ASRock First For B450 Ryzen 5000 Support: Beta BIOSes Now Available
by Dr. Ian Cutress on November 19, 2020 9:57 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- ASRock
- Ryzen
- Zen 3
- B450
- Ryzen 5000

One of the big unknowns for the newest AMD Ryzen 5000 processors is whether or not there will be support on all 400 series chipset-based motherboards. After initially saying that these motherboards would not be supported, AMD reversed course and said it would work with motherboard vendors to enable support. At the point when the processors were launched, AMD confirmed that the schedule for the first beta BIOSes for 400-series motherboards to support Ryzen 5000 would be in the January timeframe. It would appear that ASRock has beaten that estimate by six weeks.
For 500-series motherboards, users have to look for BIOS versions with a minimum of AGESA v1081 support to enable compatibility, which should have been available since August/September on almost all models. On launch day, most 500-series motherboards had updates to AGESA v1100, which should enable full performance. The question on 400-series support would be if these motherboards would be able to support, at a minimum, AGESA v1081.
One of the main barriers to this support is both the chipset and the BIOS firmware. Supporting a new generation of processors increases the side of the firmware, and some of the 400-series motherboards were not built for large firmware packages. This means that in order to support newer processors, sometimes support for older processors is lost. There are also some complications as it relates to new power management modes on the Ryzen 5000, which require chipset support, and so building a firmware/AGESA package that can enable this (or fool the software/sensors that require it) had to be newly built for 400-series motherboards.
Today, ASRock Is claiming that it has first revision beta BIOS firmware for its B450 series ready to go. These firmware packages should enable support for Ryzen 5000 processors on the respective B450 motherboards. Users should note that upgrading most of these motherboards requires a currently supported processor, unless the motherboard supports any sort of non-powered BIOS update function. These firmware packages are also expected to keep support for Ryzen 3000 processors as well, but not Ryzen 2000 or Ryzen 1000.
ASRock B450 with Zen3 Support | ||
AnandTech | Size | Beta BIOS Version |
B450 Steel Legend | ATX | P3.70 |
B450 Pro4 | ATX | P4.50 |
B450 Pro R2.0 | ATX | P4.50 |
B450 Gaming K4 | ATX | P4.50 |
B450M Steel Legend | mATX | P.3.60 |
B450M Steel Legend (Pink) | mATX | P3.60P |
B450M Pro 4 | mATX | P4.60 |
B450M Pro 3 R2.0 | mATX | P4.60 |
B450M Pro4-F | mATX | P2.40 |
B450M Pro4-F R2.0 | mATX | P2.40 |
B450M/ac | mATX | P2.30 |
B450M/ac R2.0 | mATX | P2.30 |
B450M-HDV | mATX | P4.20 |
B450M-HDV R4.0 | mATX | P4.10 |
B450 Gaming-ITX/ac | mITX | P4.20 |
As with all beta BIOS firmware, your mileage may vary and there may still be bugs in a variety of settings or full performance may not yet be available. Warranty is often not applicable for users running a beta BIOS.
Update: it would appear that some of these BIOSes have already been pulled from the ASRock website, for reasons unclear.
Related Reading
- Analyzing B450 for AMD Ryzen: A Quick Look at 25+ Motherboards
- AMD to Support Zen 3 and Ryzen 5000 CPUs on B450 and X470 Motherboards
- The ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac and B450 Gaming K4 Motherboard Reviews
- The MSI B450 Tomahawk Motherboard Review: More Missile Than Axe
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29a - Thursday, November 19, 2020 - link
Best thing to do is go to another website, about the only reviews they can manage to release now are for cell phones no one cares about. So sad what this site became after Anand sold it.Cooe - Friday, November 20, 2020 - link
This is nonsense. Ian's CPU reviews are still the best in the entire business.oRAirwolf - Friday, November 20, 2020 - link
Honestly, at this point, Gamers Nexus is the best review site/channel for GPUs. Nobody comes close to matching their level of thoroughness and testing methodology. Anandtech is good for CPU and architecture deep dives and industry news, but them releasing reviews of new graphics cards is pretty pointless.Kurosaki - Friday, November 20, 2020 - link
Does GN have a GPU bench, stretching several years back also? Where can I find this bench?Arbie - Friday, November 20, 2020 - link
GN does have very good technical articles. But for gaming benchmarks it's hard to beat Hardware Unboxed. That's the Youtube name; many of their reports also appear in writing on the TechSpot site.And yeah I too am here wondering how the Radeon 6800 series launch wouldn't even be mentioned on AT.
Flunk - Thursday, November 19, 2020 - link
Great, now where are those processors?shabby - Thursday, November 19, 2020 - link
You can find them next to the 6800xt's, rtx 3080's, and new consoles...supdawgwtfd - Wednesday, November 25, 2020 - link
Both are in stock right now near my home.You just need to live in a backwater of a city (Darwin Australia)
Smell This - Thursday, November 19, 2020 - link
I am lurking for the GB B450 Aorus mini-ITX & 3rd Gen Ryzen --- standing by for the BIOS Update Information.Another build, with a Ryzen 5 3600XT, is burning a hole in my pocket ;--)
eth4n - Thursday, November 19, 2020 - link
B450M-HDV R4.0 bios is still online, it was a great choice overtime :D