MSI is rolling out a new UEFI BIOS firmware for AM5 motherboards that limits overvoltage for AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D series processors. According to the company, the release is in response to reports of overheating, swelling, and motherboard damage on the Ryzen 7000X3D CPU.
“Recently, there have been reports of 7000X3D series CPUs being damaged which may be due to abnormal voltage issues,” MSI said in a statement. reddit read. “It is important to note that the Ryzen 7000X3D series CPUs do not support manual voltage and frequency adjustments, only PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) overclocking. In order to reduce the risk of damage to the -series CPUs, MSI has added some restrictions to both the AM5 series BIOS and MSI Center.”
Over the weekend, it was reported that some AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3Ds, one of the best CPUs for gaming, were facing overheating issues. This causes a physical bulge in the CPU pad, leading to premature CPU failure. Reddit users have reported this issue on Asus and MSI motherboards. We don’t have enough data yet to draw any conclusions, but it’s believed that the motherboard may be pushing the CPU voltage and clock too high, resulting in insufficient cooling.
Officially, MSI has not acknowledged that BIOS settings are the cause of the problem, but the changes to the BIOS are designed to prevent it. In particular, MSI’s BIOS will no longer allow overvoltage for AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D processors.
“The BIOS currently only supports negative offset voltage settings that can only lower the CPU voltage,” said an MSI representative. “MSI Center also limits direct voltage and frequency adjustments to prevent CPU damage from overvoltage.”
Meanwhile, there is still a way for owners of AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D series processors to automatically and temporarily boost their CPU’s performance by enabling Enhanced Mode Boost in their BIOS.
“For those looking to boost the performance of their 7000X3D CPUs, the BIOS offers an option called Enhanced Mode Boost,” an MSI spokesperson explained. “This option optimizes his PBO settings, allowing the 7000X3D series CPUs to achieve better performance without manual voltage adjustments.”
Here is a list of BIOS with CPU voltage limits:
