If you're looking forward to building a PC without the need for an add-in graphics card in 2018, one of the best options out there will be AMD's Raven Ridge APUs, which will combine an AMD Ryzen CPU, with an on-die Vega graphics chip which should be perfectly capable for 1080P and entry-level gaming. Although those chips aren't quite ready for release just yet, MSI has added full support for them to its AM4 motherboards, along with some other notable improvements.
MSI hasn't made any kind of announcement about this news, for some reason, but as Hexus reports, end-users have noticed the benefits of the firmware update and it's one that all MSI motherboard users should consider taking advantage of. As well as the new APU support, MSI's motherboard update also improves memory compatibility and boosts PCIE device compatibility.
That effectively means that faster memory is now supported by the boards, making it so that overclockers can go a little further than before and those with deeper pockets can pick up some of those new super-fast DDR4 kits from the likes of G.Skill, which has pushed stock kits close to 5GHz in recent months.
AMD's Raven Ridge APUs, named the Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 2400G, are slated to release in the next few months and could be a real game-changer in the low-level gaming market. They will easily beat the capabilities of Intel chips with its HD graphics hardware, though how capable they will prove against affordable graphics cards remains to be seen.
Would you consider running a gaming PC with just an APU under the hood?
