AM4 Motherboard which Ship with Ryzen 5 Support

[Znarb93]

Hi,

Just purchased the Ryzen 5 1600 and bought the Gigabyte AB350 Gaming motherboard to go with it. However, the motherboard shipped with the original BIOS and I have no way of updating it to the latest to get it to post with my CPU. I contacted Gigabyte and they said I have to use a Ryzen 7 to update the BIOS or send it to them to update, or send it back to the retailer for a refund. I decided on the latter. However, I can't seem to find a board on the market which ships with Ryzen 5 BIOS support. Am I the only one having this issue, or am I missing something?

Thanks

 

[DRagor]

Considering the posts I've seen today, probably not. How you found out that BIOS has wrong version?

 

[Znarb93]

Considering the posts I've seen today, probably not. How you found out that BIOS has wrong version?

I contacted Gigabyte and they told me that the board ships with the F2 BIOS but Ryzen 5 isn't supported until F4 BIOS. Also, I removed the RAM to check if that was the issue (even though the RAM I bought is on the motherboard's supported RAM list) and it still didn't post.

 

[DRagor]

Well, I read post of people who found out that some Asus boards had BIOS not compatible with even Ryzen 7 so they could be updated only in factory.

 

[Znarb93]

Well, I read post of people who found out that some Asus boards had BIOS not compatible with even Ryzen 7 so they could be updated only in factory.

Ah I see. I guess the only way around it then is to send a board back to the factory to update the BIOS. Very frustrating as this usually takes weeks/months.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Well, I read post of people who found out that some Asus boards had BIOS not compatible with even Ryzen 7 so they could be updated only in factory.

... unless your motherboard comes with a BIOS flashback port. However, in the OP's case that doesn't help as Gigabyte doesn't equip their motherboards with a flashback port.

 

[DRagor]

Yes, it simply seems AMD has rushed all the Ryzen sale a bit, and now there's a lot of troubles with them. Nothing that will not be overcomed with time, but surely for the people like you who want to buy Ryzen build now it is not much of consolation.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

While it may be easy to blame AMD, these sorts of issues have always been present when building computers. Everybody and their uncle may be slapping together pieces and building computers now, but that doesn't forgo the initial homework needed in deciding which pieces to use.

Perhaps there is an electronics store or computer repair shop that happens to have a Ryzen 7 CPU that could flash an updated BIOS onto your board for you, for a small price? I would find that a lot more convenient than shipping the board back.

 

[Znarb93]

While it may be easy to blame AMD, these sorts of issues have always been present when building computers. Everybody and their uncle may be slapping together pieces and building computers now, but that doesn't forgo the initial homework needed in deciding which pieces to use.

Perhaps there is an electronics store or computer repair shop that happens to have a Ryzen 7 CPU that could flash an updated BIOS onto your board for you, for a small price? I would find that a lot more convenient than shipping the board back.

I agree. It's mostly my fault for not looking into the CPU support list properly before buying the board. Luckily I've managed to find a board which supports Ryzen 5 with the BIOS it ships with - the Asus PRIME B350-PLUS. On their website it says Ryzen 1600 is supported form BIOS revision 0406 which is the one it hips with. Hoping this will solve my problem.

 

[Znarb93]

Seems like, according to their respective manufacturers support, both the Asus Prime B350 Plus and the MSI Tomahawk B350 ship with Ryzen 5 BIOS support. If anyone know of any others feel free to add. It may help other people since there doesn't seem to be many board that do this at the present time.

 

[CountMike]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

 

[Seanie280672]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

 

[Znarb93]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

It is strange, but when I contacted Gigabyte about the issue they said it was because of the BIOS. Plus, on their support page for the initial board I bought, it states that Ryzen 5 CPUs are only supported at BIOS version F4, but the board chips with version F2.

See here: http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-10#support-cpu

 

[Seanie280672]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

It is strange, but when I contacted Gigabyte about the issue they said it was because of the BIOS. Plus, on their support page for the initial board I bought, it states that Ryzen 5 CPUs are only supported at BIOS version F4, but the board chips with version F2.

See here: http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-10#support-cpu

Thats for official support i know, but have you actually tired the chip in the board to see if it posts ?

Like both me and CountMike said, R5's are just R7's that didnt make the grade and had the faulty cores switched off, that will be the same case for all RyZen CPU's, including the R3 series, those will just be R7's that couldnt pass as R5's either, so will have 4 cores switched off / disabled.

 

[CountMike]

They are just covering their asses, newest Bios should be installed anyway, whichever CPU you put on it.

 

[Znarb93]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

It is strange, but when I contacted Gigabyte about the issue they said it was because of the BIOS. Plus, on their support page for the initial board I bought, it states that Ryzen 5 CPUs are only supported at BIOS version F4, but the board chips with version F2.

See here: http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-10#support-cpu

Thats for official support i know, but have you actually tired the chip in the board to see if it posts ?

Like both me and CountMike said, R5's are just R7's that didnt make the grade and had the faulty cores switched off, that will be the same case for all RyZen CPU's, including the R3 series, those will just be R7's that couldnt pass as R5's either, so will have 4 cores switched off / disabled.

Yeah I tried it in the board with 2 sticks of RAM (officially supported by the board) no post, with one stick: no post, and with no RAM installed: no post. I even tried to reset CMOS but that didn't work either.

Edit: I also though it might just take a while to post so I left it for a good couple of minutes in each instance but still no post.

 

[Seanie280672]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

It is strange, but when I contacted Gigabyte about the issue they said it was because of the BIOS. Plus, on their support page for the initial board I bought, it states that Ryzen 5 CPUs are only supported at BIOS version F4, but the board chips with version F2.

See here: http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-10#support-cpu

Thats for official support i know, but have you actually tired the chip in the board to see if it posts ?

Like both me and CountMike said, R5's are just R7's that didnt make the grade and had the faulty cores switched off, that will be the same case for all RyZen CPU's, including the R3 series, those will just be R7's that couldnt pass as R5's either, so will have 4 cores switched off / disabled.

Yeah I tried it in the board with 2 sticks of RAM (officially supported by the board) no post, with one stick: no post, and with no RAM installed: no post. I even tried to reset CMOS but that didn't work either.

I guess it does need a bios update then, I just find it very strange, must be the microcode stopping it.

 

[CountMike]

What did you use for GPU ?

 

[Znarb93]

What did you use for GPU ?

MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G

 

[Znarb93]

Considering that R5 and R7 are exactly same chips, even made on same die but with core disabled I can't think of any reason why MBs made for R7 wouldn't work with R5.
Have a look at this Asus one, it's even same BIOS version and since then another couple of versions were made.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-X370-PRO/HelpDesk_CPU/

I was just about to respond with this answer too, I even spoke to a shop yesterday who said the same thing.

It is strange, but when I contacted Gigabyte about the issue they said it was because of the BIOS. Plus, on their support page for the initial board I bought, it states that Ryzen 5 CPUs are only supported at BIOS version F4, but the board chips with version F2.

See here: http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-rev-10#support-cpu

Thats for official support i know, but have you actually tired the chip in the board to see if it posts ?

Like both me and CountMike said, R5's are just R7's that didnt make the grade and had the faulty cores switched off, that will be the same case for all RyZen CPU's, including the R3 series, those will just be R7's that couldnt pass as R5's either, so will have 4 cores switched off / disabled.

Yeah I tried it in the board with 2 sticks of RAM (officially supported by the board) no post, with one stick: no post, and with no RAM installed: no post. I even tried to reset CMOS but that didn't work either.

I guess it does need a bios update then, I just find it very strange, must be the microcode stopping it.

Yeah that seems like the only logical explanation.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

A new BIOS will often come with new version of the AGESA code in it, which is used on AMD systems to properly initialize all of the CPU cores, memory, and HyperTransport controller.

Notice in the BIOS update notes for the BIOS versions required to support newer Ryzen CPUs, AGESA has been updated. In fact, sometimes that's the only change made.

While the R7 and R5 may be based on the same original die, there are enough changes that the AGESA must recognize the new processor.

This isn't something new for AMD. A BIOS update was required for the FX 8370 CPUs, despite their likeness to the FX 8350 CPUs.

If the CPU support list doesn't say your processor is supported until an AGESA update, I wouldn't assume it's going to boot, not that it is likely to hurt anything to try it. I just wouldn't base hopes on it.

 

[Znarb93]

A new BIOS will often come with new version of the AGESA code in it, which is used on AMD systems to properly initialize all of the CPU cores, memory, and HyperTransport controller.

Notice in the BIOS update notes for the BIOS versions required to support newer Ryzen CPUs, AGESA has been updated. In fact, sometimes that's the only change made.

While the R7 and R5 may be based on the same original die, there are enough changes that the AGESA must recognize the new processor.

This isn't something new for AMD. A BIOS update was required for the FX 8370 CPUs, despite their likeness to the FX 8350 CPUs.

If the CPU support list doesn't say your processor is supported until an AGESA update, I wouldn't assume it's going to boot, not that it is likely to hurt anything to try it. I just wouldn't base hopes on it.

That makes sense, thanks. I still think it should be more strongly advertised though, that certain boards are not suitable for Ryzen 5 out of the box, rather than having to dig into the support literature. Most of the boards just advertise that they are compatible with Ryzen 7th Generation chips.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Because reading the instructions is optional?

 

[kg31445237]

While it may be easy to blame AMD, these sorts of issues have always been present when building computers. Everybody and their uncle may be slapping together pieces and building computers now, but that doesn't forgo the initial homework needed in deciding which pieces to use.

Perhaps there is an electronics store or computer repair shop that happens to have a Ryzen 7 CPU that could flash an updated BIOS onto your board for you, for a small price? I would find that a lot more convenient than shipping the board back.

I agree. It's mostly my fault for not looking into the CPU support list properly before buying the board. Luckily I've managed to find a board which supports Ryzen 5 with the BIOS it ships with - the Asus PRIME B350-PLUS. On their website it says Ryzen 1600 is supported form BIOS revision 0406 which is the one it hips with. Hoping this will solve my problem.

I bought the PRIME B350-PLUS and PRIME B350A/CSM before finding out about this issue. Neither worked for me. Did your PRIME B350-PLUS work?

 

[Znarb93]

While it may be easy to blame AMD, these sorts of issues have always been present when building computers. Everybody and their uncle may be slapping together pieces and building computers now, but that doesn't forgo the initial homework needed in deciding which pieces to use.

Perhaps there is an electronics store or computer repair shop that happens to have a Ryzen 7 CPU that could flash an updated BIOS onto your board for you, for a small price? I would find that a lot more convenient than shipping the board back.

I agree. It's mostly my fault for not looking into the CPU support list properly before buying the board. Luckily I've managed to find a board which supports Ryzen 5 with the BIOS it ships with - the Asus PRIME B350-PLUS. On their website it says Ryzen 1600 is supported form BIOS revision 0406 which is the one it hips with. Hoping this will solve my problem.

I bought the PRIME B350-PLUS and PRIME B350A/CSM before finding out about this issue. Neither worked for me. Did your PRIME B350-PLUS work?

I actually ended up getting the MSI Tomahawk B350 because MSI confirmed that it supports R5 1600 from stock BIOS. However, I still couldn't get a boot so I presumed my Cpu was faulty. I ordered a replacement which should arrive today. MSI gave me some troubleshooting points to consider too so I'll give it a go once I receive the replacement cpu. According to all the documentation and support lists it should work fine but we'll see.