B450/B550 with Bristol Ridge Support?

[NSX05]

Hi all,

Just wondering since B350 boards still hold their value even second-hand, are there any B450 or B550 boards that support Bristol Ridge that might be a better buy?

B550 would of course be more ideal, but being newer I know it's less likely?

Thanks.

 

[SL2]

Something newer than Bristol Ridge would be ideal. Dunno how a newer board would improve anything together with that CPU.

Motherboards AMD Socket AM4 with Chipset: B450, CPU-Compatibility: Bristol Ridge Price Comparison Skinflint UK

compare prices and read user reviews for Motherboards AMD Socket AM4 with Chipset: B450, CPU-Compatibility: Bristol Ridge

skinflint.co.uk

You have to double check it, boards may have newer BIOS versions where older CPU models have been replaced with newer ones. In other words, that list could be all wrong.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

My B450M-A support page has the A series APUs removed, when I first purchased the board it did in fact support Bristol Ridge.

Not sure about my ROG B450-I, but I swear to remember that one supporting A series APU processors.

The unfortunate part is that the modern processors with integrated graphics are better not only on the CPU side, but the iGPU side as well.

There's really no reason to get an APU when even the B350 boards support up to 5000 series processors.

 

[NSX05]

Something newer than Bristol Ridge would be ideal. Dunno how a newer board would improve anything together with that CPU.

Motherboards AMD Socket AM4 with Chipset: B450, CPU-Compatibility: Bristol Ridge Price Comparison Skinflint UK

compare prices and read user reviews for Motherboards AMD Socket AM4 with Chipset: B450, CPU-Compatibility: Bristol Ridge

skinflint.co.uk

You have to double check it, boards may have newer BIOS versions where older CPU models have been replaced with newer ones. In other words, that list could be all wrong.

Well aware my friend! I collect processors and wanted to do an APU "battle off" between the different generations. This is 100% just a hobby thing.

Thank you for the link. Just curious which board would make the most sense as the newer boards are sometimes cheaper than B350/X370 second hand, hence the question.

 

[tabascosauz]

Well aware my friend! I collect processors and wanted to do an APU "battle off" between the different generations. This is 100% just a hobby thing.

Thank you for the link. Just curious which board would make the most sense as the newer boards are sometimes cheaper than B350/X370 second hand, hence the question.

I'm aware there has been some level of support for Zen/Zen+ APUs on B550, but it hasn't been strictly official from AMD since B550 launch. If you're looking for old CPU support for something as obscure as Bristol Ridge, stick with 300 series boards.

It's not like you really stand to gain anything with B550, except mem OC which is contingent on having a Renoir/Cezanne APU, high end B-die/DJR/Rev.B and a reasonably high end board anyway.

 

[SL2]

I knew that AM4 is older than Ryzen, but I didn't know that B350 is just as old.

AMD 7th Gen Bristol Ridge and AM4 Analysis: Up to A12-9800, B350/A320 Chipset, OEMs first, PIBs Later

www.anandtech.com

 

[LabRat 891]

IIRC, some B450 and B550 boards do but, only on early firmware.

Looking for mATX or ATX?

edit: after some quick searching, there is supposedly a MSI B450 Pro board w/ Bristol Ridge A-series support.

However, as a fellow collector-tinkerer; I think I'd be more inclined towards a compatible X370 or X470 board

It's not like you really stand to gain anything with B550, except mem OC which is contingent on having a Renoir/Cezanne APU, high end B-die/DJR/Rev.B and a reasonably high end board anyway.

and do what this guy did, for pushing RAM.

Edit 2: ASrock's compatibility list for the AMD A12-series Bristol Ridge APU

ASRock > CPU Support List

www.asrock.com

(spoiler: They're all A320, B350, and X370 boards.)

Edit: It's plausible that many early B450 boards have depreciated Bristol Ridge support.
Check/Inspect early and 1st-release BIOS rather than CPU support lists.

 

[NSX05]

I'm aware there has been some level of support for Zen/Zen+ APUs on B550, but it hasn't been strictly official from AMD since B550 launch. If you're looking for old CPU support for something as obscure as Bristol Ridge, stick with 300 series boards.

It's not like you really stand to gain anything with B550, except mem OC which is contingent on having a Renoir/Cezanne APU, high end B-die/DJR/Rev.B and a reasonably high end board anyway.

Makes sense, thank you.

 

[LabRat 891]

https://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/AMD/A12-Series/A12-9800_motherboards.html

Motherboard Manuf. and Model	Form factor	PCB	BIOS

ASUS ROG STRIX B450-I GAMING

Any

0207

CPU-upgrade's scraped Db shows that as the only B450 board compatible. (However, that's not quite true)
Asus' site does not list it as compatible but,
opening the 1st-release BIOS ROM in notepad, does mention the A-series APUs.
It *should be* compatible.

Clearly, one may need to manually 'inspect' an early BIOS (of a given B450 board) to see if the A-series APUs are compatible.

Example 2:
The MSI B450-A Pro's 7B86vA0 BIOS *also* appears to supports A-series APUs by name but, the CPU compatibility section of their site makes no mention.

From B550-era marketing, I'd say *any* early B450 board's 1st/early release BIOS has a high-chance of Bristol Ridge compatibility.

My B450M-A support page has the A series APUs removed, when I first purchased the board it did in fact support Bristol Ridge.

Not sure about my ROG B450-I, but I swear to remember that one supporting A series APU processors.

My research would seem to reinforce your memory.



'Also worth noting: (IIRC) without X370, B450 or X470, (it looks like) one's going to be limited on expansion/PCIe connectivity by Bristol Ridge's limited PCIe lanes.

So, there's more to wanting B450, than just some better OCing-ability.

 

[tabascosauz]

and do what this guy did, for pushing RAM.

It's an interesting idea and no doubt it's good to cover all your bases, but from experience mem traces on Unify-X are already buried and well shielded. Anecdotally it seems like he got a bit of gain out of it but UMC on his CPU seems a bit weak if that's where he topped out without the tape. Besides, DDR5 boards have upped the layer count even further and moved to SMT slots instead, all of which he's mentioned as well. Fun experiment though, not seen that before.

Clearly, one may need to manually 'inspect' an early BIOS (of a given B450 board) to see if the A-series APUs are compatible.

Unfortunately, all the publicly available SMU checker tools seem to only list support starting from Summit Ridge and Raven Ridge. A lot of B550 does continue to preserve support for the Zen 1 CPUs, but who knows if that means the Bristol Ridge support is present (and just not listed in checkers) or absent.

 

[NSX05]

Thank you for the help guys. I guess if I want to do this, I will need to overpay on older hardware.

 

[Bones]

I had to find a board for my 220GE chip (Raven Ridge) and a B400 series was the most compatable between older and newer AM4 boards at the time.
Namely I got myself a MSI B450 Pro Max 2 board and it works fine with just about any AM4 chip I have around here.

Except for larger cored chips it's fine but in the case of such a chip like a 2700X, 3600X or even my 3950X, the VRM setup probrably woudn't last long so I limit it to running a 6 cored Ryzen or less for that reason.
ATM I have a 2600X in it but that's OK since that's only a 6 core chip, the 3600X is an 8 core so be aware of your chip's core count and what your board (Whatever it may be) can handle reliably.
In the case of a Bristol Ridge chip you shoudn't have any problems at all with that.

 

[Calenhad]

Hi all,

Just wondering since B350 boards still hold their value even second-hand, are there any B450 or B550 boards that support Bristol Ridge that might be a better buy?

B550 would of course be more ideal, but being newer I know it's less likely?

Thanks.

You probably want to look at the earliest released B450 motherboards. Look at specifications on their product pages, and/or the release notes for firmware updates. Check for changes in processor support.

and do what this guy did, for pushing RAM.

I have seen dumber things done in the name of overclocking. This at least makes sense in theory

 

[Bones]

You probably want to look at the earliest released B450 motherboards. Look at specifications on their product pages, and/or the release notes for firmware updates. Check for changes in processor support.

I have seen dumber things done in the name of overclocking. This at least makes sense in theory

In instances of some REAL OC'ing (XOC - Ln2 useage), yes it does make sense but for about anything else it's not required.

 

[itanium_nostalgia]

Look at specifications on their product pages, and/or the release notes for firmware updates. Check for changes in processor support

I second this approach. I also tinkered with B450 and Bristol Ridge. My setup was an Asus B450 AORUS M - which doesn't seem to list Bristol Ridge in CPU Support - but does have a comment in the release notes on bios F30 "No Bristol Ridge APU support".

The previous bios F5 worked with a Bristol Ridge Athlon x4 970.

 

[Ruru]

Well aware my friend! I collect processors and wanted to do an APU "battle off" between the different generations. This is 100% just a hobby thing.

Thank you for the link. Just curious which board would make the most sense as the newer boards are sometimes cheaper than B350/X370 second hand, hence the question.

I'd just benchmark with different (but as similar as possible) boards to keep it simpler. There will be more variables, but I doubt that anything noticeable.

I'm aware there has been some level of support for Zen/Zen+ APUs on B550, but it hasn't been strictly official from AMD since B550 launch. If you're looking for old CPU support for something as obscure as Bristol Ridge, stick with 300 series boards.

It's not like you really stand to gain anything with B550, except mem OC which is contingent on having a Renoir/Cezanne APU, high end B-die/DJR/Rev.B and a reasonably high end board anyway.

Yeah, I was totally blown away as AMD themselves said that B550 is only for Zen2 and newer, but for example my board supports those 3000 series Zen+ APUs according to Gigabyte. Who knows what CPUs actually work (I have only these 5800X and 3600 CPUs so I cannot test myself any older ones).

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I knew that AM4 is older than Ryzen, but I didn't know that B350 is just as old.

AMD 7th Gen Bristol Ridge and AM4 Analysis: Up to A12-9800, B350/A320 Chipset, OEMs first, PIBs Later

www.anandtech.com

That's what I love about tech forums, I learn new things constantly. This fact wasn't one of them though.

Well aware my friend! I collect processors and wanted to do an APU "battle off" between the different generations. This is 100% just a hobby thing.

Thank you for the link. Just curious which board would make the most sense as the newer boards are sometimes cheaper than B350/X370 second hand, hence the question.

Going to post results here, youtube, or? I'd enjoy perusing your experiences.

 

[NSX05]

That's what I love about tech forums, I learn new things constantly. This fact wasn't one of them though.

Going to post results here, youtube, or? I'd enjoy perusing your experiences.

Guess who completely forgot about this project after failing to find a suitable board for a decent price and waiting on an A12-9800 listing to appear...

It's still in my to-do though! I finally managed to find an apparently rare A12-9800 for £18, followed by an A12-9800E for just £5. The rest are pretty common chips.

I will likely post the results on my website, but will share on TPU with you all as well.

 

[Vincero]

Surely your best bet would be an A/X300 board, which in theory should support every AM4 CPU from every Zen series...?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It's as I expected; can't even keep up with streaming in assets for GTA5 on low settings. Vid will start at correct time -

 

[NSX05]

Surely your best bet would be an A/X300 board, which in theory should support every AM4 CPU from every Zen series...?

That is what I thought as well, but good luck finding one for a reasonable price. I'm not going to buy a 300 series board if I can get a 400 series for the same price.

 

[Dr. Dro]

That is what I thought as well, but good luck finding one for a reasonable price. I'm not going to buy a 300 series board if I can get a 400 series for the same price. They are objectively worse boards in every way and not worth what people want for them.

And why not? Beggars can't be choosers, besides, you are aware that B350 and B450, as well as X370 and X470 are completely identical, right? Like, literally the exact same chip with the exact same configuration. The objectively worse thing is just nonsense that Redditors spout, literally r/AMD brainrot. There's bad and good boards for every generation.

Any inexpensive B450 microATX board will do what you want, as long as you keep its BIOS version old enough. Although... that lemon just ain't worth the squeeze.

It's as I expected; can't even keep up with streaming in assets for GTA5 on low settings. Vid will start at correct time -

It's actually unbelievable a CPU as powerful as the Ryzen 5950X slots in the same socket as this biblical POS

 

[NSX05]

And why not? Beggars can't be choosers, besides, you are aware that B350 and B450, as well as X370 and X470 are completely identical, right? Like, literally the exact same chip with the exact same configuration. The objectively worse thing is just nonsense that Redditors spout, literally r/AMD brainrot. There's bad and good boards for every generation.

Any inexpensive B450 microATX board will do what you want, as long as you keep its BIOS version old enough. Although... that lemon just ain't worth the squeeze.



It's actually unbelievable a CPU as powerful as the Ryzen 5950X slots in the same socket as this biblical POS

Fundamentally, yes. I was referring mostly to the first-gen plagued issues. BIOS updates will have rectified most of them, of course, so that's not really much of a concern these days. However my main point was that for the same price, I would buy the newer motherboard. The older boards are actually more expensive. This is why I was asking about the newer 400 series.

There was a B450 board that someone recommended, and that's the one I'm trying to find.

Edit:
Turns out there are three. It's been a while since I read through this thread. Thank you to everyone who suggested boards.

 

[Vincero]

It's actually unbelievable a CPU as powerful as the Ryzen 5950X slots in the same socket as this biblical POS

It served a purpose. It gave AM4 some field testing time before Ryzen arrived to hash out issues and allowed AMD to start transitioning products away from DDR3 on the desktop and laptop space. In an ideal world, its a product that would never have happened...
In some ways the work down to get Bristol ridge APUs was a necessary evil but thanks to CPU <> chipset links being over PCIe lanes, needed only minor reworking.

 

[NSX05]

I second this approach. I also tinkered with B450 and Bristol Ridge. My setup was an Asus B450 AORUS M - which doesn't seem to list Bristol Ridge in CPU Support - but does have a comment in the release notes on bios F30 "No Bristol Ridge APU support".

The previous bios F5 worked with a Bristol Ridge Athlon x4 970.

Thank you for sharing your own experience, that helps a lot.

This is interesting; opening up the F5 BIOS reveals support for 660F00 and 660F01, both of which are Carrizo. Bristol Ridge is 660F51 but it isn't in the list and it works from your own experience.

I've also opened up the v36 BIOS for the MSI B450M-A PRO MAX and the same is listed there. No 660F51, but 660F00/660F01 are both there. Missing in v39.

Unsupported from the beginning with the PRO MAX II, which is expected.