AMD and its board partners have finally issued the first official statements regarding the recent cases of Ryzen 7000 CPUs burning out.
AMD Is Now Actively Working With Its Board Partners To Investigate & Resolve Ryzen 7000 CPU Burnout Issues, New BIOS Available
Since last week, there have been several cases of AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPUs burning out on AM5 motherboards. The issue was reportedly due to excess voltage being supplied to the chip that damaged both, the AM5 motherboard and the CPU. It was revealed that the issue could be due to EXPO & SoC power which had voltages opened up within the BIOS supplied by manufacturers. A few motherboard vendors such as MSI reacted to this early and issued a BIOS to restrict voltages and others such as ASUS & Biostar have now followed suit.
AMD has also provided an official statement on the matter to Anandtech which can be read below:
We are aware of a limited number of reports online claiming that excess voltage while overclocking may have damaged the motherboard socket and pin pads. We are actively investigating the situation and are working with our ODM partners to ensure voltages applied to Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs via motherboard BIOS settings are within product specifications. Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support.
The issues are not only limited to the AMD Ryzen 7000X3D 3D V-Cache CPUs but as we have seen over the last couple of days, the standard Ryzen 7000 CPUs are affected by this issue too. So based on that, it looks like the motherboards are really passing excess voltages and manual overclocking can lead to damaging the chips permanently. Even those that are designed to sustain higher OC & voltages.
So while AMD has asked users to reach out to customer support, it remains to be seen if they will be offered any replacement chip since according to what AMD and its partners have stated, the issue stems from manual voltage and overclocking which isn't covered in the official warranty but this could end up being a special case where warranties are covered even for these chips.
Most of the reports of motherboards and CPUs burning up came on ASUS AM5 motherboards and the company has now published an official statement. ASUS removed all older BIOS firmware from its product pages and left only the new one for users to download and update their motherboards. The older BUIS firmware had no restrictions in place which led to these issues popping up in the first place.
Community Notice - ASUS AM5 motherboard owners
An important update for Ryzen7000X3D processor owners
Several AMD Ryzen 7000X3D owners have reported CPU and motherboard failures. We acknowledge the incidents/issues and have been communicating with AMD to analyze the possible causes. We have also contacted affected users to provide support and collect additional information.
Ryzen 7000X3D processors do not allow for CPU ratio or CPU core voltage tuning (CPU overclocking) but do allow for performance tuning and DRAM overclocking via PBO2 and EXPO memory. To support EXPO and/or memory overclocking at DDR5-6000 and beyond, SoC voltage has to be sufficiently increased to ensure compatibility and stability. The amount of voltage required varies between CPU samples. Some processors are more sensitive to overvoltage than others, and some are capable at running higher memory frequencies without needing as much voltage.
As confirmed with AMD, any intentional manipulation of these settings can damage the processor, socket, and motherboard. To mitigate this, we have been working with AMD to define new rules for EXPO memory and SoC voltage. To help protect the CPU and motherboard, we are issuing new EFI updates to limit the maximum available SoC voltage to 1.3V.
We recommend updating your motherboard UEFI BIOS to the latest release. Please also ensure the CPU is cooled adequately. Our recommendation is to use at least a 240mm AIO liquid cooler or high-performance air cooler. If you have been affected, please do not hesitate to contact ASUS support for your region.
FAQ - 1. When are the new UEFI releases going to be released? Our expectation is to have the UEFI BIOS updates posted and available through the service and support website within the next 24 hours.
MSI on the other hand advises its customers to use the latest available BIOS which will restrict voltages to 1.3V.
MSI Update on AMD 7000X3D Damage Issue
Recently, there have been reports of the 7000X3D series CPUs being damaged, which may have been caused by abnormal voltage issues. AMD is currently investigating this issue and working on providing a solution.
Our BIOS always follow AMD's guidance, and our latest BIOS release has disabled the 7000X3D Core over-voltage feature, as requested by AMD.
There has been a report stating:
"As soon as EXPO is enabled, the CPU SOC and CPU VDDIO/MC voltages increase to 1.36-1.4v, sometimes boosting to 1.5V in Windows, causing instant death on the X3D."
We have confirmed that MSI motherboards have not experienced the reported issue of voltage boosting to 1.5v from 1.36-1.4v in Windows.
ASRock has also released the latest BIOS firmware for its X670, B650, and A620 line of boards. The BIOS offers system stability and also limits CPU voltages on certain power rails:
ASRock Releases New BIOS for AM5 Motherboards System Stability
ASRock has released new BIOS as well as A-Tuning utility for following AM5 chipset motherboards which limit CPU voltage on certain power rails. We encourage users to update to the new BIOS with the appropriate voltage settings urgently to ensure system stability and durability.
Apart from bringing rock-solid hardware products to PC users, ASRock is also keen on working with AMD and integrating the most up to date technologies into its products. If you're unsure about the risk of using old BIOS version, please seek professional support from ASRock customer service.
Models BIOS Version X670E X670E Taichi 1.21 X670E Taichi Carrara 1.21 X670E Steel Legend 1.21 X670E Pro RS 1.21 X670E PG Lightning 1.21 B650E / B650 B650E Taichi 1.21 B650E Steel Legend WiFi 1.21 B650E PG Riptide WiFi 1.21 B650E PG-ITX WiFi 1.21 B650 LiveMixer 1.21 B650 Pro RS 1.21 B650 PG Lightning 1.21 B650M PG Riptide WiFi 1.21 B650M PG Riptide 1.21 B650M-HDV/M.2 1.21 A620 A620M Pro RS WiFi 1.21 A620M Pro RS 1.21 A620M-HDV/M.2+ 1.21 A620M-HDV/M.2 1.21
Biostar has also released an update on the matter and all of its X670/B650 series motherboards have received a new BIOS update that limits voltages on the AMD Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs.
BIOSTAR RELEASES A NEW BIOS UPDATE TO LIMIT RYZEN 7000X3D VOLTAGES
Recent reports suggest that AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors are prone to physical damage when overclocked with voltage assistance. This has prompted motherboard vendors to rush BIOS updates with voltage limiters, and BIOSTAR is no exception.
The new BIOS update from BIOSTAR restricts direct voltage to CPU Vcore Voltage, CPU SOC Voltage, and CPU MISC Voltage, preventing over-voltage and reducing the risk of damage to the 7000X3D series CPUs. Additionally, BIOSTAR also has PBO (Precision Boot Overdrive, Default: Auto) function to provide the best performance for 7000X3D series CPUs even under Voltage restrictions.
Supported models and BIOS list below:
X670E VALKYRIE X67AE413.BST RACING B650EGTQ B65AQ413.BST B650M-SILVER B65BQ413.BST
Gigabyte has released its own updated BIOS with provides a more secure range of SOC voltage settings to reduce the risk of CPU damage due to over-voltage settings.
The latest beta BIOS provides a more secure range of SOC voltage settings to reduce the risk of CPU damage due to over-voltage settings. Meanwhile, through the GIGABYTE exclusive Performance Bung in the BIOS option, users can easily optimize the tuning process of CPU voltage setting, while obtain the optimal CPU voltage by AMD PBO2 option, which both help to unleash the foremost performance of Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs.
The latest beta BIOS is available now, please visit the GIGABYTE website to download for optimal performance.
We will also advise all of our readers using either one of the AMD Ryzen 7000 & Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs to download and install the latest motherboard BIOS to ensure stable operating voltages for your chips. We'll keep on adding to this story as more information comes by.
