Renowned overclocker, Der8auer, managed to kill an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU after he pushed the voltages on the chip too far beyond what it could handle.
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU Dies When Pushed To 1.55V During Manual OC Session
Der8auer took his audience to ASUS headquarters in Taiwan to test components and work on overclocking using the Intel Sapphire Rapids server processor. This was the first time he had a chance to visit since COVID, and he was looking forward to seeing friends and in-depth testing. But the real story occurred in the middle of the week when he was handed an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU to test. The chip did not survive long as the overclocker altered the voltage and killed the CPU from AMD.
The intention of Der8auer’s trip to ASUS headquarters in Taiwan was to test and benchmark the Intel Sapphire Rapids server chips. He was asked if he would like to take the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU and do some stress tests and benchmarks with ASUS’s equipment.
Utilizing the company’s ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme motherboard, he started things off slowly by testing the standard voltage levels of the chips, which idle around 1V. It is well known that AMD has gone to lengths in previous chips, such as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, to lockout certain OC features and warn consumers of the dangers of stressing the chips. With the Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs, AMD has become more open about allowing enthusiasts to manually tweak the CPUs with technologies such as PBO and Curve Optimizer. However, the voltage and thermal limits are still meant to be in place.
During the overclocking session, Der8auer noticed that the ASUS ROG X670E Crosshair Extreme motherboard allowed voltage tuning but not clock tuning on the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU. So voltages were pushed to 1.35V and after a successful boot under LN2 cooling, the voltages were pushed further to 1.55V which seemed to be just too much for the chip to handle. Since the 3D V-Cache is a sensitive piece of silicon, it is possible that the higher voltages passing through it may have been just enough to kill it entirely as the chip was unable to boot afterward.
It should be noted that Der8auer did not make any conclusions about this test due to the circumstances. He could not fully explain how this could have happened, especially at the rapid death rate of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D. Still, he did wonder if the voltage not being locked by AMD to board partners was unintentional and could have been something AMD missed upon sending samples. It should also be noted that AMD has stated before that the chipset can be OC to 2.5V. Der8auer wondered if it was specific to the one CPU he had to work with and if it would happen to others. ASUS still felt it necessary to note the voltage level and limit it to below the 2.5V levels.
Now it is entirely possible that ASUS and other board makers will place a voltage limit when the board is equipped with a Ryzen 7000 X3D or any 3D V-Cache CPU in their upcoming BIOS. The video is quite long, just over thirty-five minutes, and we have placed the video below at the point where he begins testing the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D. If you would like to watch the full video, we have also provided a link to the beginning of the video.
Using an all-in-one liquid cooler, Der8auer could adjust the voltage to 1.35V while watching the temperatures stay less than 90°C with the aid of liquid nitrogen. Feeling safe, he decided to increase the voltage by .20V, which would be considered the next ramp up from the level he achieved but was much more of a significant leap from nominal levels, especially compared to chips that do not offer 3D V-Cache as an option. Unfortunately, this was where the testing would halt, as the system flatlined with the motherboard reading the “00” error code. Right before the system stopped, he did see the BIOS for a few seconds, but no other processes had time to begin before the processor gave out. It is also worth noting that other processors were tried on the motherboard without problem, and Der8auer did an extensive examination to determine if the CPU was destroyed.
You can check out our full review on the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which we called it the “most efficient high-end CPU” and “that performs exceptionally well at gaming.”
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