Ryzen Release Thread

[SteelCrysis]

Ryzen Linux bug: http://techreport.com/news/32362/amd-con...m-on-ryzen
Check out this comment:

This issue has been floating around since RyZen's launch and there's a thread about the latest developments in TR's forums too.

While this issue has been around for about 5 months now, the real key to getting it recognized was that some Gentoo guys put together a GCC test script that automated the process so you can start throwing segfaults pretty quickly. That automation and the additional publicity finally got the attention of AMD.

Edit: And this comment too:

The Gentoo people noticed it because they are a source only distro. Basically, you compile *everything* that runs on your system from source code. So, their users run the compiler a lot. They are prime candidates for finding a bug like this.

The down side is that people who like to build all of their programs from scratch are considered a little nutty, so they aren't always taken seriously when they report problems. Lots of time it's problems with their hardware (bad PSU, CPU pins bent, bad memory, wrong BIOS settings, etc.) and not a true fault in the processor. You have to go through a lot of steps to rule out pilot error before you can solidly point the finger at the processor having a bug.

The Skylake bug that the Prime95 community found was a lot quicker to escallate because it has a well populated forum of very knowledgable people who have been beating on CPUs for decades and know how to quickly diagnose hardware issues. Heck, Prime95 is commonly used as a burn in tool. Want to see if your PSU is good? Cooling system? Memory config? Run Prime95 for a day.

So, it comes down to experience of the community and credibility.