A Reddit user claims that a three-month-old Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor swelled and failed while being used with a fully updated MSI PRO X870-P WIFI motherboard. The report has not been independently verified, but it raises questions about voltage behavior on AMD’s AM5 platform even after earlier firmware fixes.
Reddit user Magoth04 said the system shut down unexpectedly during gaming before getting stuck in a boot loop and eventually failing. When the owner opened the case, they found burn marks on the CPU and motherboard, along with slight swelling on the processor. Both components were no longer functional.
The user said they had not overclocked the CPU or manually adjusted its voltage and current limits. They had enabled AMD’s EXPO profile to run the memory at its rated speed. A 360mm AIO handled CPU cooling, while temperatures remained normal before the system failed.
The Redditor said an RMA was already in progress when asked about getting a refund or replacement. It’s still unclear whether AMD will cover the claim, since the CPU had been delidded before the request was made.
The incident has similarities to earlier AM5 failures. In 2023, some Ryzen 7000 CPUs were reported to fail while running on AM5 motherboards with older BIOS versions. AMD addressed the issue with an AGESA update that capped voltage at 1.30V. The problem appeared to settle down, but reports returned in late 2024 and 2025 involving swollen, boot-looping, and failed Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors. AMD said some motherboard manufacturers had not followed its recommended voltage and current limits. ASRock and other manufacturers also acknowledged that aggressive PBO settings may have contributed to some failures.
It’s still too early to say what caused the failure. If the report is accurate, it could mean that current firmware fixes and motherboard protections don’t catch every voltage spike during EXPO memory training. There’s no sign that this is happening on a large scale, but the incident could keep attention focused on how AM5 systems behave with EXPO enabled or even at default settings.
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