AMD has confirmed that the Zen 3 CPUs will only work on the X570 and B550 motherboards. While the older CPUs will work on these new motherboards, the Zen 3 CPUs will only work on the X570 and B550 motherboards. You will need to update your BIOS as well.
AMD confirmed this in a recent blog post and mentioned the following regarding the matter:
AMD officially plans to support next-gen AMD Ryzen desktop processors, with the “Zen 3” architecture, on AMD X570 and B550 motherboards. This will require a BIOS update. Specific details about this update will come at a later time, but we’re committed to keeping you up-to-date.
This has been simplified in the image below:
So if you have an older motherboard and are interested in upgrading to the AMD Zen 3 based CPUs then you are going to need to upgrade your motherboard as well. Things are not all that bad though. Keep in mind that Intel motherboard support only lasts 2 generations. AMD, on the other hand, has supported Excavator, Zen, Zen+ and Zen 2 on the same platform.
AMD has no plans to introduce “Zen 3” architecture support for older chipsets. While we wish could enable full support for every processor on every chipset, the flash memory chips that store BIOS settings and support have capacity limitations. Given these limitations, and the unprecedented longevity of the AM4 socket, there will inevitably be a time and place where a transition to free up space is necessary—the AMD 500 Series chipsets are that time.
This upgrade does not need to cost a lot of money either. The B550 motherboards have been announced and they are pretty inexpensive compared to X570 and some other Intel supporting motherboards that are on the market right now.
AMD also hinted that support for X570 and B550 is going to be good and that these platforms are going to be around for a while.
For now, we can all focus on what’s at hand: AMD B550 motherboards arrive soon, and we wanted you to rest easy knowing that an investment in this platform gives you a clear upgrade path tomorrow. The same is true for AMD X570 motherboards, too.
In other news, AMD has announced the Ryzen 3100 and Ryzen 3300X CPUs. These are budget chips that feature PCIe Gen 4.
Let us know what you think about getting new motherboards for AMD Zen 3 and whether or not you are interested in upgrading.