Got a Ryzen 9000 CPU in your gaming PC? You might need to watch out for this chip-killing bug

An AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D in a masculine hand

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

There have been more than 100 reports of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D chips dying since launch
The majority of failures have occurred on ASRock motherboards
The cause of the issue has yet to be diagnosed

Despite being one of the best processors on the market for PC gamers, AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D has been having a rough time since its launch in November last year. Reports of chip-killing burnouts have been steadily mounting, with more than 100 cases now reported.

Thanks to the heroic work of Reddit user natty_overlord, a detailed compilation of CPU failure reports is available for all to peruse, and currently shows a total of 108 reports of dead 9800X3Ds. Most reports show the chip dying after only a few weeks or even days of use, with no apparent issues showing up before the moment of demise.

Luckily, most affected users have been able to RMA their CPUs for either a refund or a replacement without issue, and considering the thousands of Ryzen 9000 chips that have been sold, it's not a serious problem. Still, that many failed chips is a bit concerning, especially when we still have essentially zero idea what's causing these premature deaths.

Mysterious origins

Okay, there might be some clues to be gleaned from natty_overlord's report, so we're not totally in the dark here. Of the 108 currently-reported cases of Ryzen 9800X3D failure, a whopping 86 of them involved ASRock motherboards. 13 reports were from users with Asus boards, five from MSI, and one from Gigabyte.

So, is ASRock responsible? It's possible that the Taiwanese motherboard maker bears part of the blame here; natty_overlord also documented 10 other Ryzen 9000 chip failures (including the 9900X and 9600X), all of which occurred on ASRock mobos. Still, multiple failures on Asus and MSI motherboards would appear to indicate that ASRock isn't solely at fault.

There doesn't seem to be any one chipset that's suffering from these issues, either. The majority of 9800X3D failures were split between X870 and B850 motherboards, with a smaller (but not insignificant) number on X670 and B650 models. In short, there's no way of knowing what's causing these failures, although AMD is no doubt investigating.

What you should do

Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do to protect yourself from this mysterious chip-killing bug, short of simply not having an ASRock motherboard, perhaps, given the heavy weighting of failure reports for ASRock hardware. If you've been considering buying a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it might be worth holding off for the time being.

The good news is that if your PC is affected, most reports seem to have been satisfactorily resolved via an RMA process, either directly to AMD or to the retailer in cases involving pre-built PCs.

Naturally, I'll continue to monitor this story and will follow up with any fresh details that emerge. I've reached out to AMD for comment, but I suspect I won't get any meaty info there; 108 isn't a small number of dead chips, but it's not such a large amount that Team Red really needs to worry that something is seriously amiss.

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Christian is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing Editor. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with computer hardware and building PCs. He was a regular fixture amongst our freelance review team before making the jump to TechRadar, and can usually be found drooling over the latest high-end graphics card or gaming laptop before looking at his bank account balance and crying.

Christian is a keen campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and the owner of a charming rescue dog named Lucy, having adopted her after he beat cancer in 2021. She keeps him fit and healthy through a combination of face-licking and long walks, and only occasionally barks at him to demand treats when he’s trying to work from home.