Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsLong term, not pleased with this processor.
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024
I have been using this processor for a while. but recently my computer has become unstable and becoming increasingly so over time. It started out just crashing programs, but now it has grown to a problem where it refuses to boot without attempting dozens of times or it will shut the PC off completely during use without warning.
Since I have replaced every major component in the system except for the CPU I am left to conclude, that is the problem. though I have never in my decades of PC building, had a CPU fail, some of the time. I can only assume that this processors failsafe, did not protect it at some point and the silicon developed microfractures that prevent it from working at certain temps.
I never overclock, I have always had a quality, well rated, aftermarket heatsink in any build I have ever done. I temp test things. I have to assume something in the design of this processor was overlooked and it was able to damage it's self. This only seemed to develop as an issue after several long gaming sessions in helldivers 2 which is notoriously hard on the CPU of a system.
During troubleshooting when I did pull the processor to check it out and I did notice and extremely slight discoloration of the greenboard in between some of the contacts, that I had assumed at the time was some sort of accidental thermal paste transfer that happened while removing the processor. I used 99% Isopropyl alcohol and cleaning pad to attempt to clean the bottom but it made no difference on the discoloration I was seeing. The processor worked the same after the cleaning as it did before. I don't know what this discoloration is, though it does look like a dark spot from overheating. That would imply some part of this processor developed a hot spot that went well above the reading given to the computer. This is just literally impossible for me to know as a consumer.
I replaced:
The GPU, with a lower power requirement video board.
The ram with slower rated ddr5 (also tried a single chip config with 4 different chips)
The power supply
The motherboard
none of these made the problem go away, though the new motherboard did make it somewhat more stable overall, though it's a lot less likely to boot.
My CPU has always idled in windows at 40-45c and hits 70c during gaming which should be well below it's max temp, though helldivers 2 did drive it up to 75-80 at times. SUPPOSEDLY they are good up to 95c but that seems insane to me. I never let anything get that hot in my system. The last step I'm taking today is to order a new 7800x3d processor to replace this one and see if I have any further issues. If I still do...I'll probably just return the motherboard and processor, then buy an intel system, giving up on AMD all together.