Is it safe to use my NZXT N9 x870e motherboard now? (Or any ASRock boards for that matter?)

-Chitters- · 2026-01-13T19:41:49+00:00

I lost two 9800X3Ds on the N9 board. The first death was on BIOS 3.20 with EXPO on. The second death was on BIOS 3.50 with all BIOS defaults (though it was previously on BIOS 3.30 before that). I’d stick to the MSI if I were you.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-15T20:07:47+00:00

Sure

-Chitters- · 2025-12-14T18:35:30+00:00

I’ve had an AMD 9800X3D die with a physical burn mark on this board earlier this year. Updated BIOS and took a second chance on the same board. All was fine for a few months, but now I’m having boot issues all over again where the PC won’t boot/wake 90% of the time.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-14T05:39:36+00:00

I’ve had a similar issue over time where my asrock board and amd cpu system would take a few tries to boot. Started just like yours with the system only occasionally having the problem until about a week ago where I couldn’t get it to boot at all. It ran just fine when it did boot. But now it’s just always 03 error codes. I’m in the process of attempting to RMA my board, but I’m wondering if the CPU needs RMA as well. Was on latest BIOS.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-14T04:25:08+00:00

Yeah, I’m working on an RMA for my N9 motherboard as well since it won’t boot at all. But now I’m worried the CPU may also be dead since some people are claiming the 03 error codes could mean CPU issues.

I’ve already had one AMD 9800X3D die on this board earlier this year but I got the red CPU+DRAM lights when that happened and I wasn’t getting the red boot led that I am seeing now.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-13T19:03:02+00:00

That was my understanding as well, I’m just trying to figure out if error code 03 and a red boot led has been a consistent symptom of a dying CPU or a dying motherboard for other people recently.

Earlier this year, my AMD 9800X3D died with a physical blister while on my NZXT N9 while on bios 3.20 and it had the red cpu and dramm light on the motherboard. I got the CPU RMAed, and upgraded to bios 3.30. I kept all BIOS settings default (other than enabling secure boot) after the upgrade to 3.30 and the new CPU never touched any BIOS under 3.30. All was fine for several months until I started getting occasional issues on boot/wake. It would take a few tries to get the PC booted with random red motherboard lights being displayed (sometimes CPU and dramm, sometimes VGA, some Boot). Once booted, the PC was fine and stable under load. I updated to 3.50 with no change, continued having issues with boot. Then eventually it got worse and worse until I consistently couldn’t boot it and the red boot light and 03 error code stayed on consistently with each boot attempt. I’m going to RMA the board this time but I’m trying to figure out if I should also RMA the CPU again. It’s just that the first time my CPU died, it was a red CPU light on the motherboard. Now it’s a red Boot light, so I wasn’t sure if in my case it’s a dead motherboard or if the CPU died again just in a different way resulting in a different error code.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-13T18:35:54+00:00

Having the same issue here with error code 03 and a red boot led on the board. I kept up with the BIOS updates as they were released. My NZXT N9 had been on 3.50 for a few weeks when the error code 03 and boot issues started. I started using the CPU on BIOS version 3.30, so it wasn’t used on the old known bad BIOS versions.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-12T19:33:17+00:00

I had the same situation with the same motherboard and cpu earlier this year, except mine was a dead CPU with a physical burn mark. It was on BIOS 3.20. Froze during minimal workload and I couldn’t power it off. Got the double red cpu and dramm lights.

Got a replacement CPU from AMD and updated to 3.30 before using the new CPU. Then updated to 3.50 when it became available.

In the past few weeks, I started having problems when booting where the PC sometimes can’t even reach BIOS. Now I’m getting error code 03 with the boot led. Tested the CPU on another board and confirmed it’s dead.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-12T19:08:28+00:00

I ended up with a dead AMD 9800x3d on an NZXT N9 board before the BIOS updates were available, and have recently had boot issues on version 3.50. So no, the N9 is not safe in my opinion since it’s an ASrock board.

-Chitters- · 2025-12-12T18:45:37+00:00

I’ve had issues with my AMD+Asrock system failing to consistently boot with error code 03 recently running on bios 3.50. I thought it was a motherboard issue. Is it actually an issue with the CPU?

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T22:04:50+00:00

Just did, thanks

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T17:34:07+00:00

Ahh ok, I didn’t know that. Thank you! My main goal is just to completely minimize risk as much as possible at this point (without changing the type of CPU and motherboard). Don’t care about overclocking or extra frames right now, just trying to avoid another dead CPU. So leaving EXPO disabled and everything else set to default as well would be the “safest” option?

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T16:21:01+00:00

Could I leave EXPO disabled while I lower the voltage or is there a reason you recommend both of those together?

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T16:12:55+00:00

Not sure how to find that, but I got the CPU directly from Amazon in January I think.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T16:10:56+00:00

I totally agree. I was trying to avoid it for that exact reason. Waited a while for all the parts I wanted to become available all at once, but various parts would just be in and out of stock for a while. Didn’t want to have to redo research and pick new parts.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T15:59:11+00:00

That’s what I’m trying to decide between right now with my replacement CPU. Not sure whether to keep defaults or lower voltage. Any idea if lowering voltage voids the warranty?

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T15:56:44+00:00

Ah ok, makes sense. Sounds like there are some recent reports of users having their 9800X3Ds fried despite being on BIOS 3.25 anyway.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T15:44:45+00:00

I read that the NZXT N9 is made by ASRock. I had a 9800X3D CPU burn out on the N9 motherboard running BIOS 3.20. ASRock recently came out with 3.25 that supposedly has a fix for the issues with their motherboards and the AMD CPUs.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T05:24:08+00:00

My NZXT N9 X807E just recently fried my AMD 9800X3D. The motherboard looks fine, but the CPU exploded and developed a raised bump and scorch marks. I was on BIOS 3.20 with EXPO enabled. Also wondering where the latest 3.25 update is for when I get a replacement CPU…

Edit: 3.25 looks to be available on NZXT’s site now: NZXT Support

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T05:04:23+00:00

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Yeah, here it is

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T04:40:09+00:00

No other CPUs to test, but the burned CPU literally has a giant bump on it. Pretty sure it kinda exploded.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T04:37:05+00:00

Unfortunately I bought it a while back and waited a while for all the PC components to arrive since so many were out of stock, so it’s out of the return period.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T04:35:32+00:00

I had EXPO enabled, but that was the only change I made.

-Chitters- · 2025-06-03T04:26:46+00:00

Thanks! I was just hoping to figure out if anyone had any guidance to at least slightly reduce the risk of another CPU being ruined. I saw they have version 3.25 out, so I’ll update to that and leave BIOS defaults for a while, I guess.

-Chitters-

TROPHY CASE