Tuesday, May 26th 2020

AMD B550 Motherboards to Restart AGESA with v2

Apparently, AMD will be taking a slightly confusing step with its new AGESA codes - at least for the B550 platform. A report via Hardwareluxx has AMD rebooting AGESA (the most basic firmware for your motherboard and chipset support that's a requirement for correct CPU and feature support) versions back to version 1.0.0.0, but with a catch. The new AGESA version that's supposed to allow for support for AMD's Zen 3 CPUs will be coded as ComboAM4 v2 1.0.0.0 - instead of the next version in the current AGESA nomenclature, 1.0.0.6. It is still unclear if this change only refers to AMD's B550 or if it will also move on to X570's next AGESA releases.

It's expected that new motherboards based on AMD's B550 chipset will start landing in June. For now, there's confirmation on at least two motherboards running with this V2 of AGESA: MSI's MAG B550 Tomahawk (ComboAM4 v2 1.0.0.0), and the Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master (ComboAM4v2 1.0.0.1). So if you're looking to use AMD's B550 motherboard (or even X570) with AMD's upcoming Zen 3 CPUs, make sure to read your motherboard manufacturers' release notes for each AGESA version, so that you install the correct one and avoid yourself a potential load of pain with a non-functioning AGESA for your shiny new Zen 3 CPU.
Sources: Hardware Luxx, Logo
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9 Comments on AMD B550 Motherboards to Restart AGESA with v2

#1
trparky
Typo... "on June". I think it should be "in June".
Posted on Reply
#2
Raevenlord
News Editor
trparkyTypo... "on June". I think it should be "in June".
Dänke =)
Posted on Reply
#3
seccentral
can anyone give me a proper chronological list of agesa versions ? i am confused by what i find online.
Posted on Reply
#4
ARF
trparkyTypo... "on June". I think it should be "in June".
Yes, the rule is "in" in front of a month, and "on" in front of days of the week or specific dates.
In May, on May 26th, on Tuesday, etc.
Posted on Reply
#5
gamefoo21
I bet it's being done to segment things.

Help try and keep things simplified. V2 carries Zen 3 support and V1 is likely the old standard. Bios updates for 400 series and lower that don't blow out support for older chips will continue with V1. Probably or logically to me anyway.
Posted on Reply
#6
Calmmo
It'd better if they just called it agesa 2.0.0.0 just remove any confusion altogether. 1.xxx zen & zen 2, 2.xxxx zen2 & zen3
Posted on Reply
#7
Chaitanya
Apart from v2 code, AMD has also simplified CPU support on B550 boards. Saw only 3000 series(Zen2) CPUs in support lists for multiple motherboards and all previous gen CPUs have been dropped.
Posted on Reply
#8
Chrispy_
AGESA has already been restarted twice already. Each new generation of silicon has it's own AGESA codes that were never meant to be exposed to the consumer - Agesa was supposed to be between AMD and motherboard vendors only.

AGESA was reset back to 1.0.0.0 with Zen+ and again with Zen2. Expecting it not to reset for Zen2+ or Zen3 would be odd, though perhaps the v2 identifier is because AMD will be expanding beyond 16MB so AGESA V2 indicates that it requires a 32MB BIOS and perhaps vanilla AGESA (V1) will co-exist for vendors that want to back-port it to boards with 16MB BIOS chips.

Hell, I'm just guessing but aside from the V2, AGESA resets are par for the course.
Posted on Reply
#9
Tomorrow
Chrispy_though perhaps the v2 identifier is because AMD will be expanding beyond 16MB so AGESA V2 indicates that it requires a 32MB BIOS and perhaps vanilla AGESA (V1) will co-exist for vendors that want to back-port it to boards with 16MB BIOS chips.
That's unlikely as most B550 boards will still be using 16MB chips. Not to mention most X570 boards that would be rendered incompatible with Zen3 in that case. I think the V2 moniker is just to avoid some confusion. Nothing more.
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