AMD's Bugfix for Ryzen Stuttering Now Widely Available

[harlan4096]

Spoiler alert, almost all AM4 motherboards already have the microcode update

It's now June of 2022, and AMD's new AGESA 1207 microcode has made it to the vast majority of AM4 motherboards on the market - both old and new. This update includes fixes for the infamous fTPM stuttering bug and includes full Ryzen 5000 series CPU support on all older generation AM4 motherboards, including the 300 series and 400 series. Here is a breakdown of the current situation with AGESA 1207 and how motherboard vendors are implementing it.

But before we start, here's a quick rundown on the situation with the microcode bug AGESA 1207 fixes. In March, AMD announced that it had identified a severe stuttering issue on Ryzen systems that was solely related to the Trusted Platform Module. The issue would cause Ryzen systems to stutter or freeze temporarily. The problem is made even worse because TPM support is mandatory for Windows 11.

It's also worth noting that the early USB issues plaguing Ryzen platforms have been fixed since the AGESA 1.2.0.2 microcode update went live earlier this year.

So if your board did not come with a 1.2.0.2 patch (or others such as 1.2.0.5 and 1.2.0.6b), AGESA 1.2.0.7 does include this additional hotfix.

Even if you don't plan on upgrading to a Ryzen 5000 CPU, updating your BIOS to the latest microcode from AMD can still be worth the effort to kill off these long-term issues.

Pre-Cautions When Updating To BETA BIOS Revisions Packing AGESA 1.2.0.7

For users planning on upgrading to AGESA 1.2.0.7 on an older 300 series or 400 series motherboard, there are some extra necessary precautions to consider.

A lot of these older motherboards that are receiving the new AGESA update are getting them in the form of beta BIOS updates. Unfortunately, these beta BIOS' are only partially tested, unlike official BIOS revisions. As a result, you could encounter some additional bugs when installing a beta BIOS.

But, on the flip side, any additional issues should be pretty rare since the only changes happening with most of these beta BIOS is the CPU microcode update, and that's it. For what it is worth, I have installed a beta BIOS packing AGESA 1.2.0.7 on my personal MSI B450 Pro Carbon AC (with the cut-down BIOS), and I've had zero issues with it at all, and it runs great.

Another thing you might have to do is incrementally upgrade your BIOS to the latest version. Some boards require this and will prevent you from skipping BIOS updates when necessary. Just beware that this is normal and not a bug.

For more details on properly preparing for a BIOS update, I highly recommend reading this Reddit post from Asus. It is a very detailed tutorial on best practices when updating your BIOS.

ASRock

Out of all the motherboard vendors currently, ASRock is the most unpredictable regarding the new AGESA 1207 updates. Boards you would never expect to have official BIOS updates have it, and boards you would expect to have it officially either don't and/or have it in a beta BIOS instead.

Nonetheless, most of ASRock's motherboard lineup, from the bottom A320M to top-of-the-line X570S do pack AGESA 1207, whether in beta or non-beta format.

A320 motherboards are ironically the most loved out of the entire AM4 lineup. Almost all these boards have AGESA 1207 as an official BIOS update, with only a couple featuring beta support and some more which don't have it at all, but they are few.

B350 shows a similar format, but it's more mixed in terms of beta and official BIOS updates depending on the model. Just one B350 model lacks 1207 entirely.

Almost all ASRock X370 models feature 1207 in beta and non-beta bios formats. Just a couple of boards lack the update, specifically one of them being the bitcoin mining optimized board.

Unfortunately, B450 support is not great at this time. With only some motherboards getting AGESA 1207 in beta BIOS format right now.

It's even worse with X470, with no ASRock models getting AGESA 1207 at this time.

Contrary to A320, A520 boards right now have less support for 1207. With just over half of ASRock's Models receiving 1207 in beta bios format only.

All B550 motherboards except for a single model have the 1207 update in beta format alone.

Most X570 boards have AGESA 1207, but like B550, only in a beta BIOS format, with some lacking it entirely for some reason. The only X570S motherboard in ASRock's arsenal, the Riptide does feature AGESA 1207 though.

Asus

Asus has made it incredibly easy to see which 500 series boards already have the new AGESA 1207 release, with full motherboard support listed here on Reddit. But we had to check Asus' website for older 400 and 300 series chipset boards.

Unfortunately, Asus no longer features a support page on most of its A320 motherboards for some strange reason. But of the two boards we could find, they do offer AGESA 1207 BIOS updates. So we presume that is the case with the rest of the models.

For B350, the same behavior occurs on Asus' website. Not every motherboard has a support page available to see, but on the ones that do, they all support AGESA 1207. So we can assume that is the case with the rest of the B350 boards.

X370 is a real head-scratcher for Asus boards. All the flagship ROG boards do not feature AGESA 1207 support, with some only featuring a beta bios upgrade to the previous 1.2.0.6b microcode update. The mid-range and entry-level X370 boards, meanwhile, all get official 1207 bios updates.

B450 support is decent but not great, with just half of Asus' B450 lineup featuring the 1207 bios update.
X470 sees the same strange behavior as X370 boards, with all the lower-end and mid-range options getting the 1207 update, but the flagship ROG model doesn't have it.

Check out Asus' reddit post for 500 series support, but spoiler alert, basically all of them are supported.

MSI

MSI is one of the strongest vendors supporting AGESA 1207, with effectively all its motherboards supporting the new microcode either in official or beta bios formats. 

A320: All boards feature 1207 support in both official and beta bios format except one model.

B350: Again, 1207 compatibility is excellent with MSI's entire B350 lineup. All boards get it in beta BIOS format. The only exception is one model, like A320.

X370 support is very good, with all but one board getting the 1207 update as a beta bios update. Strangely the one board missing support is the M7 ACK, one of MSI's top-of-the-line boards.

As for the 400 series, including B450 and X470, all of MSI's models in this lineup support the AGESA 1207 update as either beta BIOS updates or official ones.

The same also applies to the 500 series for the most part. All A520 and X570/X570S boards get the 1207 update in beta and official BIOS variants. The only exception is MSI's B550 boards, of which only a couple are missing the update.

Gigabyte

Out of the four most popular AM4 motherboard manufacturers, Gigabyte sits on top with the strongest support of the AGESA 1207 update. All 300 series, 400 series and 500 series motherboards have the update as official BIOS updates, with no beta BIOS variants available. Only one A520 board does not have the update, and that's it.

Biostar:

Biostar is also very strong, with almost all of its 300, 400 and 500 series AM4 motherboards officially getting the AGESA 1207 update. The only drawback with Biostar is its B350 support which is weak, with only half of its models supporting the new 1207 update. But, just like Gigabyte, all updates are official (i.e., no beta).

EVGA

EVGA only has two AM4 motherboards at this time, the X570 Dark and FTW, but they do both support AGESA 1207 officially.

These are the results of the most popular motherboard vendors making AM4 motherboards. There are other brands out there, but we have neglected to add them to the list due to time constraints.

Overall, AGESA 1207 has officially made it to nearly all relevant AM4 motherboards on the market today. Now is the perfect time to upgrade if you own AMD Ryzen system.
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