AMD Ryzen 7000 processors are a popular choice among gamers, but recent reports have indicated that they are susceptible to fatal overheating. Several users have reported that their processors burned the motherboard socket, causing concern among the gaming community.
The Cause of The Issue
Tom’s Hardware and YouTuber der8auer have investigated the matter and found that the issue may be caused by SoC voltages being pushed beyond safe levels during memory overclocking. Although AMD has not confirmed this, they are reportedly working on a fix to prevent this from happening again.
The Ryzen 7000X3D sub-series appears to be particularly prone to these burnouts. However, these incidents are not caused by improper installation or negligent overclocking. Instead, it is alleged that raising the SoC voltage can destroy the Ryzen chip’s onboard temperature sensors, which negates its ability to shut down the system if it detects excess heat. This allows voltages to climb higher unimpeded, resulting in a fried processor and potentially a motherboard.
AMD’s Response
AMD has not confirmed the issue, but Tom’s Hardware reports that the chip maker is working on a fix that would cap or lock SoC voltages at the firmware level. Asus and MSI, two of the brands whose motherboards have been reportedly damaged by overheating Ryzens, have released BIOS updates to address some of the issues.
At present, there is no evidence to suggest that non-overclocked Ryzen 7000 processors are at similar risk. If you have overclocked your Ryzen 7000 processor by changing clock speed and core voltage values while leaving the SoC voltage alone, then you should be fine. However, it is essential to ensure that you have installed a CPU cooler that can handle it.
The fact that an electrical fault can obliterate the sensors designed to protect against electrical faults is concerning. Fingers crossed that AMD addresses the issue quickly.
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