AMD kickstarts its 2nd Gen AM5 platform with the new 800-series chipsets, coming first with X870E & X870 motherboards & followed by more mainstream options.
AMD X870E & X870 Are The Latest Motherboard Chipsets For Enthusiasts As AM5 Socket Longevity Extended Beyond 2027
The AMD AM4 platform has been the longest-running modern-day platform to date which was first introduced in 2017 & is very much alive and kicking in 2024. The company just recently launched new chips for the platform and it looks like it will stick around for another year till 2025.
However, today, AMD is introducing its 2nd Generation AM5 platform under the new 800-series family. The lineup will initially target the high-end enthusiasts with the X870E and X870 chipsets. These chipsets are designed to offer better features, IO memory support, and additional OC features for existing and future Ryzen CPUs such as the Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" family.
Certain aspects that have been upgraded on the AMD X870E & X870 motherboards include:
- USB 4.0 standard on all X870/X870E motherboards
- PCIe Gen5 on Graphics & NVME on all X870/X870E motherboards
- Higher EXPO memory clock support on X870/X870E motherboards
AMD did disclose that there would be new PBO and CO algorithms introduced with Ryzen 9000 CPUs and these new motherboards will fully support them out of the box. In addition to the X870E and X870 motherboards, the company also plans to introduce its B850 & B840 chipsets which will serve the mainstream segment. Following is what the chipset lineup will look like:
- X870E (Promontory 21 x2)
- X870 (Promontory 21 x1)
- B650 (Promonotory 21 x1)
- B840 (Promontory 19 x1)
So in terms of what each chipset offers, the X870E series will use two Promontory 21 dies on the motherboards with support of USB4 & both Gen5 GPU/SSD support. X870 (Non-E) will feature just 1 of the dies but retain the same support in terms of I/O. Just the lanes will be fewer.
The motherboards will feature support for DDR5-5600 MT/s memory speeds natively and over 8000 MT/s transfer rates on some of the high-end motherboards that we will be getting by the July timeframe.
The AMD B850 motherboards will feature the same Promontory 21 die minus the native USB4 support. They will carry Gen5 GPU support but Gen5 M.2 support will be optional. The B840 will be the entry-level option within the series with the older Promontory 19 die which means you will get just Gen4 GPU/SSD support, no CPU overclocking and only memory overclock support. The B840 motherboards are going to be very affordable in terms of pricing so that will be competitive against sub-$200 US options from Intel.
AMD will also have the A620/A620A series continuing its role to serve the entry-level segment. There are plans to offer even more price adjustments, making them a viable option for ODMs and system builders to attract more customers.
Now I would like to return to the AM5 longevity where the red team initially committed to a 2025+ plan but it looks like they are more confident in the AM5 platform and are updating support beyond 2027. This suggests that we will be getting at least 3-4 generations of Ryzen "Zen" CPUs on the platform which is great news for those who have invested in the platform. This could mark a major disruption for AMD on the desktop side of things as their competitors change the socket/platform occasionally.
