sources that AGESA 1.1.9.0 is under development but our sources suggest that the version will be known as 1.2.0.0 once it’s available to the public.
Once again, the BIOS based on AGESA 1.1.0.0 and 1.1.8.0 firmware is BETA and an unofficial variant whereas the proper BIOS will launch in January 2021 by all board makers including MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock, and ASUS. To sum it all up as far as AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU compatibility is concerned:
- ASRock – Unofficial BIOS based on AGESA 1.1.0.0 Firmware (B450 Only)
- Gigabyte – Unofficial BIOS based on AGESA 1.1.0.0 Firmware (X470 & B450)
- ASUS – Unofficial BIOS based on AGESA 1.1.8.0 Firmware (X470 & B450)
- MSI – Official BIOS based on Future AGESA Firmware (Coming January 2021)
On the other hand, there are multiple board vendors who are planning unofficial BIOS support for 300-series motherboards including X370 and A320 series. We have already seen preliminary Ryzen 5000 CPU support on these boards in leaks but board makers have confirmed that they are highly interested in adding support on even older motherboards.
AMD Smart Access Memory Support on 400-Series Motherboards?
Motherboard makers are also adding unofficial BIOS support for AMD’s Smart Access Memory tech in their boards. ASRock seems to have already done so by enabling this feature in the BIOS which I just mentioned above. This was validated by German YouTuber, RawiioliExtras, who managed to get SAM working on his B450 Steel Legend motherboard. You can see the full demonstration by the tech tuber below:
This is once again unofficial support based on the AGESA 1.1.0.0 firmware and proper support will be added later on. ASRock has stated that while an official BIOS will be released to support Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs later for its older 400-series line of motherboards, support for SAM will still be unofficial.
Do note that AMD has officially stated that Smart Access Memory works to its full potential through a PCIe Gen 4 protocol however resizable BAR isn’t restricted to Gen 4 as per the PCI-SIG standard & is also usable through a Gen 3 link which is something that NVIDIA will be offering on both AMD & Intel platforms.
We have also learned through our sources that MSI also plans to add support AMD SAM support on its 400-series line once the new BIOS roll out. Gigabyte and ASUS would be following suit too. We will keep you posted once we hear more information regarding board makers’ plans for Ryzen 5000 CPU and SAM support on older 400 and 300 series motherboards.