ASRock released the official about the upcoming release of new BIOS versions that add support for future Ryzen 4 processors to old Socket AM3000 motherboards. The company is far from the first to announce such support, but unlike other manufacturers, ASRock explains that some motherboards, for example, A320 logics will not be able to work with all Ryzen 3000 processors, and the translation of the BIOS code to the AGESA 0.0.7.0 or AGESA 0.0.7.2 libraries does not mean full compatibility with Zen 2.
Major motherboard manufacturers have been distributing BIOS updates for X470, B450, X370, B350 and A320 based motherboards based on AGESA 0.0.7.0 or AGESA 0.0.7.2 libraries quite a long time ago. These libraries include microcode for the upcoming Socket AM4 Ryzen 3000 desktop processors, and it's not surprising that most board manufacturers talk about "support for next generation Ryzen processors" in their firmware updates.
However, from ASRock's explanation, it becomes clear that the Ryzen 3000 processors are divided into two fundamentally different subgroups, one of which is Matisse processors based on the 7nm process technology and Zen 2 architecture, and the second is Picasso - 12nm processors with Vega integrated graphics based on based on Zen+ architecture. At the same time, despite the widespread introduction of new AGESA libraries, compatibility with both Matisse and Picasso is guaranteed only for boards based on X470, B450, X370 and B350 chipsets, while A320 motherboards can only work with representatives of the Picasso family, but will not support Matisse.
Most likely, similar restrictions will take place for motherboards from other manufacturers, which confirms the earlier information that Socket AM4 motherboards based on the A320 chipset will not receive support for promising Ryzen processors based on the Zen 2 architecture. However, such a limitation is unlikely to become a big problem, since such boards are in most cases OEM products, while enthusiast systems most likely use solutions based on higher-level logic sets.
The full list of BIOS versions that ASRock boards support Ryzen 3000 with is as follows:
| ASRock | Processor support | BIOS versions |
|---|---|---|
| X470 | Ryzen 3000 | P3.30, P3.40 |
| B450 | Ryzen 3000 | P3.10, P3.30, P3.40, P3.80 |
| X370 | Ryzen 3000 | P5.40, P5.60, P5.30, P5.80, P5.70 |
| B350 | Ryzen 3000 | P5.80, P5.90, P1.20, P1.40, P2.00, P3.10 |
| A320 | Ryzen 3000 - APU only | P1.30, P1.10, P5.90, P1.70, P3.10, P5.80, P1.90 |
There are two other things that ASRock is talking about that you should pay attention to for those who are going to update the BIOS to new versions that support Ryzen 3000. First, a successful update requires that the BIOS version based on the codes is pre-installed on the board. AGESA 1.0.0.6. And secondly, after updating the BIOS with new versions, a rollback to previous firmware becomes impossible.
The official announcement of Picasso processors, including the Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G, as well as the Athlon 300GE and 320GE, is scheduled for the coming weeks and will likely take place at the upcoming Computex show. At the same time, Matisse processors based on the Zen 2 architecture are expected to be released later: a number of sources name July 7 as the date of the proposed announcement.
Source: 3dnews.ru