Does 2nd Gen Ryzen offer more performance on X470 motherboards?
Does 2nd Gen Ryzen offer more performance on X470 motherboards?
With the launch of X470, AMD offered users support for new features like SenseMI, and XFR 2.0, the second of which is capable of providing users with increased CPU performance when thermal and power budgets can allow it.
The Technology YouTuber Bitwit has put XFR 2 to the test, benchmarking AMD’s new Ryzen 5 2600X CPU on both ASUS’ X470 Crosshair VII Hero and Strix X370-F Gaming. These tests were conducted on AMD’s new Wraith Prism cooler (which is only available with AMD’s Ryzen 7 2700X) to provide enough thermal headroom for XFR 2.0 to function optimally.
Below is a video which showcases Bitwit’s benchmarking efforts, revealing a result which some people may find surprising, especially given how XFR 2 was advertised.
(Video from Bitwit)
In the vast majority of Bitwit’s benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 2600X offers performance that was nigh-identical on both AMD’s X470 and X370 chipsets, giving no clear performance advantage to users.
That being said, most X370 motherboards on the market do not have out of the box support for 2nd Generation Ryzen CPUs, making X470 a safer option for those who are building new PCs. There are AMD/AM4 300-series motherboards available with out of the box Ryzen Gen 2 compatibility, though many online retailers do not advertise which board revisions that they plan to ship to users.
One other aspect that is worth noting for X470 is enhanced DDR4 memory support, which will allow users to have an easier time accessing higher memory clock speeds.
You can join the discussion on XFR 2’s Impact on Ryzen 2nd Gen’s performance on the OC3D Forums.