X370 3600: 3600MHz ram on X370? : ryzen

13 октября, 2022

AMD X370 vs X470 vs X570 — 3600X & 3700X Review | Introduction and Test Setup | CPU & Mainboard

Introduction and Test Setup

Published: 26th July 2019 | Source: AMD | Price: | Author: Tom Logan

Introduction

Backwards compatibility is something of a hot topic lately in a variety of gaming scenarios.

Anyone who has enjoyed console gaming knows that the ability to play your existing library of games is something that has been toyed with by both Microsoft and Sony with varying degrees of success. With the forthcoming release of Project Scarlett and the Playstation 5 next year a lot of online buzz exists as to whether the two big console giants will bring backwards compatibility to the market more comprehensively than is currently available, or if they’ll follow their accountants advice and go down the route preferred by Nintendo where they will happily sell you the digital version of a game you probably already own a physical copy of instead of letting you use the game you already have on hand. As hardcore gamers ourselves we begrudge paying twice for something so we hope that the next generation won’t go all digital and will instead let us use the discs we have in our new spangly consoles.

What’s that to do with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X?

As you saw from our 3rd Generation Ryzen launch review AMD have made it a firm part of their business plan that their AM4 socket is capable of running any AM4 processor, and we also saw how successfully that had been implemented with the X470 Crosshair giving very similar results to the latest X570 Crosshair. Okay, you’re accepting that a few of the latest higher-end features will be missing from the older motherboards, but the performance is there in full. Which got us wondering.

If you have a large budget then it behoves you to invest in the latest kit possible, but if you have tighter financial restrictions then maybe you’ll want to extract the maximum value from your existing AM4 setup, and the price point of the Ryzen 5 3600X is also unlikely to break the bank, so could you drop it into a good X370 motherboard and still have good performance? Earlier motherboards might not have been designed with the insane core counts of the Ryzen 9 3900X in mind, but they could easily have power phases that could handle a six-core, and that’s exactly what the Ryzen 5 3600X has. Let’s find out how the various AMD chipsets perform with their latest processor.

Test Setup

With the mid-range Ryzen 3rd Generation CPU on hand, and knowing how well the Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 9 3900X performed on the X470 chipset, we wanted to stretch the boundaries of possibility and see how the six-core Ryzen 5 3600X performs across the whole range of AMD motherboards, from the X370 through the X470 to the X570. To this end, we’ve utilised the ASUS Prime range, a set of motherboards that are kept up to date with plentiful BIOS updates so as to give the best possible chance for the Ryzen range to demonstrate how flexible the AM4 socket is. As we’ve got the systems built we’ll also see how the Ryzen 7 3700X performs on the X370 too.

Although we’ve included the X470 on both CPUs our primary focus is on how the Ryzen 5 3600X performs and how comparable the X370 and X570 chipsets are.

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
ASUS Prime X370-Pro
ASUS Prime X470-Pro
ASUS Prime X570-Pro
G. Skill Trident Z 3600 MHz
Corsair Vengeance RGB 4600 MHz
Corsair MP500 M.2 — OS Drive
Aorus PCIE4 NVME — Storage Speed Tests
Nvidia RTX 2080Ti
Corsair HX1000i
Corsair h250i
Corsair ML Fans

  

1 — Introduction and Test Setup2 — Overclocking and Temperatures3 — NVMe Performance4 — AIDA645 — AIDA64 — Zen Comparison6 — SiSoft Sandra7 — SiSoft Sandra — Zen Comparison8 — Blender9 — Blender — Zen Comparison10 — Cinebench R1511 — Cinebench R15 — Zen Comparison12 — Cinebench R2013 — Cinebench R20 — Zen Comparison14 — x265 Benchmark15 — x265 Benchmark — Zen Comparison16 — HEVC17 — HEVC — Zen Comparison18 — Sony Vegas19 — Sony Vegas — Zen Comparison20 — Geekbench31 — Geekbench — Zen Comparison22 — Realbench33 — Realbench — Zen Comparison24 — PC Mark 10 25 — PC Mark 10 — Zen Comparison26 — Passmark27 — Passmark — Zen Comparison28 — 3D Mark29 — 3D Mark — Zen Comparison30 — Time Spy Extreme31 — Time Spy Extreme — Zen Comparison32 — Gaming33 — Gaming — Zen Comparison34 — Conclusion«Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Next»

Most Recent Comments

26-07-2019, 19:55:52

grec

26-07-2019, 22:35:48

ET3D

Reply

MSI Global — The Leading Brand in High-end Gaming & Professional Creation

Ever since AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series processors launched, you might be wondering if your old AM4 motherboards support them.

In short, yes. The 3rd Generation Ryzen (3000-series) CPUs still use the AM4 socket, same as 1000/2000 series, which means you can upgrade your CPU to experience higher performance and better multi-core efficiency without having to upgrade your motherboard. However, your motherboard will need a BIOS update.

In this article, we’ll cover the following:
— Beta BIOS overview – who should update BIOS and how to get it?
— How to update your BIOS? Flash BIOS Button & M-Flash
 

Beta BIOS Overview

After you update to the beta BIOS, you might notice that the user interface is completely different compared to the version you had before the update.

Long story short, the limited BIOS ROM size made this necessary. We simplified the Beta BIOS interface to support as many processor models as we could, without exceeding the BIOS ROM. Although beta BIOS is a Click BIOS version (GSE Lite) with lower graphics and fewer icons than Click BIOS 5, you won’t lose access to any MSI exclusive features such as A-XMP, M-Flash, and Smart Fan Control.

Only the user interface looks different. Not the functionality!

 

 

Who should update to Beta BIOS?

If you’ve already purchased a 3000-series AMD Ryzen CPU without upgrading to an X570 motherboard, you have to update to the beta BIOS before switching to your new processor.

On the other hand, if you haven’t made your decision yet and are waiting for more third-party tests and reviews, you don’t need to update to the beta BIOS immediately.

The processor support information for the new Beta BIOS is listed below:

All the Beta BIOS listed here, for 400 Series you can download from Support page, too.

X470 Series Motherboards

Beta BIOS Link

B450 Series Motherboards

Beta BIOS Link

X370 Series Motherboards

Beta BIOS Link

B350 Series Motherboards

Beta BIOS Link

A320 Series Motherboards

Beta BIOS Link

* RAID will be supported in the next BIOS update for all older AM4 motherboards except those with an A320 chipset.

 

How to update BIOS?

Before you can enjoy the improvements that 3rd Generation Ryzen CPUs offer on older motherboards, you need to update your BIOS. There are two ways for you to update BIOS – regardless of whether you want to switch to the new beta BIOS or roll back to an older version.
 

Flash BIOS Button

The MSI exclusive feature — Flash BIOS Button simplifies BIOS flash process by a small button on rear IO. This is featured on most MSI 400-series motherboards.

Prepare a USB drive with BIOS files, plug it into the dedicated USB port, and push the Flash BIOS button. The motherboard will flash the new BIOS within minutes. You don’t need to install a CPU, RAM, or a graphics card to update your BIOS thanks to this feature.

If you’re unfamiliar with flashing BIOS, this tutorial should help you: https://youtu. be/iTkXunUAriE

List of older MSI AM4 (300 and 400-series) motherboards featuring the Flash BIOS Button:
 

400 Series Motherboards

300 Series Motherboards

X470 GAMING M7 ACK

X370 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM

B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC

X370 GAMING M7 ACK

B450 GAMING PLUS

 

B450 TOMAHAWK

 

B450-A PRO

 

B450M GAMING PLUS

 

B450M MORTAR

 

B450M MORTAR TITANIUM

 

B450M BAZOOKA PLUS

 

B450M BAZOOKA PLUS V2

 

 
 

What if my board doesn’t feature Flash BIOS Button?

No sweat! All MSI motherboards feature M-Flash, an easy update feature in Click BIOS 5, which makes BIOS updates straightforward. You should be able to find it in both Easy mode and Advanced mode of the BIOS.

Prepare a USB drive with the BIOS update files, insert into the dedicated USB port, reboot with your previous generation processor, and go to M-Flash in the BIOS screen. Please note: You’ll need an older AMD CPU to perform this update.

If you don’t have access to an older, supported AMD CPU for your motherboard and also don’t have a motherboard with the Flash BIOS button, you’ll have to contact AMD for a boot kit. More details here: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/pa-100#faq-Short-Term-Processor-Loan-Boot-Kit

Once your BIOS updates, you can go ahead and replace your older processor with a new 3rd Gen Ryzen processor.

Here’s an M-Flash video tutorial to help you get going: https://youtu.be/LRyFMf0D9Lc

Ryzen Revisited: AMD’s 5800X3D, 5800X Are Great Upgrades for X370 Motherboard Owners

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When AMD announced it would add support for the Ryzen 5000 family to the old 300 series motherboard chipsets it raised interesting questions about how these chips would perform when plugged in as upgrades. We suspected CPUs like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D might prove to be unusually strong upgrade options thanks to the large amount of onboard L3 cache.

Now that we’ve spent some time evaluating the question, we can confirm it: Any enthusiast gamer still running a Ryzen 7 1800X or below should seriously consider either the Ryzen 7 5800X or the Ryzen 7 5800X3D as an upgrade option. The 5800X3D is a particularly good choice if you are stuck with slower RAM clocked at DDR4-2667 or below. Performance improvements of 1.5x – 2x are possible at 1080p with an appropriately powerful GPU.

Why the 5800X3D Shines on AMD’s X370 Motherboard Platform

When Ryzen launched, the Ryzen 7 1800X’s formal memory clock support topped out at DDR4-2667. Faster was possible, but 3.2GHz DDR4 still commanded a premium over the 2.67GHz flavor back in 2017 and plenty of OEMs stick to officially supported clocks. This limited Ryzen’s performance in gaming and other latency-sensitive applications.

If you like it, slap a massive chunk of cache on it.

One consistent characteristic of AMD’s Ryzen CPUs over the past five years is that they benefit from higher memory bandwidth more than Intel chips typically do. This is especially true on an older chip like the Zen 1-based Ryzen 7 1800X, which offered each CPU core a relatively small slice of L3 before leaning on main memory. As AMD evolved Zen 2 and Zen 3, it made various improvements to the cache structure of the architecture. Zen 2 doubled up on L3 compared to Zen 1, while Zen 3 debuted Ryzen’s first unified L3 cache. The 5800X3D takes this strategy and turbo charges it by bumping the on-die L3 cache up to 96MB. As it turns out, dropping an extra 64MB of cache on-chip is a great way to obviate the performance hit Ryzen 1 takes when paired with DDR4-2667.

DRAM isn’t terribly expensive these days — it still costs less to buy a Ryzen 7 5800X + 32GB of DDR4-3600 than it does to buy just the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, for example — but the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has its own persuasive performance argument to make.

To Upgrade or Buy New?

The hypothetical gamer with our testbed system configuration built a Ryzen 7 1800X when the platform was new, likely pairing it with a GTX 1080 or 1080 Ti. The system has already been upgraded once, with an RTX 3080. System benchmarks now show (as we’ll see) that the Ryzen 7 1800X is bottlenecking game performance in 1080p and even some 1440p games. Is it worth upgrading this older system with a new CPU, or is it better to wait for Socket AM5?

After spending some time with these systems, we’re pretty firmly on Team Upgrade. The performance improvement from plugging a Ryzen 7 5800X3D or Ryzen 7 5800X into an old X370 board is damned impressive. Enthusiasts who want more than eight cores have options like the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X. That CPU offers all of the single-threaded improvements in the Zen 3 family, plus twice the maximum number of cores AMD was selling in a consumer socket back in 2017. While we focus on gaming here, a quick look at application performance suggests the Ryzen 7 5800X and 5800X3D are 1.5x – 2x faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X in both single-threaded and multi-threaded applications.

Note: The fact that our Ryzen 7 1800X testbed has already been upgraded to an RTX 3080 has a lot to do with why these numbers look the way they do. The trends in this data are likely to hold true for the RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080 as well as higher-end RDNA2 cards in the Radeon 67xx and 68xx families. High-end Turing cards like the RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 would still show the same trends, but to a smaller degree.

Our Testbed

Our trusty Asus Crosshair VI Hero came out of retirement for this testing. We updated to the AGESA 1.2.0.6b UEFI (v.8503) available on the Asus website. While Ryzen 5000 support isn’t formally set to arrive until AGESA 1.2.0.7, we were told that the AGESA 1.2.0.6b version should still support the CPUs, though possibly with some limitations. After testing the board, we’re confident enough in these numbers to release them. The AGESA 1.2.0.7 update may improve compatibility and further boost performance, but the performance improvement available today is more than enough to justify the upgrade.

We had no crashes or stability problems when testing the Ryzen 7 5800X and 5800X3D, but we did observe one issue: While the 5800X had no problem with a DDR4-3600 memory clock, the 5800X3D was consistently a bit slower when tested at DDR4-3600 as opposed to DDR4-2667. After talking to Asus, we’re chalking this up to the early UEFI version.

While it would’ve been nice to have the DDR4-3600 numbers for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the DDR4-2667 numbers are good enough to run on their own. Since we don’t have DDR4-3600 numbers for the 5800X3D on X370, we pulled in the data set we used for our 5800X3D review on an MSI X570 motherboard back in April. Using that data is a handy way to highlight the performance differences between the X370 and X570 chipsets. These tests were performed without Resizable Bar enabled due to a misunderstanding regarding where that option was located on the X370. The X570 tests do include Resizable Bar support.

Normally we include a fair number of application tests, but we kept this review focused on gaming. First, that’s the market AMD is explicitly targeting with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Second, CPU gaming performance is notoriously difficult to improve compared to other workloads, and gaming is the area where the Ryzen 7 1800X was weakest at launch. Third, we wanted to measure the impact of AMD’s large L3 cache in a low memory bandwidth scenario and gauge the performance difference between the 5800X3D and 5800X.

Borderlands 3: Tested in Badass Mode.
Hitman 3: Dartmoor, Dubai: Tested in Ultra detail mode, with Motion Blur off.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Tested in “High” graphics mode with SMAAT2x enabled.
Far Cry 6: Tested in Ultra detail with HD textures enabled.
Horizon Zero Dawn: Tested in Ultra detail.
Warhammer III: Tested in Ultra detail with screen space reflections enabled.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla: Tested in Ultra Detail mode.

Gaming Results

Our results are quite different depending on the resolution you target.

At 1080p, the Ryzen 7 5800X is 1.35x faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X when both are equipped with DDR4-2667 RAM. The 1800X’s performance improves by 1.14x when its paired with faster RAM, while the 5800X picks up just 1. 09x from the same upgrade. When both systems are equipped with DDR4-3600, the 5800X is 1.28x faster than the 1800X at 1080p.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is the star of this particular show. It’s no less than 1.6x faster than the 1800X when both are equipped with DDR4-2667, and it’s still 1.09x faster than the 5800X when the latter has the advantage of DDR4-3600. Only the X570-based 5800X3D system is a measly 5 percent faster, and we’re chalking at least some of those gains up to the X570 chipset’s enabled Resizable Bar support.

Gamers with 1080p and 1440p monitors have particular reason to eye the 5800X and/or the 5800X3D. At 1440p we expect to see resolution and detail settings hit the GPU hard enough to dampen the CPU’s relative contribution to system performance. Despite this, the 5800X3D still manages to be 1.37x faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X at 1440p and 1.12x faster than the 5800X. Once again, the X570 platform is the overall leader, but only by 5 percent.

The 4K Question

When the Ryzen 7 1800X launched, there were concerns over whether or not it would be capable of driving modern GPUs at 4K. AMD insisted at the time that the Ryzen 7 1800X could hang with top-end CPUs at the highest resolutions. Five years later, that’s still (mostly) true. While it falls well behind the competition in 1440p and 1080p, 4K at high detail levels still stresses the GPU much more than the CPU. Better UEFI support for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D might have improved performance a little, but the gap between X370 and X570 is only 4 percent.

The 1.13x gap between the Ryzen 7 1800X and the 5800X3D at 4K is skewed by Ashes of the Singularity. Remove it from the average and there’s only a 7 percent gap between the Ryzen 7 1800X and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Below this resolution, the 1800X gets pummeled pretty badly, though it still drives every game at eminently playable frame rates.

Conclusion

The Ryzen 7 5800X and 5800X3D are interesting upgrade options for early Ryzen adopters, especially early adopters who don’t have high-speed DRAM and who primarily game in 1080p. A Ryzen 7 5800X3D equipped with DDR4-2667 is roughly 10 percent faster than a Ryzen 7 5800X + DDR4-3600. If we assume an $80 price point for new DRAM (including shipping) and borrow Newegg’s price for both CPUs as of 6/5/2022, the cost comes out to $394 for the 5800X + DDR4-3600 versus $470 for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D alone. That makes the 5900X3D an average of 1.09x faster in 1080p, while costing 1.19x more. That’s not the best price/performance ratio on Earth, but high-end chips from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia all carry premiums.

While this story doesn’t consider Zen+ CPUs on the X470 chipset, there’s no reason those systems wouldn’t benefit similarly. The absolute degree of improvement between the Zen+ and Zen 3 CPU cores would be smaller, but still significant. Zen+ was only about 1.1x – 1.15x faster than Zen, best-case.

The Ballad of AM4, Part 2: Hail to the King

When evaluating the value of an upgrade versus buying an all-new system, it can be helpful to consider how much performance you could buy in a new machine for the same amount of money. Customers with higher-end GPUs and first-generation Ryzen CPUs are the lucky winners here. A Ryzen 5800X, 5800X3D, or 5950X will improve the performance of an existent X370 system far more than the new PC you could buy for the same cost as the chip.

Folks with lower-end cards still have some decisions to make. While it’s true that AM5 will launch later this year, the new platform will inevitably carry a premium. DDR5-4800 is much more expensive than DDR4 and the performance benefit from DDR5-4800 versus DDR4-3600 is going to be marginal in most applications. Chips like the 5800X3D muddy that comparison more, since the enormous cache can compensate for slower RAM clocks to a degree.

Whether it makes sense to upgrade a PC always comes down to the specifics of one’s individual situation, how much money you are trying to save (or spend), and what your own individual needs are. What tests like this show is that there’s more than enough life in AM4 to make it a competitive platform for years to come. A five year-old motherboard can still power a top-end system. A current AMD user with a Ryzen 7 1800X or below can expect meaningful performance improvements from a CPU swap. When new 4000-series GPUs arrive from Nvidia and AMD launches RDNA3, X370 owners with upgraded CPUs will still be able to take full advantage of these cards.

Kudos to AMD for sending AM4 out on such a high note. When the company announced it would support AM4 for years back in 2017, it specifically said “Socket AM4” as opposed to “X370 motherboards.” Companies make statements like that so they can sunset older products without breaking such promises. In this case, however, AMD didn’t just live up to the letter of their claim — they fulfilled the spirit of it. The combination of Ryzen 7 5800X + X370 or Ryzen 7 5800X3D + X370 is the best upgrade platform we’ve ever tested.

Update 6/7/2022: This article initially reported that Resizable Bar is not supported on the X370. Resizable Bar is enabled in the latest Beta UEFI — I made a mistake regarding where the setting was located.

The 5800X and 5800X3D’s performance on X370 would be slightly higher (and closer) to the X570 if this setting was enabled. The difference would not change our conclusions, except to further reduce the performance improvement offered by X570.

Now Read:

  • PC and GPU Shipments Declined in Q1 2022
  • AMD-Powered Supercomputer is The First to Break The Exascale Barrier
  • AMD Releases New Details on Zen 4-Powered Ryzen 7000 Family, Upcoming AM5 Chipsets

HyperX HX433C16PB3K2/16 at a Glance

Details

9.2/ 10

Rating

General Specs
Memory type DDR4
Form factor DIMM 288-pin
Clock frequency 3333 MHz
Capacity 26600 MB/s
Volume 2 x 8 GB modules
ECC support no
XMP support yes
Buffered (Registered) no
Low Profile no
Timings
CAS Latency (CL) 16
RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD) 18
Row Precharge Delay (tRP) 18
Optional
Number of chips per module 8, single-sided packaging
Supply voltage 1. 35 V
Radiator yes
Number of wounds 1

Rating
4

Comment: Micron chips caught, j-die. Wound up on xmr on asus prime x370-pro + 3600.
I have not tried overclocking yet, but I will be shamanizing.
I took a Patriot memory viper to replace, in which there were nanny and 3200 took (this is also xmr) for 20-20-20-54kr2t, with the declared 16-18-18-36kr1t …
In general, adequate memory, I think it will take 3400-3600. It has no claims for overclocking. Just memory, just not the most junk chips, and xmp works on am4. For some 3600/3700x/3800x it’s normal.

Lopd N.

November 21, 2019,
Moscow and Moscow region

\ Usage experience: less than 9 months0003

Rating
5

Advantages: — Price
— Design

Disadvantages: Little opportunity for overclocking
hynix chips

Comment: SK hynix chips.
It was possible to overclock the chips to 3600 MHz with timings 16-19-18-38, the voltage rating is 1.35 V (although for some reason the timings on the screen are 16-19-19-38 CR1)

Dmitry K.

November 14, 2019,
Moscow and Moscow region

\ Experience: several months

Rating
4

Advantages: XMP / appearance

Disadvantages: Weak overclocking, high timings.

Comment: Good memory. Took for six thousand on CU. XMP profile works without problems.
Although the chips and Samsung B-Day, in fact, they cannot work on Samsung B-Day timings (14-14-14-14-32), 16-17-17-17-36 — this is the maximum for what they are able.

That’s how it worked stably.
3433 16-17-17-17-36, DIMM Voltage 1.373, SoC/NB — 1.025, proc 53.3ohm, GDM-enable 1.025, proc 53.3ohm, GDM-enable.

You can also overclock to 3600, but for this you need to increase the voltage or timings.

Fedor

May 14, 2019
Samara

\ Usage experience: less than 9 months0003

Rating
5

Advantages: Heavy, powerful sticks that wound up at 2400, after turning on the XMP profile, got up at 3333, chase up to 3600 without problems on the b450 msi tomahawk mother. The memory got Samsung. Timings 16.18.18.36.

Disadvantages: Have not identified yet.

Comment: At a price of 8000 r for two sticks of 8 gigs, you can’t imagine better.

Vyacheslav Cosmos

April 25, 2019,
Moscow and Moscow region

\  Using experience: less than a month

Rating
5

Advantages: Design of heatsinks
Peer-to-peer Samsung memory chips (B-die)
Ready-made XMP profiles

Disadvantages: Lottery with memory chips — both Samsung and Hynix can get caught. They have the same markings.
High heatsink

Comment: Gigabyte B450M DS3H mother, Ryzen 5 1600 processor. 3333 MHz XMP profile started up smoothly.

April 23, 2019,
Moscow and Moscow region

\ Usage experience: less than 9 months0003

Rating
5

Advantages: Overclocking capabilities

Disadvantages: Price

Comment: Quite a decent RAM, now it acts as a video memory together with i7 7700K, the frequency is really 3333 MHz, the nominal voltage is 1.35 V. Although at the first start, there were settings in the BIOS 2400 MHz and 1.12 V.

Other

19February 2018,
Makhachkala

\ Experience: Several Months

HyperX HX433C16PB3K2/16 Rated:

X370, B350, and A320 Chipsets: Ryzen 3000 Processor Not Guaranteed (Update)

An email to MSI support made a lot of noise yesterday. Reddit user master3553 asked about the compatibility of his X370 XPower Titanium motherboard with the new third-generation Ryzen processors based on the Zen 2 architecture, known as the Ryzen 3000. MSI responded briefly.

«vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage

Nein wird es nicht, diese wird es für X470 und B450 geben.»

One of AMD’s most cited arguments is that the Ryzen line will be compatible with current AM4 motherboards for three generations. If you purchase a new first generation Ryzen motherboard (Summit Ridge), you can upgrade to a second generation (Pinnacle Ridge) and then a third generation (Matisse) processor.

We currently have a response from MSI that motherboards based on 300 line chipsets will no longer support 3rd generation Ryzen processors. The requested X370 XPower Titanium is a high-end AMD chipset model. For cheap chipsets, such a step by AMD would be easier to explain. It looks like AMD and motherboard manufacturers have decided to limit compatibility.

Our TechPowerUp colleagues spoke to another motherboard manufacturer and confirmed MSI’s claim. Support for 3rd generation Ryzen processors will only be available on motherboards based on the B450 and X470 chipsets, which were introduced last year for the 2000 line of processors.0003

An anonymous source cited the reason for the loss of compatibility: «Zen 2 processors have more stringent power requirements than 300-series motherboards can provide» . So changes in the power system just led to restrictions. Intel used the same argumentation when it introduced the Z390 chipset for Coffee Lake processors. In this case, it looks like the new processors will consume more power, although in theory they could also work on older Z270 and Z370 motherboards. On the other hand, there are no plans to increase the thermal package with the third generation of Ryzen.

Another possible reason is that the BIOS chip on some motherboards has insufficient capacity. It probably only allows you to store 2 MB (16 Mbit), which is simply too little. Many motherboards based on 400 chipsets received 4 MB (32 Mbit) chips. However, it is not yet possible to test this hypothesis.

But there is also a simpler economic reason: motherboard manufacturers are not interested in the compatibility of new CPUs with older models. They would like to sell more new motherboards.

From AMD’s side, the long-term compatibility of the AM4 socket looks like a very worthy argument that can be used for promotional purposes. From the point of view of consumers, this approach is also more friendly. But let’s not forget about the interests of motherboard manufacturers who would like to sell more of their own products. And buyers who purchased the first Ryzen processors along with a new motherboard in the spring of 2017 were unlikely to plan to change the motherboard in 2019 when upgrading the CPU.

Of course, there are some features that will only work on motherboards with the latest chipsets when upgrading from Summit Ridge to Pinnacle Ridge, but they are not significant enough to encourage every buyer of a Ryzen processor to change the motherboard as well. Probably, support for PCI Express 4.0 will be the main argument in favor of the new PCB design with Matisse processors and other changes on motherboards. So far, however, no consumer products have been released that use the new, faster PCI Express standard. Soon-to-be-announced Navi-powered graphics cards can support PCI Express 4.0, but current graphics cards are limited to the old standard.

With the introduction of the third generation of Ryzen processors, AMD will certainly comment on the situation with motherboards and chipsets. As with the previous generation, «AMD Ryzen Desktop 3000 Ready» stickers or similar will be added to motherboards.

Update:

After recent BIOS updates introduced by different motherboard manufacturers, the situation is as follows.

Motherboards that receive the AGESA (AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture) BIOS update 0.0.7.x should be compatible with 3rd generation Ryzen processors. For example, this applies to the ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero motherboard based on the X370 chipset. Below are the models that are receiving the update.

  • ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero
  • ASUS ROG Strix X370-F Gaming
  • ASUS ROG Strix X370-I Gaming
  • ASUS Prime X370-Pro
  • ASUS Prime X370-A
  • ASUS Prime B350-Plus
  • ASUS ROG Strix B350-F Gaming
  • ASUS Prime B350M-A
  • ASUS TUF B350M-Plus Gaming
  • ASUS Prime B350M-K
  • ASUS ROG Strix B350-I Gaming
  • ASUS Prime B350M-E
  • ASUS Prime A320M- E
  • ASUS Prime A320M-A
  • ASUS Prime A320M-K
  • ASUS EX-A320M-Gaming

MSI already offers new AGESA 0.0.7.x BIOSes for 400 line motherboards, but not for 300 line models. Biostar, on the other hand, has updated the BIOS on their motherboards based on the X370 and B350 chipsets.

  • Biostar X370GTN
  • Biostar X370GT7
  • Biostar X370GT5
  • Biostar X370GT3
  • Biostar B350GTN
  • Biostar B350GT5
  • Biostar B350GT3
  • Biostar B350ET2

Like Gigabyte, ASRock does not offer BIOS updates yet. But this does not mean that they will not appear in the future. It appears that MSI has deliberately dropped support for 3rd generation Ryzen processors on older motherboards. But for now, we can only guess about it.

Update 2:

ASRock has released BIOS updates for some motherboards, not through a website, but from another source. Updates will affect the following models.

  • ASRock X370 Pro4
  • ASRock AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac
  • ASRock AB350 Pro4
  • ASRock AB350M Pro4

With them, the manufacturer promises compatibility with the third generation of Ryzen processors.

Update 3:

In the meantime, MSI has officially clarified the situation. Accordingly, most models based on the X370 and B350 chipsets will support 3rd generation Ryzen processors. Below are the models that will receive the BIOS update.

  • MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium
  • MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon
  • MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
  • MSI X370 Gaming Plus
  • MSI X370 Gaming Pro
  • MSI X370 Krait Gaming
  • MSI X370 SLI Plus
  • MSI X370 Gaming M7 ACK
  • MSI B350 Tomahawk
  • MSI B350 Tomahawk Arctic
  • MSI B350 PC Mate
  • MSI B350 Gaming Plus
  • MSI B350 Mortar
  • MSI B350 Mortar Arctic
  • MSI B350M Bazooka
  • MSI B350M Pro-VDH
  • MSI B350M Gaming Pro
  • MSI B350I Pro AC
  • MSI B350 Gaming Pro Carbon
  • MSI B350 Pro-VH Plus
  • MSI B350 Krait Gaming
  • MSI B350 Tomahawk Plus
  • MSI B355M Pro-VH Plus

AMD Introduces New Ryzen 3000XT CPUs and Lowers Prices on Older Models

News

Volodymyr Skripin
Volodymyr Skripin

As expected, AMD today expanded its Ryzen 3000 (Matisse) desktop processor family by officially introducing the new Ryzen 3000XT series. We have known almost everything about them for a long time, so it remains to sum up . The only pleasant surprise was that the new Matisse Refresh stones are offered at the price of the old ones, and the old models are now cheaper, so now we are waiting for Intel’s reaction.

We help

So, the Ryzen 3000XT series is represented by three models: Ryzen 5 3600XT, Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT. The only difference between the new CPUs and the old «stones» already well known to us is slightly increased peak frequencies; base frequencies remain the same. There are no changes in terms of configuration. In the case of the six-core Ryzen 5 3600XT, the increased frequency has increased from 4.4 to 4.5 GHz, and the Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT can now overclock to 4.7 GHz, while previously the limit was 4.5 and 4.6 GHz, respectively . Another important difference is that the new Ryzen 3000XT, unlike its predecessors, comes without a standard cooler. To fully unlock the potential of new products, the manufacturer recommends using a high-performance air cooler or a ready-made coolant with a 280 mm radiator.

The main specifications and prices of the entire Ryzen 3000 processor range are shown in the table below (new models in bold).

Processor cores /
threads 		Base
frequency, GHz 		Increased Boost frequency, GHz L2 cache,
KB 		L3 cache,
MB 		TDP, W Recommended price
Ryzen 9 3950X 16 / 32 3.5 4.7 16 x 512 64 105 $749
Ryzen 9 3900XT 12 / 24 3.8 4.7 12×512 64 105 $499
Ryzen 9 3900X 12 / 24 3.8 4.6 12 x 512 64 105 $449
Ryzen 9 3900 12 / 24 3. 1 4.3 12 x 512 64 65 –
Ryzen 7 3800XT 8 / 16 3.9 4.7 8×512 32 105 $399
Ryzen 7 3800X 8 / 16 3.9 4.5 8 x 512 32 105 $359
Ryzen 7 3700X 8 / 16 3.6 4.4 8 x 512 32 65 $329
Ryzen 5 3600XT 6 / 12 3.8 4.5 6×512 32 95 $249
Ryzen 5 3600X 6 / 12 3. 8 4.4 6 x 512 32 95 $224
Ryzen 5 3600 6 / 12 3.6 4.2 6 x 512 32 65 $199
Ryzen 5 3500X 6 / 6 3.6 4.1 6 x 512 32 65 –
Ryzen 5 3500 6 / 6 3.6 4.1 6 x 512 16 65 –
Ryzen 3 3300X 4 / 8 3.8 4.3 4 x 512 16 65 $120
Ryzen 3 3100 4 / 8 3.6 3.9 4 x 512 16 65 $99

The new CPUs will go on sale on July 7th. Now it remains to wait for the actual price reduction for the old Ryzen 3000 in Ukrainian retail.