AMD blames Ryzen CPU burnouts on out-of-spec motherboards

PC builders with ASRock motherboards paired to the latest AMD processors have been having some rotten luck lately. And while BIOS updates allegedly had things resolved earlier this summer, it looks like the problems haven’t gone away. Amid failing CPUs and even occasional “burn[ed] out” sockets, AMD says it’s looking into things.

According to a translated interview with QuasarZone (spotted by Tom’s Hardware), AMD representatives David McAfee and Travis Kirsch are still blaming BIOS/EUFI settings that “do not adhere to AMD’s recommended values.” The article doesn’t specifically mention ASRock in this context. AMD is still recommending that users update to the latest BIOS, and that it is “working closely with our partners to resolve issues and further evolve the platform.”

To play devil’s advocate, PC hardware is a competitive market, and component manufacturers do look for any possible edge when trying to appeal to performance-minded PC gamers. The fact that this seems to be affecting the 9000 series of Ryzen processors, particularly the X3D designs that are designed to boost gaming performance, certainly speaks to a certain tendency.

But it’s not great that, while ASRock has been willing to communicate with its customers online via forums like Reddit, AMD is only commenting in person at places like Computex or this interview. While AMD processors are red hot for system builders at the moment, this is exactly the sort of thing that can erode buyers’ confidence in hardware.