Question RX 7900 GRE - - - Huge delta temp and hotspot 111C ?

[CaptCobraChicken]

I built my first PC 1.5 months ago (see below)

Things looked pretty good at the start. Until I started to notice that under load while gaming Space marine 2 and Diablo 4 My GPU temp was 42C-44C and the hotspot temp was 88C to 96C. I was a little concerned about the hotspot temp but in reading through forums I was seeing that this is within spec. With some more reading I found out about Temperature Delta (the difference between GPU edge temp and hotspot temp). I also ran a couple benchmarks and noticed my GPU temp stayed around 42-44C but the Hotspot temp hit 108C-111C during the benchmark.

At this point I am worried that something is wrong as I have a 50C+ Delta and am hitting/ exceeding the temp recommended as safe by AMD. I am hoping for some insight from people who know more than me about this and can suggest how I should go about dealing with it. I purchased the warranty from the store I got the card from (Memory Express) so I can take it in and let them test it. My worry is that they are going to tell me that the temps are within spec and try to send me on my way. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you.

MBD: MSI B650 Gaming Plus WiFi
GPU: Gigabyte OC RX 7900 GRE
CPU: Ryzen 7800X3D
RAM: 32GB G.Skill Trident 6000
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro
AIO: Coolermaster 360
Case: Lian Li 216
PSU: Seasonic Focus Gold 850w

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Sounds to me like it may be the air flow in your case. Try setting your case fans to maximum during your tests/usage and see if there is any change to your hot spot temps.

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

Sounds to me like it may be the air flow in your case. Try setting your case fans to maximum during your tests/usage and see if there is any change to your hot spot temps.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am not worried about an airflow issue as the edge temperature is 44C under full load and I have my fan curves all set to max when gaming in a lian li 216 which has notoriously good case airflow. I have sent the card in to be looked at and will see what their response is about the large difference between gpu edge temp and hotspot temp. It seems people on Reddit consider this to be an indication of a poorly seated cooler on the GPU itself. Hoping this will be recognized by the shop i purchased it from and I get a replacement.

 

[Amdlova]

Bad heatsink with poor thermal placement.
When you have bad air flow all components on your case will have bad thermals.
Better change the card for another brand or try a new one to see.

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

Bad heatsink with poor thermal placement.
When you have bad air flow all components on your case will have bad thermals.
Better change the card for another brand or try a new one to see.

Thank you for your response. As long as the guy at Memory express who is testing my card right now agrees that these numbers are unacceptable then ill be getting a new one. Unfortunately I think I am stuck with this brand and model of card based on the wording of my warranty, but we will see what they say. I just hope they don't tell me 50c Delta between edge temp and hotspot temp is normal. I am not sure what id be able to do at that point.

 

[Amdlova]

That's good news... Try find on tomshardware or youtube some undervolt mods to the new card.
Will make less noise, less heat and more fps... it's a triple win

If need more advices with your computer. We will be glad to help.

 

[Phaaze88]

I just hope they don't tell me 50c Delta between edge temp and hotspot temp is normal. I am not sure what id be able to do at that point.

If they refuse to replace it, you or someone else(in case you're not comfortable doing it yourself) will need to apply a new coat of paste to the gpu die.
The reason the delta is so wide is a physical issue between the heatsink and gpu die that simply blasting more air or undervolting/power limiting will not do enough to fix.

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

That's good news... Try find on tomshardware or youtube some undervolt mods to the new card.
Will make less noise, less heat and more fps... it's a triple win

If need more advices with your computer. We will be glad to help.

Thank you. That is something I will definitely consider doing once I get a GPU back in my rig. WIN WIN WIN

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

If they refuse to replace it, you or someone else(in case you're not comfortable doing it yourself) will need to apply a new coat of paste to the gpu die.
The reason the delta is so wide is a physical issue between the heatsink and gpu die that simply blasting more air or undervolting/power limiting will not do enough to fix.

Thank you for the advice. I am not overly comfortable opening the GPU up, mostly because I don't want to void the warranty. If the card is going to run hot then I am thinking it might run into issues and if it does then I can take it back for something they wont refuse. I do agree though. looking online there are a few good videos about this and it improving the temps. Apparently the contact point for the heat sink is not level and so the paste doesn't have even contact and you get these really hot areas. I am just hoping for a replacement, though. Id prefer to not have to deal with this at all.

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

So they called me and said the temp is within spec and the suggested fix was to turn off the Hotspot metric so I don't have to see it. They also said there is no problem with a 50C Delta between the gpu temp and hotspot temp. I pushed back pretty hard and later that day the manager called and told me they are going to allow me to refund the card. I appreciate this, however I question the motivation as they don't have any of the same card in stock so if they were to follow the warranty and replace the card they would have to provide me with a slightly better card. Either way I guess I am not stuck with the card that has a temperature problem, so that a plus. I am upset that they said the delta temp is normal though because thats making me feel like a Karen for taking them up on the refund..

 

[Phaaze88]

So they called me and said the temp is within spec and the suggested fix was to turn off the Hotspot metric so I don't have to see it. They also said there is no problem with a 50C Delta between the gpu temp and hotspot temp. I pushed back pretty hard and later that day the manager called and told me they are going to allow me to refund the card. I appreciate this, however I question the motivation as they don't have any of the same card in stock so if they were to follow the warranty and replace the card they would have to provide me with a slightly better card. Either way I guess I am not stuck with the card that has a temperature problem, so that a plus. I am upset that they said the delta temp is normal though because thats making me feel like a Karen for taking them up on the refund..

Now, it might be 'within specification', but it sure as hell isn't 'normal'...
I've read plenty of threads on Geforce cards to conclude that the hot spot thermal limit is 110C, with deltas of approx. 20C or lower.
The core to hot spot deltas on Radeon should be similar, but I don't know what the thermal limit is for hot spot - you did post that yours hit 111C, so perhaps it's higher... though that could've just been rounding by the software, and it too is 110C.

 

[CaptCobraChicken]

Now, it might be 'within specification', but it sure as hell isn't 'normal'...
I've read plenty of threads on Geforce cards to conclude that the hot spot thermal limit is 110C, with deltas of approx. 20C or lower.
The core to hot spot deltas on Radeon should be similar, but I don't know what the thermal limit is for hot spot - you did post that yours hit 111C, so perhaps it's higher... though that could've just been rounding by the software, and it too is 110C.

The thermal limit is 110 on AMD cards as well. I believe it could have been a rounding error for sure. I am just glad I am not stuck with a card that seems to be such a large deviation from the norm. I now have to make a decision on what card to buy tomorrow when I go in there. I am open to suggestions. They have a gigabyte 7900 xt for $950, a Asus TUF 7900 GRE for $850 or I can go with a Gigabyte 4070 TI Super for $1100.

 

[Phaaze88]

They have a gigabyte 7900 xt for $950, a Asus TUF 7900 GRE for $850 or I can go with a Gigabyte 4070 TI Super for $1100.

I don't think I'll be much help here... though that 4070Ti Super costs 16 & 29% more than the other 2.
A look through some reviews(to refresh my memory), and the red and green cards are playing hopscotch over each other.
I don't think I'd pay THAT much more for that 4070Ti Super than the other 2, considering the differences in performance I'm seeing.
That 7900XT costs 12% more for what looks to be 12%(+/-) more performance Vs the GRE... geez...

I'd say the TUF 7900GRE, especially if you want to time out Gigabyte for some time.
All IMO, of course.