Review AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700 Review: New Prices Keep Navi In The Game

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joeblowsmynose

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I was really wanting to like this card. I bought the Taichi to put in my Taichi motherboard. Gaming is great and after a slight undervolt it runs cool. Big problem is AMD drivers. Our PC is our media center hooked to our TV via HDMI. The 5700xt drops audio periodically. The old 580 had no problems. Wish I had payed a bit more for the 2070 super. If you need HDMI don't buy.

I would never use audio over HDMI myself (I'm an audio snob and use optical to 5.1 external stereo setup) ... Maybe check if your TV has optical in (s/pidf), and check if your onboard audio on your mobo has optical out - then use that instead. Optical cables are thin, light and inexpensive and the sound quality will be better.

If not ... in the mean time until this gets fixed ...
Try keeping the GPU a bit busy while watching TV (a light game idle in the background should do the trick - turn vsync and Chill on to cap framerate to keep fans from spinning up too much) --- the issue seems to be related to an idle GPU (from some quick checking ...) -- which is why games don't have the same problem.

I think you have an x570 board? Maybe also try the card in PCIe 3.0 mode from the bios.

Keep checking for driver updates; there's a major one coming out soon ... not many people are having this problem, but I can see how it would be a major pain if HDMI is your only audio option ...
 

TJ Hooker

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I would never use audio over HDMI myself (I'm an audio snob and use optical to 5.1 external stereo setup) ... Maybe check if your TV has optical in (s/pidf), and check if your onboard audio on your mobo has optical out - then use that instead. Optical cables are thin, light and inexpensive and the sound quality will be better.
There is no reason to prefer optical over HDMI for audio. In fact, optical lacks the bandwidth for some lossless codecs that HDMI does support.
 

joeblowsmynose

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There is no reason to prefer optical over HDMI for audio. In fact, optical lacks the bandwidth for some lossless codecs that HDMI does support.
Maybe I am a bit biased, because I have been using it since before HDMI was invented, and it certainly was the best option before that by a long shot. I suppose HDMI has been constantly improving with 2.0 offering even better bandwidth.

I don't have an option for 5.1 with HDMI (video card doesn't have a dolby encoder), but I do with optical (soundcard does have dolby encoder). So its no contest for me and my choice.

I could be a solution for 57Stew though, if his mobo and TV support it.
 
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TJ Hooker

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I don't have an option for 5.1 with HDMI (video card doesn't have a dolby encoder), but I do with optical (soundcard does have dolby encoder). So its no contest for me and my choice.
Ah, yeah I suppose I should have said "no reason to prefer optical over HDMI in general". Although HDMI may be capable of supporting any format that optical supports, I think it's still up to the given device to support format X over interface Y. Although I believe any video card from the last decade or so should support 5.1 or 7.1 surround over HDMI (assuming the receiver can accept it).
 

joeblowsmynose

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... Although I believe any video card from the last decade or so should support 5.1 or 7.1 surround over HDMI (assuming the receiver can accept it).

I thought that too and spent a lot of time (days and days) trying to figure out why I couldn't get 5.1 over HDMI ... if you can't encode dolby 5.1 from the stream source, you don't get 5.1. Video cards do NOT have a dolby encoder, nor does windows 10, etc.

My onboard sound, however does have a dolby encoder, and it only has analog and optical outs - I like less cables so optical it was.

Dolby "owns" 5.1 apparently -- if you don't have a dolby encoded audio stream, you can't get 5.1, even if you have 5.1 decoder/receiver.

My video card does support six channel audio so I thought it would work, but it doesn't.

I found all that out the hard way ...
 

TJ Hooker

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I thought that too and spent a lot of time (days and days) trying to figure out why I couldn't get 5.1 over HDMI ... if you can't encode dolby 5.1 from the stream source, you don't get 5.1. Video cards do NOT have a dolby encoder, nor does windows 10, etc.

My onboard sound, however does have a dolby encoder, and it only has analog and optical outs - I like less cables so optical it was.

Dolby "owns" 5.1 apparently -- if you don't have a dolby encoded audio stream, you can't get 5.1, even if you have 5.1 decoder/receiver.

My video card does support six channel audio so I thought it would work, but it doesn't.

I found all that out the hard way ...
That... doesn't sound right. Even if you can't encode your audio (Dolby or otherwise), HDMI supports 8 channels of uncompressed LPCM audio.

And there are non-Dolby 5.1 surround formats, e.g. DTS.

I believe you that you are not able to get 5.1 output from your video card. I just think it's a result of something else in your setup, not an inherent limitation of the card or HDMI.

Edit: This article is old, but might shed some light on the matter(?) https://www.anandtech.com/show/2841/10
 
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joeblowsmynose

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That... doesn't sound right. Even if you can't encode your audio (Dolby or otherwise), HDMI supports 8 channels of uncompressed LPCM audio.

And there are non-Dolby 5.1 surround formats, e.g. DTS.

I believe you that you are not able to get 5.1 output from your video card. I just think it's a result of something else in your setup, not an inherent limitation of the card or HDMI.

Edit: This article is old, but might shed some light on the matter(?) https://www.anandtech.com/show/2841/10


Yeah I was thinking about this earlier and I figured maybe the TV was the problem ... ?


I have a convoluted setup (current):

PC mobo sound - optical out to switch
Tascam audio interface (basically a soundcard)- out to monitor speakers
Creative Extigy - ancient 5.1 external soundcard - out to Logitech THX 5.1 speakers (theatre stuff)
Cable STB - HDMI out to TV
TV - optical out to switch
switch - optical out to Creative Extigy

So the TV picks up 5.1 from the STB via HDMI. From there the TV out optical continues the 5.1 signal to the Extigy which supplies the amp, etc.

So it looks like the TV can pick up 5.1 via HDMI -- no problem - as via the STB.

But ... it wouldn't work from my PC at all (just 2 channel) so I just went optical there too instead bought the switch, etc.

But maybe TV only accepts one 5.1 "input"? ... that could be.
 
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Feb 2, 2020
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i have RX 5700 XT its really good card i had a 2070 ti i dont see the diffrent in fact my pc is cooler that when i had the RTX 2070 ti in it i get same amount of fps in the games i play pubg 180 fps with optimal setting high texture and anti alasing and view all high rest low cod mw 150+ on high all settings the ark 140+ counter striker 3000+ fps FF15 140+ fps Monster Hunter world Iceborn 200+ with high texture pack i dont see any preoblem here is my rig


CPU Radeon 3700x 8 core 16 threads
Amd RX 5700 XT
2 ssd 1 terabyte and 1 200gig
hdd 4 terabyte
32 gig rams sticks
800 gold power supply
and some other stuff
 

Rogue Leader

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As a Moderator I shouldn't be digging old stuff up from the dead, but I believe long term usage of the RX 5700XT should be revisited. Why?

I have a Sapphire Nitro+ SE RX 5700XT I purchased in December of 2019. I've been using it for at least an hour a night almost every night since. While gaming it sits right where AMD says at 110 tJunct, and about 92C. This use over the past 5 months has caused electromigration. As of a few days ago my GPU started crashing my system randomly and increasingly frequently over time. I've also lost the LEDs in 4 fans already which Sapphire has replaced. Now they are replacing the whole card.

I was able to get the card stable by adding 2mV to the voltage which is the most you can add on this card, theres no more range. I shouldn't have to do that after 5 months. Not sure how long it will last like that but hopefully until the replacement arrives.

So despite what AMD says, in the long term running a GPU at 110C is not a good idea.

My warranty replacement will be going on eBay once I can find a suitable 2080 Super in stock replacement.
 

joeblowsmynose

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As a Moderator I shouldn't be digging old stuff up from the dead, but I believe long term usage of the RX 5700XT should be revisited. Why?

I have a Sapphire Nitro+ SE RX 5700XT I purchased in December of 2019. I've been using it for at least an hour a night almost every night since. While gaming it sits right where AMD says at 110 tJunct, and about 92C. This use over the past 5 months has caused electromigration. As of a few days ago my GPU started crashing my system randomly and increasingly frequently over time. I've also lost the LEDs in 4 fans already which Sapphire has replaced. Now they are replacing the whole card.

I was able to get the card stable by adding 2mV to the voltage which is the most you can add on this card, theres no more range. I shouldn't have to do that after 5 months. Not sure how long it will last like that but hopefully until the replacement arrives.

So despite what AMD says, in the long term running a GPU at 110C is not a good idea.

My warranty replacement will be going on eBay once I can find a suitable 2080 Super in stock replacement.

Sounds like power delivery problem, not electromigration. regardless of tjunct, 92 on the GPU seems way too high to me ... almost as though the GPU is pulling more amps than it should be - which would indicate power delivery issue ... also, if it was electromigration, how would that burn out the leds on your fans? Doesn't seem related - but power delivery issue could account for both.
 

Rogue Leader

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Sounds like power delivery problem, not electromigration. regardless of tjunct, 92 on the GPU seems way too high to me ... almost as though the GPU is pulling more amps than it should be - which would indicate power delivery issue ... also, if it was electromigration, how would that burn out the leds on your fans? Doesn't seem related - but power delivery issue could account for both.

I think my case doesn't help the situation, its just not conducive to cooling, however the GPU should have lasted longer.

I think the LED Burn out may have been caused by the heat as well. But maybe you are right that somewhere in the Power system of the card (maybe VRMs overheating) could cause all of the problems.

To finish out the story Sapphire sent a replacement, which artifacts after 20 minutes and crashes. They are sending another, but I already got a 2080 Super to replace it.
 

joeblowsmynose

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I think my case doesn't help the situation, its just not conducive to cooling, however the GPU should have lasted longer.

I think the LED Burn out may have been caused by the heat as well. But maybe you are right that somewhere in the Power system of the card (maybe VRMs overheating) could cause all of the problems.

To finish out the story Sapphire sent a replacement, which artifacts after 20 minutes and crashes. They are sending another, but I already got a 2080 Super to replace it.

That's highly statistically unusual ... weird. Are you 100% sure its not PSU or maybe motherboard related? Either way, if the 2080 works, it works.
 

Rogue Leader

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That's highly statistically unusual ... weird. Are you 100% sure its not PSU or maybe motherboard related? Either way, if the 2080 works, it works.

2080 Super is working perfectly with 0 problems.

This is my 3rd 5700XT from them. I bought one and it died after 3 days out of the box. Returned it bought the identical one elsewhere, which lasted 6 months. Then that was the exchange for the most recent one I mentioned.

I mean sure it could be PSU or motherboard, but considering one lasted 6 months, and the 2080 Super I got is working fine, I'd assume the problem lies in the GPU itself. I think its more heat related for the most part. Despite the heat levels AMD says are ok, they clearly are not.

Another thing if it were motherboard or PSU related is I would have other issues of which I have none, no matter how many stress tests or benches I run.
 

joeblowsmynose

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2080 Super is working perfectly with 0 problems.

This is my 3rd 5700XT from them. I bought one and it died after 3 days out of the box. Returned it bought the identical one elsewhere, which lasted 6 months. Then that was the exchange for the most recent one I mentioned.

I mean sure it could be PSU or motherboard, but considering one lasted 6 months, and the 2080 Super I got is working fine, I'd assume the problem lies in the GPU itself. I think its more heat related for the most part. Despite the heat levels AMD says are ok, they clearly are not.

Another thing if it were motherboard or PSU related is I would have other issues of which I have none, no matter how many stress tests or benches I run.

I'm not sure how many people have had your same experieince ... For example, if every single of the hundreds of thousands of 5700xts out there are running at 110C tJunct, and yours and maybe two others burn out because of that, would it be reasonable to say that all 5700xts will stop working within a couple months?

Its a weird situation for sure ... and certainly does not appear typical. There's tens of thousands of 5700xts out there that have been running for a lot lonher than yours with nop issues whatsoever - if it is a base engineering design flaw, you would think it would be all over the media like the RTX artifacting issue was, as the number of cases would warrant that.

Anyway, glad to hear your 2080s is working well.
 

Rogue Leader

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I'm not sure how many people have had your same experieince ... For example, if every single of the hundreds of thousands of 5700xts out there are running at 110C tJunct, and yours and maybe two others burn out because of that, would it be reasonable to say that all 5700xts will stop working within a couple months?

Its a weird situation for sure ... and certainly does not appear typical. There's tens of thousands of 5700xts out there that have been running for a lot lonher than yours with nop issues whatsoever - if it is a base engineering design flaw, you would think it would be all over the media like the RTX artifacting issue was, as the number of cases would warrant that.

Anyway, glad to hear your 2080s is working well.

It could be more of a flaw in the cooling of the Sapphire Nitro+ itself. But I agree there should be more failures but aren't, if it was a design flaw. That said maybe I just have bad luck with these particular cards.
 

joeblowsmynose

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It could be more of a flaw in the cooling of the Sapphire Nitro+ itself. But I agree there should be more failures but aren't, if it was a design flaw. That said maybe I just have bad luck with these particular cards.

Yeah that could be it ... and would explain the 90c GPU temps as well ... Steve from GN noted a host of cooling issues on many of the 3rd party 5700xts, with pretty much only powercolor red devil, given a solid thumbs up on their cooling. I can't recall what was said about the Sapphire specifically. That said, they are usually top tier products.

I have a Sapphire Rx580, and run with 1500mhz GPU and 2250 RAM (pretty extreme OC - lol and its a used mining card) it won't exceed 75C with fans spinning at quite audible, but not a really high speed ... I was actually impressed with the cooling ability.
 

Rogue Leader

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Yeah that could be it ... and would explain the 90c GPU temps as well ... Steve from GN noted a host of cooling issues on many of the 3rd party 5700xts, with pretty much only powercolor red devil, given a solid thumbs up on their cooling. I can't recall what was said about the Sapphire specifically. That said, they are usually top tier products.

I have a Sapphire Rx580, and run with 1500mhz GPU and 2250 RAM (pretty extreme OC - lol and its a used mining card) it won't exceed 75C with fans spinning at quite audible, but not a really high speed ... I was actually impressed with the cooling ability.

I will say their service has been top notch. While this is not going to workout in the end as I won't own the card anymore, when I'm ready for another AMD GPU Sapphire will be top of the list.