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AMD has patched performance issues with Ryzen 9000 CPUs on older motherboards while announcing new market-ready motherboards for the Zen 5 architecture chips.
AMD has pushed out new updates to patch previously reported issues with the recently launched Ryzen 9000 class of chips. Despite the new Zen 5 architecture, the initial wave of reviews following the Ryzen 9000 launch reported significant inter-core and inter-CCD latency, which AMD now claims to have fixed.
The patch comes in the form of BIOS updates, more specifically with the AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 firmware, for mainboards with the AM5 socket. AMD said (via The Verge) that the update allows the number of read and write transactions between cores to be cut into half, reducing the core-to-core lag. The fix targets all new Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, including Ryzen 9 9950X and 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 6 9600X.
In addition to patching performance issues, the BIOS update unlocks overclocking features on the sub-flagship Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X chips with a new 105W TDP. AMD says the higher TDP will increase the performance on the Ryzen 9700X by 10%, which will be “especially beneficial for multithreaded workloads.” The chips have now been validated for higher thermal power, so you won’t push them past their designated limits, but it’s essential to upgrade your cooling accordingly.
Manufacturers, including ASUS, issued BIOS updates for its supported motherboard models earlier today. The announcement aligns with AMD’s market launch of new X870E and X870 series of AM5 motherboards that will be sold by manufacturers, including ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI. Besides supporting the new Ryzen 9000 CPUs, these motherboards will also be backward compatible and will support the older Ryzen 8000 and Ryzen 7000 series chips.
The X870 motherboards are designed for high-end performance and support USB 4.0 and Wi-Fi 7 as standard. These might also be worth picking up if, in addition to deploying the latest Ryzen 9 chips, you plan to upgrade to the rumored Nvidia RTX 50 series GPUs since the motherboards come with PCIe Gen 5 support. AMD projects the AM5 sockets to be supported through 2027.
