ASUS issues an “Important Update” to Ryzen 7000 X3D CPU owners

Ryzen 7000X3D CPU owners should probably update their motherboards’s UEFI/BIOS

In recent weeks, several owners of AMD’s Zen 4 Ryzen 7000X3D processors have reported CPU and motherboard failures, and motherboard manufacturers have been working with AMD to get to the bottom of the issue. ASUS has been more transparent than most motherboard manufacturers regarding these reported issues, with Juan Jose Guerrero, ASUS’ Senior Technical Marketing Manager, issuing a lengthy “community notice” for ASUS AM5 motherboard owners on the subject. 

While AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D processors do not support traditional overclocking with CPU core ratio, and core voltage adjustments, performance tuning is available for these CPUs in the form of Precision Boost Overdrive 2 (PBO2) and EXPO memory overclocking. With EXPO overclocking, voltages like a CPU’s SoC voltage can be increased to enable stability with high performance memory kits. Based on these statements, it sounds likely that some motherboards have delivered voltages that are too high for AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D processors, causing instances of CPU or motherboard failure.

It is worth noting here that these CPU/motherboard failures have not been exclusive to users of ASUS’ AM5 motherboards. Other manufacturers of AM5 motherboards actively working with AMD to address this issue. As such, we should expect to see UEFI/BIOS updates for most AM5 motherboards in the near future.

(Statement from ASUS’ Juan Jose Guerrero on Twitter)  

In ASUS’ “Important Update”, it has been confirmed that the company has been working with AMD to create new rules for EXPO overclocking and SoC voltages to help protect CPUs and motherboards from any potential issues moving forward. This will include limiting the maximum SoC voltage that can be delivered to AMD processors to 1.3V. These rules are due to be implemented as part of new UEFI/BIOS updates, which are due to be released soon.

You can join the discussion on ASUS’ important update for Ryzen 7000X3D CPU owners on the OC3D Forums.