AMD is responsible for some of the best processors for gamers right now, but for a handful of unlucky users, these CPUs seem to be running into issues lately. Reports from Reddit indicate failures big and small, but they all seem to have two things in common: High-end Ryzen 9000 CPUs and ASRock motherboards.
Today’s CPU failure report is especially bleak — one unlucky user had their AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D completely destroyed due to bulging and heat damage. As a result, their PC will no longer boot up. The user described their story and shared some images on the r/pcmasterrace community on Reddit.
Unsurprisingly, their PC was newly built — after all, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a very new CPU. In this setup, it was paired with AMD’s best graphics card, the RX 9070 XT, as well as an all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler, which is a necessity for the 9950X3D. Upon building the rig, the user went on to update the BIOS, and everything was fine just as long as the PC wasn’t under heavy load. Things went south when the Redditor got a new monitor, though.
Upgrading to a 4K OLED 32-inch monitor and several hours of gaming did the CPU in. The user mentions playing League (which could mean Rocket League, but my bet is on League of Legends — either way, both easy to handle for a rig of this caliber). They then took a break to make some dinner and found the PC completely dead upon their return, with nothing else on except the M.2 light on the motherboard.
Various attempts at troubleshooting didn’t help the situation. Opening up the case revealed the CPU in a bad condition.
“When I checked the CPU, I found that there was bubbling in one area (which I think pushed the contact pads into the pins, causing indentation on the pads) and some discoloration suggesting scorch marks […] on another area of the CPU. There is discoloration on the socket of the motherboard, but no bent pins,” said i_fliu on Reddit.
Seeing as the user didn’t overclock or underclock the CPU and wasn’t using PMO, this shouldn’t have happened. It could be a case of faulty hardware or a poorly installed CPU, but the fact that there have been other cases of this happening on ASRock motherboards makes me pause and think.
We’ve seen over a hundred Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors suffering from similar issues, and these also largely concern the combination of Ryzen CPU and ASRock motherboard. Now, the 9950X3D joins the list, and as mentioned by VideoCardz, this isn’t the first case of problems for the 9950X3D on an ASRock motherboard.
This could be a case of BIOS settings, and that’d probably be the best-case scenario, as that’s an easier fix. If the motherboard delivers too much power to the CPU, this kind of thing can definitely happen. However, until either AMD or ASRock addresses these issues, it remains unclear whether there’s any problem with either hardware or software — we’ll have to wait and see.
