During its CES 2022 presentation, AMD teased its upcoming Zen 4 CPUs, which add PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support. It also described the included AM5 socket. The new platform is to be released in the second half of 2022. This means, of course, that the venerable AM4 socket will finally be replaced.
The biggest physical change AM5 brings is the switch to a Land Grid Array CPU socket (LGA) with 1718 pins. AMD would say that things like improved signal integrity are the reason for the shift, but it is just as likely that it is for manufacturing reasons. As a user of AMD and Intel platforms going back many years, I found it easier to bend a CPU pin than a motherboard, so this change is one I personally am happy to see.
It is important that the AM5 maintains the AM4 cooler compatibility. This means that your current cooler will remain relevant for many years to come. This avoids a situation we saw with Intel’s LGA 1200 / 115x coolers, which require an adapter to use the current LGA 1700 socket. Although compatibility is not absolute. The money saved by not having to buy a new cooler will be welcomed by everyone as we deal with ongoing deficiencies and price premiums.
However, AM4 is not dead yet. The upcoming 5800X3D will retain AM4 compatibility, and it is possible that AMD will also unveil 5900X3D or 5950X3D models at some point in the coming months.
Socket AM4 made its debut all the way back in September 2016, prior to the release of 1. Generation Ryzen. The strength of the platform is its longevity and wide compatibility across vastly different CPU architectures and topologies. However, this can also be a weakness, as the huge number of AM4 CPUs released in almost six years means that BIOS capacity limitations prevent universal forward and backward compatibility, which can create confusion. It’s likely that the AM5 will have a similarly long lifespan, and we hope the motherboard will incorporate a larger ROM to accommodate a hundred or more future CPU models.
When the Ryzen 3000 series CPUs were introduced in mid-2019, they introduced an architectural change, a process shrinkage, the introduction of PCIe 4.0 and a fundamental shift to a chiplet design. Any of these things could have been reason enough to change the outlet. One wonders how big a limitation this was. It was a pretty amazing technical feat.
2022 is the year we say goodbye to AM4. Although it will be officially replaced, AM4 CPUs will be drained in PCs worldwide for many years to come.
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