• firehazel@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    AM3 had a physical refresh in the form of AM3+ in 2011, to support DDR3. Compatibility was not guaranteed for older boards, since those chipsets supported DDR2. Additionally, there was a separate socket for APUs in the form of FM1(2011), FM2(2012), FM2+(2014), and AM1(2014, made for desktop SoCs, meaning the chipset was on the die instead of the motherboard).

    AMD really cleaned up and got it together with AM4.

    AM4 would have been more shortlived if the community weren’t vocal about holding them to their written commitment to AM4 through 2020. A large concern was with older boards not having enough space to support AGESA updates for newer processors, along with newer chipsets not being readily available to support Zen 3 processors initially. I think AMD realized they garnered a lot of consumer goodwill and didn’t want to just throw it away so quickly.

    AM5 is still new, with support up to 2025. It’s possible that we’ll get Zen 5 and then they move on to AM6, but if the past is an indicator, they may hold off until something necessitates a design change for the architecture or memory support. Rather than hold out on promises yet fulfilled, I say buy what serves your needs now.

    • BlizzrdSnowMew@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Thanks! Wow that is a ton for the APUs.

      I do hope they continue with the strategy of fully refining the platform before moving on with AM5 like they did with AM4. If the rumors (granted, they are rumors) for Zen 5 are even half true, then there is still quite a bit of performance on the table for AM 5. I think having the socket released at the same time as DDR5 will also make it more likely to last longer, but of course nobody knows for sure. It would be nice though.