Like Intel before it, AMD blames motherboard makers for burnt-out CPUs

It’s also reminiscent of a monthslong process that Intel went through to track down problems with some 13th- and 14th-generation Core CPUs whose performance and stability were degrading over time. Intel had to release multiple waves of fixes to completely iron out the problems—but one major contributing factor, the company said, was motherboard makers whose products strayed too far from Intel’s recommended default settings. In the end, Intel ended up extending the warranties of all 13th- and 14th-generation Core CPUs to help cover the damage.

McAfee and Kirsch recommend installing your motherboard maker’s latest BIOS updates as they’re released, to pick up new default settings as AMD and its partners change them. These BIOS updates also add support for new processors, improve memory compatibility, and patch security flaws, among other things.

McAfee and Kirsch also pointed out that AMD can have slightly more trouble testing and tracking down issues because the long lives of its chipsets and CPU sockets (and AMD’s various tools for adjusting power limits and overclocking) create a much wider range of possible system configurations to test. That’s especially true for socket AM4 motherboards, where an X370 motherboard from 2017 could theoretically be paired with a current CPU release like the Ryzen 5 5500X3D. But even for AM5, users could be sticking brand-new Ryzen X3D chips into 3-year-old motherboards, an upgrade path with no real equivalent in Intel’s ecosystem.