Bios Psp · Exclusive & Secure

But here’s the secret your motherboard won’t shout about. In every AMD-based system built since 2013, there’s a that wakes up before the BIOS even gets a chance to stretch its legs.

It’s called the . You might know its infamous nickname: “the Fuck You, Pay Me” chip—or more commonly, the AMD Secure Processor. bios psp

The PSP is a . AMD provides the binary firmware, but the source code is a secret. Security researchers and open-source purists (especially the coreboot and libreboot communities) have a visceral reaction to the PSP. But here’s the secret your motherboard won’t shout about

You can disable certain features (like fTPM) in the BIOS, but the PSP itself is hardwired into the silicon. It is the first thing that executes on power-on. You might know its infamous nickname: “the Fuck

The only way to truly remove the PSP is to use an old, pre-2013 AMD platform (e.g., AM3+ with a Bulldozer CPU) or a non-x86 architecture (like RISC-V or POWER9). Even then, you lose modern performance and security features. If you’re an Intel user, don’t feel smug. Intel’s Management Engine (ME) is the same concept—an ARC processor inside the PCH that runs before your BIOS. In fact, Intel’s ME is older (2008) and historically more powerful (it has network access even when your PC is "off").

The PSP vs. ME debate is basically: Which flavor of proprietary pre-boot processor do you distrust less? For 99% of users: No. The PSP works silently in the background, enabling Windows 11 compatibility, protecting against firmware attacks, and providing hardware-rooted security. You will never interact with it directly.