With many news pieces about the B450 and Socket AM4 last month, XMG confirmed that the B450 chipset will be supporting the Zen 3 desktop processors. However, later AMD announced that it will not be the case. Now, MSI in a recent Youtube video which it streams every week confirmed that it’s Zen 3 architecture will support AMD’s upcoming ‘Zen 3’ microarchitecture. The representatives also stated that the microarchitecture would be made available via an optional beta BIOS. The video also gave information about the 300-series that it is not going to support the new microarchitecture. AMD also confirmed that they will be using the AM4 socket. On the other hand, they are going to change the chipset to ensure maximum performance. By changing the chipset the older CPUs or older microarchitecture will no longer support. If the chipset fits inside the socket of the motherboard then also things will be the same.
Both the MAX and non-MAX motherboards come with the MSI’ support. However, the company has done something to make them distinct. MSI has claimed that there will not be any problem with the Zen 3 support to MAX motherboards as they have 32 MB BIOSes. Also, there are few limitations of the 16 MB BIOSes of non-MAX motherboards. MSI will be stripping back the features of non-MAX motherboards and they will be dropping the support for older CPUs. However, MSI yet has to confirm the CPUs that will be affected.
The information of weekly stream MSI Insider
The weekly stream MSI Insider showed few slides that showcase that the X470 and B450-based motherboards will be needing an update to support the Zen 3 processors. The video also showed that which processors and motherboards will be supporting the Zen 3 architecture. The motherboards were A320, B350, X370, B450, X470, B550, and X570 chipset-based products. The slide also showed how some of the motherboards X570 and B550 were not compatible with Athlon processors, and the 1st generation Ryzen processors. Also, the newer motherboard B550 was incompatible with the 2nd generation Ryzen processors.
The 400 series:
However, 400-series motherboards are compatible with everything. In other words, they are compatible with Athlon processors to Zen 3 microarchitecture-based processors. Still, the users have to update the BIOS with a Selective Beta Bios Update if they want the support for Zen 3 microarchitecture. The representative named Michiel Berkhout stated that the update will cause the motherboards no longer support for older processors.
The 300 series:
Coming to the 300-series motherboards, they are not going to support the Zen 3 microarchitecture. The slide confirms the incompatibility of the 300-series. This could mean that the users of 300-series motherboards have to upgrade their motherboards to gain the support for Ryzen 3rd gen processors. By that, they will gain support for the Zen 3 microarchitecture.
The interesting point is the user has to lose the support of older Zen microarchitecture for the newer one. The user will not be able to connect the older CPU to the AM4 socket. The representatives also said that they have to flash the BIOS for gaining the support.
MSI has always claimed to deliver the best experience to their customers. With, the new microarchitecture they are again on the right path to do so. With the new motherboard, the users will be able to get support for the things which they do not have with the older motherboards like Athlon processors.