AMD has delayed its Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 launch due to an unspecified quality issue, the company announced today. As a result, AMD tells us it has pulled back all Ryzen 9000 units it has delivered to retailers and OEMs worldwide.
The company will now launch the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X processors on August 8, while the higher-end Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X will be delayed until August 15. We have AMD’s official statement below, but Tom's Hardware has also learned additional important details — including the fact that the company discovered the issue during its packaging testing flow.
This is an unprecedented move for AMD, at least in recent history. During final processor checks, AMD discovered an unspecified quality issue with the Ryzen 9000 processors that had slipped past its internal inspection processes. Chips with the issue were then delivered for the first wave of retail products.
AMD says that out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that not a single chip with a quality issue is delivered to a customer, it is now pulling back all Ryzen 9000 chips it has shipped globally to replace them with fresh units. The Ryzen AI 300 mobile processors remain on track for launch at the end of the month.
A company representative told Tom’s Hardware that the issue doesn’t require a redesign or re-spin of the Ryzen 9000 silicon and will not result in changes to the already-defined specifications for the various models. AMD will re-screen the chips pulled from the field to identify any with potential issues and then return unaffected models to retail channels. This indicates that not all chips suffer from the issue.
An AMD representative told us that the company “identified an issue with our package product testing process for Ryzen 9000 series processors that could result in a small number of products reaching the market that do not meet our quality standards.” AMD specifically cited the package testing process, implying that the issue resides in the packaging implementation (more on that below). However, AMD has declined to specify the specific nature of the quality issue.
AMD is making every effort to ensure that no customers receive the first wave of Ryzen 9000 processors it has shipped — a daunting task given its supply chains that reach across the globe. We do know that at least two processors have already been sold to customers in various countries, and it is possible that a few more could slip through. AMD is also recalling samples that have been delivered to its OEM/ODM partners.
It is unclear if preorders will be canceled or delayed, but it’s logical to think this would vary by retailer. As you would imagine, reviews are also delayed — AMD isn’t taking any chances of shipping defective units anywhere.
All chipmakers have a robust screening process that checks processors for errors at multiple steps in the manufacturing process. That includes checks of the die on the wafer before it is attached to the package to ensure it is a Known Good Die (KGD), and then checks of the completed processor after the packaging process (wherein the die is mated to the PCB that holds the processor) to ensure the chip performs to expectations. The final checks often involve running automated software routines that test the processors in as many ways as feasible, including even loading operating systems, to weed out issues.
This final testing step can occur either as part of the packaging testing process or after the packaging testing. Therefore, an issue found in the packaging testing flow may or may not be directly related to the packaging implementation.
AMD's packaging flows for its Ryzen 9000 series processors are comparatively simpler than other more advanced forms of packaging, like 3D stacking, CoWoS, Foveros, or EMIB. For Ryzen, AMD mounts one I/O Die atop a standard organic substrate (the PCB that holds the dies) and then, using a high-speed SERDES, connects it to either one or two dies that hold compute cores. This is a well-known and extremely mature process flow, so yields are much higher than that found with other more exotic types of packaging.
This packaging tech is somewhat beautiful in its simplicity, high yields, and cost-effectiveness, and make no mistake: AMD has used this simple packaging technique to disrupt the market. However, several issues could potentially crop up, such as contaminants in the materials used in the process or other unforeseen factors. The PCB also features connections for the pads that mate with the CPU socket, and possible issues could also occur with the underside of the substrate.
AMD's issue crops up as its rival Intel has taken an increasing amount of criticism for allowing crashing issues to fester for months before announcing a fix days ago. AMD clearly doesn't want to make the same mistake.
We’re following up for additional details. Here’s AMD’s official statement on the matter:
“We appreciate the excitement around Ryzen 9000 series processors. During final checks, we found the initial production units that were shipped to our channel partners did not meet our full quality expectations. Out of an abundance of caution and to maintain the highest quality experiences for every Ryzen user, we are working with our channel partners to replace the initial production units with fresh units. As a result, there will be a short delay in retail availability. The Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X processors will now go on sale on August 8th and the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X processors will go on-sale on August 15th. We pride ourselves in providing a high-quality experience for every Ryzen user, and we look forward to our fans having a great experience with the new Ryzen 9000 series.” – Jack Huynh, AMD SVP and GM of Computing and Graphics.
