AMD's Exploding Ryzen CPUs.

[Colstan]

This is a subject that has been making the rounds on PC forums for the past few weeks, namely the sudden death of 7000-series Ryzen chips, with the X3D V-Cache models being the most prominent. For sensitive viewers, you have been forewarned, and to keep nearby children at bay. Behold the horror in all its gory detail:

This isn't an isolated incident and has been reported by users who have recently built a custom PC on the AM5 platform. Many report having this issue without overclocking, increasing voltage or using the EXPO function for overclocking system memory; this is happening with default settings. AMD has been investigating the situation, claims to have identified the flaw, and motherboard makers have issued BIOS revisions. However, it's not that simple, it never is.

Steve and his team at Gamer's Nexus have been looking into this issue for the past week. In what I consider some of the best investigative tech journalism I've seen in a long time, they've isolated the most likely culprits, and have released an exhaustive video on the subject. To quote tech Jesus, "this is incompetence on every level".



The video includes some choice quotes, such as "silicon explosion, "molten indium", "this platform is a complete mess", and "that's Asus' OCP fucking up". Steve ends it with a conclusion that "the result shouldn't be fire". While Gamer's Nexus tested motherboards from Asus and Gigabyte, this is likely happening with many manufactures, and AMD shares in the blame. They also contacted many knowledgeable experts throughout the industry, some who they can name, others who stay hidden behind the veil. Steve goes on to reassuringly say that folks using Ryzen on AM5 shouldn't worry about it right now "because there's nothing you can do about it".

I'd normally include a summary of the video and the multiple causes for this disaster, but that would be a disservice to Gamer's Nexus. If you've got the time, give it a view, or at least watch the conclusion. Even though most of the exploding chips have been the V-Cache X3D models, it can impact any 7000-series CPU. AMD and their board partners have a big mess on their hands, to put it mildly.

 

[dada_dave]

Aye I watched that last night, was too tired to post the kind of summary you just did and the video deserved so I left it. Very interesting video. Gotta admit in formulating my own plans for the future it made me reticent about delving back into redoing my Linux box with a new processor/MB/memory sticks. I wouldn’t have done x3D anyway but even so -this and his recent rant about motherboards (in which he took an unnecessary swipe at Apple) again made me feel like now is not the best time to delve back in if I can avoid it - admittedly I may not be able to.

 

[Cmaier]

My chips never exploded.

Just saying.

 

[Citysnaps]

With that goofy teaser photo, I just can't click on that vid, let alone spend time watching it.

I dunno... Maybe the chip wasn't inserted properly or forced into the wrong orientation, though it looks like it's keyed.

Life goes on with planet Earth rotating into the Sun's rays tomorrow morning. Never had an exploding chip.

 

[Yoused]

My chips never exploded.

Just saying.

They changed the name since you worked there, to Advanced Micro Detonators.

 

[Colstan]

With that goofy teaser photo, I just can't click on that vid, let alone spend time watching it.

If you're not interested then that's fine. I posted this for anyone who is considering building a PC, and for them, they should care. A fire hazard is more important than disliking the thumbnail.

I wouldn’t have done x3D anyway

It's happening to all AM5 CPUs, it's just that the X3D is the most sensitive.

Gotta admit in formulating my own plans for the future it made me reticent about delving back into redoing my Linux box with a new processor/MB/memory sticks.

It would be easy to blame it on the maturity of the platform, but as Steve and his team proved, it's incompetence and laziness on the part of the mobo manufactures and AMD itself. If they are cutting corners with this, then how many other ways are they doing it and getting away with it?

this and his recent rant about motherboards

I always enjoy a good rant from tech Jesus.

(in which he took an unnecessary swipe at Apple)

As is tradition. I was watching Linus' latest live stream with Luke, and one of the paid viewer questions was about Apple and Mac gaming, and Linus dismissively responded with "Why does Apple hate gamers? I don't know. When they present games during keynotes, the Apple execs look like boomers trying to appeal to kids". In the latest Broken Silicon on MLID, Tom got a question about Apple Silicon, and said "It's not magic, guys. They had a great first chip, but no improvements since". Whenever Apple or the Mac gets mentioned in the gaming sphere, it's only to dismiss the company, and therefore Mac users.

Given the attitude among gamers and the tech press, it's no wonder Apple can't get more traction with game developers. Many devs probably share the same opinion, seeing how they all marinate in the same stew.

 

[Citysnaps]

If you're not interested then that's fine. I posted this for anyone who is considering building a PC, and for them, they should care. A fire hazard is more important than disliking the thumbnail.

That wasn't meant to be a slam on the content - and I apologize that it came off that way.

I'm definitely interested, and there may be worthy content within the vid. It's just that I've been overloaded with videos with goofy/contorted/sky-is-falling/bright colored/mouths agape/etc teaser photos designed to suck people into clicking the vid (I've read others feel the same).

I get that video producers engage in that as there's apparently a lot of competition for eyeballs out there. But...the level of hysterics in the teaser photo often correlates with quality of the content. IMO, it dumbs down the potential of the vid trying to suck people in with such tactics. I'd better respond to a teaser that's more professional looking, perhaps with a few fact subheads thrown in.

 

[Colstan]

That wasn't meant to be a slam on the content - and I apologize that it came off that way.

No need to apologize. It's not my job to defend Gamer's Nexus.

I'm definitely interested, and there may be worthy content within the vid.

Gamer's Nexus started out as a typical gaming focused channel. They still do that with benchmarks and reviews, but they've now got a lab dedicated to debugging faulty hardware, to the point where other channels have given up and just wait for their results. They managed to find the design flaw that caused a fire in an NZXT case, the burning RTX 4090 power cables, the faulty Gigabyte power supplies that Newegg tried to foist on customers, and now the AM5 exploding chips. These are rare occurrences, but they're holding the manufactures accountable.

It's not so much about the tech details, necessarily, but Gamer's Nexus advocating for the consumer, which is something you don't often see in the tech press. I'm okay with clickbait headlines if it means that a user's house doesn't burn down.

It's just that I've been overloaded with videos with goofy/contorted/sky-is-falling/bright colored/mouths agape/etc teaser photos designed to suck people into clicking the vid (I've read others feel the same).

Clickbait thumbnails are expected these days. The "shock face" is the worst of them, but result in a roughly 20% increase in viewership. At some level, it touches human psychology, and the need to click.

Simon Whistler, who runs a large number of fact-based channels, such as Biographics, Geographics, TopTenz, etc. has talked about this. This is what he typically looks like when doing a video:

He's a serious businessman, who has to pay his writers and put food on the table for his family. He needs to be serious to run a dozen different channels. That being sad, he's stated that his most successful thumbnail is when he is making this face:

He doesn't do it because he enjoys looking like an idiot, but because it increases the viewership numbers. Something about an open-mouthed, shock grin drives human psychology like nothing else, and he's tried a lot of different expressions. This one works the best, and I really don't blame him, or any other creator, for doing it. I personally find the trend annoying, but the stats say that it's here to stay.

 

[Citysnaps]

He doesn't do it because he enjoys looking like an idiot, but because it increases the viewership numbers. Something about an open-mouthed, shock grin drives human psychology like nothing else, and he's tried a lot of different expressions.

I get it. Seriously. As I said up above. I just choose to not succumbing to or supporting antics such as that. To each their own.

 

[ArgoDuck]

Something about an open-mouthed, shock grin drives human psychology like nothing else

It will pass!

 

[Nycturne]

With that goofy teaser photo, I just can't click on that vid, let alone spend time watching it.

All hail the YouTube algorithm, it must be sated to get the views/monetization. Gamer's Nexus generally is one of the better resources, but can be a bit heavy on editorializing at times.

I dunno... Maybe the chip wasn't inserted properly or forced into the wrong orientation, though it looks like it's keyed.

AMD is issuing fixes via BIOS updates to prevent this. It looks like there's some scenarios where voltage can get too high on specific rails on the die that lead to this.

 

[dada_dave]

Follow up video:

 

[dada_dave]

Final video on how scummy Asus has been:

 

[Joelist]

So we're getting AMD firebombs again? Don't forget AMD had this issue back in the past with some of the Athlon series (1800s?) also.

 

[Cmaier]

So we're getting AMD firebombs again? Don't forget AMD had this issue back in the past with some of the Athlon series (1800s?) also.

Also not my chip. (K6 and Opteron were Sunnyvale. K7/Athlon was Austin).

Just sayin’

 

[Colstan]

JayzTwoCents has dropped Asus as a sponsor, which is only the second time in the history of the channel that Jay has done that.



I applaud Jay and Steve at Gamer's Nexus for calling out the PC manufacturers on the exploding AMD chips, particularly Asus, with how bad they've handled this. Asus finally removed the warranty voiding warning on the latest BIOS update that addresses this issue. Until then, the choice given was either to stay with a firmware version that could kill the CPU, or face Asus denying warranty claims because of a beta BIOS. (Which I don't think is legally viable, but that's never stopped manufacturers before.)

Of course, JayTwoCents's next video was titled "Fuck You Apple!", using a clickbait title, because Jay couldn't figure out how to fix a MacBook. Even though the Mac and PC appear similar, the cultures surrounding the two devices are completely different. PC channels never miss an opportunity to diss the Mac, because they know their gamer audience hates Apple.

Linus is particularly bad about this. He went through a laundry list of companies that have sponsored his videos, and his conclusion was that the only tech company that hasn't sponsored LTT was Apple. Gee, I wonder why? I would note that Linus addressed the situation regarding Asus, and says that he will continue to have Asus as a sponsor. Given how shameless LTT has been about making sponsor videos, this shouldn't be a surprise.

Asus is more concerned with image than customers, MSI recently had a massive security breach, Gigabyte had the exploding power supplies, there aren't many major motherboard makers left with a decent reputation. Back during my PC building days, I almost always used Abit and Asus. Recently, I've heard good things about Asrock. They've had a bad reputation as a budget manufacturer of questionable quality, but apparently have gone extra lengths to improve that, while their competition has rested on past glories.