AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Vapor Chamber Issues (MBA Graphics Cards Only)

[JeGX]

Recapitulation: the story started with the feedbacks of some users reporting that the GPU hotspot temperature reached 110°C leading to lower clock speed and then lower framerates in games. AMD said that was a normal hotspot temperature for the cards. But after some investigations and tests, der8auer discovered the culprit: the vapor chamber (the vapor chamber is essentially a heat pipe where liquid vaporizes when it gets hot, then condenses back into liquid when it's further away from the heat source. This cycle repeats endlessly when the card is being used).

The vapor chamber issue appears only on some 7900 XTX MBA cards (MBA = Made By AMD). There is no problem with RX 7900 XT.

AMD has then confirmed the 7900 XTX thermal issue and offers a fix for that:

It all comes down to a small batch of vapor chambers actually have an issue, not enough water and it is a very small percentage and we said that's the root cause.

We have identified this, you spent a lot of money if you bought this XTX made by AMD, we want to fix it for you, we have the fix, we are ready to fix it for you, just call tech support if you bought it from AMD.com or bought it from an AMD AIB Partner. They have units, we know how to identify that they are good the units and make sure that we ship it to you. We want you to have a great product and we want you to be confident in that product.

Scott Herkleman (AMD SVP of GPU Buisness) via PCWorld

Related links and videos:
- AMD contact for RMA
- AMD's Graphics SVP Confirms Radeon RX 7900 XTX Thermal Issues Related To Vapor Chamber Coolant, Offering RMA To Affected
- AMD confirms a small batch of Radeon RX 7900 XTX has vapor chamber issues, company offers replacements
- Hotspot problem of AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX (MBA): Even several batches of the vapor chamber affected, replacement of thousands of cards starts
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Overheating Tests Point to Vapor Chamber Issues
- AMD Confirms Radeon RX 7900 XTX Throttling Issue Related To Thermal Solution Used In Reference Design
- RDNA3 and too high hotspot temperatures on some AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT(X) – Cause research

7900XTX Hotspot Temperature Issue tested

I was Wrong - AMD is in BIG Trouble

We open the 7900XTX Vapor Chamber

Scott Herkelman Addresses RX 7900 XTX Cooler & Performance

[JeGX]

Looks like there are still many 7900 XTX MBA in stock at resellers:

I'm working on a project—a very dumb project, mind you—and I was trying to acquire the two current-gen flagship GPUs: an Nvidia RTX 4090, and an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.

In some weird stroke of luck (it has been difficult to find either in stock), I was able to get one of each this week.

When I got my 7900 XTX in the mail, I decided to run some tests. Light gaming on my 1080p monitor didn't seem to hit it too hard, but the card was getting pretty loud as the fans ramped up.

I then ran MSI Kombustor's furmark donut test, which basically pushes the GPU to 100%. After less than 7 minutes, my card's 'junction temperature' hit 110°C, and I saw the GPU clocks and power draw drop about 5-7% as the poor fans struggled to
keep up, ramping up to a loud 2900 rpm.

...

Something was definitely wrong with the vapor chamber.

...

why are they not pulling cards off the shelves (and instructing partners to do so), if they know it is 'limited' in scope? If they truly know that, they should be able to narrow down the batch to a set of serial numbers that they could allow customers to check.

But if they don't actually know the scope of the problem—or if its a design flaw affecting all reference models—they should consider pulling all stock until they're fixed.

Full story:
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2023/how-many-amd-rx-7900-xtxs-are-defective