Refunds or exchanges are now being offered to customers despite AMD initially claiming that the “temperatures are normal.”
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Several user reports have appeared since the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card last month that claim the GPU is impacted by performance issues due to running at excessively high temperatures. Now, AMD has released a statement acknowledging that some Radeon RX 7900 XTX reference GPUs have been affected by a manufacturing fault.
The issues were initially reported on forums like Reddit where multiple users said their RX 7900 GPUs were overheating, which throttled performance and in some cases, crashed their computer systems. Temperatures as high as 115 degrees Celsius (239 Fahrenheit) have been reported. While the Radeon RX 7900 Series desktop GPUs can operate up to 110 degree Celsius when under heavy loads (such as 4K gaming), doing so for extended periods of time isn’t recommended for the health of the GPU. Users also reported that the cards were overheating when running non-demanding workloads.
“We are working to determine the cause of the unexpected performance limitation of AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards,” said AMD in a statement. “Based on our observations to date we believe the issue is related to the thermal solution used in AMD’s reference design and is occurring in a limited number of cards sold. We are working to resolve this issue for the affected cards. Customers experiencing this unexpected limitation should contact AMD support.”
AMD initially brushed off these issues, declining customers that applied for a replacement GPU and informing them that the “temperatures are normal.” An investigation from german-language tech site Igor’s Lab suggests that the issue is related to the RX 7900 XTX’s vapor chamber, which may allude to the “thermal solution” issues AMD reported in its statement.
Only a small batch of RX 7900 XTX reference GPUs (made by AMD) are believed to be affected as models from other manufacturers can contain non-reference cooling solutions. VideoCardz reports that AMD is now offering to refund or exchange cards for affected customers.
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