For those of you that missed it, there was a bit of controversy this week, when a Reddit user found a support page on AMD's website which stated that use of any other "heatsink/fan" than the included one with AMD "Processor-in-Box" products would invalidate their warranty.
As you might imagine, this caused some confusion and concern from owners and potential purchasers of Ryzen CPUs. How would AMD be able to tell if you were using a third-party cooler? What about the Ryzen 1000 series SKUs that didn't come with coolers?
As it turns out, this was an older support page that does not accurately reflect the warranty of modern AMD processors. AMD has since updated the warranty page to provide clarification.
Now, the page reads that the warranty shall be null and void if the processor "is used with any heatsink/fan (HSF) that does not support operation of the AMD processor in conformance with AMD’s publicly available specifications."
Kudos to the community who put the spotlight on this potentially misleading support page, and AMD for providing quick and decisive clarification on their actual warranty policies.
“conformance with AMD’s
“conformance with AMD’s publicly available specifications.”
So Now the Cooler OEMs are going to have to provide compatability listings that explicially state that they are safe to use with Razen 1000/2000 series processors.
This confusion is AMD’s fault but Cooler OEMs are going to have to make sure that AMD approves their coolers and AMD needs a certification process or AMD will risk costly warrenty litigation.
Third party OEM cooler maker certification of coolers by AMD is what is needed and that certification process is needed or consumrs will still not be sure.
That warrenty update only covers AMD’s A$$ and consumers are needing explicit wording on compatability by any third part cooler OEMs.
this is nothing. They already
this is nothing. They already say what platforms the coolers are for and they design them based on the specifications.
All chip manufacturers have
All chip manufacturers have certain specifications and guidelines for the coolers that are designed for and used with their products. Or do you think that they let the manufacturers guess these specs? This is about things like mounting mechanism, pressure on the socket and the CPU, weight, etc.. Nothing new or special, just necessary documentation for the manufacturers.
And the Cooler OEM is going
And the Cooler OEM is going to have to explicitly list the Ryzen CPU/APU SKUs that their OEM cooler is certified to work with without voiding the CPU’s/APU’s Warranty. List the approved Ryzen/Raven Ridge SKU#s on the cooler’s box!
AM4 is just the Socket/MB specification but consumers will need their Cooler’s OEM to list the exact AMD CPU/APU SKU/s covered/certified to work with that specific OEM’s Cooler SKU or there will be no true warrenty protection.
Just fitting the AM4 socket is not enough where some AM4 based CPU/APU SKUs require proper cooling at or abive the specific CPU’s/APU’s rated TDP. I’ll only trust a cooler that lists the exact CPU/APU make and model/SKU number on that cooler’s box!
There’s nothing about a
There’s nothing about a requirement that OEMs “explicitly list” support for specific Ryzen SKUs that I can see. It only says that coolers that don’t meet AMD’s published specifications will void the warranty, which is perfectly reasonable.
Do memory sticks or PSUs have
Do memory sticks or PSUs have compatibility lists printed on the package? No, you find that information of the website of the website. It’s the same with coolers, and it’s always has been. Every chip or platform manufacturer expects the customer to consult the manufacturers of after market hardware to make sure that their products are compatible with and suitable for the platform. It’s always been like that.
except that this is already a
except that this is already a thing? Most coolers being sold today state exactly what processors they are designed/validated for, including the TDP rating they support, which I would wager is the main thing AMD wants to make sure you have sufficient cooling for. Basically they just want to make sure you sufficiently cool their processors so as not to slowly kill it with too much heat, therefore costing them money when it dies before the warranty period is up.
Why is this all of a sudden
Why is this all of a sudden an issue? Its been there for awhile stating these things and yet only became an issue as of late with the new launch. lol Not like Intel doesn’t have things in their warranty that don’t restrict certain things. Throw that out the window anyway since they void it by delidding their CPU anyway. 🙂
how the hell you go digging
how the hell you go digging on AMD website for some petty crap like this? if you read the agreement paper that came with the in box cpu, you would not have had to dig.
from the booklet included
from the booklet included with my Ryzen 2400G:
https://i.imgur.com/3QGLT0q.jpg
They really have to do this,
They really have to do this, I think, to avoid criticisms of XFR from idiots. I honestly wish they could hold OEMs to the same requirement so that we’d get some laptops that actually display Ryzen processors in their full and glorious light.