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

[littleleo]

I got to admit I've not seen this issue before. I remember Nvidia had an issue with a driver a number of years back that cause issue with the fans. If I remember correctly it caused the fans to stop working causing the cards to overheat and shut down the systems and in some cases damaging the card. So Nvidia hasn't been perfect by any means. However I feel no one is to blame but AMD from going from tied with Nvidia down to 20% market share these days.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I got to admit I've not seen this issue before. I remember Nvidia had an issue with a driver a number of years back that cause issue with the fans. If I remember correctly it caused the fans to stop working causing the cards to overheat and shut down the systems and in some cases damaging the card. So Nvidia hasn't been perfect by any means. However I feel no one is to blame but AMD from going from tied with Nvidia down to 20% market share these days.

AMD had a similar issue with the first iteration of the Crimson software and also had to issue a fix.

This update fixes last weeks release to build 15.11.1 and fixes an important issue with VGA fan speed control that overheated

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/amd-radeon-software-crimson-15-11-hotfix.html

Why do the AMD fans never seem to remember this I wonder?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

So the computer world was afire with the 970 3.5Gb issue, and then AMD sends out a card that draws so much power through the Mobo, it breaks the mobo. I wish the card makers would stop with this, and...I hope fate makes this as big of an issue, because I bought a 970 an my performance never suffered. Internet? you gonna string this one up too?

Not really ... the youtuber claims about the 970 were quickly disproved by a number of sites who concluded that "yes, i guess you can cause a problem if you:

a) Play at resolutions (4k) and screen settings which make the game completely unplayable, or
b) you try really hard to impose a combination of conditions to create a problem, one which can not be duplicated under normal usage by dozens of test sites

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/213069-is-4gb-of-vram-enough-amds-fury-x-faces-off-with-nvidias-gtx-980-ti-titan-x

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-geforce-gtx-970-vram-stress-test.html

Not dumping on AMD here, the FE cards throttle and the AMD reference cards have this issue. But nothing new here... reference cards have always been "less than" .. foisted on the market to make a quick buck by taking advantage of consumers desire to get the "new" thing.

It's not called the "bleeding edge" for no reason. "Good things come to those who wait" is apt to the PC industry more than most. It had never been more true than with the B3 stepping issue some years back ... and the GTX 570 weak VRMs come to mind, as does the EVGA 970 SC cooler missing the GPU with one of the 3 heat pipes. But this round from both the red (voltage / power issues) and green (thermal throttling) camps has gotta be in the top 10.

Hopefully there will be a LOT of AiB changes to the aftermarket versions of these cards.

There will be ... on both sides.

I see there's a lot of Nvidia fans commenting. Nice pitchforks.

I don't have color coded pitchforks .... I'm using the same one to skewer both the red and green teams. And while I do see a lot of AMD fans trying to skewer nVidia for an Asus single model problem, the rear ens I am pointing my pitchfork at are the consumers who sit at their PCs endlessly refreshing the page to buy a "lesser" reference card" card at a premium price.

This isn't an AMD versus nVida thing.. it's a reference (to be avoided) versus non-reference (new and improved) thing.

If ya don't have the self control to wait two weeks for the better product, then consider yaself responsible for these "not ready for prime time" early releases and the profiteering that goes with it..

 

[bit_user]

Not really ... the youtuber claims about the 970 were quickly disproved by a number of sites

IMO, the best thing to come out of the 970 controversy is that Nvidia won't be trying such a bizarre config, again. Maybe it wasn't a practical issue for the 970, but it mightn't have been so, for the next GPU.

It's not called the "bleeding edge" for no reason. "Good things come to those who wait" is apt to the PC industry more than most.

...

If ya don't have the self control to wait two weeks for the better product, then consider yaself responsible for these "not ready for prime time" early releases and the profiteering that goes with it..

Exactly. But two weeks?!? I'd wait a few months, at least.

I'm new to EVGA, but I've come to like how they continually release new SKUs, as they refine their products. Initially, I was daunted by the number of variants (in my case, of the 980 Ti). But, I appreciate how at least you know what you're getting, rather than just hoping to get a Rev B or Rev C board from some other brand with far fewer SKUs.

 

[madmatt30]

On another note (& I'll post this on most 480 threads as I've already mention it numerous times) is THE aftermarket card to look out for.
From a very trusted source who has always been 100% accurate in the past , for anyone who expected a 980 beater if any 480 will do it this will be the one.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powercolor-radeon-rx-480-devil-13-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-188-pc.html

 

[bit_user]

THE aftermarket card to look out for.

I'm hoping the RX 485 has GDDR5X. Since the 480's memory bus is only 256-bit, I think that should really help. Also, I might be mistaken on this, but I think GDDR5X is also lower power.

 

[madmatt30]

^ not aware of even a rumour of a rx485 mate.
485m integrated mobile solution & a 490 yes, not a 485 though.

 

[bit_user]

^ not aware of even a rumour of a rx485 mate.

Well, I'm just going by this:

http://videocardz.com/61721/amd-radeon-rx-400-series-naming-scheme-explained

 

[littleleo]

On another note (& I'll post this on most 480 threads as I've already mention it numerous times) is THE aftermarket card to look out for.
From a very trusted source who has always been 100% accurate in the past , for anyone who expected a 980 beater if any 480 will do it this will be the one.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powercolor-radeon-rx-480-devil-13-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-188-pc.html

Interesting I've never considered PowerColor a performance brand, they were always the low cost champ and offered some extra goodies. I see that card has 3 fans they must be planning to OC the heck out of it, lol.

 

[madmatt30]

Powercolor have never pushed properly into the american market until 2 years ago & even then they've been less than forceful about it.

personally I think they've always been underrated , Asus build quality at 75% of the price in my experience.

The devil series in the past have been dual GPU290x/390 cards.

Putting the very same cooler from those cards on a single gpu 480 has to mean something though (20% faster than reference is what has been mentioned to me) , fingers crossed on that - I do hope its even close to true.

 

[littleleo]

Some of my former workmates used to work there I wonder if they are still there I'll have to see. BTW I think it's time to upgrade to a LCD, lol.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Here's a nice in depth look at the PCB design ... and by in depth, I mean 4.5 hours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_E2eqtm4Yw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plC7tOYIqBw

 

[bit_user]

BTW I think it's time to upgrade to a LCD, lol.

You're referring to the fact that this has no analog out? That's why I just bought a 980 Ti, in fact (they do, but not the GTX 10xx series). I've been holding out for OLED, and it's so close that I'm not going to give up now!

 

[littleleo]

BTW I think it's time to upgrade to a LCD, lol.

You're referring to the fact that this has no analog out? That's why I just bought a 980 Ti, in fact (they do, but not the GTX 10xx series). I've been holding out for OLED, and it's so close that I'm not going to give up now!

Actually I was replying to Madmatt and picture of the guy beating his monitor, lol.

 

[AbraxasBR]

I feel sorry for AMD which provided me with almost one decade of amazing gaming cards, but the company really needs to pull its act together on these successive power-related bugs found on most of their recent cards.

After fighting with a buggy black-screen/crash prone R290 for 2 years, which only worked more or less properly if underclocked by 5% until finally having its dram frying out last week, I had to switch back to a Nvidia GTX970 to enjoy crash-free non-stop gaming again.

Hoping that TH and mainstream websites will not embark on a new cover-up of these buggy cards as they did with R9. This will not help the company, just push it further on the path of demise.

 

[littleleo]

I'm getting dizzy with all the changes in direction. 1st Tom's is a AMD homer, because it didn't investigate the RX 480 power issue deep enough. Then it was a Nvidia homer because it didn't use enough of the Vulkan API in the tests. Now its a AMD homer because a a power issue cover up on the R9 290?

So now we know the truth Tom's is a Matrox fan boy!

 

[AbraxasBR]

I'm getting dizzy with all the changes in direction. 1st Tom's is a AMD homer, because it didn't investigate the RX 480 power issue deep enough. Then it was a Nvidia homer because it didn't use enough of the Vulkan API in the tests. Now its a AMD homer because a a power issue cover up on the R9 290?

So now we know the truth Tom's is a Matrox fan boy!

Its GOT on the cards coverage indeed.

BTW I miss my beloved 3dfx Voodoo to this day...😉

 

[littleleo]

LOL, I remember when they were the 1st to do multi GPU. I had a buddy that had the 1st dual rig setup I ever saw. Ah the magic that was Voodoo, bummer how they went belly up.