AMD Backtracks By Confirming B450/X470 Zen 3 Support

Earlier this month, AMD confirmed that the upcoming B550 motherboard platform (technically designed for Ryzen 3rd-gen processors) would include support for their latest 4XXX series of CPUs expected later this year. It did, however, come with a catch. Namely, that no prior motherboard platforms (excluding X570) would work with it! – Disappointing, but admittedly, not entirely surprising news.

In a report via Videocardz, however, it seems that AMD has decided to shift the goalposts. Put simply, it seems that they were either wrong or they’ve found a way to make it possible. Yes, B450 and X470 motherboards will support Zen 3!

AMD Ryzen Zen 3 Will Work on B450/X470 Motherboards!

In the release of a new statement, AMD has seemingly backtracked on a slide that appeared earlier this month clearly indicating that Zen 3 would not be supported on the B450 and X470 platform. In it, they have said:

1. We will develop and enable our motherboard partners with the code to support “Zen 3”-based processors in select beta BIOSes for AMD B450 and X470 motherboards.
2. These optional BIOS updates will disable support for many existing AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processor models to make the necessary ROM space available.
3. The select beta BIOSes will enable a one-way upgrade path for AMD Ryzen Processors with “Zen 3,” coming later this year. Flashing back to an older BIOS version will not be supported.
4. To reduce the potential for confusion, our intent is to offer BIOS download only to verified customers of 400 Series motherboards who have purchased a new desktop processor with “Zen 3” inside. This will help us ensure that customers have a bootable processor on-hand after the BIOS flash, minimizing the risk a user could get caught in a no-boot situation.
5. Timing and availability of the BIOS updates will vary and may not immediately coincide with the availability of the first “Zen 3”-based processors.
6. This is the final pathway AMD can enable for 400 Series motherboards to add new CPU support. CPU releases beyond “Zen 3” will require a newer motherboard.
7. AMD continues to recommend that customers choose an AMD 500 Series motherboard for the best performance and features with our new CPUs.

What Do We Think?

Rather than backtracking, we honestly think that AMD didn’t initially believe that B450 or X470 motherboards would work with Zen 3. Based on this new statement, however, it does appear that they may have found some form of ‘workaround’ that will still support the processors but likely with some limitations on the more fancy features.

As you may have noted, however, this announcement does confirm that this will be the very final backwards motherboard compatibility offered on the 2nd-gen motherboard series. So if you do own a B450 or X470 rejoice! You can be a part of the Zen 3 party, but don’t expect any more future support for (presumably) Ryzen 5XXX.

That being said though if you do plan on getting a Zen 3 processor later this year, we still suspect that having a B550/X570 would still be advantageous or, better still, likely the B650 or X670. Of which the latter will almost certainly coincide with its release!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!