AMD X870 and X870E motherboard chipsets for AM5 and Zen 5 - USB 4, Gen5, and faster DDR5 memory

With the new Ryzen 9000 Series, led by the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, AMD is introducing the new X870 and X870E motherboard chipsets. These are expected to launch alongside the new Zen 5 CPUs in July, with several board partners on board (heh) to deliver the latest in AM5 platform technology. So, what's new?

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With X870 and X870E, USB 4 and PCIe Gen 5 storage and graphics are now standard. More importantly, for PC gamers and enthusiasts, X870 introduces and expands AMD EXPO memory overclocking to support faster DDR5 speeds.

"We learned some lessons with the 600 Series [of motherboards]; memory technology has come a lot further, so we should be able to clock a little higher." Unfortunately, no specifics, supported overclocked speeds, or timings were given - this will come later.

And with that, AMD has also announced that due to the success of the AM4 platform, which is still going strong almost a decade after its debut, AM5 support for the Ryzen 7000 Series, the new Ryzen 9000 Series, and whatever is coming next will continue through to 2027 and beyond.

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"We're in this for the long haul," AMD said during a press briefing ahead of Computex 2024. "If you want to upgrade, simply update your processor to stay on the cutting edge." This is, of course, a dig at Intel - which often requires a complete motherboard switch if you want to swap out your CPU for one of the latest Intel Core offerings - a situation where an upgrade becomes a full rebuild.

The good news is that with AM5, X870 is forward and backward-compatible with Zen 4 and Zen 5. All AM5 Ryzen CPUs are compatible with the new chipset, and the Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs are compatible with current AM5 600 motherboards.