AMD users who are planning to make the jump to red team’s X670 and B650 motherboards should prepare to pay higher premiums due to limited memory options. Tom’s Hardware has received word from multiple sources that these AM5 platforms will only include support for DDR5, a decision that will ensure Ryzen 7000 Series processors are paired with today’s fastest memory but at the cost of annoying enthusiasts who thought they could get away with cheaper, easier-to-find RAM. The publication also confirmed that AM5 motherboards will feature dual chipset dies due to AMD’s transition to a chiplet-based design for its chipsets.
AMD’s AM5 Will Launch With Only DDR5 Support for Ryzen 7000, Dual-Chipset Design
Given the long-lived eye-watering pricing we’ve seen for DDR5 memory, AMD’s choice to only support DDR5 could prove to be a disadvantage in the face of Intel’s Raptor Lake, which we have confirmed will continue to support both affordable DDR4 and expensive DDR5 memory, enabling two pricing tiers for Intel platforms.
AMD has already announced that its AM5 socket platforms, which will replace the aging AM4 platform, will support the PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 interfaces as we see with Intel’s Alder Lake — but AMD hasn’t confirmed that DDR4 support isn’t an option. Our sources tell us that the X670 and B650 motherboards have no provisions for DDR4 support, and it isn’t yet clear if Ryzen 7000’s memory controllers even support DDR4. If they do support DDR4, AMD could have plans for lower-tier A-Series motherboards with DDR4 support, but we’re told that doesn’t seem likely.
Both low-end and high-end DDR5 kits seem to be outrageously priced in comparison to their DDR4 counterparts. As noted in a chart shared by the publication, G.Skill’s Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 (F5-6400J3239G16GX2-TZ5RK) 32 GB kit costs $449, while a similarly premium DDR4 option in the form of the Trident Z Neo DDR4-4000 (F4-4000C18D-32GTZN) only costs $169.