GT-AC5300 (NB4 someone says it's not supported)

[ZiRiS]

GT-AC5300 (NB4 someone says it's not supported)

I know it's not supported....but what if I did it anyways because I wanted Merlin's firmware instead?
If I installed the firmware for the RT-AC5300 would it brick my router? If so, which one should I install instead?
Look, I know I'll probably lose some features in this, but the features being lost are not important to me.
I got a gaming router for the speed, not because I have some specific game I want to go fasterer, but because I upgraded my internet and my old router couldn't handle the speed, the processor maxed out during speed tests and wouldn't give me the speed I was paying for.
After I switched, I suddenly started getting better speeds, speeds I was paying for.
So the thing is, I want Merlin firmware, but I don't want to have to buy a whole new router for it - I want to be able to use my current router, even if that means I lose some functionality.

Can someone perhaps point me in the right direction, please?
I've tried searching but haven't seen this specific question asked: which Merlin firmware do i put on my GT-AC5300 that won't brick it, or, is that even possible?
Is this a ridiculous question? If so, please tell me why, so I can learn from it.

 

[bennor]

Generally the router will not let one flash firmware for a different router. Even if it somehow does, one can likely expect their router to be bricked and possibly non recoverable. There was a recent discussion where I think someone was able to do this using the Asus firmware restoration/recovery tool. They flash firmware intended for a different Asus router and they bricked their Asus router.

 

[ZiRiS]

Generally the router will not let one flash firmware for a different router. Even if it somehow does, one can likely expect their router to be bricked and possibly non recoverable. There was a recent discussion where I think someone was able to do this, flash firmware intended for a different Asus router and they bricked their Asus router.

Ah hah! So it will brick it if I try. Thanks, dude!
Looks like I'm in the market for a new router.
The GT-AX110000 looks nice, and it looks like it's supported with no ROG features, which is a plus for me.

 

[bennor]

Ah hah! So it will brick it if I try.

Found the earlier thread I mentioned:

Flashed wrong firmware now stuck

I had an issue with my RT-AX86U router and in an attempt to fix it I tried to flash the merlin firmware. But unfortunately, like an idiot, I accidentally flashed the firmware for the AX68U instead of the AX86U. I now cannot log into the admin panel. I tried every combination of the username and...

www.snbforums.com

They apparently flashed the wrong firmware (RT-AX68U firmware) to their RT-AX86U, using the ASUS Firmware Restoration tool, and bricked their router.

 

[Tech9]

If I installed the firmware for the RT-AC5300 would it brick my router?

Yes, the two routers have similar name, but very different hardware. RT is an older ARMv7 platform router, GT is a newer HND ARMv8 platform.