Reports of Ryzen 7000-series processors burning out under specific conditions have emerged. AMD has confirmed it is investigating the issue and is partnering with its ODM partners to ensure that voltages applied to Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs via motherboard BIOS settings are within product specifications. Asus has added new thermal monitoring mechanisms to protect chips and is working with AMD to define new rules for AMD Expo and SoC voltage. The issue has been linked to excessive SoC voltages, which can be exposed via either AMD EXPO profiles or manual adjustment in the BIOS. The issue may lie in this excessive voltage destroying or disabling the thermal protection mechanisms on the chip, leading to further heat damage until catastrophic failure occurs. The visible heat damage present on the underside of some of AMD’s latest chips is bulging around the vCore pads. Although the issue has been linked to Ryzen 7000X3D processors, standard Ryzen 7000-series chips are also susceptible in some regard.
To mitigate risk, a safe SoC voltage is 1.25V, as beyond that, it is riskier territory. Using EXPO overclocking is not covered under warranty, and killing the chip via the use of EXPO could leave the user high and dry for a replacement. AMD is working on a fix for the issue that would limit the voltage via the firmware or system management unit (SMU), which could also limit the extreme limits of memory overclocking. There is likely to be a way to circumvent any limits, which in some circumstances could damage the chip.
In conclusion, AMD is investigating reports of damaged Ryzen CPUs caused by excessive SoC voltages. Asus has added new thermal monitoring mechanisms to protect chips and is working with AMD to define new rules for AMD Expo and SoC voltage. The issue may lie in excessive voltage destroying or disabling the thermal protection mechanisms on the chip. A safe SoC voltage is 1.25V, and using EXPO overclocking is not covered under warranty. AMD is working on a fix for the issue that would limit the voltage via the firmware or system management unit (SMU), which could also limit the extreme limits of memory overclocking.
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