High "VR SOC" temperatures (Vega 64)

[Goldenhawk]

I'm experiencing quite high temperatures on what I presume is called the "VRM", GPU-Z says it's a "Voltage Regulator Phase", this the same thing as VRM? Anyway, I'm getting temperatures of 105c on the "VR SOC" and 93c on the "VR Mem", this is with an under-volt applied of 1050mV for power stage 7 and 1000mV for power stage 6, with the HBM2 being the same voltage as power stage 6. Without an under-volt, I get temperatures of 115c on the "VR SOC" and 100c on the "VR Mem". Not sure if the temperatures will get worse or better.... 

My specific Vega 64 is the Asus STRIX model, one with misplaced thermal pads on the VRMs. I only bought this graphics card yesterday, and am not willing to disassemble it for something the manufacturer should've taking care of. Does this basically mean return it? That is if I can.... Doesn't seem the graphics card is going to last very long at that temperature, unless I'm missing something? 

What would be the maximum temperatures for the VR SOC and MEM, if anyone does know?
 

Thank you for any help! This is really annoying me, either it's fine and I'm over reacting, I must replace the thermal pads or I have to return it, or attempt to at least.

[ch3w2oy]

The Strix cards are known for having thermal issues. If you don't feel comfortable replacing the thermal pads yourself, I would try returning it. I'm not sure if there's any other way around it..

[Madgemade]

35 minutes ago, Goldenhawk said:

Does this basically mean return it? 

Yeah this is a know problem with the Strix and it is why nobody recommends it. Probably just best to return it seeing as you can. Not worth fixing it as other cards are just better, no reason to get the Asus card whatsoever. Powercolor are good and so is the Sapphire Nitro.

[Goldenhawk]

2 minutes ago, Madgemade said:

Yeah this is a know problem with the Strix and it is why nobody recommends it. Probably just best to return it seeing as you can. Not worth fixing it as other cards are just better, no reason to get the Asus card whatsoever. Powercolor are good and so is the Sapphire Nitro.

Sadly couldn't find any Sapphire or Powercolor in Australia, for a reasonable price at least. Did see a Vega 56 from Sapphire for $1,300~

[Goldenhawk]

Lets say I have to keep the graphics card (due to either them refusing return or repair) how bad would it be for the graphics card to run at a constant 110c on the VRMs? Would it mean a significantly reduced life span for the card? If everything doesn't fall in my favour, I may have to replace the thermal pads myself..... Not looking forward to this, so hopefully Asus can either resolve the heating issues, or replace with a different card entirely. 

[Stefan Payne]

13 hours ago, Goldenhawk said:

Sadly couldn't find any Sapphire or Powercolor in Australia, for a reasonable price at least. Did see a Vega 56 from Sapphire for $1,300~

What are the other Alternatives you have??
Other than this ASUS that is...

[Goldenhawk]

1 minute ago, Stefan Payne said:

What are the other Alternatives you have??
Other than this ASUS that is...

None...... Unless we count the reference coolers, though those are looking more reliable than this Strix card....... I don't think I'll be able to return the card for a refund anyway, store I bought it from isn't exactly known for their warranty services. If refund won't happen, I'll try repair through RMA. If worst comes and they refuse repair - which I doubt they will, I guess I'll have to manually change the thermal pads..... Something Asus should've done in the factory.

 

Depending how this goes, this might be the last time I purchase an Asus product (Had prior issues with Asus, shouldn't have gave them another chance).

[Madgemade]

1 hour ago, Goldenhawk said:

I don't think I'll be able to return the card for a refund anyway, store I bought it from isn't exactly known for their warranty services.

I always though Australia had good consumer laws, similar to those in europe, where you get get a full refund before 30 days? I guess not.

1 hour ago, Goldenhawk said:

Unless we count the reference coolers

It's true that they don't have the VRM issue, you could always swap the stock cooler with an aftermarket version.

1 hour ago, Goldenhawk said:

I'll try repair through RMA. If worst comes and they refuse repair

I wouldn't bother with that, what is there to repair? VRM gets how but that's because of the (bad) design. If every card is like that then they are not going to repair it.

I think you should try to get a refund and if that fails then modify the card. RMA is not as effective as people like to think and there's not much to lose by modifying it, only a warranty that's of little use on a card which is out of production, from a manufacturer who can't even design it properly.

I believe that in the past Asus used to be better but their products are worse quality now and seem to be more sold on the brand than being a good product. As least the GPU division anyway.

[Goldenhawk]

On 2/17/2019 at 4:50 PM, Madgemade said:

I always though Australia had good consumer laws, similar to those in europe, where you get get a full refund before 30 days? I guess not.

It's true that they don't have the VRM issue, you could always swap the stock cooler with an aftermarket version.

I wouldn't bother with that, what is there to repair? VRM gets how but that's because of the (bad) design. If every card is like that then they are not going to repair it.

I think you should try to get a refund and if that fails then modify the card. RMA is not as effective as people like to think and there's not much to lose by modifying it, only a warranty that's of little use on a card which is out of production, from a manufacturer who can't even design it properly.

I believe that in the past Asus used to be better but their products are worse quality now and seem to be more sold on the brand than being a good product. As least the GPU division anyway.

Thank you for the extensive response, in the case of repair I was thinking they'd use a better thermally conductive pad, but they probably won't right? They have to stick to their guide lines. Indeed Australia does have a great consumer law, it's just the store I bought it from has been charged twice by the ALC for misleading customers and outright refusing returns or refunds. Guess I can bring up my rights though, since this issue would easily fall under two categories in Australia consumer law _{"Products must be of acceptable quality, that is: safe, lasting, with no faults - look acceptable - do all the things someone would normally expect them to do"} and _{"it has a problem that would have stopped someone from buying it if they’d known about it"}. 

Sadly though, despite this issue being major at least to me, they'll class it as minor since the product still works. This means the business has the right to refuse refund and instead opt for repair.

Hopefully everything will turn out okay though.

 

 

EDIT 
Didn't want to bump this thread, as it's no longer relevant. Anyway, If anyone is curious I did manage to return the card without any hassle at all and instead upgraded to a RTX 2080, did cost quite a bit more, but I'm loving the performance! Wish I could've stayed with AMD due to myself preferring them, but sadly they don't really have much competition with the Radeon VII costing the same as an RTX 2080, but performing worse in many occasions. 

Thank you everyone for assisting.