AMD Memory compatibility on X370 post Pinnacle Ridge cpu release.

[os2wiz]

I understand the new Pinnacle Ridge cpus to be released in April will have improved memory compatibility up to 4000mhz. I assume they are making improvements in the IMC on the new cpu. My question is theoretically one should reap those benefits without upgrading to an x470 motherboard corrrect??? The only benefit of x470 is all the pciE 2.0 lanes will now be pciE 3.0. The caveat is the motherboard makers could do something in their Pinnacle Ridge bios updates to stymie use of higher memory speeds on x370 motherboards so they can sell more of those x470 boards. Is they way out in left field or a real likelihood???

[drmrlordx]

I see no reason why X370 boards would suffer worse memory compatibility unless, as you say, they deliberately cripple settings in the UEFI.

[trueblue]

I don't think they will gimp the bios of the older chipset. The 300 series chip sets are probably not even being manufactured anymore, and the April release date is to allow the retailers to clear out the old stock. I think the same thing is going on with the summit ridge cpu's. We have already seen the price cuts.

I think the more interesting question is what features of the new 400 series chipsets are needed for optimization of the Ryzen 2 cpus to be released in 2019? AMD has been very vague about these chipsets. With the IMC on the cpu, I just can't see that it would make a big difference whether the motherboard is a 300 or 400.

I think the quality of the bios writers will matter as much as the chipset. Remember that guy at DFI who wrote all those great bios for their motherboards?

Addendum: Could you imagine if DFI were to re-hire that guy (name escapes at the moment) and renter the main motherboard market? We would then see the real potential of summit or pinnacle ridge AM4 cpu's? One can dream baby, one can dream....

[[XC] Lead Head]

It's not just UEFI settings. The X400 motherboards may have been/improved trace routing to improve memory performance and reliability as well.