What we know so far: AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPUs were once notorious for self-destructing on AM5 motherboards with older BIOS versions, but Team Red rolled out a firmware update to fix the problem in 2023. While there's no indication that the issue has returned, a Redditor is now reporting that their friend's Ryzen 7 7800X3D swelled up and burned out while running with the default BIOS settings after only three months of use.
According to Redditor Magoth04, a three-month-old Ryzen 7 7800X3D was irreparably damaged while installed in a fully updated MSI PRO X870-P WIFI motherboard. The post claims that the system abruptly shut down while gaming a few days ago and then entered a boot loop before dying for good.
When the owner opened the case to troubleshoot the problem, both the CPU and motherboard reportedly had "visible burn marks," and the chip also appeared to have swollen slightly. Both the processor and motherboard were reportedly rendered unusable following the incident.
The user claims that the CPU was not overclocked and that the voltage and current limits had not been manually tuned, either. However, AMD's EXPO setting had been manually activated to allow the memory to run at its advertised speed. The poster added that the CPU was cooled by a 360mm AIO and that system temperatures appeared normal before the catastrophic failure.
When asked whether they had contacted AMD to request a refund or replacement, the Redditor said that the RMA process was already underway. However, it's unclear whether AMD will honor the warranty, since the chip had already been delidded before the RMA was requested.
The report of yet another Ryzen 7000 failure is bound to send shockwaves through the AMD community, given that this is not the first time something like this has happened. Back in 2023, users began reporting that some Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPUs were burning up and damaging or destroying their X670-series motherboards.
AMD claimed to have fixed the problem with an AGESA update that capped the voltage at 1.30V across all AM5 motherboards. The update appeared to have resolved the issue for a while, but in late 2024 and into 2025, users once again started reporting swelling, boot-looping, and burnout issues, this time involving the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
AMD blamed motherboard manufacturers for allegedly ignoring its recommended voltage and current limits. Some motherboard makers, such as ASRock, even admitted that at least some of the failures could be attributed to aggressive PBO settings.
The root cause of the latest failure remains unclear, but it appears that the fixes rolled out by AMD and the precautions taken by motherboard manufacturers may not prevent every potential voltage spike during EXPO memory training, potentially leaving some systems vulnerable to permanent damage.
Image credit: Magoth04 / Reddit
Another Ryzen 7 7800X3D reportedly burns out despite AMD's voltage fix
