Bootleg firmware adds Ryzen 5000 support to ASRock X370 motherboards

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: My days of taking risks with hardware are in the rear view so if it were me, I’d avoid using anything that has been tampered with by a third party. If a Ryzen 5000 CPU was a must, I’d have no choice but to purchase a board that officially supports the platform without any modifications.

When AMD backtracked and formally announced that B450 and X470 motherboards would indeed support CPUs based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture, it was a sigh of relief for those with older boards. Those with even older chipsets like the X370, however, were still out of luck… until now.

Hong Kong news outlet HKEPC Hardware recently received modified firmware for six ASRock X370 motherboards that adds support for AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series CPUs. Supported boards include the Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4, the Fatal1ty X370 Gaming X, the X370 Killer SLI, the X370 Killer SLI/ac, the X370 Taichi and the Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming.

It’s worth pointing out that these BIOS files weren’t officially produced by ASRock but rather, an unknown third party. What’s more, while they do add additional functionality to older boards, users still won’t have access to PCIe 4.0. Plus, there could very well be some bugs or stability issues that crop up with the use of altered firmware.

Image credit Lutsenko_Oleksandr

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https://www.techspot.com/news/89464-bootleg-firmware-adds-ryzen-5000-support-asrock-x370.html

 

[hahahanoobs]

I can't say I'm not curious how it performs vs official BIOS on X570 with Zen 3 CPU. Hopefully someone tries and posts their results.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Such a shame AMD didn't plan ahead here. At least the X series should have mandated 256Mb ROMs so they could support all generations of main ryzen CPUs. The fact we even had to fight to get ryzen 3000 on them was just embarassing after AMD's nebulous "support until 2020" marketing.

 

[Linoleum77]

Wow! I never thought I would still be able to keep my x370 Killer SLI beyond 2021! I will definitely give it a try.

 

[HardReset]

Such a shame AMD didn't plan ahead here. At least the X series should have mandated 256Mb ROMs so they could support all generations of main ryzen CPUs. The fact we even had to fight to get ryzen 3000 on them was just embarassing after AMD's nebulous "support until 2020" marketing.

AMD promised AM4 socket will be supported until 2020. AMD did what it promised. AMD didn't promise all AM4 boards will support 2020 CPU's.

Stop whining, AMD's support is miles better than Intel's. Since Ryzen launch 2017 when Intel used LGA1151, Intel has released LGA1151v2 and LGA1200

 

[psycros]

Wow! I never thought I would still be able to keep my x370 Killer SLI beyond 2021! I will definitely give it a try.

Just be aware there's a chance you'll be installing low-level Chinese malware onto your system.

 

[Adi6293]

Such a shame AMD didn't plan ahead here. At least the X series should have mandated 256Mb ROMs so they could support all generations of main ryzen CPUs. The fact we even had to fight to get ryzen 3000 on them was just embarassing after AMD's nebulous "support until 2020" marketing.

Its not that simple, AMD was on the verge of bankruptcy and after multiple failed products they couldn't demand board manufacturers spend extra on a bigger memory chips that nobody is using. Hopefully AM5 will forward looking through but then again board partners don't like long term support it's a simple catch 22 for AMD

 

[Cycloid Torus]

It would be impressive if AMD/ASRock vetted and then offered an "official" BIOS version of the X370 upgrade. One can dream.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

AMD promised AM4 socket will be supported until 2020. AMD did what it promised. AMD didn't promise all AM4 boards will support 2020 CPU's.

Stop whining, AMD's support is miles better than Intel's. Since Ryzen launch 2017 when Intel used LGA1151, Intel has released LGA1151v2 and LGA1200

And AMD has used chipset X370, b350, and a320 (excavator APUs, 1st gen, 2nd gen, sometimes 3rd gen depending on manufacturer) B450 and X470 (sometimes excavator APU depending on manufacturer, zen,, zen+ zen 2, maybe zen 3 depending on manufacturer and support also removes support for older CPUs, not all features supported) A520 and B550 (zen 2 and 3 only) and X570 (zen+, zen2, and zen 3 only) all on the SAME SOCKET. If intel did this people like you would be raising hell on how unreliable intel is and how they cant make up their minds on support, yet when AMD does it you defend them. That isn't "CPU socket support", that's a nightmare.


So I will continue to whine, thank you very much, since AMD uses nebulous marketing to get out of supporting their products (can you imagine the outrage if intel did this; see also 2000 series mobile APU support fiasco?) and public backlash forced them to support their products better. People need to stop cutting AMD slack, they are just as dirty as intel and need to be called out to force their behavior to change.

By the way, cutting a chipset off after 2 generations, that's what AMD did, twice (before intense public backlash), and is going to do with the 500 series, yet intel is "miles worse" supporting only 2 CPU generations per socket....hmmmmmmm. Doesnt seem right here.

 

[Reehahs]

And AMD has used chipset X370, b350, and a320 (excavator APUs, 1st gen, 2nd gen, sometimes 3rd gen depending on manufacturer) B450 and X470 (sometimes excavator APU depending on manufacturer, zen,, zen+ zen 2, maybe zen 3 depending on manufacturer and support also removes support for older CPUs, not all features supported) A520 and B550 (zen 2 and 3 only) and X570 (zen+, zen2, and zen 3 only) all on the SAME SOCKET. If intel did this people like you would be raising hell on how unreliable intel is and how they cant make up their minds on support, yet when AMD does it you defend them. That isn't "CPU socket support", that's a nightmare.


So I will continue to whine, thank you very much, since AMD uses nebulous marketing to get out of supporting their products (can you imagine the outrage if intel did this; see also 2000 series mobile APU support fiasco?) and public backlash forced them to support their products better. People need to stop cutting AMD slack, they are just as dirty as intel and need to be called out to force their behavior to change.

By the way, cutting a chipset off after 2 generations, that's what AMD did, twice (before intense public backlash), and is going to do with the 500 series, yet intel is "miles worse" supporting only 2 CPU generations per socket....hmmmmmmm. Doesnt seem right here.

Laughs in Intel Haswell (LGA 1155) and Coffee Lake (LGA 1151-2), both of them effectively single generation sockets.

 

[defaultluser]

Laughs in Intel Haswell (LGA 1155) and Coffee Lake (LGA 1151-2), both of them effectively single generation sockets.

Let me highlight one more: Skylake -> Kaby Lake.

Kaby lake is essentially the Haswell 4790k refresh trick (with a tweaked HEVC accelerator over the 6700k).

 

[Danny101]

At this point, it would be like putting new wine into old wineskin for Ryzen 5000 to be adapted to the older X3xx chipset. 3 years, 3 generations of upgrades is not a bad TCO. And performance wise, will still be good for several years to come. The main thing that I think should still be available for the chipset are the ZEN 2 based APUS. Not a deal breaker, but generationally, why not?

 

[Puiu]

And AMD has used chipset X370, b350, and a320 (excavator APUs, 1st gen, 2nd gen, sometimes 3rd gen depending on manufacturer) B450 and X470 (sometimes excavator APU depending on manufacturer, zen,, zen+ zen 2, maybe zen 3 depending on manufacturer and support also removes support for older CPUs, not all features supported) A520 and B550 (zen 2 and 3 only) and X570 (zen+, zen2, and zen 3 only) all on the SAME SOCKET. If intel did this people like you would be raising hell on how unreliable intel is and how they cant make up their minds on support, yet when AMD does it you defend them. That isn't "CPU socket support", that's a nightmare.


So I will continue to whine, thank you very much, since AMD uses nebulous marketing to get out of supporting their products (can you imagine the outrage if intel did this; see also 2000 series mobile APU support fiasco?) and public backlash forced them to support their products better. People need to stop cutting AMD slack, they are just as dirty as intel and need to be called out to force their behavior to change.

By the way, cutting a chipset off after 2 generations, that's what AMD did, twice (before intense public backlash), and is going to do with the 500 series, yet intel is "miles worse" supporting only 2 CPU generations per socket....hmmmmmmm. Doesnt seem right here.

You are clearly not understanding what happened at all with the AM4 socket. Even in this situation, AMD is above Intel by miles in terms of support. You entire argument is a moot point as nobody defended AMD when they tried to remove support of older boards with the new chips and they had to backtrack because of the huge backlash.

If rumours about Zen3+ refresh turn out to be true, we'll be getting AM4 support for even longer than promised.

 

[HardReset]

And AMD has used chipset X370, b350, and a320 (excavator APUs, 1st gen, 2nd gen, sometimes 3rd gen depending on manufacturer) B450 and X470 (sometimes excavator APU depending on manufacturer, zen,, zen+ zen 2, maybe zen 3 depending on manufacturer and support also removes support for older CPUs, not all features supported) A520 and B550 (zen 2 and 3 only) and X570 (zen+, zen2, and zen 3 only) all on the SAME SOCKET. If intel did this people like you would be raising hell on how unreliable intel is and how they cant make up their minds on support, yet when AMD does it you defend them. That isn't "CPU socket support", that's a nightmare.

AMD decides which CPU uses what socket. Motherboard manufacturers decide what CPU motherboard using specific socket will support.

You want motherboard that has AM4 socket and support EVERY AM4 CPU ever made? Not big problem. Manufacturer asks for special permission from AMD and then puts dual BIOS chips on motherboard and there we have ultimate AM4 motherboard. Problem? 1. it costs money and 2. who would actually want it?

That's problem here. SUPPORT COSTS MONEY. Why there was 16MB BIOS chip on x370 motherboards? Because bigger chip costs more money. Why there are AM4 motherboards that need CPU for BIOS flash? Because updating BIOS without CPU solution costs money.

IT COSTS MONEY! Got it? Again, AMD promised socket AM4 support until 2020 and they did it. Rest is up to motherboard manufacturers. Stop whining.

So I will continue to whine, thank you very much, since AMD uses nebulous marketing to get out of supporting their products (can you imagine the outrage if intel did this; see also 2000 series mobile APU support fiasco?) and public backlash forced them to support their products better. People need to stop cutting AMD slack, they are just as dirty as intel and need to be called out to force their behavior to change.

Intel has no need to do this. They just swap socket and everyone (=stupid people) are happy. Starting from 1.st gen Core CPU's:

- LGA1156
- LGA1155 is exactly same as LGA1156 but it has one pin less
- LGA1150 is same as LGA1155 but it has integrated voltage regulator on CPU that was useless any way.

Three sockets, only one was really needed.

- LGA1151, this has DDR4 support. Change was needed.
- LGA1151 v2, same as LGA1151
- LGA1200, nothing different vs LGA1151v2

Again, three sockets, only one was really needed.

2000 series APU fiasco was because motherboards didn't support BIOS flash without CPU.

By the way, cutting a chipset off after 2 generations, that's what AMD did, twice (before intense public backlash), and is going to do with the 500 series, yet intel is "miles worse" supporting only 2 CPU generations per socket....hmmmmmmm. Doesnt seem right here.

Intel supporting 2 generations per socket? Where? LGA1156, LGA1150, LGA1151 and LGA1151v2 support only single generation. LGA1155 support "two generations" but differences are very small. LGA1200 support almost two generations.

Once again, AMD cut support for older CPU's because motherboard manufacturers didn't 1. want to put big enough BIOS chips into motherboards 2. didn't want to support BIOS flash without CPU 3. didn't want to support too many CPU generations on single motherboard. Because, you guessed it:

SUPPORT COSTS MONEY.

Stop whining because you really don't understand anything about this.

 

[HardReset]

You are clearly not understanding what happened at all with the AM4 socket. Even in this situation, AMD is above Intel by miles in terms of support. You entire argument is a moot point as nobody defended AMD when they tried to remove support of older boards with the new chips and they had to backtrack because of the huge backlash.

If rumours about Zen3+ refresh turn out to be true, we'll be getting AM4 support for even longer than promise

If you mean Zen2 support for first AM4 motherboards, AMD didn't offer Official support and still isn't. And it was up to motherboard manufacturers. If they don't want to offer Zen2 support for older boards, there is nothing AMD could do. It went like this:

AMD asked if motherboard manufacturers want to support Zen2 on x300-series motherboards > Manufacturers say no > AMD tell's they won't offer support > shitstorm > AMD asks again motherboard manufacturers' stance > they agree after shitstorm > AMD promises support.

Again, AMD took all blame even AMD had NOTHING to do with this.

 

[Puiu]

If you mean Zen2 support for first AM4 motherboards, AMD didn't offer Official support and still isn't. And it was up to motherboard manufacturers. If they don't want to offer Zen2 support for older boards, there is nothing AMD could do. It went like this:

AMD asked if motherboard manufacturers want to support Zen2 on x300-series motherboards > Manufacturers say no > AMD tell's they won't offer support > shitstorm > AMD asks again motherboard manufacturers' stance > they agree after shitstorm > AMD promises support.

Again, AMD took all blame even AMD had NOTHING to do with this.

First gen AMD boards do support Ryzen 3000. It was never a problem, the only controversy was the BIOS update that required an older AMD CPU to install (for boards that were made before the launch of the new CPUs and were on shelves already).

In case you don't believe me, here's the MSI compatibility list (Published: Apr 30, 2019):

Check your Asus or MSI motherboard’s AMD Ryzen 3000 compatibility here

Here's the full list of Asus and MSI motherboard compatibility for the next-gen Ryzen CPUs

www.pcgamesn.com

AMD can't force any OEM to do anything (and certainly didn't have the power to do so back then), especially when it comes to older boards. AMD made the AGESA BIOS update that was required and gave it to the OEMs, the rest was up to them. Most already promised to support the new CPUs. This is great flexibility in terms of upgradability.

So tell me, what hate should have AMD gotten from this? You have 3 gens of CPUs on the first gen mobos.

Care to make another argument I can easily disprove?

FYI: don't confuse socket support with chipset support. Socket support means that you can also upgrade the mobo. If, for example, you have a first gen mobo and a 3rd gen CPU you can buy the latest gen mobo and still keep your other hardware.

 

[HardReset]

First gen AMD boards do support Ryzen 3000. It was never a problem, the only controversy was the BIOS update that required an older AMD CPU to install (for boards that were made before the launch of the new CPUs and were on shelves already).

In case you don't believe me, here's the MSI compatibility list (Published: Apr 30, 2019):

Check your Asus or MSI motherboard’s AMD Ryzen 3000 compatibility here

Here's the full list of Asus and MSI motherboard compatibility for the next-gen Ryzen CPUs

www.pcgamesn.com

Yeah but that is not still Official support. It's more like "official" support that AMD decided to offer.

When it comes to BIOS update without CPU, that's MB manufacturer's problem.

AMD can't force any OEM to do anything (and certainly didn't have the power to do so back then), especially when it comes to older boards. AMD made the AGESA BIOS update that was required and gave it to the OEMs, the rest was up to them. Most already promised to support the new CPUs. This is great flexibility in terms of upgradability.

So tell me, what hate should have AMD gotten from this? You have 3 gens of CPUs on the first gen mobos.

Care to make another argument I can easily disprove?

FYI: don't confuse socket support with chipset support. Socket support means that you can also upgrade the mobo. If, for example, you have a first gen mobo and a 3rd gen CPU you can buy the latest gen mobo and still keep your other hardware.

Exactly. What I was trying to say is that problems were more with motherboard manufacturers and less with AMD. I have no problems with AMD, I just tried to make it clear that Zen2 on older boards was more about motherboard manufacturers and AMD simply had to listen what they say about it. Without AMD's support they MB manufacturers cannot support Zen2 on older boards but even with it, MB manufacturers have to support it too.

So yes, I mostly agree with you but just disagree with that "they tried to remove support of older boards with the new chips and they had to backtrack because of the huge backlash." -part.

 

[Puiu]

Yeah but that is not still Official support. It's more like "official" support that AMD decided to offer.

When it comes to BIOS update without CPU, that's MB manufacturer's problem.

Exactly. What I was trying to say is that problems were more with motherboard manufacturers and less with AMD. I have no problems with AMD, I just tried to make it clear that Zen2 on older boards was more about motherboard manufacturers and AMD simply had to listen what they say about it. Without AMD's support they MB manufacturers cannot support Zen2 on older boards but even with it, MB manufacturers have to support it too.

So yes, I mostly agree with you but just disagree with that "they tried to remove support of older boards with the new chips and they had to backtrack because of the huge backlash." -part.

"Official" support was given out by way of the BIOS update made by AMD, what more do you want? The reality is that the BIOS update was made and was used by OEMs. Pretty simple.

As for why you are disagree with what happened with the backlash... it's what happened, what is there to disagree with? I'm really confused here.

 

[Linoleum77]

Just be aware there's a chance you'll be installing low-level Chinese malware onto your system.

If Chinese hackers REALLY wanted to get into my computer, they would find a way without this BIOS...

 

[HardReset]

"Official" support was given out by way of the BIOS update made by AMD, what more do you want? The reality is that the BIOS update was made and was used by OEMs. Pretty simple.

As for why you are disagree with what happened with the backlash... it's what happened, what is there to disagree with? I'm really confused here.

Yes, "official" support was given by AMD with AGESA code. But, AMD still does not offer official Zen2 support for x300-series motherboards (AMD does that for 400-series and 500-series).

AMD had basically nothing to do with backlash. For AMD, supporting Zen2 on x370 requires minimal effort since x370 and x470 chipsets are exactly same. For motherboard manufacturers, well. First, they have to test AGESA for every motherboard. They also have to deal with small BIOS size that means they have to cut support for older CPU's (that will create problems). Also despite they say "this BIOS update is not for 1.st gen Ryzen", some people cannot read. Not to mention manufacturers will sell fewer motherboards all above cost money.

This whole backlash thing happened when MSI helpdesk told that their 300-motherboards won't support Zen2. Also because AMD didn't offer Official support for 300-series, some morons counted 1+1 = AMD does not support Zen2 on 300-motherboards. AMD also didn't say they won't support Zen2 on 300-series motherboards.

My point is: leave AMD out of that "backlash"-thing because AMD had nothing to do with it.

 

[Puiu]

Yes, "official" support was given by AMD with AGESA code. But, AMD still does not offer official Zen2 support for x300-series motherboards (AMD does that for 400-series and 500-series).

AMD had basically nothing to do with backlash. For AMD, supporting Zen2 on x370 requires minimal effort since x370 and x470 chipsets are exactly same. For motherboard manufacturers, well. First, they have to test AGESA for every motherboard. They also have to deal with small BIOS size that means they have to cut support for older CPU's (that will create problems). Also despite they say "this BIOS update is not for 1.st gen Ryzen", some people cannot read. Not to mention manufacturers will sell fewer motherboards all above cost money.

This whole backlash thing happened when MSI helpdesk told that their 300-motherboards won't support Zen2. Also because AMD didn't offer Official support for 300-series, some morons counted 1+1 = AMD does not support Zen2 on 300-motherboards. AMD also didn't say they won't support Zen2 on 300-series motherboards.

My point is: leave AMD out of that "backlash"-thing because AMD had nothing to do with it.

TL;DR you are disagreeing with yourself? You went from "AMD is the bad guy" to defending AMD.

MY job here is done.

 

[HardReset]

TL;DR you are disagreeing with yourself? You went from "AMD is the bad guy" to defending AMD.0

MY job here is done.

What is so hard here? Read again what you wrote:

You are clearly not understanding what happened at all with the AM4 socket. Even in this situation, AMD is above Intel by miles in terms of support. You entire argument is a moot point as nobody defended AMD when they tried to remove support of older boards with the new chips and they had to backtrack because of the huge backlash.

You claim it was AMD who refused to support Zen2 on x300 motherboards. Could you give even single reason why that makes sense? Or even give official statement where AMD refuses that support? I doubt that.

I already give bunch of reasons why motherboard manufacturers have many reasons not to support Zen2 on x370 motherboards.

Still you insist AMD was behind this. 1. There is no proof 2. It makes no sense.

 

[Puiu]

What is so hard here? Read again what you wrote:

You claim it was AMD who refused to support Zen2 on x300 motherboards. Could you give even single reason why that makes sense? Or even give official statement where AMD refuses that support? I doubt that.

I already give bunch of reasons why motherboard manufacturers have many reasons not to support Zen2 on x370 motherboards.

Still you insist AMD was behind this. 1. There is no proof 2. It makes no sense.

Oh, I get it now. You're a bit confused, I was clearly not talking about the 300 series.

The controversy is so well known that I didn't think you would be confused about it. AMD got flack for when they announced that the 400 mobos would not get support for the 5000 series CPUs (aka a BIOS update from them). That's what I was talking about.

I was responding to someone who said AMD didn't give support for the 3000 CPUs in the first gen mobos, which is clearly not true. It was also mentioned that AMD didn't get any "hate" for it, which is why I mentioned the backlash for the 5000 CPU situation.

 

[HardReset]

Oh, I get it now. You're a bit confused, I was clearly not talking about the 300 series.

The controversy is so well now that I didn't think you would be confused about it. AMD got flack for when they announced that the 400 mobos would not get support for the 5000 series CPUs (aka a BIOS update from them). That's what I was talking about.

I was responding to someone who said AMD didn't give support for the 3000 CPUs in the first gen mobos, which is clearly not true. It was also mentioned that AMD didn't get any "hate" for it, which is why I mentioned the backlash for the 5000 CPU situation.

Oh yeah, that 5000-series support was another case where backwards support was in question.

These things happen when there are two somewhat similar situations.

 

[Danny101]

3 generations on the 300 series chipset is really good. As some level, you're going to reach a point of diminishing returns. It made no sense though for AMD and OEMs to support the 300 series for 3 generations and not do the same for the 400 series.