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AMD Rolls Out Major Software Architecture Changes

150+ Changes in AGESA 1004

By CBR Staff Writer

AMD has released a major new software architecture that will allow motherboard vendors to unify their CPU and chipset support lists on one codebase.

The new “AGESA”  features over 150 changes, AMD said this week, ahead of the launch of its high-end AMD Ryzen 9 3950X processor, which ships Nov. 25.

AMD AGESA Update: PCIe, USB, SATA Improvements

(AGESA, or “AMD Generic Encapsulated System Architecture”, is the foundational code on which BIOS files for AMD’s AM4- socket-based motherboards are built).

Major updates include improvements to interoperability of PCIe, USB, SATA, and device reset capabilities with AMD chips, additional enhancements for PCIe device support and stability better system stability when switching through ACPI power states.

The update also improves POST/boot times, AMD said in a post in the AMD sub-Reddit, adding it “reunites the codebase for all AM4-compatible processors”.

“Up until now, 3rd Gen Ryzen has been a fork of the mainline. So, if you have an older Ryzen CPU and have been waiting for a major AGESA release: this is it.”

Read this: AMD EPYC Rome Launch: The Specs, the Reaction to the new 7nm CPUs

AGESA 1004 is primarily focused on stability, and is the only AGESA validated and recommended for the forthcoming AMD Ryzen 9 3950X: “Your motherboard must have a BIOS with AGESA 1004 for full and proper support, AMD noted.

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The company emphasised the point ahead of the launch of its latest CPU, the flagship 16-core AMD Ryzen9 3950X processor, which ships later this month for approximately £600 in the UK, if initial price leaks are to be believed.

 

 

 

AMD is touting the CPU as the “world’s most powerful 16-core consumer desktop processor”. The 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors will be using a new socket called sTRX4, the company notes, with different mapping to previous versions.

“You cannot install a 3rd Gen Threadripper into an older motherboard, nor an older Threadripper into a new sTRX4 motherboard” it emphasises.

The CPU will have 88 total PCIe Gen 4 lanes with 72 usable (CPU+motherboard).

“The net of total versus usable is because we’re also increasing the CPU<->chipset link from 4x Gen4 to 8x Gen4—quadruple the bandwidth vs. 2nd Gen TR. Extra data pins between the chipset and CPU make this possible, so you’ll be able to hang more I/O off the motherboard at full performance,” the company notes.

The releases come as AMD reported net income (GAAP) of $120 million of revenues of $1.8 billion in Q3, reported October 29. In a sign of how important its consumer segment is, Computing and Graphics segment revenue was $1.28 billion, up 36 percent year-over-year, while Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment revenue was $525 million, down 27 percent year-over-year.

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