When the AM4 platform was unveiled in 2016, AMD committed to support it with future processor launches until 2020. And, well, 2020 is here and it looks like AMD isn't going to stop supporting the socket any time soon.
In a blog post today, AMD confirmed that AMD Zen 3-based processors in the Ryzen 4000 lineup will officially support X570 and B550 motherboards. However, the news isn't quite as rosy as you may expect.
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X570 and B550 are going to be the only legacy AM4 chipsets that will support AMD Ryzen 4000 processors when they release later this year. That means if you're rocking an X470 board from 2018, you're going to have to upgrade if you want one of the 7nm+ processors.
AMD cites the limitations of the flash memory chips on the best motherboards, which store all the BIOS and Microcode updates necessary to support new processors as they come out. There's only so much space, and especially X370 boards now support way more processors than pretty much any other board in a long time.
As for whether or not AMD will retire the AM4 socket any time soon, Team Red left that open. It said that it "will depend on the schedule of industry I/O technologies." Essentially, if there are shiny new bits of tech that AMD has to support on its motherboards, it will have to update the socket in order to maximize compatibility.
Still, at least your expensive X570 board will let you upgrade your CPU this year – hopefully that continues for a couple of years.
- Check out our reviews of the Ryzen 3 3100 and Ryzen 3 3300X
