AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen 3 BIOS Support Added To These ASUS, Gigabyte, And MSI 500-Series Motherboards
AMD made a splash last week by announcing its Ryzen 5000 series of CPUs based on Zen 3, with up to 16 cores and 32 threads, and a huge IPC (instructions per clock) uplift. What it did not do, however, is announce a new chipset. Whether one is coming or not for Zen 3 remains to be seen, but armed with the latest BIOS update for your X570, B550, or A520 motherboard, you should be able to POST with a Zen 3 CPU.
In case you missed it, Zen 3 represents a 'take no prisoners' lineup. Core for core, Intel has generally maintained a lead in single-threaded workloads, and has held an advantage in overall gaming performance. That was before Zen 3 came along. If AMD's numbers and claims are correct, the Ryzen 5000 series will catapult the company's lineup ahead of Intel in pretty much every CPU performance category. At least until Rocket Lake-S arrives, which figures to be Intel's last major upgrade on its long lived 14-nanometer node.
But a performance comparison is a topic for another day (when we are able to test AMD's newest CPUs on our own). That said, if you own a motherboard based on AMD's X570, A520, or B550 chipset, you can prep your PC for a drop-in upgrade with a BIOS update.
ASROCK 500-Series Motherboard BIOS Updates
Starting with ASRock, here are the specific model names, each one linked to where you can download the latest BIOS version. At the time of this writing, none of these offer optimizations for Zen 3, but that will change at some point. So keep checking whichever of these links applies to your motherboard...
ASRock X570 Motherboards
- X570 Pro4
- X570M Pro4
- X570 Creator
- X570 Taichi
- X570 Aqua
- X570 Extreme4
- X570 Extreme4 WiFi ax
- X570 Steel Legend
- X570 Steel Legend WiFi ax
- X570 Phantom Gaming X
- X570 Phantom Gaming 4
- X570 Phantom Gaming 4S
- X570 Phantom Gaming 4 WiFi ax
- X570 Phantom Gaming 4-ITX/TB3
ASRock B550 Motherboards
- B550M-HDV
- B550 PG Velocita
- B550 Pro 4
- B550M Pro4
- B550M/ac
- B550M-ITX/ac
- B550 Phantom Gaming 4
- B550M Phantom Gaming 4
- B550 Phantom Gaming 4/ac
- B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax
- B550 Extreme4
- B550 Steel Legend
- B550M Steel Legend
- B550 Taichi
ASRock A520 Motherboards
ASUS 500-Series Motherboard BIOS Updates
ASUS announced that it's motherboards with a BIOS version containing AGESA 1.0.8.0 code will boot with a Zen 3 processor nestled inside. By the time the Ryzen 5000 series hits retail shelves, ASUS should have newer BIOS revisions available, that are specifically tweaked for Zen 3 chips. In the meantime, here are links the latest BIOS versions, so you can at least boot with a new CPU installed (and these links will have the newer BIOS updates when those become available)...
ASUS X570 Motherboards
- Prime X570-P
- Prime X570-Pro
- Pro WS X570-ACE
- TUF Gaming X570-Plus
- TUF Gaming X570-Plus (Wi-Fi)
- TUF Gaming X570-Pro (Wi-Fi)
- ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
- ROG Strix X570-F Gaming
- ROG Strix X570-I Gaming
- ROG Crosshair VIII Hero
- ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
- ROG Crosshair VIII Impact
- ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
ASUS B550 Motherboards
- Prime B550-Plus
- Prime B550M-A (Wi-Fi)
- Prime B550M-A
- Prime B550M-K
- TUF Gaming B550-Plus
- TUF Gaming B550M-Plus
- TUF Gaming B550M-Plus (Wi-Fi)
- ROG Strix B550-A Gaming
- ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
- ROG Strix B550-F Gaming
- ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wi-Fi)
- ROG Strix B550-E Gaming
ASUS A520 Motherboards
Biostar 500-Series Motherboard BIOS Updates
Here is where you can download the latest BIOS updates for Biostar's 500-series motherboards...
Gigabyte 500-Series Motherboard BIOS Updates
Gigabyte is in the same boat as the rest of the motherboard makers above, in that it does not have BIOS updates specifically tuned for Zen 3, but you should still be able to boot. Here are the links to the latest BIOS updates for its 500-series motherboards...
Gigabyte X570 Motherboards
- X570 Aorus Master rev 1.1/1.2
- X570 Aorus Master rev 1.0
- X570 Aorus Ultra rev 1.1/1.2
- X570 Aorus Ultra rev 1.0
- X570 Aorus Xtreme Rev 1.1
- X570 Aorus Xtreme Rev 1.0
- X570 Aorus Pro WIFI Rev 1.1/1.2
- X570 Aorus Pro WIFI Rev 1.0
- X570 I Aorus Pro WIFI Rev 1.0
- X570 Aorus Pro Rev 1.1/1.2
- X570 Aorus Pro Rev 2.0
- X570 UD Rev 1.1
- X570 UD Rev 1.0
- X570 Gaming X Rev 1.1
- X570 Gaming X Rev 1.0
- X570 Aorus Elite WIFI Rev 1.x
- X570 Aorus Elite 1.0
Gigabyte B550 Motherboards
- B550 Aorus Pro V2 Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Pro AX Rev 1.0
- B550M DS3H AC Rev 1.x
- B550M Aorus Pro-P Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Elite V2 Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Elite AX V2 Rev 1.0
- B550 Gaming X V2 Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Elite AX Rev 1.0
- B550 Vision D Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Pro Rev 1.0
- B550M Aorus Elite Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Master Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Pro AC Rev 1.x
- B550M Aorus Pro Rev 1.0
- B550M S2H
- B550M Gaming Rev 1.0
- B550M H Rev 1.0
- B550 Gaming X Rev 1.0
- B550I Aorus Pro AX Rev 1.0
- B550 Aorus Elite Rev 1.0
- B550M DS3H Rev 1.x
Gigabyte A520 Motherboards
MSI 500-Series Motherboard BIOS Updates
MSI comes out of the gate with BIOS revisions based on AGESA Combo-A4 v2 1.1.0.0, so you are ready to go with optimized code for Zen 3. Here are the links (and course check back after Ryzen 5000 lands at retail, as MSI could issue another round of BIOS updates)...
MSI X570 Motherboards
- MEG X570 Godlike
- MEG X570 Ace
- MEG X570 Unify
- MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI
- MPG X570 Gaming Edge WIFI
- MPG X570 Gaming Plus
- MAG X570 Tomahawk WIFI
- Prestige X570 Creation
- X570-A Pro
MSI B550 Motherboards
- MPG B550 Gaming Carbon WIFI
- MPG B550 Gaming Edge WIFI
- MPB B550I Gaming Edge WIFI
- MPG B550 Gaming Plus
- MAG B550 Tomahawk
- MAG B550M Mortar WIFI
- MAG B550M Mortar
- MAG B550M Bazooka
- B550-A Pro
- B550M Pro-VDH WIFI
- B550M Pro-VDH
- B550M Pro-Dash
MSI A520 Motherboards
So just to recap, AMD will be launching its Ryzen 9 5950X, Ryzen 9 5900X, Ryzen 7 5800X, and Ryzen 5 5600X on November 5. Motherboards based on AMD's X570, B550, and A520 chipset with AGESA v2 firmware installed (starting at 1.0.8.x or 1.1.0.x) should be good to go. So, if you are planning to make the upgrade, grab and install the latest BIOS, and also check again on or around November 5 for possibly another BIOS update, with more optimizations added into the mix.
There are a lot of links posted above. While we have been careful in inserting them all, mistakes can happen—double check that the motherboard landing page they take you are indeed for your motherboard model, including the appropriate revision (as it applies to Gigabyte's boards).
