AMD blames failing Ryzen 9000 chips on reminiscence points

In case you’ve been keeping track of the most recent gaming PC {hardware} information, you’ve in all probability heard that AMD’s newest X3D chips kick all types of ass however are additionally failing at a quick fee, particularly in sure motherboards. AMD’s first official assertion blames it on reminiscence compatibility points. That will or will not be true, however it’ll be chilly consolation to some.

I’m hesitant to sound the alarm on points with new {hardware}. In any massive {hardware} launch, some small proportion of the gadgets that attain consumers’ arms will at all times be faulty… and in relation to issues like CPUs designed particularly for gaming PCs, we’re going to listen to loud and probably overstated voices on social media like Reddit. However observers have reportedly collected over 100 examples of failing 9800X3D chips and different members of the AM5 household, apparently principally in ASRock motherboards. It seems to be like there’s one thing happening right here.

In a press release supplied to PCGamer, one AMD consultant laid the blame on reminiscence timings. “Following a joint investigation, AMD and ASRock recognized a reminiscence compatibility problem current in earlier BIOS variations, which has been rectified within the newest BIOS,” it says, echoing earlier statements from ASRock.

The language is predictably company, imploring all customers who encounter issues to contact buyer assist, the place presumably they’ll be given the same old troubleshooting gauntlet earlier than being introduced with RMA choices. As PCGamer notes, many customers who skilled failures have noticed electrical or burn injury that might go approach past reminiscence timing points, and these are sometimes in CPUs that handed the POST safety system and operated for days or perhaps weeks with out issues.

I’m no electrical engineer, however like lots of the commenters on the scenario, I’m skeptical. You’d count on a reminiscence timing problem to create a system that might fail POST (Energy On Self-Check) and easily refuse besides, not trigger electrical or burn injury.

The excellent news is that anybody who at present has their arms on a 9800X3D, 9900X3D, or 9950X3D processor is properly inside the guarantee interval and may plead their case for a substitute with relative confidence. Which may not be the case for a barely older AM5 motherboard bought for the Ryzen 7000 sequence, although.