Sunday, February 4th 2024
AMD Readies X870E Chipset to Launch Alongside First Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" CPUs
AMD is readying the new 800-series motherboard chipset to launch alongside its next-generation Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processors that implement the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. The chipset family will be led by the AMD X870E, a successor to the current X670E. Since AMD isn't changing the CPU socket, and this is very much the same Socket AM5, the 800-series chipset will support not just "Granite Ridge" at launch, but also the Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael," and Ryzen 8000 series "Hawk Point." Moore's Law is Dead goes into the details of what sets the X870E apart from the current X670E, and it all has to do with USB4.
Apparently, motherboard manufacturers will be mandated to include 40 Gbps USB4 connectivity with AMD X870E, which essentially makes the chipset a 3-chip solution—two Promontory 21 bridge chips, and a discrete ASMedia ASM4242 USB4 host controller; although it's possible that AMD's QVL will allow other brands of USB4 controllers as they become available. The Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" are chiplet based processors just like the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael," and while the 4 nm "Zen 5" CCDs are new, the 6 nm client I/O die (cIOD) is largely carried over from "Raphael," with a few updates to its memory controller. DDR5-6400 will be the new AMD-recommended "sweetspot" speed; although AMD might get its motherboard vendors to support DDR5-8000 EXPO profiles with an FCLK of 2400 MHz, and a divider.
The Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" will launch alongside a new wave of AMD X870E motherboards, although these processors very much will be supported on AMD 600-series chipset motherboards with BIOS updates. The vast majority of Socket AM5 motherboards feature USB BIOS Flashback, and so you could even pick up a 600-series chipset motherboard with a Ryzen 9000 series processor in combos. The company might expand the 800-series with other chipset models, such as the X870, B850, and the new B840 in the entry level.
Sources:
Moore's Law is Dead (YouTube), Tweaktown
Apparently, motherboard manufacturers will be mandated to include 40 Gbps USB4 connectivity with AMD X870E, which essentially makes the chipset a 3-chip solution—two Promontory 21 bridge chips, and a discrete ASMedia ASM4242 USB4 host controller; although it's possible that AMD's QVL will allow other brands of USB4 controllers as they become available. The Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" are chiplet based processors just like the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael," and while the 4 nm "Zen 5" CCDs are new, the 6 nm client I/O die (cIOD) is largely carried over from "Raphael," with a few updates to its memory controller. DDR5-6400 will be the new AMD-recommended "sweetspot" speed; although AMD might get its motherboard vendors to support DDR5-8000 EXPO profiles with an FCLK of 2400 MHz, and a divider.
216 Comments on AMD Readies X870E Chipset to Launch Alongside First Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" CPUs
edit - hmmmmmmmmm what will those be used for??
frame.work/ca/en/marketplace/expansion-cards
Zen5 on AM5 kinda tickles the brain in just the right way, too.
Something to look forward to looking at, as the platform emerges and the kinks get worked out.
This sounds like a great successor to the X570 chipset.
Damm I just built a second x570 rig for streaming ~~~~
the lowered ram prices helped but now they are going up... i hope the price will be placed accordingly...
if the price is right i might pull the upgrade trigger.... and finally ditch intel
Mandating it is good I suppose, but surely there's more interesting stuff to improve.
Thunderbolt 4? WiFi 7? Better memory traces?
The other thing is that ASM4242 requires four PCIe 4.0 lanes, which aren't free. If board manufacturers decide to connect it directly to the CPU (and assuming AMD allows this) you'll lose one of the 5.0 M.2 slots, if they go with one of the P21s you'll lose something there (probably also an M.2 slot although "only" a 4.0 one).
I don't really mind if I'm only getting 32 Gbps instead of 40, due to gen 3, at least it's not taking faster PCIE priority for a port that's already faster than anything I'll connect to it.