AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards based on AMD’s reference design may not be entirely trouble-free, according to a lengthy post on r/AMD titled “Do not buy a 7900 XTX, or anything else for that matter, directly from AMD.”
According to the thread creator and various other posters, AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards may get uncomfortably hot, with some users reporting that hotspots of the new flagship GPU from AMD can reach temperatures as high as 110-degrees Celsius.
Some publications have pointed out that this isn’t necessarily new, with AMD sharing the following about their GPUs some years ago…
Instead of setting a conservative, ‘worst case’ throttling temperature for the entire die, the Radeon RX 5700 series GPUs will continue opportunistically and aggressively ramp clocks until any of the many available sensors hits the ‘hotspot’ or ‘Junction’ temperature of 110 degrees Celsius. Operating at up to 110C Junction Temperature during typical gaming usage is expected and within spec.
…but that hasn’t stopped the thread from gaining a lot of traction and comments.
“I’ve been told that throttling performance, massive frame drops, and maxing out its fans is apparently in-spec for AMD and is acceptable,” said the thread creator, who claims that AMD is refusing to accept a return on their Radeon RX 7900 XTX because it’s been opened already.
At least one manufacturer is taking action, however, with PowerColor’s Steven Sun (PowerColorSteven) advising affected users to send their serial numbers and other informatino to get a better idea of how big this issue might really be.
“Its def more than a handful, so now i need to show some sort of backing for my fat mouth,” Sun said.
Sun can be reached at steven.sun@powercolor.com, according to this post.
PowerColor offers a number of Radeon RX 7900 Series graphics cards, including the Red Devil AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB GDDR6 Limited Edition, which features a swappable backplate and Red Devil design luminous magnet.