AMD continues to expand the AM4 platform with new processors, despite having already released 145 AM4 SKUs over the past nine years. According to Videocardz, citing a post from @momomo_us on the X platform, AMD plans to launch two new ones: the Ryzen 5 5600T and 5600XT. The leak was later confirmed on ASUS and MSI websites, with these 6-core CPUs appearing on lists of supported motherboards. The MSI page confirms that (at least) the 5600T is a Vermeer processor without integrated graphics. Additionally, AMD intends to make the Ryzen 3 5300G available to consumers as a boxed retail product; until now, this model has been available exclusively for OEM markets since its launch in 2021.

Going into more detail, these new SKUs have the following specifications: The Ryzen 5 5600XT features a 6-core design, 32 MB L3 cache, 65 W TDP, and a base frequency of 3.8 GHz. The Ryzen 5 5600T also has a 6-core design, 32 MB L3 cache, and 65 W TDP, but with a lower base frequency of 3.5 GHz. The Ryzen 3 5300G comes with a 4-core design, 8 MB L3 cache, 65 W TDP, a base frequency of 4 GHz, and is equipped with 6CU scale core graphics (no information regarding turbo clocks for any of these SKUs yet). As mentioned, the current lineup for the AM4 platform includes 145 SKUs, with the Ryzen 5000 series alone already having 20 models. While AMD's dedication to supporting the AM4 platform is admirable, a simple question arises: who will buy or distinguish these new AM4 SKUs from such a vast offering?

AMD Socket AM4 platform gets yet another lease of life, as the company is planning another round of processor models for the platform. This was revealed by AMD in a meeting with its channel partners as part of the AMD Advantage Club event. The Ryzen 5000XT line of desktop Socket AM4 processors will be modeled along the Ryzen 3000XT series that formed the company's final refresh of the Ryzen 3000 "Zen 2" family before it launched the Ryzen 5000 series. The 3000XT series were criticized for being mere 100-200 MHz speed bumps that didn't offer tangible benefits over the parts they were replacing from the stack, but merely being a means for AMD to restore its presence at certain price-points. It remains to be seen what the 5000XT series looks like. In all likelihood, these will continue to be speed-bumps of the Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors; but at attractive price-points. The slide revealing the 5000XT series also reveals two new SKUs—the Ryzen 7 8700F, and the Ryzen 5 8400F. Both are likely to be based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" monolithic silicon, but with their iGPUs disabled.

AMD is finally coming around to the idea of a 6-core processor with 3D Vertical Cache technology, only this time it's for the older Socket AM4 platform. The new Ryzen 5 5600X3D could be positioned competitively against the lower end of Intel's 13th Gen Core i5 processor series, so it could attract a class of DIY gaming PC builders that can take advantage of cheap Socket AM4 motherboards and DDR4 memory to build formidable mainstream gaming PC builds.

The Ryzen 5 5600X3D is based on the same "Vermeer" 3DV cache MCM as the 5800X3D. It is a 6-core/12-thread processor with a base frequency of 3.30 GHz, and 4.40 GHz boost, which are both 100 MHz less than those of the 5800X3D. The processor gets the full 96 MB of last-level cache (that's 32 MB of on-die L3 cache + 64 MB of 3DV cache), which the 5800X3D offers. It bears the OPN "100-000001176." The company didn't reveal pricing, but given that the 5800X3D can be had for as low as $290, the 5600X3D could possibly target a $200-225 price, making it an attractive option, given that you can pair it with even cheap B450 chipset motherboards priced well under $100, and 32 GB of DDR4 memory that can be had around the $60-mark. The 5600X3D could also provide an affordable upgrade path to those still on the AM4 platform, with Ryzen 3000-series processors.

G.Skill is readying variants of its DDR5 memory series that feature the AMD EXPO technology. A rival to Intel XMP 3.0, EXPO makes it easy to use overclocked memory modules with AMD Ryzen 7000 series platforms, by applying the advertised settings of the memory with one click in the motherboard's UEFI setup program, or Ryzen Master. What sets EXPO apart from XMP 3.0 is that it includes not just the memory frequency and main timings, but also fine-grained settings that are unique to the AMD platform. It's also different from DOCP, which was essentially a motherboard UEFI setup program-based feature that translates XMP settings to AMD-compatible settings on a "nearest neighbor" principle.

We've learned from earlier reports that DDR5-6000 will be the "sweetspot" memory frequency for the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" processor, much in the same way DDR4-3600 is for the Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer," as this is when you'll be able to run the FClk at its highest possible frequency—3000 MHz in case of Raphael and 1800 MHz in case of Vermeer—without engaging a 1:2 divider between FClk and memory clock. At least one G.Skill SKU featuring EXPO has been confirmed, the Trident Z5 "F5-6000J3038F16G." G.Skill already sells Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 kits in the market, but those only feature XMP 3.0, and run the memory at CL30-40-40-96 instead of CL30-38-38-96 that the EXPO-equipped kit will. This is because the EXPO profile includes all the various AMD-specific sub-timings needed to tighten the tRCD, tRP, and tRAS. Various memory manufacturers are expected to announce AMD EXPO memory kits late-August, alongside Socket AM5 motherboards, and the Ryzen 7000 processors themselves; with market availability expected in mid-September.

AMD is readying a handful new Ryzen PRO 5000 series desktop processor models, according to a leaked Lenovo datasheet for commercial desktops. These Socket AM4 processors are based on either the 7 nm "Renoir" monolithic silicon with "Zen 2" CPU cores; or the "Vermeer" MCM with "Zen 3" cores; all feature 65 W TDP, and the AMD PRO feature-set that rivals Intel vPro, including a framework for remote management, AMD PRO Security, PRO Manageability, and PRO Business (a priority tech-support channel).

Models in the lineup include the Ryzen 3 PRO 4350G, a "Renoir" based APU with a 4-core/8-thread "Zen 2" CPU clocked up to 4.00 GHz, and Radeon Vega 6 integrated graphics. The Ryzen 5 PRO 5645 is based on "Vermeer," and is a 6-core/12-thread "Zen 3" processor with 32 MB of L3 cache, and up to 4.60 GHz clock speeds. The Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is the 8-core/16-thread model in the lineup, clocked up to 4.60 GHz. Leading the pack is the Ryzen 9 5945, a 12-core/24-thread chip clocked up to 4.70 GHz. From the looks of it, these processors will be exclusively available in the OEM channel, but AMD's OEM-only chips inevitably end up in the retail channel where they're sold loose from trays.

In addition to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which AMD claims to be the world's fastest gaming processor, AMD gave its desktop processor product-stack a major update, with as many as six other processor models spanning a wide range of price-points that help the company better compete with the bulk of the 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processor lineup. The new lineup sees the introduction of the Ryzen 7 5700X (not to be confused with the Ryzen 7 5700G). The 5700X is based on the same "Vermeer" multi-chip module (MCM) as the Ryzen 7 5800X, unlike the 5700G, which is a desktop APU based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. Both "Vermeer" and "Cezanne" are based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture.

The Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core/16-thread processor clocked at 3.40 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. Another key difference is its 65 W TDP, compared to 105 W of the 5800X, which could differentiate its boosting behavior and overclocking headroom compared to the 5800X. AMD is pricing the 5700X at USD $299 (MSRP), making it a competitor to the Intel Core i5-12600KF. Interestingly, the retail PIB (processor-in-box) package of the 5700X does not include a stock cooler despite its 65 W TDP. A 95 W-capable Wraith Spire wouldn't have hurt.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the company's ambitious new 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor that claims to match the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake" in gaming performance, will launch at an MSRP of USD $449, according to prices of several upcoming AMD Ryzen processors leaked to the web. The 5800X3D is clocked lower than the 5800X, with 3.40 GHz base and 4.50 GHz boost frequencies, but the large 96 MB L3 cache from the 3D Vertical Cache memory, overcomes this.

The Ryzen 7 5700X is an interesting new 8-core/16-thread part. It's based on the "Vermeer" MCM just like the 5800X, and unlike the 5700G that's based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. The 5700X is clocked at 3.40 GHz base, with 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. The Ryzen 7 5700X is launching at $299 MSRP, which implies that the company is cutting the MSRP of the Ryzen 5 5600X that originally occupied this price-point.Update Mar 9th: Correction: the Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core/12-thread part.

GIGABYTE over the last week posted UEFI firmware updates for its Socket AM4 motherboards that add support for the upcoming AMD Ryzen 5800X3D processor. Released for motherboards across its AMD 400-series and 500-series lineups; the updates pack AGESA ComboPI V2 1.2.0.6 Patch-b microcode. Another key feature of these updates are that they re-introduce the "Max CPU Boost Clock Override" toggle, which appears when a Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processor is installed.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is an 8-core/16-thread processor based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and packs the AMD 3D Vertical Cache (3DV Cache) technology, featuring 100 MB of Total Cache (AMD jargon for the sum of all L2 + L3 cache). The company claims gaming performance on par with the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake" processor. The re-introduction of the Boost Frequency overrides signal that the company wants enthusiasts to go to town with overclocking, making this a possible response to the i9-12900KS gaming performance, at a lower price-point.

We're not sure if this will bring more praise for AMD, or if there will be a new angry mob with virtual pitchforks, because it's coming too late, but it looks like at least some AMD X370 based motherboards are getting support for AMD's Zen 3 based Ryzen processors. First out is ASRock with the X370 Pro4, which even at launch was a run of the mill X370 board, but it's possible that the company is just using it as its test platform to see if it's worth adding support for Zen 3 or not.

ASRock has added support for all of AMD's Vermeer based CPUs, as well as several Renoir based APUs. You can find all the added models in the modified screenshot below, since the processors weren't all listed in order on ASRock's website. The P7.10 UEFI update is required and it also drops support for AMD's now rather old Excavator+ based Bristol Ridge APUs, a loss that almost no-one is likely to shed a tear over. The interesting thing to keep an eye on now, is both if ASRock will follow suit with other models, as well as what its competitors will do in terms of adding support for Zen 3 CPUs on their older motherboard models.

AMD's Ryzen 7000 series of desktop processors based on the novel Zen 4 core architecture are scheduled to arrive in the second half of 2022. While we are not sure just how big the architectural differences will be going from Zen 3 (with or without 3D V-cache) to the new Zen 4 core, we have some leaked information that confirms the existence of two SKUs that reveal additional details about the processor configuration. In the MilkyWay@Home project, aiming to create a model of the Milky Way galaxy by utilizing countless PCs across the globe, we found two next-generation Ryzen 7000 SKUs. The MilkyWay@Home project isn't a benchmark. However, it is a valuable reference where the next generation processors appeared.

First in line is the 100-000000666-21_N CPU, a codename for an eight-core, sixteen-threaded design. This model should correspond to the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X CPU, a successor to the Ryzen 7 5800X model. Next in line is the 100-000000665-21_N CPU with 16 cores and 32 threads, a successor to the Ryzen 9 5950X named Ryzen 9 7950X. One important thing to note is that these new CPUs feature different level two (L2) cache configurations. With the previous generation 5000 series "Vermeer" processors, the L2 cache was locked at 512 KB per core. However, according to today's leak, the upgraded Zen 4 IP will bring 1024 KB of L2 cache per core, doubling the cache size at one of the fastest levels.

AMD in its 8-K filing with the SEC, disclosed that it has updated its wafer supply agreement (WSA) with GlobalFoundries. Under the latest agreement, AMD commits to buy $2.1 billion worth wafers from GlobalFoundries between 2022 and 2025. The previous version of the WSA saw commitments up to 2024, and wafers worth $1.6 billion. The update hence adds another year and $500 million worth supply.

AMD currently sources 12 nm and 14 nm wafers from GlobalFoundries, which go into making cIOD and sIOD components in its processors, and motherboard chipsets. The move to extend the WSA indicates that the company may continue to use 12 nm-class I/O dies in its processors for the foreseeable future. It will be very interesting to see if 12 nm-class I/O dies make it to next-generation products such as "Genoa" and "Rapael," which integrate the latest IP blocks such as PCI-Express Gen 5 root-complexes, DDR5 memory controllers, and 3rd Gen Infinity Fabric. Processors with 12 nm I/O dies, such as "Milan" and "Vermeer" could be retired only by 2023-24, as AMD will use 2022 to spread across its next-gen product launches.

January 4, 2022 could be a date of major product announcements by both AMD and Intel as part of their International CES 2022 plans. Both companies will host virtual press-meets on that day, and are expected to unveil several product lines. AMD could shed more like on its Ryzen "Vermeer-S" Socket AM4 desktop processors, possible updates to its Ryzen 5000 mobile product stack; as well as put out some juicy nuggets of info on its future "Zen 4" processors; while Intel will significantly expand its 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" family across both its desktop and mobile segments, along with more info on its Arc "Alchemist" gaming GPU. The AMD event is slated for 8 AM Pacific, while the Intel one goes up two hours later, at 10 AM Pacific. We will be live-blogging both.

AMD might fall behind Intel on PCI-Express Gen 5 support, say sources familiar with the recent GIGABYTE ransomware attack and ensuing leak of confidential documents. If you recall, AMD had extensively marketed the fact that it was first-to-market with PCI-Express Gen 4, over a year ahead of Intel's "Rocket Lake" processor. The platform block-diagram for Socket AM5 states that the AM5 SoC puts out a total of 28 PCI-Express Gen 4 lanes. 16 of these are allocated toward PCI-Express discrete graphics, 4 toward a CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot, another 4 lanes toward a discrete USB4 controller, and the remaining 4 lanes as chipset-bus.

Socket AM5 SoCs appear to have an additional 4 lanes to spare than the outgoing "Matisse" and "Vermeer" SoCs, which on higher-end platforms are used up by the USB4 controller, but can be left unused for the purpose, and instead wired to an additional M.2 NVMe slot on lower-end motherboards. Thankfully, memory is one area where AMD will maintain parity with Intel, as Socket AM5 is being designed for dual-channel DDR5. The other SoC-integrated I/O, as well as I/O from the chipset, appear to be identical to "Vermeer," with minor exceptions such as support for 20 Gbps USB 3.2x2. The Socket has preparation for display I/O for APUs from the generation. Intel's upcoming "Alder Lake-S" processor implements PCI-Express Gen 5, but only for the 16-lane PEG port. The CPU-attached NVMe slot, as well as downstream PCIe connectivity, are limited to PCIe Gen 4.

GIGABYTE is giving finishing touches to its new motherboard targeted at creators who like to game, and premium desktop builders, the X570S AERO G. This marks the debut of the company's AERO brand, associated with notebooks, over to the desktop PC components segment. The board's aesthetics appear more in line with the company's VISION line of products. The Socket AM4 motherboard is based on the new AMD X570S chipset, a low-power version of the X570 that can make do with fanless cooling.

What sets the X570S AERO G apart is its five M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots, leveraging the PCIe Gen 4 downstream connectivity of the X570S. You also get two PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated), and creator-relevant connectivity that includes 2.5 GbE wired LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and GIGABYTE's highest onboard audio grade. Thunderbolt connectivity is unlikely to be found. The board will come with out-of-the-box support not just for Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors, but also Ryzen 5000G "Cezanne" APUs, which it wires out through DisplayPort and HDMI ports.

Update Jul 5th: GIGABYTE formally launched the X570S AERO G. It lacks 10 GbE, unlike previously reported, offers 2.5 GbE, and comes with USB 3.2x2 (20 Gbps) ports.

Western Digital is reportedly preparing a firmware update for its WD Black SN850 M.2 NVMe SSD that restores the drive's write performance levels on PCs based on the AMD X570 platform. This problem is localized to X570, specifically to when the drive is installed on an M.2 NVMe slot that is wired to the X570 chipset. Drives that are installed on the slot that's directly wired to the Ryzen processor perform as expected (Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" and Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer").

The drive performs as intended on AMD B550, as well as Intel platforms that support PCIe Gen 4, as the only Gen 4-capable M.2 slots are the ones directly wired to the processor. Western Digital localized the problem to certain X570 motherboards that have their PCIe maximum payload size (MPS) value set at 128 bytes. This dictates the maximum transaction layer packet (TLP) that goes through the PCIe controller, and a low MPS value cripples performance. The firmware update by Western Digital possibly works around this limitation. The company is expected to release the firmware update by 12 July, 2021.

AMD is reportedly preparing to launch a B2 stepping of their Ryzen 5000 series of processors, codenamed Vermeer. Thanks to the findings of Patrick Schur, who was lucky to get ahold of AMD's processor codes, we have information that AMD is slowly preparing a B2 stepping of Vermeer processors, to come as a refresh. First off is the alleged Ryzen 9 5950XT 16 core, 32 threaded models which are supposed to feature a base speed of 3.4 GHz, and a boost frequency of 5.0 GHz, entering the 5 GHz world. Another B2 stepping that we know about is an alleged Ryzen 5 5600XT 6 core, 12 threaded design. This one features the same frequencies as its Ryzen 5 5600X variant, meaning 3.7 GHz base, and 4.6 GHz boost frequencies.

Of course, all this information should be taken with a big grain of salt, as we don't know what AMD is planning to do, or how the company plans to manifest any new product launch.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, announces the latest B550MX/E PRO and B550MH/E PRO motherboards. Built on AMD's B550 single chip architecture, the latest B550 series motherboards are designed to support AMD Ryzen 3rd Gen (Matisse/Renoir) and 4th Gen (Vermeer) processors. Ideal for business and casual use, the new B550 series motherboards from BIOSTAR are packed with all the latest essentials for a long-lasting user experience.

Both new motherboards come with the capability to support up to 128 GB of DDR4 fast-paced memory with an overclocking capability of 4933+ OC. PCIe 4.0 and PCIe M.2 4.0 provide excellent connectivity for graphics and storage expansion for all occasions with BIOSTAR's proprietary Digital PWM technology providing safe stable power management across all components.

Thermaltake today introduced the ToughRAM XG RGB line of DDR4 memory kits. The series debuts in 16 GB (2x 8 GB) dual-channel memory kits, with frequency-based variants of DDR4-3600, DDR4-4000, DDR4-4400, and DDR4-4600. The top DDR4-4600 kit (R016D408GX2-4600C19A) does its rated frequency with timings of 19-26-26-45, and 1.5 V DRAM voltage. The DDR4-4400 kit (R016D408GX2-4400C19A) runs at slightly tighter timings of 19-25-25-45, and 1.45 V. The DDR4-4000 kit (R016D408GX2-4000C19A) ticks at 19-23-23-42, with 1.35 V. At the same voltage, the DDR4-3600 kit (R016D408GX2-3600C18A) does 18-19-19-39.

Visually, the ToughRAM XG RGB module features a chunky aluminium heatspreader design with three distinct design tones, and three silicone addressable-RGB diffusers that hide 16 ARGB diodes. You can control the lighting using Thermaltake's NeonMaker app, or pretty much any ARGB control software, including Razer Chroma. Thermaltake guarantees advertised speeds on Intel X299, Z490, Z390, Z370, Z270, and Z170 chipset motherboards when paired with K-series processors; or AMD X570 and B550 motherboards with Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" or 5000 "Vermeer" processors. The modules are backed by lifetime warranties. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD appears to be taking baby steps toward expanding its Ryzen 5000 "Zen 3" desktop processor lineup. Dell Canada has started listing a model of the processor series not yet available in the DIY retail channel, the Ryzen 7 5800 (non-X). This isn't a typo, as the option is listed next to the 5800X. The Ryzen 7 5800 is described as being an 8-core part, much like the 5800X, but has a slightly lower max boost frequency of 4.60 GHz, as opposed to 4.70 GHz of the 5800X. It could have a lower nominal (base) frequency compared to the 5800X, and possibly even a lower TDP. The last time AMD released an OEM-exclusive non-X SKU was the Ryzen 9 3900 12-core processor.

AMD's current retail-channel (PIB) lineup of Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors starts at $299 for the 6-core Ryzen 5 5600X, with the company still selling Ryzen 3000-series SKUs such as the 8-core Ryzen 7 3700X under this price. We expect the company to flesh out the 5000-series with SKUs such as the "Ryzen 5 5600 (non-X)," later this year, in response to Intel's 11th Gen Core i5 series based on the "Rocket Lake-S" silicon. Given the fate of the Ryzen 9 3900, we don't expect a broad retail launch of the Ryzen 7 5800.

MSI announced that it will begin rolling out UEFI firmware updates for its Socket AM4 motherboards based on the AMD 400-series and 500-series chipsets, which incorporate AMD's latest AGESA Combo PI V2 1.2.0.0 microcode. These firmware updates will enable resizable BAR support for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series "Ampere" graphics cards, improvements for Ryzen 5000 series "Vermeer" desktop processors, and an assortment of board model-specific improvements or fixes.

The company will begin releasing these firmware updates for its AMD 500-series chipset motherboards, and its AMD 400-series "MAX" models in January 2021. In February, it will follow up with updates for AMD 400-series non-"MAX" models. The "MAX" model name suffix for an MSI AMD 400-series motherboard denotes a board with a 32-megabyte SPI flash ROM chip that allows MSI to cram in its feature-rich ClickBIOS setup program. Keep checking the "support" section of your motherboard's product page on the MSI website for these firmware updates.

Certain AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 5800X processors are physically based on a dual-CCD design, according to an investigative report by Igor's Lab and Yuri "1usmus" Bubliy. The 5600X and 5800X are normally meant to be single-CCD processors owing to their core-counts. Based on the "Vermeer" multi-chip module design, the Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors use up to two 8-core CCDs to achieve their core-counts of up to 16 cores, with the 6-core 5600X and 8-core 5800X normally having just one CCD; while the 12-core 5900X and 16-core 5950X use two.

There are, apparently, some 5600X and 5800X built from dual-CCD MCMs, in which an entire CCD, although physically present on the package, is disabled. A 5600X based on a dual-CCD design is essentially a 5900X from which one of the CCDs didn't fully qualify; while the 5800X dual-CCD is a 5950X in which one such die didn't quite make the cut. There's no telling which CCD is disabled, it could be CCD 0 or CCD 1, those with CCD 0 disabled could trigger minor (benign) UI bugs with certain tuning utilities, which is how Wallossek and Bubliy discovered these chips. In any case, you're getting a 5600X or 5800X that works as advertised, and is fully covered by AMD's product warranties. Igor's Lab is investigating further into these dual-CCD 5600X and 5800X chips, and is probing the possibility of unlocking them to Ryzen 9.

AMD's Zen 3 core has seen some major performance uplift, with the first products based on it being the 5000 series desktop processors codenamed "Vermeer". With the efficiency that this new core brings and IPC increase, it is only a matter of time before it scales down to mobile processors. Today, thanks to the findings of TUM APISAK, we get to see some performance results of AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 5800H "Cezanne" processors. Benchmarked in the Geekbench 5 test suite, the CPU was spotted running at the base frequency of 3.20 GHz, and boost frequency of 4.44 GHz. This is only an engineering sample so the real product may have different clock speeds.

The CPU managed to score 1475 points in single-threaded results while having 7630 points in a multi-threaded scenario. If you wonder how does it fare to the last generation that it replaces, the Ryzen 7 4800H scored 1194 points for ST, and 7852 points for MT. That means that the new Ryzen 7 5800H CPU has a 23% performance boost for ST workloads, showing the Zen 3 capability. The MT score is not representative as we do not have the final product yet, so we have to wait and see how it performs when reviews arrive.

When AMD announced its 5000 series Ryzen processors, the company has noted that the new CPUs will be able to operate only on the 500 and 400 series chipsets, with a simple BIOS update. That means that millions of motherboards can install the latest CPUs with no problems. Today, we get to see something that is not a usual thing. ASRock has prepared a BIOS for its X370 Taichi motherboard, and it has been leaked at jzelectronic.de. The newly leaked BIOS is said to bring support for AMD's Ryzen 5000 series of processors codenamed Vermeer. Yes, you are reading that right. ASRock has found a way to bring Vermeer to the unsupported X370 platform.

Although impressive, you must note that the BIOS is in the alpha stage of development, which means that it is enriched with possible bugs and glitches, so it is not recommended for use for now. AMD is against this, and said for Tom's Hardware that "AMD has no plans to enable or support AMD Ryzen 5000 series on AMD 300 series chipsets." That means that ASRock has produced one-off software and it is still a question will the company further develop this new "P6.61" BIOS. You can download it at the jzelectronic.de website but proceed with caution.

AMD Ryzen 3000 "Matisse" processors based on the "Zen 2" microarchitecture, as well as older AMD processors based on "Zen+" and "Zen" microarchitectures, do not support the company's Smart Access Memory (SAM) feature being introduced with Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards. SAM is essentially a branding of the Resizable Base-Address Register (Resizable-BAR) feature developed by the PCI-SIG; which enables a processor to see a graphics card's entire video memory as a single addressable block, rather than through 256-megabyte apertures. Apparently the PCI-Express root complex of Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors introduce an instruction called full-rate _pdep_u32/64, which is required for resizable-BAR to work.

It gets more interesting—Intel processors have been supporting this feature since the company's 4th Gen Core "Haswell," which introduced it with its 20-lane PCI-Express gen 3.0 root-complex. This means that every Intel processor dating back to 2014 can technically support Resizable-BAR, and it's just a matter of motherboard vendors releasing UEFI firmware updates for their products (i.e. Intel 8-series chipsets and later). AMD extensively advertises SAM as adding a 1-2% performance boost to Radeon RX 6800 series graphics cards. Since this is a PCI-SIG feature, NVIDIA plans to add support for it on some of its GPUs, too. Meanwhile, in addition to AMD 500-series chipsets, even certain Intel 400-series chipset motherboards started receiving Resizable BAR support through firmware updates.

BIOSTAR today rolled out the B550M-Silver, a Socket AM4 motherboard in the Micro-ATX form-factor, based on the AMD B550 chipset. The board comes with out-of-the-box support for the latest Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors, in addition to Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" and Ryzen 3000 "Matisse." It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 10-phase VRM that comes with heatsinks across all CPU VRM phases. Expansions slots on the BIOSTAR B550M-Silver include one PCI-Express 4.0 x16, a PCI-Express x16 (electrical gen 3.0 x4 and wired to the B550 chipset), and a PCIe 3.0 x1.

Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gbps ports, and two M.2-2280 slots, from which one has PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring to the CPU socket; and the other PCI-Express 3.0 x4, wired to the B550 chipset. USB connectivity includes two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports on the rear panel (from which one is type-C), four 5 Gbps USB 3.2 ports (from which two are via headers), and six USB 2.0 ports (two on the rear panel, four via headers). Networking includes a 2.5 GbE wired interface handled by a Realtek 8125B controller, and preparation for a WLAN module (an M.2 E-key slot and mounts for antennas are provided), although one isn't included with the board. The onboard 6-channel HD audio solution is handled by a Realtek ALC1150 CODEC. The company didn't reveal pricing.