It has been a few months since AMD launched the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which immediately became the best CPU for gaming. Many PC gamers rushed to make the upgrade, and AMD even said it was “blown away” by the demand for X3D processors, confirming that it has ramped up production in response.

Team Red has been enjoying success in the CPU sector compared to its main rivals, Intel. However, fresh reports of 9800X3D CPU failures are concerning, with most of the reports coming from users with ASRock motherboards. This has now officially been acknowledged, and people are starting to figure out what the problem could be.

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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

5 /5

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Specifications

• Cores: 8
• Threads: 16
• Boost clock speed: 5.2GHz
• Base clock speed: 4.7GHz
• L3 cache: 96MB
• TDP: 120W
• Platform: AM5

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9800X3D CPU dying confirmed by ASRock & new BIOS update

The first port of call is this megathread on the ASRock subreddit which nicely details the story so far. There have been plenty of user reports of dying 9800X3D processors; the large majority of cases are while using ASRock motherboards, X870 chipset boards in particular. According to the post, ASRock and AMD are aware of the issue and an exact cause has yet to be determined from both sides, with inconsistency in the CPU deaths proving to be a mystery.

The motherboard brand recently pushed new beta BIOS updates, though the patch notes don’t specifically reference this issue. Version 3.20 is now available for a range of chipsets, including X870 and X870E motherboards from ASRock, bringing “Optimized JEDEC DDR5-4800 or EXPO Memory compatibility” as well as addressing the “minority proportion of AMD 9000 series CPU boot issue”.

High voltage or memory compatibility could be the cause

As for the root of the problem, users are starting to come to the same conclusion – voltage. However, ASRock Japan has put out a statement warning of “a lot of misinformation” [translated], noting that memory compatibility issues are likely an issue. This is what the most recent BIOS update aims to tackle.

According to a recent Reddit thread, unusually high SoC voltage levels are being monitored (1.815V). The original poster reports using an X870E motherboard – an ASUS ROG Crosshair Hero in this specific case. There are also reports of unlocked SoC voltage on an MSI X870-P WiFi. This high voltage could be a reason for CPU deaths due to short-circuiting.

If you are currently affected by the 9800X3D failing issues, there is a Google Form you can fill out. This is designed to research the issue and should hopefully help ASRock, AMD, and other manufacturers pinpoint the root cause.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.