Are Ryzen 5000 chips failing? We looked at the original story and the problems surrounding quality control at system vendors, and the problem may not be as bad as it initially appeared. Read on to learn more.
The confusion started on Sunday, when the system builder PowerGPU tweeted to its 222,000 followers: “The flaws in AMD’s new CPUs are still very high.” The company said that of the 320 CPUs in the 5000 Ryzen series it received, 19 were “DOA” (killed on arrival), a six percent failure rate to stun. The company also said it saw three to five defective B550 and X570-based motherboards a week.
HotHardware’s Paul Lilly initially covered the tweet, which became even more controversial when the PowerGPU deleted the tweet on Monday. PowerGPU then tweeted that “We just had a chat with AMD. Let’s work together by testing some CPUs and motherboards. “
PCWorld contacted PowerGPU for comment, but we have not heard from the company. The company, however, told Michael Kan of PCMag why it deleted the tweet. “I didn’t want fanboys on both sides just filling out our schedule,” the company told Kan. “The good thing is that AMD really cares about our brand and wants to help us and ensure that our business continues to move forward.” In his column, Kan noted that he had personally experienced a bad Ryzen 5000 chip, which was replaced after a nuisance.
Should Ryzen customers be concerned?
Ryzen customers were understandably concerned by this news. PCWorld contacted AMD, and employees told us that this was an isolated incident.
“AMD is investigating a complaint from a custom PC manufacturer regarding the higher than expected failure rates they are experiencing with the Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors,” said a spokesman. “We are not aware of any similar problems at this time.”
PCWorld also contacted several system integrators to see if they were having similar experiences. To give suppliers the freedom to speak frankly, PCWorld agreed not to name the companies. All three vendors appear to sell more Ryzen-based systems than PowerGPU.com, so their sample sizes may be more indicative of how real the problem is.
Other system vendors: What are the problems?
The first supplier said it saw no problems with its Ryzen-based systems. The company closely monitors its construction line and RMAs (merchandise return authorizations). If a component exceeds the two percent failure limit, it is immediately signaled.
A second salesman repeated the first. Nothing unusual has been reported in its quality control, RMA and technical support lines related to Ryzen 5000 CPUs, PCWorld said.
A third supplier provided even more information. The company said it is not seeing the reported failure rates of the PowerGPU on its own systems. Interestingly, however, the supplier actually shared data indicating that Ryzen parts are failing to sort the company’s internal quality at a higher rate compared to Intel chips – almost three times as high:
- The Ryzen 5000 series fails by 2.9 percent.
- The Ryzen 3000 series fails by 3 percent.
- ThreadRipper 3000 series fails by 2.5 percent.
For comparison, the company’s data on Intel chips:
- Generation 9 Intel fails 0.9 percent.
- 10th-generation Intel fails 1.2 percent.
Let’s define ‘failure’. The vendor noted that, like most PC vendors, it still provides more Intel-based CPUs than AMD-based CPUs. The sample size affects the data: if you bake a dozen cookies and another one burns, that extra crunchy one will stand out more than if you bake five dozen cookies and some burn.
Third-party torture tests systems with fully loaded memory slots – even if they are not sold that way. The vendor also explained that its failed CPUs are not dead, as reported by the PowerGPU – they simply do not meet the requirements for running fully loaded low-latency or high-frequency RAM.
Interestingly, the third vendor also said that there was no rhyme or apparent reason for the CPUs that were not approved. For example, he found that more Core i9-10900K chips passed his tests than Core i9-10850K chips, while the 64-core ThreadRipper 3990X was more successful than the 32- and 24-core versions. The third supplier said it would not describe its specific bounce rates as a “problem”.
Other sites: the same here
All the companies that PCWorld spoke to are based in the United States, but other media sites abroad have reported no similar problems.
Overclock3D.net’s Mark Campbell spoke to a UK PC builder who said he had not seen dead CPUs. “Our source stated that they have not experienced any CPU DOA for the Ryzen 5000 series, a statement that makes the PowerGPU incredibly unlucky or our source incredibly fortunate,” said Overclock3D.net.
Australia’s popular YouTube channel, Hardware Unboxed said spoke to a popular local retailer. “… I was told that the failure rate for each part is normal and less than 2% …”
One last report comes from João Silva, from Kitiguru.net, who quoted RMAs from the European store Mindfactory. The Ryzen 9 5950X rate was 0.77 percent; Ryzen 9 5900X, less than 0.37 percent; Ryzen 7 5800X, 0.58 percent; and Ryzen 5 5600X, 0.5 percent.
What you should believe
Based on the three vendors we spoke to, as well as reports from other sites, the PowerGPU.com problem appears to be an anomaly. We don’t know what the situation of that seller was, but it is entirely possible that he rolled his snake eyes on some chips, which may be due to a number of unknown things.
Hopefully, PowerGPU.com will publish additional information about what caused your failure rates. For now, you may be more concerned with whether you can buy a Ryzen 5000 CPU, rather than if it is bad.
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