AMD OFFERS A REPRIEVE FOR 400-SERIES BOARDS

Last-minute patch saves your motherboard

WHEN RYZEN, and its AM4 socket, was launched in 2016, AMD said it would support the socket until 2020. Which it has, although some interpreted this as meaning the motherboard chipsets would also support all AM4 chips. When the Zen 3 came along AMD said you needed a 500-series board. Its new B550 has just arrived, and it doesn’t support Ryzen 3000-series Picasso chips with integrated graphics, or support older Ryzen 2000 or 1000-series chips.

The company has now decided to change course. The issue was room on the ROM. AMD is preparing a BIOS update that will enable Zen 3 support on B450 and X470 boards. This works by making room on the ROM by ditching support for older Ryzens. It’s a one-way process that kills the board for older silicon, so it will only be available to verified 400-series owners who buy a Zen 3 chip. It’s not quite the level of support we might like, but it’s better than none.