Preventing Ryzen Burnout: Motherboard Makers Issue New Firmware

Motherboard makers have been swift to respond with firmware updates, now that AMD has released an official statement regarding the worrying spate of ‘Ryzen burn out’ issues. Today we have seen all the major AM5 motherboard partners release or announce mitigating motherboard BIOS updates. Thus, we have statements from the likes of Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and Biostar to share with you, and we will look at what each vendor has to say about their updates. We will cover these updates in alphabetical order.

Asus AM5 Updates

Asus chose to provide a community update via Twitter, which isn’t surprising, as this firm inconsistently spreads announcements across the main Asus site, Asus ROG, Edge Up, and various random social media channels. Senior Technical Marketing Manager Juan Jose Guerrero reminds us that Ryzen 7000X3D processors don’t allow for CPU ratio or core voltage tuning, but support PBO2 and EXPO. It is these technologies that increase SoC voltage to ensure the processor can cope with the demands asked, stably.

In brief, Asus’s answer is to limit the maximum available SoC voltage to 1.3V.  This statement of intent was issued earlier today, and the Asus exec said users should be able to find a new ‘safe’ BIOS with the 1.3V limit “within the next 24 hours.”

Biostar AM5 Updates

Biostar is one of the smaller AMD partners, and it has updates for three motherboards ready to go, the X670E Valkyrie, Racing B650EGTQ, and B650M-Silver. That is the firm’s entire existing lineup, but it has three other AM5 boards in the pipeline.

A news blog post details how Biostar has created a BIOS update that “restricts direct voltage to CPU Vcore Voltage, CPU SOC Voltage, and CPU MISC Voltage.” The intent is to make voltage limit changes “preventing over-voltage and reducing the risk of damage to the 7000X3D series CPUs,” says Biostar. Interestingly, the new BIOS file we checked (X67AE413.BST for the Valkyrie) was nearly two weeks old.

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Gigabyte AM5 Updates

In a news blog post today, Gigabyte says that it has worked closely with AMD to “release the new beta BIOS regarding to the recent concerns of potential motherboard damaged issues with Ryzen™ 7000X3D-series CPUs.” Like the other motherboard makers, Gigabyte says that it has implemented some more restrained SoC voltage settings to reduce the risk of damage. However, it is quick to assert that users will still enjoy “the foremost performance of Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs.”

Users will find Gigabyte’s beta BIOS downloads for its 23 AM5 series motherboards are available immediately.

MSI AM5 Updates

MSI HQ Technical Marketing chose to make a community announcement about its BIOS changes via reddit. Within its post, MSI says that MSI motherboard users haven’t experienced the issue where the SoC voltage boosts as high as 1.5V. However, in the interests of absolute safety, MSI has followed AMD’s latest guidance and “disabled the 7000X3D Core over-voltage feature.”

If you own an MSI AM5 motherboard, the maker asks that you continue to “be cautious with CPU voltage usage.” MSI assures its reddit community readers that when AMD releases a solution to the current issues, it will “promptly update” its BIOS files again.

In summary, if you are an AM5 platform user, please be careful with your voltages at this time, apply these updates, and await further developments.

In case you are blissfully unaware of the AMD Ryzen burnout issues, a good place to start to catch up is our article AMD Ryzen 7000 Burning Out: EXPO and SoC Voltages to Blame (AMD Responds), which contains all the latest info and official statements.