Are AMD 7000 cards safe to buy right now?

[PopsicleHustler]

Hi all

 

I'm planning a build for a friend with Sapphire Pulse 7900XTX as he requested. The issue it that I've heard horror stories of AMD GPUs going through some nasty breakdowns and some thermal issues.

 

But since I wasn't following these stories, I'd like to hear from you lot about it. 

 

Rig I'm planning is for gaming. Mainly Warzone2.0 and single player titles like Hogwarts, Elder Ring etc

[Dutch_Master]

As long as you don't buy from ex-miners, you'd be safe. The stories you've seen all relate to ex-mining cards that have been "maltreated" between their use in mining and the sale to the unsuspecting customer. Buy from reputable vendors, don't cut corners on this one.

 

[edit: I mixed up 2 generations AMD GPU's, see below!]

[podkall]

4 minutes ago, Dutch_Master said:

As long as you don't buy from ex-miners, you'd be safe. The stories you've seen all relate to ex-mining cards that have been "maltreated" between their use in mining and the sale to the unsuspecting customer. Buy from reputable vendors, don't cut corners on this one.

so people managed to broke brand new GPUs in a span of less than few months?

[Eigenvektor]

9 minutes ago, PopsicleHustler said:

The issue it that I've heard horror stories of AMD GPUs going through some nasty breakdowns and some thermal issues.

The breakdowns affect some RX 6xxx series cards that were used to mine. Thermal issues affect AMD's RX 7xxx reference design. If you want to be on the safe side, buy a card that is not based on AMD's reference design from a reputable vendor.

 

1 minute ago, podkall said:

so people managed to broke brand new GPUs in a span of less than few months?

No. People manged to break the RX 6xxx series cards. It's very unlikely you'd find a used RX 7xxx that was used to mine.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, PopsicleHustler said:

he issue it that I've heard horror stories of AMD GPUs going through some nasty breakdowns and some thermal issues.

Those are only on the reference cards, and even then it's supposedly only the ones sold by AMD directly (though I'm a bit suspicious of that claim). Either way, a Sapphire Pulse is 2 degrees removed from that controversy so not something you need to worry about. If I had $1000 burning a whole in my pocket and I was in the market for a GPU I'd buy one 

[PDifolco]

10 minutes ago, PopsicleHustler said:

Hi all

 

I'm planning a build for a friend with Sapphire Pulse 7900XTX as he requested. The issue it that I've heard horror stories of AMD GPUs going through some nasty breakdowns and some thermal issues.

 

But since I wasn't following these stories, I'd like to hear from you lot about it. 

 

Rig I'm planning is for gaming. Mainly Warzone2.0 and single player titles like Hogwarts, Elder Ring etc

There's been 2 fully different issues :

Some batches of 7000 AMD cards (not other AIB brands) had a cooler manufacturing defect, with not enough water in the vapor chamber, leading to high temps. Those should iundergo RMA but AMD didn't had enough stock a couple weeks ago, dunnon what happened since

Then another issue was "frying" 6900XT and 6950XT GPUs for some people, which seem to have been on used mining cards that were cleaned with .. water, cards weren't dry as water was still in the card then they fried

So new AIB (non AMD) cards always have been a secure buy eventually

 

[podkall]

4 hours ago, Eigenvektor said:

The breakdowns affect some RX 6xxx series cards that were used to mine. Thermal issues affect AMD's RX 7xxx reference design. If you want to be on the safe side, buy a card that is not based on AMD's reference design from a reputable vendor.

how do I know if the vendor uses reference cooling or not?

 

4 hours ago, Dutch_Master said:

[edit: I mixed up 2 generations AMD GPU's, see below!]

I also sometimes comment with confidence only to realise I misread something

[Eigenvektor]

44 minutes ago, podkall said:

how do I know if the vendor uses reference cooling or not?

Guess I should've made that two points Buy from a reputable vendor and select a model that doesn't use the reference design. You should be able to tell by looking at the cooler. It'll look exactly like AMD's cards and the reference model from every other manufacturer. When in doubt, check reviews, they often mention whether the card is the reference model.

 

For example for Sapphire, they have cards using the reference design, as well as Pulse and Nitro. The reference design is the first one released and typically costs the least.

[podkall]

46 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Guess I should've made that two points Buy from a reputable vendor and select a model that doesn't use the reference design. You should be able to tell by looking at the cooler. It'll look exactly like AMD's cards and the reference model from every other manufacturer. When in doubt, check reviews, they often mention whether the card is the reference model.

 

For example for Sapphire, they have cards using the reference design, as well as Pulse and Nitro. The reference design is the first one released and typically costs the least.

it costs less because it's barely altered in any way right?

[Eigenvektor]

19 minutes ago, podkall said:

it costs less because it's barely altered in any way right?

As far as I know it's exactly the reference model, just with an Asus, MSI, Sapphire, ... sticker on it, that's it. AMD is simply outsourcing production for additional volume. If I'm not mistaken, they're all priced the same, at least initially. Custom models require additional R&D, so usually start out more expensive, but depending on how (un)popular they are they might drop below the reference design.

[QuantumSingularity]

The cracking chips were all ex-miners RX 6000 series. It's to be expected after such an abuse. Reference design also won't be a problem if you have good airflow in the case. The issue comes when people try to stuck 350W GPU into small cases and there isn't any room for anything to breath. With good, uninterrupted flow of fresh, cool air even the reference designs have no problems and keep under 75°C if not OC-ed.

[PopsicleHustler]

@QuantumSingularity @Eigenvektor @PDifolco @RONOTHAN##

 

Thank you all for answering. We ended up ordering PowerColor Red Devil 7900XTX since it went on sale and ended up cheaper than Sapphire Pulse model while having much beefier cooling.