Review of chipsets for the AMD AM4 platform. Concepts and component overview New amd chipsets

Six months ago, however, he related to the state of affairs at that point in time. A lot has changed over the past months. Firstly, the long-awaited new processors appeared, which fully justified the long wait. However, not only this is important, but also a change in the platform characteristics itself: processors for AM4 integrate part of the functions of the south bridge of the chipset (for the first time on the mass market), so the capabilities of the computer as a whole will depend not only on the board. Examples of such integration have been encountered before, but they mainly concerned the “main” PCIe controller, and in a limited version - and for AM4 everything is more complicated. Secondly, it appeared detailed information about the entire current line of chipsets, whereas at the first stage only a couple were presented budget models. Accordingly, it is time to return to the platform and understand it thoroughly.

General anamnesis

For those who follow computer news only occasionally, just in case, let us remind you that AM4 is a new platform for mass AMD processors, and for the first time in many years, a single platform - both for high-performance models, and for budget ones, and for solutions with a high degree of integration, including GPUs (in AMD terminology - not “processors”, but APUs). In terms of common device AM4 has practically nothing in common with the archaic AM3+ (the origins of which go back to the beginning of the century), which requires the use of at least three chips to create a complete system: a processor, as well as the north and south bridges of the chipset. Despite the name, the new platform is more reminiscent of the various FMx previously used for APUs, since it is also dual-chip. Moreover, it is theoretically possible to build a single-chip system (which was first tested in SoC for the budget low-power AM1 platform) - albeit with somewhat limited functionality, but functional. This is achieved precisely due to the fact that part of the possibilities for connecting various peripherals is realized central processor- chipsets only expand them, and do not fully implement them.

In its finished form AM4 is similar to Intel platforms, occupying an intermediate position between LGA1150 and LGA1151. It is similar to the latter by a dual-channel DDR4 memory controller. The first is that the majority of chipsets support only PCIe 2.0: the new 3.0 standard is implemented only in lines directly from the processor. However, there are also nuances: there are more than 16 such lines, which are usually used for a video card (one or two in 8+8 mode), which allows you to install a high-speed solid-state drive into the system without using chipset lines, so in this regard, the new platform is something It also resembles the LGA2011 family. Of course, with limitations, but for the mass market they are not critical, and in the server segment there will be completely different platforms: with eight-channel memory controllers and other attributes necessary in such an environment.

Processor as SoC

So, processors for AM4 also include some semblance of a south bridge. For the first time, such “separated functionality” was implemented in mobile APUs of the Carrizo family; it was their immediate successors that became the first APUs for AM4 last fall. Ryzen processors have expanded their capabilities for connecting peripherals.

Let's look at all this in detail. So, the “primary” PCIe, which once (and not only in prehistoric times - AM3+ has not completely left the market yet) was part of the north bridge, not the south bridge: instead of PCIe 3.0 x8, it became x16. Moreover, as you would expect, with the possibility of dividing into x8+x8 (but on boards not with all the new chipsets). To some extent, this can be considered a step back in comparison with AM3+, the best chipsets for which supported x16+x16 mode for a pair of video cards. But we should not forget that then these were lines PCI standard e 2.0, that is, the throughput of video card slots has not decreased. Yes, and what is mainly needed is data exchange not between video cards (even if there are two of them), but between their local memory and the RAM, the controller of which is located in the processor. As a result, on the old platform the interface between the processor and the northbridge of the chipset began to interfere, but the new one does not have this problem. As it should be nowadays :)

As for connecting various drives, last year’s APUs had two PCIe 3.0 lines (which, however, can also be used for peripherals) and two SATA ports. Ryzen processors come with technology similar to Flexible I/O chipsets from Intel: these four high-speed I/O ports can be configured as before, or can be turned into PCIe 3.0 x4, abandoning SATA. Thus, to install one high-speed NVMe drive (which is quite enough for users in practice), support for PCIe 3.0 by the chipset is not required, and it is connected directly to the processor - as in Intel HEDT platforms. Moreover, this approach directly provokes board manufacturers to install an M.2 slot on all products (even the cheapest) on any chipset. This doesn’t even require complex circuits - we simply connect it from the socket and automatically get support for SATA and PCIe. Will it not be used? Even if these lines disappear, in most cases nothing terrible will happen, but in more expensive boards you can use more complex wiring. In general, we have beautiful things in front of us. technical solution, and also inexpensive. Which in itself is an advantage of the new platform, all other things being equal :)

USB support has not changed: both new and old processors are equipped with a four-port USB 3.0 controller. This is not so much, but not small either, fortunately, again, no additional microcircuits are required. Support for the updated USB 3.1 standard (with everything inherent in it, not only increased speed: power supply, C-type connectors, etc.) has not yet been implemented, although some have been waiting for it. We will not be surprised if by the time the APU is updated, at least partial support for the new specifications will appear in them.

In general, in terms of the degree of integration, the new platform has stepped far ahead compared not only to AM3+, but also to FM2+, and the release of Ryzen has worsened the situation. And in comparison with Intel desktop platforms, everything is good. True, Intel also has in its assortment specialized SoCs of the Atom and Xeon D lines, where everything is “packed” into one chip, but they are not particularly versatile and are not aimed at the mass desktop market. Unlike AM4.

Main line of chipsets

Simultaneously with last year's APUs, two junior companion chips were announced; the eldest was simply not needed at that time. Now all three are available. There are fewer of them than Intel chipsets for LGA115x (even not counting business models), and their division into segments, in our opinion, is much simpler and more logical.

For example, Intel has support for overclocking and Multi-GPU only in one top chipset - all others lack it. For AMD, only the junior A320 is completely “offended”: two out of three chipsets support overclocking, although the “splitting” of 16 “processor” PCIe lines into a pair of slots is also only possible for the top-end X370. As a result, it should be considered most correct to use the X370 in “full-size” ATX boards, where there are indeed several PCIe x16 slots, and the B350 is suitable for more compact systems.

The X370 is also a leader in the number of SATA ports, which can also only be in demand in a full-size system: there are up to eight of them, even without taking into account those provided by the processor, and half can be configured into two SATA Express connectors if the motherboard manufacturer wishes (in recent years, usually missing due to the fact that drives with such an interface never appeared). Low-end chipsets support six SATA600 ports, so in this regard they are equivalent to older Intel chipsets, and not at all budget Intel H110, for example, although the A320 should compete directly with it. Moreover, all AMD chipsets also support the creation of disk RAID arrays 0, 1 and 10 - Intel only implements this functionality in the older pair of chipsets.

The possibilities for connecting additional controllers, however, lag somewhat behind Intel's proposals: only PCIe 2.0 is officially offered in the amount of four, six and eight lanes for the A320, B350 and X370, respectively. On the other hand, the interface between the processor and the chipset is the same for both companies, and this may well be the bottleneck. In addition, an NVMe drive with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface from AMD can be connected directly to the processor and will not compete for the bandwidth of the south bridge. Intel's mainstream platforms look less attractive in this regard.

USB support is also very good high level. In particular, all new chipsets support six USB 2.0 ports, which will be enough to connect low-speed peripherals. All support USB 3.1 - even the younger A320 has one port of this type, while the rest have two. True, we are talking exclusively about the speed capabilities of the ports - the implementation of Power Delivery and other features of the new version of the USB specification still requires the use of additional chips, such as, working in tandem with the main USB controller. But this is also a step forward. There was also room for at least two (in the A320 and B350) or six (X370) USB ports 3.0 - in addition to the four provided by the processor. Thus, the total number of USB ports in a system based on the X370 chipset can reach 18, and 12 of them are high-speed. For comparison, the Intel Z270 chipset supports only up to 14 USB ports, with only 10 USB versions 3.0, and the USB 3.1 specification has not yet been implemented in any form. In principle, in practice, 10 ports are more than enough, but 12 is objectively more :)

Switches for compact systems

Although it was said above that theoretically the AM4 platform can be single-chip, since sufficient functionality for many applications is provided directly by processors, the second bridge is also proposed for compact systems. More precisely, even two: X300 and A300.

It is worth noting that they do not have any additional functionality, but rather are intended to simplify system design and market segmentation. According to AMD's idea, a system with an X300 can use overclocking and a pair of video cards, but installing a cheaper A300 prohibits these capabilities. In addition, these chips “convert” inter-hub PCIe 3.0 x4 into standard slots, allow the use of RAID arrays of the zero or first level, can combine SATA ports and a pair of PCIe lanes into a SATA Express slot, etc. It is clear that all these capabilities can also be built directly into processors. Yes, it will most likely be so - they just didn’t bother with this during the development of Carrizo, because for desktop systems they were not intended and used rather crude production standards, and later they had to “pull” the burden of compatibility. It is quite possible that by the time APUs appear on the new microarchitecture, the need for this will disappear completely.

Total

After the announcement of the X370 chipset and Ryzen 7 family processors, the AM4 platform can be considered generally complete. In fact, up to this point its components had practically never been found in retail sales, so the autumn announcement by many computer users went completely unnoticed. Will there be something “a level higher”? Within the framework of AM4 - no, but AMD will soon present its version of HEDT systems (so the $499 limit for a top-end processor did not appear at all because of the altruism of the manufacturer :)). However, it is quite possible that other chipsets will not be needed - the X370 already covers the needs of not only the mass segment of computers. As low-cost solutions of the Ryzen 5, Ryzen 3 and new APU families begin to be supplied, younger (formally the oldest) chipsets will become increasingly relevant, also allowing the production of systems with the appropriate modern level functionality. And the direction of their development can be seen quite well: in particular, over time it will make sense to implement support for PCIe 3.0 and shift the focus from USB 3.0 to USB 3.1 (or, in modern terminology, from USB 3.1 Gen1 to Gen2), and not only in terms of bandwidth. But that will happen later.

AMD surprised us with a new platform for high-performance Ryzen Threadripper Rome processors.

Processors, and by design multi-chip modules, Rome will receive up to 64 computing cores and a monolithic 8-channel DDR4 memory interface, as well as 128 PCIe gen 4.0 lanes.

For this platform, AMD can reconfigure the I/O controller core into two subplatforms. One of them is aimed at gamers and enthusiasts, and the second will become a competitor to the Xeon W.

For gamers, the platform will have 4 DDR4 channels and 64 PCI-Express gen 4.0 lanes from the processor, and a number of additional lines from the chipset. The workstation variant will have a wider memory bus, more PCIe lanes and backwards compatible with AMD X399 (at the cost of a narrower memory bus and PCIe).

To provide this diversity, AMD plans to release three new chipsets at once: TRX40, TRX80 and WRX80.

The first variant, TRX40, could get a lighter I/O set (similar to the X570), and possibly 4-channel memory on the motherboard. At the same time, TRX80 and WRX80 will use full capabilities I/O provided by the processor, with 8 memory channels and 64 PCIe lanes. While the differences between these chipsets are unclear, we are confident that WRX80-based motherboards will be similar to true workstation boards such as SSI and will be made by industrial board manufacturers such as TYAN.

Currently, it is known that Asus is preparing two platforms based on the TRX40 chipset, which are known as Prime TRX40-Pro and ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming.

ASUS Brings PCIe 4.0 to X470 Based Boards

AMD previously stated that users can safely purchase motherboards based on X470 chipsets for Ryzen 3000 processors. The only loss will be the lack of support PCI buses e 4.0, without loss of performance. But it turned out that even a tire can be saved.

Asus has presented a compatibility table for motherboards based on the X470 and B450 chipsets, which managed to partially retain support for PCIe 4.0. Most boards provide this bus for drives in the M.2 slot, which is not surprising since this slot is usually connected directly to the processor. On some models, PCIe 4.0 is provided on full-length PCIe 16x graphics card slots.

Naturally, support for version 4 of the PCIe bus is only possible when installing a Ryzen 3000 series processor and flashing the appropriate BIOS. Good news for anyone who is planning an upgrade or wants to save money on a motherboard.

Even the simplest motherboards based on X570 chipsets will cost more than 200 euros

MSI executive director Charles China said that the upcoming motherboards based on the X570 chipsets will not be cheap.

MSI motherboards based on the X570 chipset will not be more affordable than motherboards based on the Z390, since their cost is quite high. Mr. China noted that PCIE 4.0 consumes more power, and the design of motherboards has become more complex. And this is one of the many factors of growing costs.

He said that AMD has changed a lot over the past two years. And while it continues to produce reasonably priced products, it wants to be more present in the expensive high-end segment. That's why it asks manufacturers to create expensive boards with high specifications.

China noted that boards based on X470 chipsets remain on the market, and therefore can become an inexpensive alternative to new developments.

It is noteworthy that one Austrian online store has already published preliminary prices for MSI motherboards based on the X570 chipset. And they don't cost less than 200 euros.

Ryzen 3000 performance will be the same across all generations of motherboards

AMD has officially introduced new Zen 2 processors manufactured using 7 nm technology. These processors promise significant performance gains, lower temperatures, higher frequencies and more cores.

Ryzen 3000 processors are officially supported by older X470 and B450 chipsets, as well as X370 and B350 after BIOS updates. However, it was unclear whether the new processors would be able to show all their power on old motherboards.

Donnie Woligroski, a member of AMD's enthusiast desktop team, confirmed that users will not lose any performance by using older motherboards with the new processors. “Just because the X570 exists, and just because the X570 is the most advanced chipset available in 2019, doesn't mean the B450 or X470 are no longer relevant. It makes a lot of sense to use smaller platforms like the X470 and B450, which will offer the same performance with third-generation Ryzen processors as the X570.".

In other words, you can fully count on excellent performance new processors in old motherboards. But new functionality, such as PCIe 4.0, can only be found on boards with the X570 chipset.

ASMedia will make mainstream PCI 4.0 chipsets for AMD

DigiTimes reported rumors that ASMedia and AMD will continue their partnership, even after AMD itself released the X570 series chipsets.

Industry sources report that ASMedia will develop mainstream chipsets with support for PCI Express 4.0, but their production will not begin until the end of this year.

As you know, AMD is preparing the 3rd generation of Ryzen desktop processors by mid-2019. These chips will be manufactured at 7 nm standards at TSMC factories and will be the first in the world to support the PCIe Gen 4 bus at 16 GT/s. However, mainstream platforms will receive corresponding chipsets in the future.

Despite the rumors, ASMedia confirmed that cooperation with AMD continues, and that the company has received all orders for the production of mainstream class chipsets.

AMD is preparing to announce the 3rd generation Ryzen at Computex

Intel Company is practically panicking to create new Comet Lake processors with 10 cores, and a leaked slide gave some explanation as to why.

According to a slide shown at Gigabyte's private event, the third generation of Ryzen desktop processors could be released as early as Computex 2019, which will take place in June. The platform will receive the first consumer processors of the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse, as well as the AMD X570 chipset.

It is expected that the third generation X570 chipsets will become the world's first platform to implement the PCI-Express gen 4.0 bus. AMD is also expected to provide backwards compatibility with older processors for the 300 and 400 series chipsets through separate PCI -Express implementations on the motherboard.

This may lead to a slight increase in the price of 500-series motherboards, but there will still be savings if you don't need PCI-e 4.0.

AMD X499 Chipset Debuts at CES 2019

AMD still plans to launch the new chipset at CES 2019.

Initially, it was expected that this chipset would be released along with the second generation of Ryzen Threadripper processors, but AMD decided to postpone it. Now there are rumors that the X499 is returning to the road AMD card, and is currently scheduled to debut at CES 2019.

Exactly what changes await us in the X499 chipset is not yet known for certain, but big changes are reported in two areas: firstly, the PCI-Express downstream speed should be updated to the PCI-Express gen 3.0 standard; and secondly, the new chipset should provide support for 8 memory channels. And this despite the fact that Threadripper WX supports 4 memory channels. All this will make Threadripper processors more competitive against Intel's 28-core HEDTs, which have 6 DRAM channels.

AMD 400 chipset series available from PCI-SIG integrator

AMD has announced a transition from 14 nm LPP to 12 nm LP processor production process in the near future. And now there are signs that new chipsets will be released along with the new CPUs.

The company has a new series of AMD 400 chipsets, which appeared on the PCI-SIG website. PCI-SIG is a PCIe interface compatibility testing program. The listing says the series ID is "Promontory 400". The current generation of chipsets, the 300s, was also released under the Promontory brand. In addition to the integrator list, data has appeared about the root complex of 400 series chipsets, which includes a PCIe 3.0 interface.

Thus, the 400th series of chipsets will receive a modification for the PCIe 3.0 bus and will not contain PCIe 4.0. This is also due to the company’s promise to support socket 1331 for the AM4 platform until 2020, which means the transition to DDR5 memory and the PCIe 4.0 bus will require a change in pinout.

AMD traditionally orders its chipsets from ASMedia. This has been happening since 2014, and in the 300 series the developers were able to significantly reduce power consumption. Probably, in the 400th series we will see new optimizations in our work.

Features of the Zen chipset may increase the cost of motherboards

Chipsets for Zen microarchitecture processors, which AMD ordered the development of from Taiwanese company ASMedia Technology, may have some design problems, due to which the cost of producing motherboards could increase by 2-5 US dollars.

Despite the successful design and development process of Zen CPUs, chipsets for them developed by ASMedia have problems with USB 3.1. DigiTimes reports this, citing motherboard manufacturers.

Due to chipset limitations, speed USB operation 3.1 drops catastrophically as the route length increases, which leads to the need to use additional repeater chips on motherboards or even use a separate USB 3.1 controller. Naturally, this will lead to additional costs when producing motherboards.

Against the backdrop of weak demand for PCs, increasing costs will negatively affect the popularity of Zen processors. To partially solve this AMD problems decided to purchase repeater chips from third-party manufacturers, and will supply them to motherboard manufacturers together with chipsets. True, there are no details about this strategic step by AMD yet.

When asked to comment on the current situation, AMD expressed satisfaction with the work done to prepare Zen and did not comment concrete solutions board manufacturers. At the same time, ASMedia assured that all this is market rumors, and its product has passed all types of certification for signals, stability and compatibility.

The design of the Zen chipset has already been completed and will begin shipping at the end of the third quarter. Mass production of the chip will begin in the fourth quarter.

AMD and ASMedia have entered into an agreement on chipsets

ASMedia announced the signing of an agreement with AMD, but refused to disclose any details about this deal, only clarifying that the companies are now working on a chipset project next generation.

The DigiTimes website notes that AMD previously ordered some developments from ASMedia in an effort to save money. Now, ASMedia will probably develop an entire chipset for AMD.

In May, DigiTimes reported that AMD plans to partner with ASMedia, either by obtaining SATA Express intellectual property from the Taiwanese chipmaker or by purchasing licenses from ASMedia.

Be that as it may, the partnership ended successfully for both companies, resulting in the development of a new chipset. Given that much of the chipset's functionality on PCs is integrated into the processor, the agreement could help AMD conserve cash and allow the company to focus on developing APUs and semi-custom products.

AMD is preparing a new A68 chipset for September

AMD plans to release a new A68 chipset in September, making this decision based on accelerated consumption warehouse stocks CPU.

Meanwhile, motherboard makers, who still have large inventories of AMD chipsets, oppose the plans and are not eager to support the company's new chipsets, DigiTimes reports, citing component suppliers.

After graduation Intel processors Haswell Refresh demand for AMD processors has plummeted, forcing AMD to take a number of measures to preserve its market.

Chipsets entry level AMD A58, which does not support USB 3.0, is aimed at the Chinese market, but demand for them has been very weak. The A68 chipset was not on the company's original roadmap, but they will now be released and will be priced just $2 higher than the A58.

Most motherboard manufacturers still have large inventories of A58 and A78 chips, so AMD's decision to release an intermediate version, the A68, will certainly affect future product plans.

AMD itself refused to comment on the unannounced product.

AMD will not release a new chipset this year

After the transition to the new Volan platform, many expected to see new chipsets, but this will not happen.

The Volan platform with new processors codenamed Vishera is fully compatible with the current AMD 990FX, AMD 990X and AMD 970 northbridges.

Most motherboards currently being produced have the SB950 south bridge, which will remain on boards at least until mid-2013. And while this chipset doesn't have native USB 3.0 support, it does have as many as 14 USB 2.0 ports and even two USB 1.1 ports. In addition, it supports PCIe x4 Gen 2, 6 SATA 6GB/s ports, Raid 0/1/5 and 10 and comes in a 605-pin FCGBGA package. It is also fully pin-compatible with the SB850, making it extremely convenient for motherboard manufacturers.

According to current plans, only one southbridge will be supported in the Volan platform until new processor architectures are introduced. It seems that in a couple of years AMD will fall even further behind Intel, but we will believe that during this time the company will gain strength and be able to compete with its competitor on equal terms, as in the old days.

But even so, AMD has a chance only in some market segments, since it is simply impossible to become the new leader among high-performance CPUs. On the other hand, the company has always had its fans thanks to its favorable pricing policy.

Information about AMD 1090FX and 1070 chipsets has appeared

AMD has a well-established development mechanism, thanks to which by the end of each year the company releases a new processor architecture, as well as a new chipset for it, and at the beginning of the next year it updates the chipset. Thus, the company introduced the AM3+ socket along with the 9th series of chipsets, which means that at the beginning of next year, new desktop chipsets designed for second-generation processors of the Bulldozer architecture, known as Piledriver, should appear.

In 2012, the AMD chipset family will expand with the 10th series. At its top there will be north bridge AMD 1090FX, and the lower version will be called 1070. The AMD 1090FX has a design that provides two PCI-Express x16 lanes, which can ultimately be used to run four video cards. The low-end chipset, 1070, has only one PCI-Express x16 lane and, accordingly, can support two video cards. The most curious thing about the 10 series of chipsets is that they do not support PCI Express Gen 3.0. This course of events is quite strange, because AMD has always been at the forefront modern technologies, just remember that AMD 790FX was the first chipset to support PCI-Express 2.0. The lack of support for PCI -E third generation looks doubly strange, because, according to rumors, Radeon video cards HD 7000 will support the third version of this bus.

From the “south” side, episode ten system logic AMD will be represented by the SB1050 southbridge. The new southbridge will support 8 SATA 6 Gb/s RAID ports. The SB1050 chip will also include a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ​​controller.

The new chipsets should quickly push existing 9-series chips out of stock, as they are fully compatible with existing processors. Perhaps, after the start of Piledriver sales, there will be some comments from AMD about why their new logic does not support PCI -E 3.0.

AMD is going to control 100% of the chipsets for its processors

The head of the product group at Advanced Micro Devices Corporation, Rick Bergman, confirmed that his company’s goal now is complete control of the system logic market for AMD processors.

In principle, it has long been known that NVIDIA is not going to release new chipsets that compete with AMD solutions, allegedly due to the latter’s small processor market. But now words have come from the lips of one of AMD's leading executives that may explain this strange behavior of NVIDIA.

For many years, AMD has said that the advantage of its processors over Intel solutions is the wide support for third-party chipsets like NVIDIA, Silicon Integrated Systems, VIA, etc. However, after the takeover of ATI, it became clear that AMD was going to increase its profits at the expense of the system logic market.

SiS and Via Technologies have not presented their chipsets to AMD for several years, but NVIDIA, according to AMD, still controls up to 43% of the market for such solutions. Mr. Bergman said that the ultimate goal is 100% of the chipset market for its own processors. This sounds like a death knell for NVIDIA, given that NVIDIA's integrated graphics aren't much better, and AMD has all the market leverage at its disposal to force manufacturers to use their processors in conjunction with their own chipsets.

AMD's strategy is logical, as is Intel's similar strategy. Both companies are trying their best to oust NVIDIA from the chipset market. Unfortunately, they have so far managed to do this successfully.

Today, AMD officially unveiled the B450, a new chipset for the mainstream AM4 platform. This chipset is positioned as an alternative to competing solutions Intel B360 and B250, as well as a more affordable product than the X470 with quite comparable capabilities. Four PCI Express 3.0 lanes (32 Gbit/s) are used to exchange data between the central processor and the B450 chip. Using the new chip, the following interfaces can be implemented on motherboards: USB 3.1 and USB 3.0 (2 connectors each), USB 2.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s (6 connectors each). Built-in six PCI Express 2.0 lanes can communicate with “external” controllers Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, PCI-E slots for expansion cards, etc.

The differences between the AMD B350 and B450 system logic sets are generally small, but certain features of the new chip may be useful to at least some users. In particular, we are talking about support for the advanced dynamic overclocking technology Precision Boost Overdrive, associated with 12 nm Ryzen 2000 (Pinnacle Ridge) processors. In addition, using the chipset in question, you can build RAID arrays of levels 0, 1 and 10, as well as increase performance disk subsystem through StoreMI technology, AMD's answer to Intel's caching technology using low-capacity Optane drives.

Note that the development of Advanced Micro Devices supports all common types of flash memory in SSDs, including 3D XPoint memory, and uses up to 2 GB RAM DDR4 for faster data access.

The list of processors supported by AMD B450 includes 28-, 14- and 12-nanometer CPUs and APUs in the AM4 design - from the modest Athlon X4 950 (Bristol Ridge) to the flagship Ryzen 7 2700X. By the way, most serial AM4/B450 motherboards will be limited to supporting 12- and 14-nm processors due to their clear superiority over 28-nm predecessors on the one hand and the limited capacity of UEFI flash chips on the other.

The PCI Express bus controller consists of two blocks of two “engines”, each of which has 8 PCI-E lanes. As a result, thanks to such a large number of PCI-E lanes, two graphics adapters can operate in the “PCI-E x16 + PCI-E x16” mode, while the engines are divided into pairs. If more than two video cards are used, the engines operate independently, and the configuration of the graphic interfaces is as follows: x8+x8+x8+(x8). Considering twice the bandwidth of the PCI Express 2.0 bus, a reduction to the “x8” mode is unlikely to affect performance, especially since powerful Radeon series solutions always use special bridges to connect each other.

The AMD 790X chipset also supports 32 PCI Express lanes for graphics system, but the available operating mode is only “PCI-E x16 + PCI-E x16”, which means that only two adapters can be combined into CrossFire. The younger representative - AMD 770 has only one graphics connector, does not support CrossFire mode and is designed for the mass market.

Go to new version HyperTransport made it possible to raise the bus bandwidth bar to 20.8 Gb/s, the frequency is 2.6 GHz (6.4 Gb/s and 1 GHz for HyperTransport 1.0, respectively), but depending on the processor it can have lower values . As with PCI Express 2.0, there is full compatibility between products that support different versions interfaces. Thus, Phenom processors with Socket AM2+ can be easily installed in boards with Socket AM2 and vice versa, and the HyperTransport frequency will be equal to 1 GHz. But do not forget that with different combinations of AM2+ and AM2, some technologies that were originally supported by the AM2+ platform will no longer be available to users. For example, CoolCore, which, along with Cool’n’Quiet, allows you to reduce the energy consumption of new processors, as well as the ability to install DDR2-1066 memory.

The entire line of new chipsets is made according to 65-nanometer technological standards, while the maximum level of power consumption is only 10 W, which is quite low and allows us to talk about the high energy efficiency of the new platform.

The south bridge uses the time-tested SB600 chip, which is slightly behind its competitors in functionality. The South Bridge supports up to 6 PCI devices, four SATA II channels, with the ability to organize RAID arrays 0, 1 and 1+0, one IDE channel, 10 USB 2.0 ports and HD Audio. In the future, the company plans to equip its chipsets southern bridges SB700, which is expected to support 6 SATA II channels, more than ten USB ports, as well as some technological improvements.

Considering the widespread fashion for releasing products aimed at overclockers and enthusiasts - even Intel could not resist - AMD was expected to do something more than just advertising slogans about new platform, updated system buses and supported technologies. Indeed, the company presented the most powerful software environment for fine tuning systems – AMD OverDrive, which, together with the addition of the latest chipsets to the BIOS structure, will allow you to configure the system, take monitoring readings and overclock directly from Windows, which really emphasizes the focus of the Spider platform.

As we can see, after a long lull, the company has released really interesting products, and initially designed not only for home users, but also for enthusiasts and overclockers, whose army is growing exponentially.

From the theoretical part you can safely move on to the practical. Today we will look at Gigabyte board MA790FX-DQ6 is based on the highest chipset of the seventh series, which, to match the logic set itself, belongs to the manufacturer’s top line.

Ryzen 7 1700, 1700X and 1800X - these are the three chips that the computer community will be talking about for the next six months. The 1800X, for example, should significantly outperform the best Intel processor in benchmarks, but will cost almost half as much. According to unconfirmed reports, this CPU even set a world record in Cinebench. Our full-fledged tests for introducing the processor into , of course, will definitely be carried out soon.

The processors have 8 cores and are capable of processing 16 threads by supporting simultaneous multithreading. The clock frequency is at least 3000 MHz. In theory, this should provide high “multi-core” performance, which will be “tamed” by new chipsets. This is exactly the task that will be assigned to motherboards with socket AM4.

What should this chipset be like?

AMD announced five chipsets for motherboards: A300, X300, A320, B350 and X370. For the market desktop computers The last three of these are of particular interest. The A320, B350 and X370 support USB 3.1 Gen 2 as well as Raid level 0.1 and 10.

Motherboards with A320 are currently not yet available. They differ from the more advanced B350 chipset in that you will not be able to work with the free multiplier of all AMD AM4 processors. Thus, it will not be possible to overclock the processor. But the B350 chipset this opportunity offers in combination with additional PCI Express lanes.

At the top of this hierarchy is the X370 chipset. It offers two full PCIe x16 3.0 slots for graphic cards and, accordingly, allows you to use the SLI/Crossfire mode. Of course, here you will also get additional PCIe lanes, more SATA and USB ports.

Conclusion: if you want to assemble a top-class system, choose motherboard with X370 chipset. Most users will be quite happy with the Ryzen family, which is preparing to go mainstream, with motherboards based on the B350 chipset. And only those who do not plan to play with processor clock frequencies can safely take models with the A320.

Below we take a closer look at the three most interesting board models.

Most Expensive Motherboard: MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium

If you want to build a truly top-notch PC on the AMD platform, then perhaps your choice may well fall on. This motherboard offers four slots to accommodate 64 GB of DDR4 RAM with clock frequency 2666 MHz.

In addition to the now familiar six SATA connectors, there are places on board to connect two SSDs with an M.2 interface and one more for high-capacity U.2-SSDs. You also get two PCI 3.0 slots for graphics cards, 8-channel audio and an S/PDIF connector. HDMI and Displayport are also integrated here, indicating that future AMD APUs will support integrated graphics solutions.

Purchasing this motherboard will only make sense if you really plan to occupy all the slots with the appropriate components.

Budget motherboard: Biostar X370GT5

Those who do not need so many connectors can choose the model. It can also accommodate up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM with a clock frequency of 2666 MHz. However, there are slightly fewer comfortable options here. Only one PCIe x16 slot meets the requirements of the fast 3.0 standard.

This motherboard also has only one M.2 connector for solid state drives and there is no digital audio output. But for those who do not want to say goodbye to their old keyboard and wants to connect it directly to the motherboard, a PS/2 connector is provided.

Budget motherboard: ASRock AB350M-HDV

It’s a pity to insert even the cheapest processor of the Ryzen family, R7 1700, into this motherboard. But since there are really affordable solutions with the X370 in the form factor Micro ATX not yet, if you want to build a budget PC, you will have to choose a device with the B350 chipset.

The board provides support for DDR4 RAM with a clock frequency of 2400 MHz, but its maximum size- 32 GB. However, even on this cheap motherboard there is room to connect an SSD with an M.2 interface. At the same time, the sound equipment with its three standard connectors is rather meager.

In addition, the manufacturer indicates that it is intended to work with processors whose TDP does not exceed 65 W. So currently you can only use AMD R7 1700.