AMD GPU Drivers Might Be Overclocking Your CPU Without Permission

After users running both a Ryzen CPU and a Radeon GPU started reporting issues with their CPU BIOS settings being changed, AMD has confirmed to Tom's Hardware that a bug within its GPU drivers may be causing Ryzen CPUs to overclock without warning or permission.

"We are aware of an issue in the AMD software suite that is adjusting certain AMD processor settings for some users," an AMD representative said in a statement sent to Tom's Hardware. "We are investigating the issue and we'll share more information as soon as we're able."

This issue also seems to have been listed as a known issue in the Adrenalin 22.4.1 release notes, which says that "Ryzen CPU Overclock settings may be changed after resetting or importing a profile from Radeon Performance Tuning Options."

Affected users found that their Ryzen CPUs were being automatically overclocked--a setting that normally comes with a warning, requiring users to click to acknowledge that overclocking will void the CPU's warranty. The issue was tracked back to AMD's Adrenalin GPU drivers, which last year was updated to add a Ryzen Master module that would let users overclock their CPU from the same interface.

Overclocking can have a number of negative side effects on a system, especially when they have lower-end parts. As well as potential problems with overheating, overclocking can also lead to stability issues, including an increased risk of BSODs.

While AMD investigates the issue, AMD users have created their own workaround to the problem, using Radeon Software Slimmer to delete Ryzen Master from the Adrenalin GPU driver.