Skip to main content

AMD is standing by to help you get that new APU up and running

AMD Ryzen 5 2400G & Ryzen 3 2200G Review pins close
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

There is nothing worse than ripping open a bunch of boxes, starting to put something together, and then one missing or defective part gets in the way. Bedroom furniture, swing sets, or computers, it doesn’t matter — nobody wants to deal with the hassle. This thing happens when building a PC on occasion, specifically because of the constantly evolving nature of the industry. Plug a new CPU into a motherboard, for example, and it won’t boot if the firmware doesn’t match up. And if the PC won’t boot, then you can’t install the new firmware. Ouch.

That is exactly the case with AMD’s newest accelerated processing unit (APU) that mates a Ryzen CPU with a Radeon Vega GPU. The Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 2400G work with some existing motherboards, but new motherboard firmware is needed to let them play together. That leaves builders with a non-functioning PC and a major hassle. Fortunately, AMD is taking steps to make the process a little less painful.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

Usually, you would be required to procure your own processor to get things up and running. For example, you could simply buy the least expensive CPU that is compatible with both the motherboard and the firmware it ships with already installed. Rather than requiring users jump through these hoops to boot the system and flash the firmware, AMD is offering its own boot kit, free of charge, that includes a low-end AMD APU that can be used to get things updated so that the shiny new AMD APU is supported. As Ars Technica reports, AMD is shipping an A6-9500 APU — a decidedly low-cost processor — that can be used to get things up and running.

Once you’re done, you need to send the A6-9500 back to AMD, apparently without its heatsink. While it is a free solution, it’s not without its own hassles. To get started, you need to head to AMD’s support site and fill out the required warranty request form. Once AMD has confirmed that your APU is qualified for the offer, then they ship you the kit and email you the required instructions. Pop in the supported APU, boot up your PC, update the firmware, swap out the new APU, and you will be up and running with your entry-level gaming machine.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
AMD is valiantly keeping its word to gamers
Someone holding the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in a red light.

AMD's aging AM4 platform has been around since 2016, and it's a socket that AMD has promised to support for "for many years." We thought we'd waved goodbye to AM4 for good, but a new leak says that AMD has two new 3D V-Cache chips in the works, namely the Ryzen 7 5700X3D and the Ryzen 5 5500X3D. If the rumor is to be believed, AMD may not be done with AM4 yet, which is great news for those hoping not to have to upgrade their entire PC just to get the latest performance.

As per the user @g01d3nm4ng0 on Twitter, the new chips will serve up the same massive L3 cache we've come to expect from AMD's X3D chips, making them solid options for gamers on a tighter budget. No one expected that AMD would keep releasing new versions of last-gen chips well over a year since the launch of the Ryzen 7000, and yet, it seems that they're in the works.

Read more
I’m fed up with the AMD vs. Nvidia vs. Intel discourse, and you should be too
AMD RX 6600 among other graphics cards.

The rivalry between AMD, Nvidia, and Intel is exciting to watch at times. Which tech giant makes the best processors? What about graphics cards? This discourse is a bit of fun any PC enthusiast can have online, but too often, it devolves into something that can persuade buyers into bad purchases and push loyal fans into branded camps.

A little bit of competition between all three chipmakers is a good thing, but frankly, the amount of misinformation that stems from it makes life harder for most users. Here's why I'm sick of the never-ending online battle of AMD versus Intel versus Nvidia, and why you should be, too.
Misinformation and bias

Read more
AMD’s new laptop CPU is the fastest I’ve seen, but you shouldn’t buy it yet
Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 sitting on a table.

I knew when AMD announced the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D that it would be a great gaming laptop CPU. It was even more clear when AMD announced it would release first in the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17, which is one of the fastest gaming laptops you can buy. I've tested it, and it lives up to AMD's hype. But I still don't think you should buy it yet. Let me explain.

Between reviewing desktop CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 itself (read our Asus Scar 17 review for more), this new chip didn't hold any surprises. It's AMD's fastest laptop CPU, bolstered by the company's remarkable 3D V-Cache to boost gaming performance. It's a known quantity.

Read more