AMD To Issue Software Fix To Address RX 480 Power Consumption Problems

[Guest]

AMD issued a statement that it will address the RX 480's power consumption problems that we identified in our recent review.

AMD To Issue Software Fix To Address RX 480 Power Consumption Problems : Read more

 

[nukemaster]

I hope Tom's will do a re-test. I am interested to see how how much of a performance impact this may have.

 

[InvalidError]

Yup, really curious to see how much performance the reference RX480 will need to sacrifice to get down safely within PCIe slot power specifications.

 

[Robert_230]

Yes, Nukemaster this needs to be done, if AMD is gimping the cards AFTER the reviews, then this is super fishy for sure, makes you wonder if AMD knew this was an issue and tried to get stellar reviews for performance before gimping the cards?

 

[InvalidError]

makes you wonder if AMD knew this was an issue and tried to get stellar reviews for performance before gimping the cards?

AMD CANNOT not have known about the issue. If it genuinely did not know, it would be an admission of gross incompetence or neglect regarding PCIe qualification testing.

Admitting that it pushed the limits of the PCIe specs too far to get better review numbers would be less damaging to its reputation but the down-tuning it will hurt pricing and raise more questions about why the reference card did not ship with an 8-pin connector in the first place.

 

[Robert_230]

https://community.amd.com/thread/202410 appearantly some people got their mobos fried from this, not sure if it's true but there are pics.

 

[Robert_230]

makes you wonder if AMD knew this was an issue and tried to get stellar reviews for performance before gimping the cards?

AMD CANNOT not have known about the issue. If it genuinely did not know, it would be an admission of gross incompetence or neglect regarding PCIe qualification testing.

Admitting that it pushed the limits of the PCIe specs too far to get better review numbers would be less damaging to its reputation but the down-tuning it will hurt pricing and raise more questions about why the reference card did not ship with an 8-pin connector in the first place.

I hear you, and you are right if they admit it, that's the end of AMD. If they went with an 8pin connector then the 150 tdp rating they gave this card would be out of the question. The card, as it is, is less effecient than a 1070 anyways, they will have to pick either performance or low power usage, can't have both it seems like.

 

[Omegaclawe]

Interestingly enough, the card uses less power AND performs better when undervolted... goes about 5% faster, runs a few degrees cooler, and uses less power when the maximum voltage is dropped down to around 1.1V... it wouldn't surprise me if the "fix" was to simply make that the default.

 

[hannibal]

Well, it is more like current rebalancing. A Little bit less From pci and more From 6 PIN. But underwolting seems to be sensible Also.

 

[USAFRet]

makes you wonder if AMD knew this was an issue and tried to get stellar reviews for performance before gimping the cards?

AMD CANNOT not have known about the issue. If it genuinely did not know, it would be an admission of gross incompetence or neglect regarding PCIe qualification testing.

Admitting that it pushed the limits of the PCIe specs too far to get better review numbers would be less damaging to its reputation but the down-tuning it will hurt pricing and raise more questions about why the reference card did not ship with an 8-pin connector in the first place.

Either they knew and released it anyway, or they did not know.
Either way, gross incompetence.

 

[InvalidError]

Interestingly enough, the card uses less power AND performs better when undervolted... goes about 5% faster, runs a few degrees cooler, and uses less power when the maximum voltage is dropped down to around 1.1V... it wouldn't surprise me if the "fix" was to simply make that the default.

AMD cannot make that "the fix" unless it is confident that at least 95% of GPUs will work properly for the foreseeable future at the reduced voltage.

With AMD trying to make improved power efficiency a big deal in its RX480 pre-launch marketing campaign, I would be a little shocked if the RX480 launched with voltages cranked up higher than was actually necessary. Who's running engineering at AMD?!?

I hope AMD does not drop the ball as badly on Zen's launch.

 

[Aspiring techie]

If 5% performance drop is all it takes, then by all means go for it. Even at 5% slower, it still would the best card between $200-$300.

 

[Shankovich]

Didn't the ASUS 960 have the same issue?

 

[elbert]

Maybe a retest of the stock version and compare to some of the custom model 8pin versions coming soon. I also want to see overclocking the custom models to see if the 8pin cards can get over 1.5Ghz and match AMD's fury.

 

[photonboy]

AMD will be forced to offer returns. They already held up this card and said "it will overclock like a beast" if I remember correctly.

And a light overclock hit 200W. That could easily be 120W on the PCIe bus, or 60% over spec.

60% over spec!! How does that happen?

 

[clonazepam]

One would think that AMD has the knowledge and ability to meet or exceed the capabilities of Tom's Hardware testers. I cannot wrap my head around this whole situation and how this issue got this far. Hanlon's Razor comes to mind, but damn. Here, neither really fits as there are just so many dominoes that have to fall perfectly for this type of issue to hit the streets.

 

[bit_user]

if AMD is gimping the cards AFTER the reviews, then this is super fishy for sure, makes you wonder if AMD knew this was an issue and tried to get stellar reviews for performance before gimping the cards?

Feels like a repeat of the Volkswagen diesel scandal. I assure you, once VW releases the "fix" for existing cars, the performance will drop and it'll no longer perform like the car that owner originally purchased.

But, in this case, it's not like AMD tried to detect when the power was being measured and intentionally forge the test results. So, I'm saying it's quite as bad as what VW did. For all we know, it was just sloppiness, on AMD's part.

 

[D1STURB3D_S0UL]

Ok, i checked the specifications of PCIe 3.0 and it can draw up to 300W... for me, people is trying to get free stuff...

 

[Martell1977]

I have a feeling that overclocking was limited by the way it was drawing too much power from the slot and getting voltage irregularities from doing it. COuld jsut be wishful thinking though.
It will be interesting to see what changes AMD is making and the effect not only on overall performance but overclockability.

 

[D1STURB3D_S0UL]

Page 17... check it:
https://pcisig.com/sites/default/files/specification_documents/PCIe_Base_r3_0_Errata_2014-10-23_clean.pdf

 

[BadActor]

Page 17... check it:
https://pcisig.com/sites/default/files/specification_documents/PCIe_Base_r3_0_Errata_2014-10-23_clean.pdf

What if you have an older motherboard with PCIe 1.0 or 2.0?

 

[clonazepam]

Ok, i checked the specifications of PCIe 3.0 and it can draw up to 300W... for me, people is trying to get free stuff...

Page 17... check it:
https://pcisig.com/sites/default/files/specification_documents/PCIe_Base_r3_0_Errata_2014-10-23_clean.pdf

Page 17... check it:
https://pcisig.com/sites/default/files/specification_documents/PCIe_Base_r3_0_Errata_2014-10-23_clean.pdf

What if you have an older motherboard with PCIe 1.0 or 2.0?

Ignore that, its a common misinterpretation of what that document is even saying.

See:

http://download.csdn.net/detail/jianjunzaixian/9229521

Page 45 of the PCI Express Card Electromechanical Specification Revision 3.0 pdf.

Grabbed the link from the reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/4qfwd4/rx480_fails_pcie_specification/

 

[InvalidError]

Ok, i checked the specifications of PCIe 3.0 and it can draw up to 300W... for me, people is trying to get free stuff...

300W for PCIe slot (75W) + 8pin (150W) + 6pin (75W) auxiliary PCIe power connectors combined.

The PCIe slot connector such as this one:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=pci_express_card_edge_connector&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction

Is only rated 1.1A per pin. The PCIe spec has five 12V pins and that means 66W MAX on 12V nominal.

 

[IInuyasha74]

Interestingly enough, the card uses less power AND performs better when undervolted... goes about 5% faster, runs a few degrees cooler, and uses less power when the maximum voltage is dropped down to around 1.1V... it wouldn't surprise me if the "fix" was to simply make that the default.

AMD cannot make that "the fix" unless it is confident that at least 95% of GPUs will work properly for the foreseeable future at the reduced voltage.

With AMD trying to make improved power efficiency a big deal in its RX480 pre-launch marketing campaign, I would be a little shocked if the RX480 launched with voltages cranked up higher than was actually necessary. Who's running engineering at AMD?!?

I hope AMD does not drop the ball as badly on Zen's launch.

If they do this sort of thing with Zen, I honestly don't see any way that they can avoid going out of business. Not even the most die hard AMD fan boy will use AMD's hardware if it consistently fries their computer parts.

I can't help but be reminded of Nvidia's GTX 970 scandal and how big of a deal everyone made that out to be, even though it was essentially just a spec sheet error. Nvidia got so much bad publicity for that, and they are leading the GPU market. AMD really can't afford this kind of backlash right now.

 

[Guest]

The spec is called "300W" because there's a maximum theoretical consumption of up to 300W when the slot and both a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector are used. NOT 300W through the slot!!! There has been no difference between pcie1.x to pcie3, it's always been 75 Watts.