The launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D marked a milestone in the gaming industry thanks to its impressive performance. As we highlighted in our review, AMD managed to improve an already outstanding processor, leading users to quickly deplete its stock. However, nearly six months after its debut, this CPU is making headlines again for reasons unrelated to its performance.
According to PC Gamer, more than a hundred users have reported that their Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors have stopped working without any apparent reason. Notably, 82% of these cases involve Asrock motherboards, as the company’s recent firmware update—intended to fix boot issues—has not yielded the expected results. Amid the growing popularity of the Ryzen 9000 series, driven by the launch of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, AMD now finds itself at the center of controversy surrounding its flagship processor.
Additionally, failures have been identified in motherboards from other brands such as Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte, though with lower incidence rates. The reported cases are distributed as follows: 49 cases in X870 chipsets, 36 in B850, 16 in B650, and 7 in X670. No clear pattern has been established regarding the operating time before failure, as some units stopped functioning after several months, while others barely lasted 30 minutes.
Another concerning aspect is that some users have reported severe thermal damage to their processors and motherboards. This issue is reminiscent of the overheating problems seen with the Ryzen 7000X3D series, which were linked to AMD EXPO profiles and SoC voltages. As in that case, AMD suggests that some failures may be due to user errors, but it has also stated that it is actively working on a solution. Despite this situation, the company continues to achieve sales figures well above expectations.
