A new case of catastrophic CPU failure has emerged involving AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, marking the latest in a series of reported incidents within the last few days involving high-performance GPUs and CPUs. The failure occurred during routine use when a system equipped with the 9800X3D and an ASRock Nova X870E motherboard suddenly shut down, resulting in visible thermal damage to both components. The incident is particularly noteworthy as the system operated under stock settings, with only AMD EXPO memory optimization enabled. The affected user, who has two decades of PC building experience, reported that the system had been operational for approximately 20 days before the failure, with no temperature anomalies recorded through HWMonitor during its operation.

The hardware was running the ASRock BIOS version 3.16. This case differs significantly from the previous AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D failure, where user error during installation was identified as the primary cause, with the user force-installing the CPU in the socket. The timing of the failure—during a low-intensity workload of streaming video content—further complicates the investigation into root causes. While isolated cases of hardware failure are not uncommon in the PC component market, this case may be the first one caused entirely by the CPU/motherboard combination, not user error. The user also faces uncertainty regarding warranty coverage, as the CPU and motherboard were purchased separately from different retailers. We hope the warranty case goes well, and the user gets a replacement!