MSI to Make AM3+ Processor Upgrade Painless for its Users

btarunr · Apr 8, 2011

Internationally renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI officially announced its AMD AM3 mainboards and the corresponding BIOS versions with full compatibility with all AMD AM3+ multi-core processors. By upgrading the BIOS with a few simple steps, users can enjoy the powerful performance of AMD AM3+ multi-core processors without extra expenses. The brand new AMD AM3+ multi-core processors have more cores and larger L3 cache memory capacity. Also, the built-in 2nd generation Turbo Core technology also boosts the performance of the new AMD AM3+ multi-core processors. Along with the latest 32nm process which significantly enhances the electrical specifications, AMD AM3+ multi-core processors will absolutely be the next-generation indicator of performance.

In addition to upgrading all BIOS on the existing AM3 mainboards supporting AMD AM3+ multi-core processors before shipping to correspond to the upcoming AMD AM3+ processors, MSI will post the BIOS of corresponding mainboards with support for the new AMD AM3+ processors for consumers to upgrade their MSI AM3 mainboards in order to meet their demands for system upgrade and experiencing the powerful performance of the next-generation AMD processors.

MSI AM3 mainboards with support for AMD AM3+ multi-core processors and corresponding BIOS versions:

For the latest information, please visit this page.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

1Kurgan1 · Apr 8, 2011

Figured this was going to happen too most boards since there was an announcement about another company doing this a few weeks ago, good news!

X1REME · Apr 8, 2011

Nice to see MSI lead others by the nose, otherwise we could be waiting after the launch like most of the time with new AMD products :toast:

1Kurgan1 said:
Figured this was going to happen too most boards since there was an announcement about another company doing this a few weeks ago, good news!

that was asus to be exact

Athlonite · Apr 8, 2011

and the best thing is if can afford the board but not the procy then your old AM3 CPU will still work in the newer mobo and to make it easy to differentiate between AM3 and AM3+ the new socket will be black

Xaser04 · Apr 8, 2011

MSI 870A-G54 - On **** yes!

This £70 board gets better and better

Bulldozer here I come.

Frizz · Apr 8, 2011

I sort of foretold this! There were too many naysayers that changed my decision about getting an AM3 board because of supposed incompatibilities but man were they wrong now.
So, anyone wanna buy my SB setup off me?

caleb · Apr 8, 2011

Any precise ETA on the new CPU's ?

slyfox2151 · Apr 8, 2011

randomflip said:
I sort of foretold this! There were too many naysayers that changed my decision about getting an AM3 board because of supposed incompatibilities but man were they wrong now.
So, anyone wanna buy my SB setup off me?

no, they were mostly right...... not every amd3 board supports AM3+ CPU's...... my new 890FX UD5 does not support them.... only the newest revision of the boards do witch only just came out around 3 weeks ago.... add in the fact most stores will still have a bit of old stock they want to get rid of first.

i got my mobo 1 month ago.
Rev 2.1

you need 3 or 3.1 to support am3+

(according to the gigabyte news story last week.)

brandonwh64 · Apr 8, 2011

What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

mdm-adph · Apr 8, 2011

brandonwh64 said:
What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

That's what I want to know -- since I can use AM3 chips in my AM2+ board, why couldn't I use these AM3+ chips, as well?

SNICK · Apr 8, 2011

repman244 · Apr 8, 2011

brandonwh64 said:
What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

Well, no one saw the bulldozer CPU yet so maybe it does not have all the pins. It may end up having only 940 or 941 pins.

slyfox2151 · Apr 8, 2011

brandonwh64 said:
What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

they changed the socket to an AM3+ on the newest motherboards. the socket on a Rev 3.1 gigabyte UD5 890FX is a AM3+

Rev 2.1 and 1 are just AM3 sockets.

that is how these motherboards support the next gen CPU's.

Gjohnst4 · Apr 8, 2011

790FX GD70 isn't on the list :cry:

suraswami · Apr 8, 2011

No love for the 790FX-GD70

, may be too much to ask for.

But happy to see my 880GMA-E45 board on the list, hopefully the board I have is the same version that they intend to support, good I didn't sell it

AsRock · Apr 8, 2011

brandonwh64 said:
What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

mdm-adph said:
That's what I want to know -- since I can use AM3 chips in my AM2+ board, why couldn't I use these AM3+ chips, as well?

If ya look at a AM3 chip there is spaces so it's just a matter of a pin being in one of those places.
AMD Phenom II X4 820 Deneb 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cac...

And maybe in some cases were the spaces are in the chip on some mobos they were completely disconnected ?. Maybe that's why they will not work on other mobos ?.

dezz · Apr 9, 2011

brandonwh64 said:
What i dont get is if bulldozer chips have the extra pin, how are they going to fit in the older sockets or was the extra pin scrapped?

The two extra pins (compared to AM3) are for that it can be put in an AM3 socket, but not AM2+ (because of the lack of DDR2 support).

It would need one more pin to prevent it from putting in to an AM3 socket, and so allowing only AM3+ socket. Later models may have this pin, sometime.

mdm-adph said:
since I can use AM3 chips in my AM2+ board, why couldn't I use these AM3+ chips, as well?

There are DDR2 ram slots on the AM2+ boards, in contrast of DDR3 on AM3 ones. AM3 CPU's support both DDR2 and DDR3, so they can work on both AM2+ and AM3 boards, as well. But AM3+ chips support only DDR3.

---

Hmm, that Gigabyte slide is very confusing... The listed models are all CPU's, not APU's, so neither has Radeon cores in them...

Dr. Nick · Apr 9, 2011

I hope Gigabyte does this. I'd hate to spend another $200 on an 890FX board.

Athlonite · Apr 10, 2011

Dr. Nick said:
I hope Gigabyte does this. I'd hate to spend another $200 on an 890FX board.

I'd love to spend $200 on an 890FX mobo cheapest here is Asrocks 890fx Deluxe 4 at $271.06

stinger608 · Apr 10, 2011

Dr. Nick said:
I hope Gigabyte does this. I'd hate to spend another $200 on an 890FX board.

I have to agree here. I hope both Gigabyte and Asus support this with a bios update. I have the Asus Crosshair IV Extreme and can just hope that Asus gets their crap together for support. However I am not sure if they foreseen this coming and added the AM3+ socket to the crosshair motherboards.

dezz · Apr 10, 2011

stinger608 said:
I have to agree here. I hope both Gigabyte and Asus support this with a bios update. I have the Asus Crosshair IV Extreme and can just hope that Asus gets their crap together for support.

There is already a BIOS update for your mothorboard to support the upcoming AM3+ CPU's:
http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/

However I am not sure if they foreseen this coming and added the AM3+ socket to the crosshair motherboards.

It has no AM3+ socket (you can tell it from that it's white, not dark grey), but never mind: the point is to support the new CPU's even on some AM3 motherboards. ASUS and MSI has finally found a way to make this possible, in case of a few select boards, at least.

Though, this is merely a "hack" and so not officially supported by AMD. It seems Gigabyte holds to this and support AM3+ CPU's only with new versions of some of their motherboards, replacing the AM3 socket with an AM3+ one (along with some other modifications, as it's not only the socket pinout that has changed with the AM3+ platform).

wrathchild_67 · Apr 10, 2011

randomflip said:
I sort of foretold this! There were too many naysayers that changed my decision about getting an AM3 board because of supposed incompatibilities but man were they wrong now.
So, anyone wanna buy my SB setup off me?

Indeed, but luckily the naysayers didn't sway me at all. I even correctly guessed the first motherboard mfg. to offer Bulldozer support on AM3.

NC37 · Apr 10, 2011

Forgot AM2 boards with AM3 CPUs. Running that here atm

.

Think i'll wait for the AMD 9 series chipsets before I upgrade. Be nice to be able to have both SLI and Crossfire ability.

mikaelz · Jul 11, 2015

Hello,

MSI 870a-G54 does not work with AMD FX 8320E black edition.

config:
MSI 870a-G54
bios 7599vHK / v 17.20 (released end of 2012)

symptoms:
CPU was able to fit into socket, though after starting the monitor didn`t start up (no signal to mon probably) and no error information coming from status diodes (kept beeing blue)

question:
Have you managed to run FX AMD cpu in this motherboard? If yes, please specify:
- which CPU (release/version),
- which BIOS did you use,
- what procedure did you undertake to make it work,
- any special information worth publishing that can help

Thank you,
mikaelz

AsRock · Jul 11, 2015

The information in the OP's post was made incorrect at a later time as MSI backed out and did not support that whole list. I remember due to having one of their boards in that list and they changed what was actually supported.

Which tome was another nail in their coffin for me.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 16GB DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 4070 Ti EX
Storage	Samsung 990 1TB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	My Comp \| Fiancees Comp
Processor	i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v\| i5 2500k
Motherboard	MSI x99 SLI Plus \| AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling	Watercooled
Memory	16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 \| 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	AMD R9 290x \| MSI 5850 OC
Storage	128gb SSD + 2x 2TB \| 2TB
Display(s)	Asus 27" LCD \| 25" Hanns G
Case	CM Storm \| CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s)	Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply	Enermax Galaxy 1250W \| Rosewill 630w
Mouse	Logitech G700s \| Logitech G100s
Keyboard	Logitech G901 \| Logitech G105
Software	Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 \| Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores	3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403

System Name	Cumquat 2021
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Strix X670E - E Gaming WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool LT720 + CM MasterGel Pro TP + Lian Li Uni Fan V2
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 6000
Video Card(s)	PowerColor HellHound RX7800XT 2550cclk/2450mclk
Storage	1x Adata SX8200PRO NVMe 1TB gen3 x4 1X Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Gen 4 x4 1TB, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 IPS 144Hz FreeSync Premium 1920x1080p
Case	Lian Li O11D XL ROG edition
Audio Device(s)	RX7800XT via HDMI + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W 5.1 Speaker set
Power Supply	EVGA 1000W G5 Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core Wired
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 X64 PRO (build 24H2)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even more less now ;)

System Name	Daedalus \| GigaOink \|
Processor	M3 Pro (11/14) \| Core Ultra 7 255HX \|
Motherboard	Apple M3 Pro \| MSI Vector 16 (870m)\|
Cooling	Pure Silence \| MSI "Coolpipe 5" \|
Memory	18GB Unified \| 16GB DDR5 5600MT/s \|
Video Card(s)	M3 Pro 14CU \| RTX 5070Ti (M) 140w\|
Storage	512GB NVME \| 512GB NVME (Win) + 1TB NVME (Game) \|
Display(s)	14" 3024x1964 \| 16" 1600p 240Hz \|
Case	Macbook Pro 14" \| MSI Vector 16 HX \|
Audio Device(s)	Onboard \| None \| Onboard \|
Power Supply	~ 77w Magsafe \| MSI 330w \|
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Logitech G915 TKL
Software	MacOS Sonoma \| Win 11 x64 (Bleh)\|

System Name	Panda? Storm Trooper?
Processor	AMD 9950X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aorus Pro ICE X870E
Cooling	AC Core 1 CPU Block \| Heatkiller Radiators 2x 360-45mm 1x 240-30mm \|AC Core 120mm Reservoir
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z5 64GB CL30 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	RTX 5090 32GB Palit Gamerock w/ Alpha Core Waterblock
Storage	4TB WD Black NVME Gen 4 + 14TB WD HDD
Display(s)	ASUS PG32UDCP 32" WOLED 240hz/480hz
Case	HYTE Y70 Panda + ColdZero AF Front Panel
Audio Device(s)	2i2 Scarlett Solo + Schiit Magni 3 AMP
Power Supply	ASUS Thor III Platinum 1200w
Keyboard	NEO75CU White + PBTFans Neon R2 Glitter + BSUN Macaron Switches

MSI to Make AM3+ Processor Upgrade Painless for its Users

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Display(s)	LG 1440x900
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Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair TX750V2
Software	w8

System Name	MRCOMP!
Processor	5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI Gaming Plus
Cooling	Corsair 280 AIO
Memory	64GB 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	GTX3060
Storage	1TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung Neo
Case	No Case... just sitting on cardboard :D
Power Supply	Antec 650w

System Name	Jupiter-2
Processor	Intel i3-6100
Motherboard	H170I-PLUS D3
Cooling	Stock
Memory	8GB Mushkin DDR3L-1600
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1050ti
Storage	512GB Corsair SSD
Display(s)	BENQ 24in
Case	Lian Li PC-Q01B Mini ITX
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 450W
Mouse	Logitech Trackball
Keyboard	Custom bamboo job
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Finished Super PI on legendary mode in only 13 hours.

System Name	Good as Hell
Processor	intel core i7 950
Motherboard	asus p6t
Cooling	stock
Memory	Corsir TR3X6G1600C9 6GBKit
Video Card(s)	nvidia geforce 9300ge
Storage	500gb seagate
Power Supply	corsir 650hx

System Name	Desktop
Processor	Intel Xeon E5-1680v2
Motherboard	ASUS Sabertooth X79
Cooling	Intel AIO
Memory	8x4GB DDR3 1866MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 970 SC
Storage	Crucial MX500 1TB + 2x WD RE 4TB HDD
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Case	Fractal Define XL Black
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Modi Uber/Sony CDP-XA20ES/Pioneer CT-656>Sony TA-F630ESD>Sennheiser HD600
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Mouse	Logitech G603
Keyboard	Logitech G613
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Girlfriend Likes My Spedo
Processor	Phenom II 965 3.6 ghz
Motherboard	MSI 790FX-GD70
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme Edition {5x Turbine 120mm, 2x Windtunnel 140mm, 1x 230mm Speedo Side fan}
Memory	OCZ DDR3 1600 8GB Dual Channel
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 5870 1GB Crossfire
Storage	2x 640 gb 7200 rpm 32mb cache raid 0, Seagate Momentum X Hybrid 500gb boot drive
Display(s)	YAMASAKI 27" IPS
Case	Thermaltake Spedo Advance
Audio Device(s)	Creative Fatal1ty Platinum> Musiland Monitor 02> Little Dot MKIII> Audeze LCD-2
Power Supply	Antec Quattro 850
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	3Dmark 06: 21,989

System Name	---
Processor	FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling	Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory	Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage	Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s)	3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case	AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s)	Built-in Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
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Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
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Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.

System Name	GigaVision
Processor	AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Motherboard	Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5
Cooling	Cooler Master V6GT
Memory	8GB(2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB
Storage	too many to list currently
Case	Cooler Master HAF X
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar DX
Power Supply	Corsair AX-750

System Name	2023 Ryzenfall
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B550-F Gaming Wifi
Cooling	SilverStone AH240 AIO
Memory	32 gigs G.Skill TridentZ NEO DDR4
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 1080 FTW Hybrid Gaming
Storage	Dual Samsung 980 Pro M2 NVME 4.0
Display(s)	Overlord 27" 2560 x 1440
Case	Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s)	On board
Power Supply	Seasonic modular 850 watt Platinum
Software	Windows 10 Pro

Processor	Intel Core i7 2500K @ 5GHz 1.4v
Motherboard	Asrock Z77E-ITX
Cooling	Corsair H60 with 2 x 120mm push/pull exhaust, 140mm intake
Memory	8GB Samsung 30nm DDR3 1600 @ 2133 9-10-10-20-1t 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Asus Geforce 480 GTX w/low idle voltage BIOS
Storage	128GB Plextor M3P SSD, 3 x 2TB Hitachi 5400rpm in RAID0
Display(s)	2x eMachines 22" 1080p LCDs
Case	Lian Li Q08A Mini-ITX
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair AX750 80Plus Gold
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	Lailalo
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X Boosts to 4.95Ghz
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus (WIFI
Cooling	Noctua
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	XFX 7900XT 20GB
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro Plus 1TB, Crucial 1TB MX500 SSD, Segate 3TB
Display(s)	LG Ultrawide 29in @ 2560x1080
Case	Coolermaster Storm Sniper
Power Supply	XPG 1000W
Mouse	G602
Keyboard	G510s
Software	Windows 10 Pro / Windows 10 Home