Some of AMD’s RX 6000 graphics cards are giving up the ghost entirely, with a bunch of damaged GPUs quickly remaining introduced to our interest by a German restore store.
That shop, KrisFix, highlighted this difficulty on YouTube (opens in new tab) (by means of Wccftech (opens in new tab), with Buildzoid also flagging on Twitter), and the visible evidence supplied is worrying in truth.
RX 6800/6900 collection cards appear to be struggling core failures for some explanation: https://t.co/NScb6rQbkrJanuary 10, 2023
We’re speaking cracked GPUs, no much less, and when that occurs to the chip, the complete graphics card is an quick publish-off, of study course.
KrisFix informs us that about the previous 3 months, he has received 61 AMD graphics playing cards for restore – which is RX 6900 and 6800 styles – and that 48 of people boards experienced this exact similar issue, a cracked GPU.
Which is almost 80% of all individuals products sent in for repair service, a startlingly substantial share it ought to be mentioned and all of those people he even more observes had a shorted SOC rail, shorted memory rail, and a shorted memory controller rail (indicative of a GPU catastrophe). Commonly, he would anticipate to see 10% or so of the graphics cards despatched in to be suffering from anything as bad as a cracked chip – not 80%.
There was 1 frequent detail with the issue boards, even though – KrisFix notes that they were all running the same graphics driver, the newest just one from AMD.
We’ve arrived at out to AMD for a comment on what might be going on right here, and will update this tale if we acquire a response.
Examination: Is mining mayhem a possibility?
As KrisFix points out, it is tricky to say what may be likely on listed here with any certainty, but presented the commonality with the driver, he theorizes that it’s possible the latest Adrenalin model (produced a month ago) is pushing efficiency a little bit more challenging, and perhaps some RX 6000 GPUs can’t deal with this.
At the identical time, he tends to make it really obvious that he does not nonetheless have enough information and facts to make that judgement, and it is pretty apparent we just can’t leap to any organization conclusions but on regardless of whether the graphics driver is definitely at fault here.
At the moment, we just have the word of just one German maintenance outfit, with KrisFix admitting himself that we have to be very careful, and we need more proof. Certainly, if there truly was an challenge with RX 6800 and 6900 GPUs, surely we’d be listening to a ton a lot more about this by now, a thirty day period right after the driver arrived out?
On the other hand, you could argue about how numerous people update their graphics driver regularly. Surely there are a very good quite a few individuals who adhere with the same GPU driver for a even though, and surely do not choose on each and every one model unveiled.
An additional likelihood is that the trouble is limited to specified graphics cards, and not all of them. Here’s where by another suggestion comes into play – that the affected types are ex-mining GPUs. As mining operations threw in the towel very last calendar year, they sold off the graphics cards in their farms, and these are GPUs which have pretty much been flogged practically to demise 24/7.
So, it’s not a stretch to feel that a great many players have picked up 2nd-hand inventory of these ex-mining AMD GPUs – very possibly devoid of recognizing they are ex-mining designs, as sellers typically disguise this for apparent explanations – and these have turn out to be problematic.
Most likely the situation is with those ex-mining playing cards and the new driver. If the latter does without a doubt thrust for more efficiency – which anecdotally, some entrepreneurs have talked about finding slight frame fee boosts – maybe this is tipping some GPUs, which had been almost useless in any case, more than the edge. All of this is just speculation, by natural means.
It’s also worth noting that there are scattered reviews of coil whine just after updating to the newest AMD driver, and of better hotspot temperatures, which could yet again place to the GPU remaining pushed a bit tougher. But we truly have to have to hold out and see if much more reports of this trouble with RX 6000 cards arrive in, now that the purported concern is out in the open.
If there does convert out to be a issue with the graphics driver alone, that won’t be a very good search for AMD, taking into consideration that 2023 is hardly underway, and Staff Red has already gone through a GPU disaster with its new RX 7900 XTX flagship and a issue with the cooling. A second crisis this early in the yr would be quite embarrassing, of program.