Those fantastic new Ryzen 7000X3D chips and their accompanying AM5 motherboards have had some teething troubles with burning hardware, as Gamers Nexus covered in a series of scathing investigations. Not enough to trigger a full recall, but enough for Asus and other manufacturers to issue firmware placing further restrictions on overclocking.
The way Asus handled the issue earned particular ire, with PC enthusiasts taking the company to task after Gamers Nexus published a video titled “Scumbag Asus: Overvolting CPUs & Screwing the Customer.” The GN report also prompted high-profile YouTuber JayzTwoCents to publicly end his Asus sponsorship deal.
Now the company is doing damage control. To ease the minds of potential customers, Asus now says its AM5 motherboard warranty coverage now extends to all beta BIOS updates (which are needed to fix the underlying issues with burning chips) and all user-accessible memory overclocking configurations, like Intel XMP and AMD Expo. Previously in the saga, Asus indicated that using those crucial beta BIOSes or activating memory overclocking would void your warranty, as covered in the long, but thorough Gamers Nexus video above.
Yesterday Asus posted an update to its official news site (spotted by PC Gamer) with the following message:
We would like to reassure our customers that both beta and fully validated BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards are covered by the original manufacturer’s warranty. We would also like to confirm the following points: The ASUS AM5 motherboard warranty also covers all AMD EXPO, Intel XMP, and DOCP memory configurations. All recent BIOS updates follow the latest AMD voltage guidelines for AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors.
Translation: as long as you’re not trying to load custom motherboard firmware (which should be all but impossible) or break the BIOS/UEFI configuration tool to access voltage settings beyond what’s available to users, your warranty is still valid. Which means Asus will replace your pricey AM5 board (though not necessarily your processor) if it, just for an example, catches fire.
So yeah, if you have an Asus AM5 motherboard, and especially if you have a new 7000X3D processor, get your updates in.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who's been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.