After teasing its long-awaited platform refresh at CES 2022, AMD showed off its Ryzen 7000 CPUs and the AM5 platform at Computex a few months later. The company brought next-gen DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 support to its desktop processors and overhauled its socket layout, shifting from a PGA socket on the previous AM4 platform to an LGA socket on AM5. After the tremendous success of the AM4 socket, consumers waited to see exactly what benefits the new platform would bring.
Now, almost a year after the launch of the Ryzen 7000 processors and the very first AM5 motherboards, it's time to look back and take stock of AM5's journey to date. Despite embracing the latest memory and PCIe standards, and enhancing power delivery and cooling capabilities, the AM5 socket today is not the surefire choice AMD would have hoped. There are still solid reasons to choose AM4 or even Intel's Alder Lake or Raptor Lake over the AM5 platform. Let's break those down.
1 Limited current-gen compatibility
Everyone loves the hype around new and improved PC hardware. Higher clock speeds, improved core counts, faster memory speeds — the list goes on. But, upgrading to new and improved tech makes the most sense when it doesn't disrupt your entire PC configuration. For instance, picking up one of the best GPUs in 2023 is a simple plug-and-play process for the majority of users. But, the same kind of flexibility doesn't exist when jumping to a whole new socket architecture.
Due to the nature of the AM5 socket and the Ryzen 7000 CPUs, you can't reuse much of your older hardware if you make the switch to AMD's current platform. You'll not only have to buy a new AM5 motherboard and a Ryzen 7000 CPU but also a DDR5 RAM memory kit as AM5 motherboards aren't backward compatible with DDR4 RAM.
A slight respite might be the fact that CPU coolers compatible with the AM4 socket are also compatible with the AM5 socket, saving you the need to buy a new cooler for AM5 specifically. Although, your current cooler might still need an upgrade to keep up with higher temps of the power-hungry Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Building on the AM5 platform is obviously more future-proof, as AM4 will see no new processors after the Ryzen 5000 series. But, upgrading to a more powerful CPU while staying on the AM4 platform seems to make more sense for the value buyer.
2 Early adopter tax
The price argument against AM5 doesn't just concern those upgrading their existing PCs. Even if you're in the market for a fresh new build, you might want to consider the price premium for picking AM5 over AM4 or Intel counterparts. Each new tech carries an early adopter tax for those dying to experience it before others. The same is true, even today, for AM5 motherboards, Ryzen 7000 CPUs, and DDR5 memory kits.
For someone comparing the cost of a complete budget PC build on the AM4 platform against AM5, the value clearly lies on the AM4 side. Simply because a new generation of CPUs and motherboards brings technical advantages over the previous generation doesn't make the latter worthless. AM4 motherboards and processors are retailing at around their lowest prices ever, with the same being true for DDR4 memory kits. Sure, prices have come down in the last year for the parts associated with an AM5 build, but you just can't beat the value of AM4 right now.
3 Minimal performance gains for most
Performance is the number one reason for anyone to switch PC hardware. Newer graphics cards bring improved FPS and newer technologies for gaming, and newer CPUs are expected to do the same for a variety of tasks. Despite Ryzen 7000 processors representing a considerable leap in raw performance over Ryzen 5000 CPUs, the performance gains for most people are not worth the much higher adoption cost.
For the average user, gaming performance on, say, a Ryzen 7 7600 isn't going to be miles ahead of that on a Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X, at least not enough to justify the much higher price tag. An upgrade from the Ryzen 5 5600 to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D would net you the same performance jump at a much lower upgrade cost.
The same story plays out in the memory department as you get into the DDR4 versus DDR5 debate. DDR5 RAM's benefits will make sense only if you're targeting high framerates and have the cash to spare. For everyone else, DDR4 is still the way to go, at least until DDR5 RAM prices are reduced further.
4 Growing pains and reliability issues
Since AM5 launched in late 2022, reports of compatibility issues with RAM sticks and BIOS versions started to circulate on Reddit. People faced issues like no boot, long boot times, incompatibility with EXPO profiles, no video signal from the GPU, and many more. These early reliability issues were attributed to AM5 being a radically new platform. There were even rumors of AMD pushing back the availability date of the Ryzen 7000 CPUs due to AMD dealing with firmware-related problems.
Whatever the case, it was the early adopters who suffered at the end. Forced to return motherboards and memory kits, and flashing multiple BIOS updates, the community wasn't very happy with the launch, to say the least. While these problems gradually began to fade from memory, it came to light in May 2023 that Asus motherboards were killing Ryzen 7000 CPUs due to voltage malfunctions and the company's BIOS patch to fix the issue voided the motherboard warranty.
These voltage issues weren't limited to one motherboard manufacturer. Almost all manufacturers released BIOS updates to limit the voltage supplied to Ryzen 7000 processors to 1.3V. What was initially thought to be an issue for the more voltage-sensitive 7000X3D CPUs was later found to affect even other chips in the series. These problems make one wary of jumping to the new AM5 platform, and it may be best to wait for issues to be ironed out and enjoy your current setup until then.
5 Strong competition from Team Blue
Intel's impressive return to form with its 12th-gen Alder Lake and later 13th-gen Raptor Lake processors helped it regain the top spot in the current generation of desktop CPUs. Intel's 13th-gen lineup of CPUs is arguably better than AMD's counterparts at every price point and for every use case. This means there's a strong alternative available for AMD fans to consider when upgrading their rigs or building a new PC.
Alternatively, if you're already rocking an Intel 12th-gen processor, swapping it out for a 13th-gen CPU will be a simple drop-in upgrade. You don't need to buy a new LGA 1700 motherboard and can continue using your old one with a BIOS update for your 13th-gen CPU. You also don't need to throw your DDR4 RAM away as both the 12th- and 13th-gen Intel processors support DDR4 as well as DDR5 RAM. This considerably tilts the conversation against the AM5 platform for users not wanting the hassle of multiple upgrades and spending more than is necessary.
Upgrading to AM5: The time is not right
If you're a productivity user, professional, or enthusiast, the AM5 platform is a great investment, especially considering AMD's announcement of supporting the socket at least till 2025. But, if you use your PC mostly for gaming and some lightweight streaming, editing, or office work, AM4 is arguably the better pick if you want to stay on Team Red.
Intel's strong lineup of both the 12th and 13th-gen CPUs offer better performance and sometimes, better value for money compared to both the AM5 and AM4 platforms. For now, the best bet is to wait and watch for AMD's Ryzen 8000 and Intel's 14th Gen CPUs, and reassess the market at a later stage.