AMD’s hotly-anticipated Ryzen 4000 ‘Vermeer’ desktop processors will be compatible with existing AM4 motherboards, according to laptop maker XMG.
In a Reddit thread spied by TechPowerUp, XMG – best known for its 16-core, 32-thread Apex 15 laptop – appears to confirm that board makers will expand the compatibility of their existing motherboards to support AMD’s next-generation desktop CPUs.
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In the post, in which an XMG staffer talks up the firm’s Ryzen 3950X-powered gaming laptop, they let slip: “Ryzen 4000 series are slated to be compatible with 2nd-gB450 Chipset via Microcode Update.”
Though there’s no official word from Team Red yet, this all but confirms that AMD’s 'Vermeer' Desktop CPUs, along with its Ryzen 4000 'Renoir' APUs, will support B450-based AM4 motherboards. As pointed out by Wccftech, this also suggests that the higher-end X470, current X570 and the upcoming B550 motherboards will also feature support for AMD's next-gen Zen 3 family of processors.
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This is good news for anyone with a B450 motherboard and, if true, means the AM4 platform would support all four generations of AMD’s Ryzen processors. Intel, on the other hand, isn’t quite so generous: it typically limits CPU compatibility, with its incoming 10th-generation Comet Lake-S lineup rumored to require a new 400-series motherboard built around the new LGA 1200 socket.
The report notes that the Ryzen 4000 series will be the last-generation of Zen-based processors to be built around the AM4 socket, with AMD’s Ryzen 4000 lineup – set to be based on the Zen 4 architecture – moving to a new socket and chipset.
It remains unclear when AMD Ryzen 4000 desktop will arrive, recent rumors suggested that the processor lineup will be launched in August or September, likely at the rescheduled Computex 2020 – if that show even goes through.
The Zen 3-based CPUs are expected to deliver a significant step up over AMD’s current Zen 2 CPUs, with 10-15% IPC gains, faster clocks, and higher core counts than ever before.
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