Gigabyte drops support for PCIe 4.0 on AMD 300/400 Series chipset motherboards after latest BIOS

Robert Sole August 3, 2019

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Gigabyte motherboards with AMD 300/400 Series chipset no longer have PCIe 4.0 support, following the latest BIOS released with the AGEA 1.0.0.3ABB microcode.

Support for the PCIe 4.0 standard on motherboards with an AMD 300/400 Series chipset has been a headache. Gigabyte was the first to announce that their motherboards will support this new standard. These last few weeks images of Gigabyte motherboards with support for this standard have been running. Well now it seems that Gigabyte is removing it from its motherboards by order of AMD.

AMD has repeatedly said that ONLY X570 motherboards will support the PCIe 4.0 standard. Gigabyte and ASUS have passed the restriction on the liner and integrated it into their motherboards. So to prevent motherboard makers from doing what they want, AMD would be blocking it with their latest microcode.

Gigabyte stops supporting PCIe 4.0 on motherboards with AMD 300/400 Series chipset

The latest BIOSes that have been released by Gigabyte already implement the AGESA 1.0.0.3 ABB microcode. Guru3D indicates that after updating an X370 Gaming 5 and an X470 Aorus Ultra Gaming, they no longer implement PCIe 4.0 support. Possibly AMD has implemented a locking element if the motherboard is not an X570.

We cannot be sure if it is AMD or Gigabyte, but the certainty is that these two motherboards with the latest BIOS no longer support PCIe 4.0. Possibly end up being removed from any non-X570 motherboard. Everything indicates that it has been the pressures of AMD that have made the company stop supporting PCIe Gen4.

We have been checking and ASUS does not have BIOS with AGESA 1.0.0.3ABB microcode yet. This currently prevents us from knowing if the company's decision is its own or due to pressure from AMD. When the new BIOS arrives, if someone installs it and stops having PCIe 4.0 support, it will be up to AMD, if it continues to have support, it will be up to Gigabyte. We will be very attentive.