Ryzen 7000 I/O Die Cracks Into Five Tiny Chiplets During Experiment

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By Zhiye Liu
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RIP Ryzen 5 7600

Ryzen 5 7600
Ryzen 5 7600 (Image credit: Fritzchens Fritz/Twitter)

Fritzchens Fritz, famous for his IR photography of processors, recently shared an image comparing the Ryzen 5 7600 to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The renowned photographer described an unfortunate event with his Ryzen 5 7600. The hexa-core chip's I/O Die had cracked unexpectedly during some tests before taking thermal images of the processor. However, it's important to note that Fritz's experience doesn't indicate any issue with the Ryzen 7000 processors.

Fritz delidded the Ryzen 5 7600 and ran it with Thermal Grizzly's Ryzen 7000 Direct Die Frame without a heatsink. He noted that the I/O Die (IOD) temperature was approximately 80 degrees Celsius, while the single Core Complex Die (CCD) thermally throttled to 95 degrees Celsius. He was using thermal imaging to capture the bouncing of the cores. The Ryzen 5 7600 was executing the Cinebench single-core test and produced image artifacts, and eventually crashed the system after 60 seconds.

The IR photographer had put the CPU cooler back on the Ryzen 5 7600 about two to three seconds after the system crashed, but it was too late. The IOD had cracked into five miniature pieces. Fritz shared his configuration with his Ryzen 5 7600, and all the voltage settings were in line. Therefore, the chip didn't burn out because of excessive SoC voltage, like what had been happening to Ryzen owners who were using AMD EXPO memory kits.

Direct die cooling has become mainstream over a few generations of processors. Directly cooling the die bypasses the need for an integrated heat spreader (IHS), improving temperatures and overclocking headroom. However, some risks are involved logically, such as too much mounting pressure that can easily crack the delicate chiplets inside Ryzen 7000 processors. That wasn't the cause in Fritz's case, though, since there wasn't any pressure on top of the Ryzen 5 7600 chip. While the Ryzen 5 7600 didn't survive the experiment, his Asus Prime X670-P motherboard, which used the latest firmware, was operational. The socket was fine, and there weren't any physical signs of damage on the rear of the processor.

Accidents such as this one are one of the hazards of Fritz's work. The Berlin-based photographer has delighted us over the years with high-quality die shots of Intel and AMD processors and everything else in between. So it's a shame that the Ryzen 5 7600 has suffered premature death. But rest assured, it won't be in vain, as many die shots will come out of the chip.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

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29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • -Fran-
    AMD should sell a variant of the Ryzen CPUs without the stupid IHS with a limited use warranty.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    -Fran- said:
    AMD should sell a variant of the Ryzen CPUs without the stupid IHS with a limited use warranty.
    For anyone who's willing to take the time & trouble to do direct-die cooling properly, I think removing the IHS isn't a significant hurdle. A lot of those who can't be bothered to remove it are probably the same ones likely to break their CPUs by doing direct-die cooling incorrectly.

    A few broken CPUs quickly turns into a huge PR problem, because the tech press loves to sensationalize and too many readers overlook key details and nuances. Let's see how long it takes for someone to post something negative, overlooking the fact that the CPU was running without any IHS or heatsink, at the time of the failure.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    bit_user said:
    For anyone who's willing to take the time & trouble to do direct-die cooling properly, I think removing the IHS isn't a significant hurdle. A lot of those who can't be bothered to remove it are probably the same ones likely to break their CPUs by doing direct-die cooling incorrectly.

    A few broken CPUs quickly turns into a huge PR problem, because the tech press loves to sensationalize and too many readers overlook key details and nuances. Let's see how long it takes for someone to post something negative, overlooking the fact that the CPU was running without any IHS or heatsink, at the time of the failure.
    You can't compare the two in good faith... I don't even know why you did.

    Removing the IHS completely voids your warranty. Period. No buts. That's not even counting the extra cost and associated risk. As a consumer, why would you want to risk your warranty and spend a lot of extra money to do something AMD wouldn't cost more money at all?

    If AMD sells CPUs without IHS (like they do for laptops) and include a limited use warranty, at least, then it's a different situation altogether.

    Don't forget both AMD and Intel used to sell CPUs without IHS for a long time. There's other better ways nowadays to protect the exposed die via the ILM that make including an IHS not really needed.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    -Fran- said:
    You can't compare the two in good faith... I don't even know why you did.
    Exactly what are you claiming is in bad faith?

    -Fran- said:
    Removing the IHS completely voids your warranty. Period. No buts. That's not even counting the extra cost and associated risk. As a consumer, why would you want to risk your warranty and spend a lot of extra money to do something AMD wouldn't cost more money at all?
    The article shows why it's too dangerous for AMD to support or encourage, in any way.

    -Fran- said:
    Don't forget both AMD and Intel used to sell CPUs without IHS for a long time.
    Don't forget the thermal density of CPUs is way higher than it was, back then.

    Back in the 1970's hard drives weren't even sealed. I worked with a guy who told me how you'd physically even sand down a platter, after a head crash, and put it right back into service!

    What they could get away with doing, years ago, is not necessarily a viable option with today's tech. It's ever more highly-tuned, with ever slimmer margins for error.

    -Fran- said:
    There's other better ways nowadays to protect the exposed die via the ILM that make including an IHS not really needed.
    Explain.
    Reply
  • thisisaname
    I wonder if he broke it putting the CPU cooler on, the speed he need to move to put it on in two to three seconds would be like hitting it hammer.
    Plus the CPU was hot and I would think it would be weaker and a sudden increase is pressure would shatter it.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    It's unfortunate that some people have too much time on their hands and end up ruining a good piece of hardware.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    bit_user said:
    Exactly what are you claiming is in bad faith?
    Putting a de-lid at the same level as buying a CPU without the IHS. They're not comparable.

    bit_user said:
    The article shows why it's too dangerous for AMD to support or encourage, in any way.
    No, it shoes someone doing something really stupid for science and clicks.

    bit_user said:
    Don't forget the thermal density of CPUs is way higher than it was, back then.

    Back in the 1970's hard drives weren't even sealed. I worked with a guy who told me how you'd physically even sand down a platter, after a head crash, and put it right back into service!
    Yes, things change as now HDDs are packed with special gasses that need them to be completely sealed and such. Well, as I recall.

    While the thermal density of CPUs has increased and power consumption along side it (kind of), you will still get better thermal transfer with an exposed die and have the same risks as back then. Physics doesn't change with time, so the risk for both Intel or AMD of selling exposed dies is the same. Hence why I also said "limited use warranty".

    bit_user said:
    Explain.
    Well, if you would only watch der8auer, a YT'er, you would know what I mean in more detail. He has created several parts to complement his de-lidding tools for CPUs and to great success in thermals and ease of use. Imagine if AMD or Intel would offer those instead with a warranty of any kind. Laptops use de-lidded CPUs as well, so I do not see why (going back to your previous argument) is such an outlandish thing to say or ask; at least, it reads like you're gasping for air really hard for even proposing it...

    I'll stop here; not worth discussing further.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    TechieTwo said:
    It's unfortunate that some people have too much time on their hands and end up ruining a good piece of hardware.
    He was doing it to take IR photos. Apparently, he has a long track record of doing that, so he probably had some idea what he was doing. It wasn't just some goofball trying random things.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    -Fran- said:
    Putting a de-lid at the same level as buying a CPU without the IHS. They're not comparable.
    De-lidding isn't too hard, with the right tools. Effectively cooling a de-lidded processor is more challenging and delicate than cooling one with the IHS. If someone can do the latter, removing the IHS shouldn't be much of a problem for them. If removing the IHS is too burdensome, then they're probably better off leaving it intact.

    I think your criticism is misguided. Instead of criticizing their IHS solution, you want them to do something you haven't asked Intel to do. That's inconsistent, at best.

    -Fran- said:
    No, it shoes someone doing something really stupid for science and clicks.
    The article didn't indicate what clocks he was running at. I assume he tried to reduce clock speeds, or had other reasons to believe his experiment was safe.

    My point was that if anything is wrong with the cooling solution, running a de-lidded CPU has much less margin for error than if you've at least got an IHS. The IHS will help even out heat distribution, lessening thermal stresses.

    As for the "science" part, his photographs tell us more about how these CPUs are assembled and operate.

    -Fran- said:
    While the thermal density of CPUs has increased and power consumption along side it (kind of), you will still get better thermal transfer with an exposed die and have the same risks as back then.
    No. Increased thermal density means greater thermal stresses, and the die shaving they do these days means the dies are more fragile.

    -Fran- said:
    Physics doesn't change with time, so the risk for both Intel or AMD of selling exposed dies is the same.
    Physics doesn't change, but technology improves by pushing ever closer to the limits. That reduces margins for error. You can't just blindly apply whatever was true of tech from 20 years ago and expect it to apply equally, today.

    -Fran- said:
    Well, if you would only watch der8auer, a YT'er, you would know what I mean in more detail. He has created several parts to complement his de-lidding tools for CPUs and to great success
    People have broken their de-lidded CPUs, even using all of his tools and shims. It's more risky, no matter what you think.

    The whole EXPO thing has showed that these companies run into a lot of trouble, when they try to limit warranties. From their perspective, it's simply not worth the risk to sell de-lidded CPUs.

    It's similar to why people can tune cars for better performance than they come from the factory. There were good reasons why the automotive engineers "held back", including safety, reliability, and warranty liabilities.

    It's perfectly fine for there to be an aftermarket for CPU cooling, delidding, etc. What AMD should do is design a better IHS solution, to lessen the benefit of de-lidding.

    -Fran- said:
    Laptops use de-lidded CPUs as well, so I do not see why (going back to your previous argument) is such an outlandish thing to say or ask;
    Laptops also run at lower power and thermals. That might make it much less risky than high-performance desktop CPUs, where the whole point would be so that people can overclock them to extremes!

    For all we know, the laptop CPU dies aren't shaved (as much), specifically to make them more durable.

    Also, last I checked, end-users aren't building laptops. Even modular laptops, like Framework, probably have the thermal solution pre-installed on their CPU modules.

    -Fran- said:
    I'll stop here;
    I doubt it.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    There are a lot of things that can be done to minimize the damage to a CPU that doesn't have an IHS. Let's face it the likely reason there is an IHS has nothing to do with individuals breaking CPUs and everything to do with OEM building being easier with one. Personally I'd love it if Intel and AMD sold a SKU line without an IHS even though it'd require lapping a cooler or getting a custom one for best cooling. That being said I certainly understand why they don't and likely won't ever do so.
    Reply