AMD found the cause of Ryzen USB ports failure and promised to fix the problem in April

AMD announced on Reddit that it has found the cause of USB port failures in some systems built on Ryzen processors. Developers have promised to release a patch to fix the problem in April;

Users have noticed USB port malfunctions for several months. The problem was mainly related to USB 2.0, and occurred when PCIe 4.0 bus was enabled and a PCIe-compatible device was installed on the system. This caused Ryzen users to unintentionally disable low-speed devices & ; mice, keyboards and headsets. Despite the fact that AMD has identified the cause of the failure, the company did not explain the details. As journalists of Tom’s Hardware noted, presumably the problem affected owners of Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 series processors, which were paired with AMD X470, X570, B450 and B550 chipset-based motherboards. AMD developers thanked users who sent detailed reports on system's performance for their help. The company noted that the problem was fixed solely due to their responsiveness. To fix the failure, the manufacturer will release an update AGESA 1.2.0.2. At first it will be distributed in new BIOSes as part of a beta update, but later will be released on all necessary devices. A more precise release date will depend on the vendor and the specific motherboard model. The company has also asked all users with persistent bugs to submit relevant reports to AMD support. This can be done by downloading the company's special toolkit, which is designed to determine the cause of the problems encountered.

MSI added Smart Access Memory support to Ryzen 3000 CPUs in latest BIOS update for AMD B550 and X570 motherboards

AMD announced last week that it will extend Smart Access Memory (SAM) support to the Ryzen 3000 series processors. The technology allows CPU to use whole graphics card memory array, which can help to achieve up to 16% performance boost in some games. MSI was the first motherboard manufacturer to provide SAM support for Zen 2 chips on their motherboards.

The motherboard manufacturer announced that it has released new versions of AMD 500-series motherboards BIOS, based on new protocol AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.1, which adds support for Smart Access Memory for Ryzen 3000-series CPUs. The company also reported that the new version of AGESA has fixed an issue with the Layer 3 cache memory bandwidth of Ryzen 5000 processors in the AIDA64 test.

Before upgrade

After upgrade

Smart Access Memory requires AMD motherboard based on 500 series chipset, AMD Ryzen 3000 or Ryzen 5000 series processor, as well as Radeon RX 6000 series graphics gas pedal. The list of MSI motherboards which received SAM support can be found below: The new versions of AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.1 BIOS for MSI mainboards are already available for download and installation from the manufacturer's official website;

AMD will improve system stability on Ryzen 5000 systems with the release of AGESA 1.1.9.0 libraries

AMD has confirmed that new version of AGESA 1.1.9.0 library will be available soon. On this new version manufacturers will be able to create new versions of microcode BIOS for their motherboards, supporting AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPUs.

As pointed out by AMD, AGESA 1.1.9.0 includes support for Modern Standby S0i3 in Windows 10, improved overall system stability, and the stability of the Infinity Fabric bus (FCLK) at up to 2000MHz. In addition, the new protocol version adds support for X570 chipset based motherboards using passive cooling system.

New AGESA 1.1.9.0 BIOSes are coming in January and February for @AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors. Changes: ✅ Win10 s0i3 support ✅ Stability tuning for 1800-2000MHz FCLK (OC) ✅ Support for passive X570 motherboards ✅ General stability improvements pic.twitter.com/7wNyZk028H & ; AMD Ryzen (@AMDRyzen) January 5, 2021

It has also been pointed out that the latest BIOS firmware releases for Ryzen 5000 series processors will begin in January and will continue in February of this year.

Future BIOS versions will bring AMD Ryzen 5000 new overclocking control features

AMD's Technical Marketing Director Robert Hallock explained to the audience on the pages of his corporate blog that it makes sense for those wishing to install Ryzen 5000 processors in existing motherboards to orientate themselves to BIOS with the AGESA version of at least 1.1.0.0. Further evolution of the microcode will broaden the possibilities of overclocking management.

Image Source: IT Media

In fact, for future versions of AGESA, the implementation of stress reduction mechanisms when working with Ryzen 5000 processors is promised. The fact is that those who want to reduce power consumption of processors of previous generations have so far been able to use voltages below the nominal, but for processors of the Ryzen 5000 series such a feature has not yet been implemented. In the future this problem will be eliminated. AMD promises to fight for improved processor stability at around 2000 MHz on the Infinity Fabric bus. Synchronous operation of this bus with RAM, for example, increases the bandwidth. Not every instance of the processor is capable of running at this frequency, but AMD will try to improve the stability of the best instances in this environment. In future BIOS updates, AMD and its motherboard partners will include additional features to facilitate testing of CPUs in extreme overclocking mode using liquid nitrogen for cooling. Recall that the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X has already demonstrated its ability to operate at speeds above 6.3 GHz when cooled with liquid nitrogen.