[SOLVED] B450 backwards compatibility after ryzen 5000 bios update

[mitchell.wong]

Hi, quick question, I have 2nd gen ryzen with a b450m pro vdh plus motherboard by MSI. I was wondering if updating to the latest bios will only accept ryzen 5000 processors since I only have a 2nd gen on hand only. I'm asking because I heard this was a one way flash in May but I am not sure if it still is. Please let me know!

 

[Lutfij]

Some boards will allow you to have older Gen processor while still running the latest BIOS version while some won't due to the size of the BIOS chip and the amount of microcode that it can't accommodate.

Might want to cross reference the CPU support list for your motherboard here;
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450M-PRO-VDH-PLUS#support-cpu
since you didn't mention what processor you won from the 2nd Gen courtesy of AMD's RyZen platform.

The BIOS lineup does not state anything about not supporting 2nd Gen RyZen chips but they do mention this;
This BIOS does not support below Bristol Ridge CPU due to BIOS rom size limitation:
Athlon x4 970/950/940, A12-9800/9800E, A10-9700/9700E, A8-9600, A6-9550/9500/9500E
^ for BIOS version 7A38v94 , then again there have been times where MSI didn't include the right information and people ended up with bricked boards.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hi, quick question, I have 2nd gen ryzen with a b450m pro vdh plus motherboard by MSI. I was wondering if updating to the latest bios will only accept ryzen 5000 processors since I only have a 2nd gen on hand only. I'm asking because I heard this was a one way flash in May but I am not sure if it still is. Please let me know!

I tried the Ryzen 5000 BIOS on my MSI B450m Mortar with 3700X processor and wasn't pleased with memory support. The best I could get was 3433 while I'm able to get 3600 quite easily with low timings on the last BIOS intended for 3rd gen Ryzen. It otherwise worked well enough.

Also, it was also not a one-way flash as I was able to flash back quite easily. But if your MSI board has a flash-back button you can use that even if it won't work with the BIOS flash utility.

There are lots of reports of 2nd gen working with a 4rth gen BIOS but I wouldn't expect any better results than you get with the latest BIOS intended for it. The enhancements are all aimed at Ryzen 5000 features (like SAM support, etc) which won't help at all with anything earlier anyway. I think working with earlier processors is only meant to assist when updating for a Ryzen 5000 meaning there's really not much point in it unless upgrading to one.

 

[mitchell.wong]

I see, thanks so much guys! I will update my bios to the latest ones then to unlock new features and buy a 5600x or something in the future! Thanks again for your inputs!