News

AMD Enthusiast X370 Chipset Leaked and Detailed

When AMD unveiled Bristol Ridge earlier in the month, they also released some details for their new AM4 platform. Used for Bristol Ridge and Zen, the new socket utilizes a new series of chipsets. So far B350 and A320 have been officially released for the mainstream and essential (budget) markets respectively. Now, we’re getting our first leak for the new enthusiast-oriented X370 chipset.

Known as the Promontory family, the new chipsets offer a reimagined take on what a chipset should do. As the top product, X370 offers the most connectivity as well the greatest flexibility. While B350 has overclocking, the X370 will reportedly feature additional support for  2x 16 PCIe Crossfire/SLI.

Starting with AM4, the CPU/APU apparently only outputs a total of 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes. For the B350 and A320, the chipset and standard ports like SATA and USB 3.0 take up 8 lanes, leaving 8 lanes for a PCIe 3.0 x8 connector. This cannot be split without a PLX chip, meaning B350 and A320 motherboards cannot support Crossfire or SLI which requires at least 2 sets of PCIe x4 lanes.

This is where X370 comes in which as we know from the leak will support Crossfire and SLI. Since the CPU/APU only supports a total of 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes, this means the X370 likely features some kind of splitter. I’m guessing the chipset will receive the regular 4 lanes + the 8 dedicated lanes but feature PLX functions to output 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 lanes. This will allow Crossfire and SLI to be supported.

Generally, PLX implementation cost the motherboard OEMs quite a bit but by bundling it into the enthusiast chipset, AMD will likely be able to reduce the cost. If our assumptions hold true, it will be interesting to see how well the implementation works given the slightly higher latency due to running the PCIe lanes through the chipset. It’s a tad disappointing that AMD isn’t giving more links out of the CPU.

At this point, the information we’re getting is still unconfirmed by AMD. For now, Bristol Ridge, AM4, and the corresponding chipsets are only released for OEMs. This means it’s going to be a rare motherboard that will use X370. Once AM4 hits retail with X30, we may finally find out what AMD has really done to their chips.

Samuel Wan

Samuel joined eTeknix in 2015 after becoming engrossed in technology and PC hardware. With his passion for gaming and hardware, tech writing was the logical step to share the latest news with the world. When he’s not busy dreaming about the latest hardware, he enjoys gaming, music, camping and reading.

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Twitch Now Banning All Content Focusing On Intimate Body Parts

As by now, I'm sure you are aware Twitch has decided to go ahead and…

6 hours ago

Seconds Patch of “Operation Medic Bag” For Payday 3 Released

I doubt many of you have been keeping up with Payday 3 which is understandable…

8 hours ago

MSI Announces SPATIUM M580 FROZR With A Huge Cooler

Today MSI has announced a new Gen 5 SSD, the SPATIUM M580 FROZR which comes…

8 hours ago

LENRUE PC Speakers, USB/USB-C Powered Computer Speakers with Loud Stereo Sound

Stereo and Noiseless - Without any noise! After multiple debugging, suppress static. Become clearer and…

8 hours ago

HP M27f Ultraslim Monitor 27 Inch

PICTURE-PERFECT IMMERSION – Work or play on a monitor that redefines high definition with its…

8 hours ago

Govee LED Light Bars, Smart WiFi RGBIC TV Backlight

Syncs With Your Music: With an internal high-sensitivity mic, Govee Flow Plus LED light bars…

8 hours ago