Before we talk about CPUs, we have to talk about the platform itself. The AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs will be migrating to a new home known as AM5, the successor to the long-lasting AM4 platform. It marks a fresh start for the Ryzen Desktop family and as such, existing Ryzen CPUs starting with Ryzen 1000 & all the way up to Ryzen 5000 won’t be supported by the new platform we will tell you why it is so.
The AM5 platform will first and foremost feature the brand-new LGA 1718 socket. That’s correct, AMD isn’t going the PGA (Pin Grid Array) route anymore and now focusing on LGA (Land Grid Array), similar to what Intel uses on its existing desktop processors. The main reason to go LGA is due to the addition of enhanced and next-gen features such as PCIe Gen 5, DDR5, etc that we will get to see on the AM5 platform. The socket has a single latch & gone are the days of worrying about pins underneath your precious processors.
In terms of features, the AM5 platform will initially support AMD’s Ryzen 7000 ‘Zen 4’ Desktop CPUs and extend that support to future Ryzen CPUs and APUs. The platform offers DDR5-5200 (JEDEC) memory support, up to 28 PCIe lanes (Gen 5 standard), increased NVMe 4.0, and USB 3.2 I/O lanes & we have also heard chatter about native USB 4.0 support which will be a game-changer.
A new feature called EXPO (AMD Extended Profiles for overclocking) will allow enhanced DDR5 memory OC on the new platform, similar to Intel’s XMP. It has been a rough road for AM4 to offer decent DDR4 OC capabilities but that has more or less been sorted out by now, we can only expect DDR5 to have a much better OC and compatibility experience compared to DDR4 on AM4 platforms. Furthermore, it looks like the platform will only be DDR5 compatible and we won’t see DDR4 options as we do on Intel’s existing platform. But with DDR5 prices and availability improving, that won’t be that big of a deal for most high-end consumers for who AMD will be aiming first.
AMD X670 Series Platform
The AM5-compliant AMD 600-series motherboards are currently being prepped up by the board makers, The 600-series lineup will initially consist of three chipsets, the X670E, X670, B650E, and B650.
In terms of features, the X670E (Extreme) is designed for the higher-echelon of motherboards with unparalleled capabilities, and extreme overclocking, and will have PCIe 5.0 support for both GPU and storage.
The X670 motherboards will be very similar in offering enthusiast-level overclocking but PCIe Gen 5.0 support for storage and graphics will depend on the manufacturers. It is likely that some board makers will go to the cost-effective route and enable PCIe 5.0 support only for the GPU while keeping storage limited to PCIe 4.0. Both X670 chipsets will come in a dual-PCH solution on the motherboard to allow for the increased I/O for the next-gen platform.
AMD B650 Series Platform
Finally, there are the B650E & B650 chipsets which will be aimed as a mainstream motherboard solution with the Extreme series featuring both PCIe Gen 5.0 and M.2 while the non-E boards will adopt only PCIe 5.0 slot designs.
The B650 motherboards will be the successor to the B550 motherboards and come in a similar price range. Compared to the X670/E offerings, the B650 chipset will come in a single PCH design. The motherboards will carry support for RDNA 2 iGPU too which will be featured on Ryzen 7000 ‘Raphael’ CPUs and offer both HDMI / DP outputs.
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You can check out our full roundup of all the X670E & X670 motherboards that have been revealed so far here.
One of the highlighted features of the AMD AM5 600-series platform is SAS or Smart Access Storage. This technology will enable GPU decompression with supported Microsoft DirectStorage games. Although there aren’t many of those out there yet but expect industry-wide support for this on newer platforms.
SmartAccess Storage gets you out of the load screen and into your gameplay
Traditional game loading takes a significant amount of compute power to decompress the game’s data, requiring the CPU to do the decompression and data transfer, which introduces latency and takes up considerable system resources.
To help bypass these bottlenecks, AMD has created SmartAccess Storage, a suite of technologies supporting Microsoft DirectStorage that utilizes Smart Access Memory with new AMD platform technologies along with Radeon GPU asset decompression to improve both game load times and texture streaming.
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AMD AM4/TR4 Chipset Features and Specifications:
WccftechX670E/X670X570X399 RefreshX399X470X370B450B350A320X300A300
CrossfireX/SLITriple CFX/2-Way SLITriple CFX/2-Way SLIQuad SLI/CFX
(Max 6 GPU Support)Quad SLI/CFX
(Max 6 GPU Support)Triple CFX/2-Way SLITriple CFX/2-Way SLIN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
PCIe Gen 5 Lanes24 (with Ryzen 7000 CPUs & above)N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
PCIe Gen 3/4 LanesTBD30 +16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)60 (With Threadripper CPU)
4 Lanes Reserved for PCH60 (With Threadripper CPU)
4 Lanes Reserved for PCH16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
PCIe Gen 2 LanesN/AN/A8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)
USB 3.1/3,2 Gen2TBD8222222100
USB 3.1/3.2 Gen1TBD12 (PCH + CPU)13 (PCH+CPU)13 (PCH+CPU)101066644
USB 2.0TBDN/A666666600
SATA 6Gb/s88886644422
SATA ExpressTBD2222222211
DDR5 DIMMs4N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
DDR4 DIMMsN/A4884444222
Overclocking
SupportYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesNo
XFR2 EnhancedYesYesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNo
Precision Boost OverdriveYesYesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNo
NVMeYes (Gen 5.0)YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Form FactorATXATX, MATXATX, MATXATX, MATXATX, MITXATXATX, M-ATXATX, M-ATXM-ATX, Mini-ITXMini-ITXM-ATX, Mini-ITX
Meet The LGA 1718 Socket – How Long Will This One Last?
As mentioned earlier, AM4’s reign is finally over and the AM5 socket is here now. The new socket moves from a PGA (Pin-Grid-Array) design to an LGA (Land-Grid-Array) layout. The new LGA 1718 socket offers more pin connections to the CPU, allowing for more communication channels with the board itself and enabling support for enhanced features that the new platform has to offer.
As for longevity, AMD hasn’t promised anything but they have stated that they want to see the new AM5 socket last at least four to five years, similar to AM4. While there has been a lot of controversy regarding Ryzen support on the initial AM4 motherboards, I believe that AMD has learned and will not follow the same route as AM5. With that said, the AM4 platform will still continue forward & will be supported in the foreseeable future (possibly with newer hardware and software launches).
Cooler Compatibility With AM5 Socket
The AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs will feature a perfect square shape (45x45mm) but will house a very chonky integrated heat spreader or IHS. The CPUs will be the same length, width, and height as the existing Ryzen Desktop CPUs and are sealed across the sides so applying thermal paste won’t fill the interior of the IHS with TIM. That’s also why current coolers will be fully compatible with Ryzen 7000 chips.
