AMD Shares Fix for Ryzen Burnout Failures, New BIOSes Coming (Updated)
Update your BIOS now.
AMD has issued a second statement on the issues surrounding its Ryzen 7000 processors, noting that the company will cap SoC voltages to rectify the issues we've seen with Ryzen chips partially melting due to excess voltage. The damaged chips have not only bulged out and overheated to the point they have become desoldered, but they have also significantly damaged the motherboards they are installed in. Here is the full statement:
"We have root caused the issue and have already distributed a new AGESA that puts measures in place on certain power rails on AM5 motherboards to prevent the CPU from operating beyond its specification limits, including a cap on SOC voltage at 1.3V. None of these changes affect the ability of our Ryzen 7000 Series processors to overclock memory using EXPO or XMP kits or boost performance using PBO technology.
We expect all of our ODM partners to release new BIOS for their AM5 boards over the next few days. We recommend all users to check their motherboard manufacturers' websites and update their BIOS to ensure their system has the most up-to-date software for their processor.
Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support. Our customer service team is aware of the situation and prioritizing these cases." — AMD Representative to Tom's Hardware.
AMD's new statement builds upon the information it provided when it first acknowledged the issue and mentioned that it would ensure its ODM partners (motherboard makers) delivered the correct voltages to its Ryzen processors.
As we noted in our original coverage, there have been reports of failures with both the specialized Ryzen 7000X3D and standard Ryzen 7000 models. However, AMD's original statement only mentioned the 7000X3D variants. This statement doesn't specify which CPUs are impacted, so we should consider it a blanket statement for all Ryzen 7000 and 7000X3D series processors for now.
AMD has now delivered AGESA updates, the building block for the motherboard BIOS firmwares that the motherboard vendors will distribute, to its ODMs. AMD says users should check for motherboard firmware updates over the next few days. AMD's statement mirrors the press releases we've covered from all motherboard makers saying they would issue new firmwares to correct the problem.
The issues are known to occur either when a user adjusts the SoC voltage manually to a value beyond 1.3V or when the motherboard firmware automatically increases the SoC voltage beyond 1.3V when an EXPO memory overclocking profile is engaged (The EXPO profile itself does not increase the SoC voltage, the board vendors assign a pre-determined value of their own to support the increased speed of the EXPO profile).
Our own sources have told us that this higher SoC voltage can destroy the chips' thermal monitoring and protection mechanisms, thus causing a cascading failure that ends up with the chip requesting too much voltage from the motherboard. You can read more about that here. Notably, AMD's statement says SoC voltage is the root cause but doesn't mention if that impacts the thermal monitoring/protection mechanisms.
These higher SoC voltages are needed to support higher memory overclocks, but AMD says that the 1.3V limit will not materially impact overclocking headroom, an important distinction.
AMD's warranty does not cover overclocking in any form, including using EXPO memory overclocking profiles. However, the company notes that it is prioritizing service for customers impacted by this issue, and it's doubtful that it would not fulfill RMAs for any impacted processors.
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Paul Alcorn is the Editor-in-Chief for Tom's Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.
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Vanderlindemedia I just dont understand how one in their right minds would have allowed 1.4V SOC.Reply -
HKTacticblade Reply
A lot of motherboard makers actually dial it up automatically, which is just insane.Vanderlindemedia said:I just dont understand how one in their right minds would have allowed 1.4V SOC. -
TerryLaze Reply
"These higher SoC voltages are needed to support higher memory overclocks, but AMD says that the 1.3V limit will not materially impact overclocking headroom, an important distinction."Admin said:AMD has issued a second statement on the Ryzen 7000 burnout issues, citing that it will cap certain voltages to prevent the issue.
AMD Issues Follow-up Statement On Ryzen Burnout Issues, Limits SoC Voltages : Read more
That is not at all what the statement says, even if that could be what they meant.
The ability to overclock memory will still be there is what AMD says in the statement, there is no mention there about any impact on the range/headroom.
"None of these changes affect the ability of our Ryzen 7000 Series processors to overclock memory using EXPO or XMP kits or boost performance using PBO technology." -
atomicWAR My first bios dialled my SOC voltage to 1.35v for using EXPO. First thing I did was dial it down to 1.25v which was no brainer even before the exploding cpus. Then spent a few days getting my speeds at ddr5 6000, timings working at cl30 and ram voltage low(ish) but stable (also 1.35v down frtom 1.4v stock EXPO). Never trust xmp/expo profiles or your motherboard maker. Providing liberally high voltages/auto OC are frequently an issue for hardware makers users pay the price for.Reply -
-Fran- Good. At least this is, hopefully, ending on a positive note and not with AMD and the ODMs burying their heads in the sand.Reply
Also, this tidbit is important to me: "The EXPO profile itself does not increase the SoC voltage, the board vendors assign a pre-determined value of their own to support the increased speed of the EXPO profile".
AMD is at fault for not providing a more rigorous guideline or even checks within AGESA, but that comes with the territory of allowing ODMs to "get creative". Sadly, this is one where being too permissive have backfired horribly. Live and learn.
As for the Warranty... Gosh... If they'll still honour those in reality, why even put them outside of the warranty on paper? So darn stupid. AMD, Intel, please don't be so stupid on this one. If you want to support EXPO/XMP, then help memory makers to validate and make them "within spec" and not "overclocking", so they can be covered within your warranties. Or even better, push JEDEC to have a more comprehensive set of ranges for memory and timings! Come on!
Regards. -
setx Reply
AMD is not at fault: Asus, for example, does the same on Intel. Even if CPUs there don't die as fast from this it doesn't mean that unreasonable high voltages for "auto" are ok.-Fran- said:AMD is at fault for not providing a more rigorous guideline or even checks within AGESA, but that comes with the territory of allowing ODMs to "get creative". Sadly, this is one where being too permissive have backfired horribly. -
klavs Reply
So you set your SOC to 1.35v to get to 6000CL30. And AMD says you can do it at 1.3v?atomicWAR said:My first bios dialled my soc voltage to 1.35v. First thing I did was dial it down to 1.25v which was no brainer even before the exploding cpus. Then spent a few days getting my speeds at ddr5 6000 l, timings working at cl30 and ram voltage low(ish) but stable (also 1.35v). Never trust xmp/expo profiles or your motherboard maker. Providing liberally high voltages/auto OC are frequently an issue for hardware makers users pay the price for.
I think AMD, RAM manufacturers and Motherboard makers MUST write in large letters that DDR5 better than 5600CL30'ish can cause burnout on AM5 platforms, because of the SOC it requires. -
TerryLaze Reply
How should ASUS know what the reasonable level of voltage is if AMD doesn't tell them?setx said:AMD is not at fault: Asus, for example, does the same on Intel. Even if CPUs there don't die as fast from this it doesn't mean that unreasonable high voltages for "auto" are ok.
If AMD told them from the beginning that 1.35V might be enough to kill CPUs then do you really think that any mobo maker would go above that?!
Yeah because they honor the warranty because it was their fault.-Fran- said:As for the Warranty... Gosh... If they'll still honour those in reality, why even put them outside of the warranty on paper?
I still think they got a bad batch of components and are scrambling to try and fix it without having to do a mass recall. -
atomicWAR Reply
No you misread my post. I set the SOC voltage to 1.25V from 1.35 that EXPO wanted to use as default in my release bios and in some later revisions but not my current bios which uses 1.25v as default SOC voltage. The Ram voltage wanted 1.4 volts default and that was tuned down to 1.35V. Ram voltage and SOC are not the same though both should be lower than they were by default with EXPO. The SOC voltage needs to be 1.3 or less according to AMD. I find 1.3V for SOC voltage high honestly though its on the edge of safe for overclocking. Regardless manufacurers trying to pump to much voltage through parts is nothing new IME. Point being never trust your auto settings in your motherboard or EXPO/XMP settings as it is common for them to pump to much voltage though parts. You should try to find the lowest stable voltages and only use your motherboard auto settings/expo/xmp as a starting point to get running.klavs said:So you set your SOC to 1.35v to get to 6000CL30. And AMD says you can do it at 1.3v?
I think AMD, RAM manufacturers and Motherboard makers MUST write in large letters that DDR5 better than 5600CL30'ish can cause burnout on AM5 platforms, because of the SOC it requires. -
klavs Reply
Sorry, if I am asking a stupid question. But what kind of RAM voltage are you talking about? Can you show a pic of your bios? Are we talking about VDD, VDDQ or VPP? VPP I assume? I would be interested in seeing your settings. I thought, and may be wrong, that the SOC was significant for XMP/EXPO and not the VPP.atomicWAR said:No you misread my post. I set the SOC voltage to 1.25V from 1.35 The Ram voltage wanted 1.4 volts default and that was tuned down to 1.35V.