The AM4 socket, which AMD has been using on mainstream processors for five years now, is slowly becoming a successor. Leaker ExecutableFix has revealed information about the first batch of boards and processors that should arrive next year.
The new platform will already support DDR5 memory and will retain dual-channel access. Compared to DDR4, twice the frequency and four times the capacity will arrive.
AM5 will initially only support PCI Express 4.0, twice as fast as PCIe 5.0 is to be the domain for Genoa server chips. However, it is likely that an upgrade will occur during the life cycle of this platform. After all, AM4 started with PCIe 3.0 and later deployed the four versions of the AMD bus.
For graphics cards, PCIe 4.0 should not be a brake, but SSDs using four lines have already reached the limits of theoretical throughput. Intel will deploy PCIe 5.0 on the next generation of processors (Alder Lake).
ExecutableFix also revealed that the first chipsets for the AM5 will be the 600 series and that the processors will retain their physical dimensions of 40 × 40 mm as their predecessor. However, the processor connection changes from PGA (pin grid array) to LGA (land grid array), and the number of pins increases from 1331 to 1718.
With the LGA, there are only contact pads on the processor and the (bent) pins are on the board. This has the advantage that the processor, which can be several times more expensive than the board, is not so easily damaged. On the other hand, the classic perpendicular pins of the PGA are relatively easy to straighten, while the oblique pins of the LGA require more precision when repairing.
Intel has been using LGA in the mainstream since 2004 (LGA-775 / Socket T), AMD has so far only used it on HPC and server processors such as Opteron, Threadripper, or Epyc.
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