The Ultimate AMD AM5 Motherboard Guide

Memory

There won’t be any DDR4 motherboards for AM5, as AM5 is pressing forward with Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support for the platform and that’ll no doubt give you the best performance too. The platform will support (up to) DDR5-5600 Native (JEDEC) Speeds

EXPO or AMD Extended Profiles for overclocking, if you want to run out of air saying it, is a new feature for AMD’s DDR5 support. It will memory OC on the new platform, similar to Intel’s XMP and while AM4 got off to a rough start with memory support, it’s come a long way, and I expect all those lessons will be put into practice for AM5.

I would have liked to see even the B-series boards support DDR4, but I guess sometimes you just have to move on. DDR5 is more expensive, but the prices have been dropping consistently in the last year, and will no doubt fall into line in the not-too-distant future.

Benefits of DDR5

• Make the most of your memory and reach the next level in gaming with these new technologies.
• DDR5 requires less voltage, which results in lower power consumption than DDR4.
• DDR5 allows for up to double the bandwidth of DDR4.
• DDR5 can have up to four times the capacity in the same space, making sure you never run out of memory again.
• DDR5 also has improvements to error correction, making sure your experience is consistent and reliable.
• Memory meets all JEDEC memory standards, so it’s easier than ever to upgrade.

DDR5 “Sweet Spot”

It’s been said that DDR5-6000 will be the sweet spot for the new AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs once optimized with EXPO as this will allow the CPU to fully utilise what’s on offer, at the lowest latency in a 1:1 FCLK mode. It’s suggested you leave the BIOS FCLK setting at auto, while also performing any memory and memory controller overclocks in 1:1 mode. However, I’m sure for most users, the default profile settings of their memory will be absolutely fine. Of course, I fully expect knowledge of “sweet spots” and overclocking settings to mature in the coming months, as is often the case with a new platform.

AMD EXPO

The AMD Extended Profiles for Overclocking (AMD EXPO™ Technology) was developed to allow for user-friendly memory overclocking support of all types of memory, giving users an easy path to accelerated power to achieve accelerated memory in their system.

AMD Official Memory Partners

While I’m sure other memory brands will work with AM5, and many more partners will follow, so far, these are the ones that are fully onboard, confirmed and tested.