ASRock X870 Riptide Burns Ryzen 7800X3D as User Reports Severe Socket Damage While Running Outdated BIOS
Another case of CPU and socket failure has surfaced involving an ASRock 800 series motherboard, this time with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D suffering catastrophic damage on an X870 Riptide. The report comes from Reddit user u/Ultracheese3, who shared images of a severely burned processor and discolored socket components, highlighting a situation that continues to cause concern across the AM5 community.
if you got a friend who are using asrock am5 mobo, please ask your friend to update the bios to the latest one (currently v3.50 on 800series).
— UNIKO's Hardware 🌏 (@unikoshardware) November 11, 2025
the user was using the first release bios dated more than a year ago.
a 7800x3d showed signs of a burning socket and cpu pads popped up,… pic.twitter.com/MSvJ4Ow1z7
According to the user, the system had been running BIOS version 3.06, a firmware release from August of last year, more than twelve months old and lacking the mitigation patches introduced in later updates. The CPU shown in the images was noticeably bloated, a rare but extremely serious outcome that indicates thermal runaway or voltage related failure. The socket itself also showed heavy discoloration consistent with electrical burn. While newer BIOS versions may not fully eliminate the risk, both AMD and ASRock have been strongly recommending updates to reduce the likelihood of failures connected to power delivery behavior and boost algorithms.
The broader cause of AM5 burnouts remains a point of discussion within the enthusiast community. ASRock’s more recent BIOS updates list improvements such as enhanced CPU operating stability and optimized PBO configurations. Previous firmware revisions also attempted to address behavior linked to aggressive voltage spikes that AMD has been investigating since early 2023. However, the fact that a system running older firmware still encounters this type of failure raises ongoing questions about the overall reliability of certain AM5 motherboard designs under heavy load.
Although similar incidents have occurred with boards from other vendors, ASRock remains disproportionately associated with burned Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series CPUs according to many user reports. The scale of the issue has led some builders to recommend alternative brands until a definitive root cause is identified. Despite this, the investigation continues, and both manufacturers maintain that multiple factors such as cooling conditions, boost behavior, power delivery calibration, and firmware settings may contribute to these failures.
The affected user will likely pursue RMA for both CPU and motherboard, but many observers find it concerning that more than a year after the first wave of burnouts, the industry still lacks a comprehensive fix. For now, AMD and motherboard vendors continue to urge users to install the latest BIOS updates as soon as they become available, especially for systems running X3D processors that are known to be more sensitive to voltage and thermals.
Have you updated your AM5 motherboard firmware recently, and do you think manufacturers are doing enough to prevent these failures? Share your thoughts below.
