First motherboard BIOS updates to support AMD Raven Ridge APUs

Robert Sole November 28, 2017

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Some motherboards are already beginning to implement BIOS, which adds support for AMD's Raven Ridge APUs, which are close to hitting the market.

AMD Raven Ridge processors, based on Zen cores, such as AMD Ryzen processors and graphics based on the Vega architecture. AMD APUs are considered a great solution for entry-level gaming, being able to significantly reduce costs when assembling new equipment. These solutions seem to be on the way, not only for laptops, but also for desktops, and many motherboard manufacturers are already implementing BIOS support for these APUs through an update.

Officially, motherboards with socket AM4 and chipset for this socket officially already support Raven Ridge APUs, the only thing that would be needed, at this point, is a simple BIOS update. The AM4 socket is, according to the company, a long-term socket, which will not only mount the Summit Rage and the Raven Rage, but also next generations of processors and APUs. After Raven Ridge, the Pinnacle Ridge arrive and will also be supported by these motherboards, with a BIOS update that will arrive next year, which will be when these are launched on the market. This offers that AMD solutions have more longevity over time, saving the change of motherboard, contrary to what Intel does, which 'forces' to change motherboard and chipset.

Raven Ridge, offers us a significant performance improvement over the Steamrollers and Excavators, the previous APUs, since these are based on older architectures with larger manufacturing processes and that have higher consumption. These solutions also aim to revolutionize the market and hit Intel on its main weakness, graphics, which have very low performance and are now in charge of Raja Koduri, who is obliged to improve integrated graphics, among others.

List of motherboards that allows updating the BIOS for Raven Ridge (we only have data from ASUS):