In light of reports that excessive SoC voltage is associated with damage to certain Ryzen 7000 series CPUs (opens in new tab), motherboard manufacturers are pushing for BIOS updates and clarifications, hoping to stem this impact.gigabyte released statement (opens in new tab)which states that its motherboard complies with AMD’s recommended limit of 1.3V (at least with the latest beta BIOS update).
“Users can use the HWiNFO software,” Gigabyte said in a statement. (opens in new tab) Accurately monitor CPU internal SOC voltage (SVI3 interface). This is shown in HWiNFO as “CPU VDDCR_SOC voltage (SVI3 TFN)”. This value is reported by the CPU’s internal sensor and represents the true voltage. Gigabyte uses his HWiNFO to monitor his SOC voltage on AM5 motherboards and it is below 1.3V, officially confirmed by AMD. “
Gigabyte published a video like the one above on YouTube. This shows that the all-important HWINFO SVI3 reading was always below 1.3 V, whereas the voltage probe reading showed spikes up to 1.35 V. This is well above the 1.3V safety limit set by AMD.
This means that the SoC voltage reading point on the Gigabyte board is not actually reading the SoC voltage being supplied to the CPU. It continues, “Due to various physical factors, the PWM output voltage will be higher than the CPU internal SOC voltage (SVI3 interface).”
This is surprising as voltage reading points are generally considered to be more accurate than software readings. Of course, this is only true if the SoC read point is reading the correct one. Clearly not in this case.
Discrepancies in voltage readings can cause some reports (reports such as: gamers nexus (opens in new tab)) Certain Asus motherboards still applied SoC voltages in excess of 1.3V, even after installing the updated BIOS with restrictions.
You should see if reports of CPU damage decrease over time. Not everyone updates his BIOS on the motherboard and most of the time they don’t manually control voltages.
But this is a special case. If you’re reading this and have an AM5 motherboard, especially if you’re running a Ryzen 7000 series X3D chip, update your BIOS. If you don’t update, at least manually set his SoC voltage to a level below 1.3V as a safety net.
