AMD Fixes More Ryzen Issues with New BIOS Firmware Microcode

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/31/2017 04:18 PM | source: | 56 comment(s)

Performance keeps on improving in games with Ryzen, that would be the generic message AMD is evangelizing in a new Blog post. It seems that AMD has made good progress on the software side of things. Yesterday we already reported on the Ashes update with a very significant performance boost. Today Dota 2 is getting that TLC. More importantly there is a microcode update planned that will improve memory latency, and thus again 1080p game performance.

The new microcode will go along with a BIOS update. With the AMD Generic Encapsulated Software Architecture (AGESA) 1.0.0.4 update the overall memory latency will drop with roughly 6 nanoseconds. By itself that doesn't sound huge, but as we have shown you in our reviews, memory timings, frequency and thus latency matters quite a bit for Ryzen relative to CPU game performance and sure, that would be a 8% imprivement in overal memory latency. The microcode update will help applications sensitive to exactly that, memory latency.

The earlier FMA3 benchmark bug also is fixed with the new motherboard firmware updates, but we reported on that one earlier already. Also an Overclock-sleep mode bug will be fixed. Last and not least, AMD Ryzen Master no longer needs the High-Precision Event Timer.

As a brief primer, the AGESA is responsible for initializing AMD x86-64 processors during boot time, acting as something of a “nucleus” for the BIOS updates you receive for your motherboard. Motherboard vendors take the baseline capabilities of our AGESA releases and build on that infrastructure to create the files you download and flash.

We will soon be distributing AGESA point release 1.0.0.4 to our motherboard partners. We expect BIOSes based on this AGESA to start hitting the public in early April, though specific dates will depend on the schedules and QA practices of your motherboard vendor.

BIOSes based on this new code will have four important improvements for you

We have reduced DRAM latency by approximately 6ns. This can result in higher performance for latency-sensitive applications.

We resolved a condition where an unusual FMA3 code sequence could cause a system hang.

We resolved the “overclock sleep bug” where an incorrect CPU frequency could be reported after resuming from S3 sleep.

AMD Ryzen™ Master no longer requires the High-Precision Event Timer (HPET).

The new BIOS updates with updated micro-code will be released in April. Below you can check some benchmark results (from AMD) on Ashes of the Singularity and DOTA 2.

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Bentez
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#5414568 Posted on: 03/31/2017 04:20 PM

As someone about to build their Ryzen rig this weekend, I am pleased to see progress being made. Hoping the ram speed improvements comes along with the may update.

Embra
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#5414573 Posted on: 03/31/2017 04:32 PM

Awesome!

Loophole35
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#5414574 Posted on: 03/31/2017 04:47 PM

Any improvement is welcome. :thumbup:

Keep it coming. I will likely be building a new core system end of June as a birthday present to myself. As of now I'm leaning towards 6800k but if gaming performance comes around like this across the board R7 1700x jumps to the top of my list.

BlueRay
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#5414575 Posted on: 03/31/2017 04:49 PM

Ryzen gets better and better. I'm on the verge on upgrading to a Ryzen 5 hexa core instead of an i5. Have already an i5 and for me it's boring to spend money to get an i5 yet again. I'm happy to see AMD ironing out the issues.

waltc3
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#5414587 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:18 PM

I will bet the elimination of the dependence on HPET will help quite a bit. After prolonged experimentation of my own with an FX-8320e clocked to 3.6/4GHz, I've concluded that I get better performance in Win 10x64 build 15063 with the HPET disabled in Win10. I'd think anyone really into gaming isn't going to be enamored all that much with 1080P anyway--buying Ryzen and putting the savings into a better GPU & Monitor would seem the way to go, imo.

Picolete
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#5414591 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:27 PM

Hilbert, could you do a review next year to see the improvements Rizen got in 1 year?

Mtom
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#5414593 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:38 PM

Performance keeps on improving in games with Ryzen, that would be the generic message AMD is evengalizing on a new Blog post. It seems that AMD has made good progress on the software side of things. Y...

AMD Fixes More Ryzen Issues with New Microcode

Hilbert what do you think about AdoredTVs finding about Ryzen's gaming performance.
He tested Tomb Raider in both DX11 and 12 and found that when the NV card was changed for RX480s the sometimes ~30% lead of the 7700K melted to 6.5%

REMOVED CHARTS

...and OFC everyone tested Ryzen with NV cards as AMD at the moment cannot put anything high end to the line.

R3MM
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#5414596 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:50 PM

I'm a fan of Guru3d.com, I always find this site way better than others when doing reviews but there is something that I would really like to see, Could you please re-do the Ryzen Review but this time OC the Memory to 3400 or 3600 MHZ?, I've seen a YouTube Video showing this and the performance is phenomenal, Hilbert, I'm pretty sure your review would quickly get shared across the Internet if you do this.

Thanks

Loophole35
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#5414599 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:51 PM

Hilbert Hagedoorn
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#5414602 Posted on: 03/31/2017 05:56 PM

I am currently working on an article with showing the benefits of memory timings, tweaking and overclocking. To show you how to get the best perf and experience on a Ryzen platform. I already started, but would really like to wait on the micro-code firmware update. BTW if you guys value adore tv, then really you should not even be visiting Guru3D.com.

djmcave
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#5414605 Posted on: 03/31/2017 06:05 PM

Hilbert what do you think about AdoredTVs finding about Ryzen's gaming performance.
He tested Tomb Raider in both DX11 and 12 and found that when the NV card was changed for RX480s the sometimes ~30% lead of the 7700K melted to 6.5%

REMOVED CHARTS

...and OFC everyone tested Ryzen with NV cards as AMD at the moment cannot put anything high end to the line.

The problem manifests on CPU bound Tasks.. If you lower the GPU it Starts being GPU bound and the diference get reduced... That's why you don't see big diferences on 1440p+ as its all GPU bound

Noisiv
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#5414608 Posted on: 03/31/2017 06:26 PM

His Nvidia numbers are fake.

If that. AdoRed Leader

is copypasta anyway

raminrostami
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#5414624 Posted on: 03/31/2017 07:15 PM

now you can use 3800mhz ram on this board=

ryzen itself alon can support 6000mhz ram
(50ftl graphic=4*1080) !!!!but for hard latency and high price ram above 3000mhz amd ask board creators to be under 3000 mhz

Prince Valiant
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#5414631 Posted on: 03/31/2017 07:27 PM

Nice to see there's room for improvement on memory latency. Hopefully they'll get most of it ironed out before the next set of CPUs launches.

XenthorX
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#5414637 Posted on: 03/31/2017 08:04 PM

Wow that's some impressive charts right there. My next rig will have AMD CPU, it's crystal clear.

I personally don't care about RAM overclocking, timing etc... I want ultra stability of my system most and foremost, and RAM looks like a nightmare not worth any effort on the oc side.

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