AMD Confirms B550 Will Support Zen 3

With the AMD B550 motherboard platform arriving next-month, while better late than never, there have been more than a few question marks surrounding exactly where this would stand in terms of support for AMD Ryzen as a whole.

In a report via Videocardz, however, we have an answer to some of the biggest and most critical B550 questions! This isn’t hyperbole either. There’s some truly big news here and particularly surrounding the future support of AMD and Ryzen!

AMD B550 Motherboards & Zen 3

Starting with one of the most speculated pieces of news, AMD has confirmed that the B550 motherboard platform will fully-support PCI-E 4.0. A rather important distinction as Intel’s Z490 models will still only offer limited support.

In addition to this, however, AMD has also confirmed that B550 motherboards will be Zen 3 compatible. This means that this will work with AMD Ryzen 4XXX which is expected before the end of the year. There is, however, a downside to this as well!

Time to Move On!

With the B550 motherboards offering Zen 3 support, while this is fantastic news, it will represent the first true ‘cut off’ point for the AMD Ryzen range. Specifically, because the B550 platform will be the last motherboard platform offering both backwards and forwards compatibility.

In other words, while B550 motherboards will work with Ryzen’s 1st-4th gen designs, Ryzen 4 CPUs will not work on older motherboard designs! In other words, Ryzen 4 will only work on existing X570 and upcoming B550 designs! Well, those and the designs that’ll undoubtedly come with its release!

What Do We Think?

It’s not entirely surprising news and, quite frankly, had to happen sooner or later. The biggest plus sign, however, is that buying a B550 motherboard does at least represent a decent mid-long term solution if you plan to stick with AMD Ryzen. The only bad news is that owners of existing 1st and 2nd-gen motherboards looking to move to Ryzen 4 will be required to get a more modern motherboard. So, good and bad news, but let’s be honest, AMD has been pretty awesome in keeping older motherboards happy on Ryzen and, arguably, for a lot longer than many would’ve expected!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!