AMD may have delayed Ryzen 9000 launch due to a typo — mislabeled Ryzen 7 chip emerges, Ryzen 5 9600X impacted, too [Updated]

AMD recently announced it was delaying the launch of its Zen 5-powered Ryzen 9000 processors for several weeks due to an issue with "our packaged product testing process for Ryzen 9000 series processors," and a new picture of a mislabeled Ryzen processor hints at one of the primary reasons why AMD may have delayed the chips — a simple one-digit typo.

An unsanctioned review posted to BiliBili (h/t @995Pro) shows AMD's Ryzen 7 9700X mismarked as a Ryzen 9 9700X processor, an obvious error that would need to be corrected. We've confirmed the 9700X mismarkings and also learned that mismarked Ryzen 5 9600X models have also been shipped to retail outlets — these processors were also labeled as Ryzen 9, too. 

It's also rational to assume that the labeling on AMD's retail boxes could be impacted, too. In either case, while it may seem a minor issue, AMD would obviously have to pull back all of its shipped processors to correct the erroneous markings. 

The process of recalling the chips is exactly what the company has said delayed the launch of its processors — AMD tells us it has pulled back all Ryzen 9000 units it has delivered to retailers and OEMs worldwide for re-screening, but hasn't specified the cause. AMD says those impacted chips will be returned to retailers after the screening process. Notably, 'silkscreening' is the industry term for the chip packaging process that involves laser-etching or printing the markings on the top of the chip. AMD representatives have specifically called out a "re-screening" process as part of the fix for its undefined issue but haven't specifically called it out as 'silkscreening.'

AMD's official statement earlier this week said, "We identified an issue with our packaged product testing process for Ryzen 9000 series processors that could result in a small number of parts reaching the market that do not meet our quality standards," so it's possible that the erroneous markings may not be the only issue. However, it is undoubtedly a contributing factor. It's also possible that not all of the shipped units are impacted by the erroneous markings — this could only impact certain batches. However, it appears there are enough impacted units to have contributed to AMD's delayed launch schedule.

We have contacted AMD for comment about the reports of mismarked chips, but a representative has said the company cannot comment beyond its previous announcement yet. This discovery has popped up outside business hours, so it's possible we could get further comments on Monday.

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In hindsight, there might have been early signs of a problem with AMD's chip printing presses—above, you can see a picture I took of AMD's demo Ryzen 9 9950X, which the company showed off at its Zen 5 Tech Day. The spacing between the words in the model name is absolutely non-standard compared to AMD's marking scheme that it has used for years (you can see an image of normal spacing in the second image in the above album — excuse the messy TIM; I pulled this chip out of a running test system for this shot). It's possible this chip was just a mockup for pictures, but the odd markings are certainly more interesting in light of the current situation. 

AMD originally scheduled its launch date for July 31 but will now launch the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X processors on August 8. The higher-end Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X will be delayed until August 15.  

We haven't confirmed mismarked Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X models yet. However, these higher-end chips are delayed longer than the mismarked Ryzen 7 and 5 models.

It would be comforting to learn that mislabeled chips are the only reason AMD has delayed its launch, as opposed to a manufacturing issue, but we do have to caution this might not be the only reason.

We'll update as we learn more. Stay tuned.