Widespread Ryzen 9000X3D Failures Put ASRock's Reputation at Risk

Two months after the release of AMD’s flagship Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D processors, technical forums have noticed a disturbing trend: over a hundred users have reported sudden chip failures, in some cases leading to physical damage. Particular attention has been drawn to the connection between these failures and ASRock’s 800-series motherboards, though other brands have also been affected.

According to data compiled from Reddit and specialized forums, 107 confirmed cases point to critical CPU failures, with 60% of them linked to ASRock’s X870 and B850 platforms. Interestingly, in 80% of cases, the motherboards remained operational even after the processor failed. Some users even experienced double failures: after receiving a warranty replacement, the new chip also stopped working within days.

In some cases, the processors showed clear signs of overheating — melted components or burn marks. However, a third of the failures occurred “silently,” with chips becoming unresponsive without any visible damage. Interestingly, the issue isn’t always linked to overclocking. For example, enabling EXPO profiles or manually increasing clock speeds triggered failures in only 40% of cases. The remaining users claim they made no changes to BIOS settings at all.

Adding to the troubling statistics, the first confirmed failure of the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D has surfaced. The owner of an ASRock X870 PRO RS motherboard reported that their processor stopped being detected by the system after just nine days of use, despite running the latest firmware.

ASRock has refrained from making bold statements, acknowledging that most complaints involve their products. AMD has also remained silent on the issue, further fueling community concerns. Independent experts suggest the root cause may lie in how the 3D V-Cache interacts with power delivery on 800-series platforms.