Question Question about AMD Gen and compatibility.

[AndyTPOG]

I'm just looking for some piece of mind before committing to a CPU upgrade.

I'm currently on a Ryzen 5 3600x on an MSI B450 Gaming Plus Motherboard, and looking to upgrade to a 5600x. The info on MSI's website for my board says that the board is compatible with 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen Ryzens, but from what I have read, the 5600x is a 4th Gen Ryzen, so on face value the 5600x should not be compatible with my B450. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/Specification

However, and this is what is confusing me, MSI list the 5600x as compatible with my board, which contradicts the compatible Gen info??
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/support#cpu

As the 5600x is listed as a compatible CPU, I'm fairly confident it will work, but wanted to pick the minds of more experienced people before I commit.

Thanks.

 

[DSzymborski]

I'm just looking for some piece of mind before committing to a CPU upgrade.

I'm currently on a Ryzen 5 3600x on an MSI B450 Gaming Plus Motherboard, and looking to upgrade to a 5600x. The info on MSI's website for my board says that the board is compatible with 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen Ryzens, but from what I have read, the 5600x is a 4th Gen Ryzen, so on face value the 5600x should not be compatible with my B450. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/Specification

However, and this is what is confusing me, MSI list the 5600x as compatible with my board, which contradicts the compatible Gen info??
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-GAMING-PLUS-MAX/support#cpu

As the 5600x is listed as a compatible CPU, I'm fairly confident it will work, but wanted to pick the minds of more experienced people before I commit.

Thanks.

The problem is in marketing materials and specs, they're not usually updated for new generations.

It's the CPU compatibility list that matters. That's the one that is updated and lists the BIOS version you need to run the CPU.

 

[Eximo]

You are looking at the release specifications vs the updated support list as BIOS updates were put out.

Check your BIOS version to see where you are at. Make sure you have the new CPU in hand before updating to the latest BIOS, and then swap in the new chip. Should work without issues.

Do keep in mind that your motherboard is limited to PCIe 3.0, so despite the CPU having the capability, it won't work.

 

[turtletarget111]

B450 can support 5th gen Ryzen processors, you'll just need to make sure you have the proper BIOS version. As of version 7B86vHB, your board will support Ryzen 5000. Boot into your motherboard's BIOS and check which version you have. If it is older than 7B86vHB, go ahead and update your BIOS to the latest version. Hope this cleared that up, take care.

 

[drea.drechsler]

I'm just looking for some piece of mind before committing to a CPU upgrade.
...

When AMD released 4th gen (5000 series processors) they initially said B450 boards would not be supported. This raised a furor and AMD subsequently relented. But even then, it took many of the board mfr's a while to get BIOS updates released to support them.

And no, you really can not go by the CPU compatibility list since many mfr's haven't updated their lists to newer AM4 processors even though they have made a BIOS available that supports it. That can make it a bit of a risk for you but there's a utility you can get that will tell you if any BIOS supports a particular Ryzen processor based on the AMD marketing code name used.

The utility is called "SMU Checker"; SMU is the code block needed to recognize and initialize specific CPU's. It's very easy to use: google for it and download then unpack the executable to a folder. Then simply drop a copy of the latest BIOS for your board onto the executable in an Explorer window and it will open another window with a table. Look for Vermeer, the AMD code name for Ryzen 5000 CPU's, and it will report if it has an SMU and it's revision level.

There's also the curious way AMD refers to Ryzen generations: there's Zen 1 or 1000 series CPUs, Zen 1+ or 2000 series, Zen 2 or 3000 series, making Zen 3 be 5000 series. That leads to confusion with the way people use generations where Gen 4 is 5000 series. Just in case that's messing you up.