Enthusiasts discovered a hardware fuse in AMD Threadripper 7000 processors that blows when trying to overclock the processor. A message in the BIOS when overclocking attempts warns of loss of warranty, so overclockers concluded that such attempts lead to a complete loss of warranty on the chip. But AMD replied that this is not the case – the warranty ceases to cover only damage due to overclocking.
The issue was brought to the attention of X-user David Huang, who posted a screenshot with the message “Overclocking will now be permanently enabled for this processor, effectively voiding the warranty as previously stated.”
Threadripper 7000 series series of settings related to OC
代说说性华硕这TRX50主板前于发动电影电影电影POR结果，扻说是主板公式BIOS可以也动不了事件，笑死。 pic.twitter.com/mCh1bbeBZZ
— David Huang (@hjc4869) December 12, 2023
Such messages are only a feature of the BIOS. AMD responded that the company is working with its partners to clean up any ODM BIOS warning messages, as they do not reflect the company’s official position on overclocking the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 or other processors.
“The Threadripper 7000 series processors contain a fuse that blows when overclocking is enabled. To be clear, a blown fuse does not void your warranty. Claims that enabling the overclocking/overvoltage feature will void the CPU warranty are incorrect. As per AMD’s standard terms of sale, the warranty excludes any damage caused by CPU overclocking/over voltage. However, other unrelated issues may still be eligible for warranty repair/replacement,” an AMD representative explained to Tom’s Hardware.
Therefore, overclocking the Threadripper 7000 CPU will not void the warranty – only damage directly caused by overclocking. As always, AMD is not against overclocking. If that were the case, the chip maker wouldn’t have advertised overclocking as a feature of the WRX90 and TRX50 platforms. Only OEM systems do not officially support overclocking.
The presence of secret fuses is not new to AMD processors, especially HEDT and Pro workstation chips. They were already in some WX (Chagall) series Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 processors.
Enabling overclocking will permanently kill the fuse, meaning AMD will know that at some point the user overclocked the CPU. As always, AMD’s warranty does not cover damage caused by overclocking alone. Of course, the company doesn’t detail exactly how it determines overclocking damage. There were also no reports of AMD voiding the Threadripper 5000 warranty due to overclocking.
It’s not known if AMD will add a hardware fuse to future Ryzen consumer processors – it’s not currently there.
AMD announced new Threadripper CPUs: up to 96 cores, 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 350 W TDP
Source: Tom’s Hardware
