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Yesterday KitGuru published several articles on the HD6990, one with an official card in single mode and later two HIS HD6990's in a Dual CrossfireX configuration. Today we woke up with many emails from readers asking about the warranty situation.
We noticed that the press pack said ‘AMD product warranty does not cover damages caused by overclocking, even when overclocking is enabled via AMD software and/or the Dual-BIOS Function’.
This actually means in position 1 that if you run into any hardware problems AMD will not be supporting the warranty. We aren't sure how this will affect support from AMD partners such as Sapphire, Powercolor, HIS or XFX – although from calls we made this morning it seems that many of them don't actually know yet.
AMD confirmed with us this morning that the warranty will be invalid if the user switches to the ‘OC mode' – which translates of a core increase to 1.175 volts and a clock speed of 880mhz.
We would strongly advise that if you are buying a HD6990 to leave it in the default position. Our testing shows that the cooler is doing a reasonably good job, but we can't comment on the long term reliability right now. It is an unusual decision to offer an optional bios setting ‘out of the box' and not deliver warranty support, but we would assume AMD might also have concerns with partnered power supply failures.
KitGuru says: Updated information will be published on Kitguru as soon as we find out.
How can they offer preconfigured settings and not offer warranty support? is the warning enough to protect them ?
This seems ropey ground to me. If partners arent offering support either, then the 880mhz mode should be removed. I wouldnt spend £550 on a video card to end up with a paperweight and no way to get a replacement.
I dont think its that bad a thing. I understand the risks and I think that AMD have just offered it as an optional extra for more performance, knowing it might cause potential PSUs to die under load. id just leave it at default and rock with that.
I think the added noise from the performance mode would put people off. going on temperatures the card itself looks safe enough to me, 90c seems the most ive seen under load, which is well within the safe specs. I agree that it might be AMD playing safe over weaker PSUs dying and taking out other hardware.
Legally I think this is bad, its also maring the product as a whole. Why would they expect people to pay £550 for a mode they are promoting then not offering any comeback if the card fails. Partners should just remove it.
Its there to give nvidia a problem with GTX590. I dont think AMD expect people to actually use it. Which is stupid, as they will.
Nvidia wouldnt do this, AMD suck
Actually Nvidia already do it. http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/nForce/system_tools/6.06/NVIDIA_Control_Panel_and_System_Monitor_with_ESA_User_Guide.pdf
“Increasing the voltage or the clock speed of a component may void its warranty due to exceeding recommended specifications. NVIDIA and the board manufacturers are not responsible for damage that may occur when component tolerances are exceeded.”
Tim… your a naive one aren’t you.
“mode should be removed” and just what the hell kind of reasoning is that!
Im sorry but, You buy a HD6990 at the clocks and voltages it comes with. The switch is your ball and your decision. Only the delusional would think that what their getting should also include warranty support for the “awesome switch” on a card like this!
You act as if it should be standard and if not it shouldn’t be there.
Your so desperate to flip that switch but you want AMD to take responsibility for it if you do. And if you cant afford to replace one… don’t buy one.
It is a bad decision from AMD, most of the press have been using 880mhz mode to show the best performance. If AMD wont support the product in this mode, then why offer it? its a very poor decision, im very disappointed in the company.
I agree with evoxsnes. these cards arent bought by muppets with 500W psu’s. id actually say that 1200w will be in most of these systems. AMD are just doing it to keep themselves covered. its not set at default, its covered with a sticker. the risks are there as an optional extra for the end user. if they are concerned at all, they DONT HAVE TO SWITCH IT ! i think its a great option for extra power. people that buy these cards will have loads of money and will probably have two anyway.
might i suggest that partners like HIS then make the sticker read ‘do not adjust the switch or WARRANTY IS VOID’. the text on the yellow sticker in the HIS review doesnt make this clear at all. They also should instruct partners to include a bright red warning card on top of the card, spelling it out in clear big letters. Its going to be an RMA disaster.
I dont have a problem with no warranty, as weird as it sounds. its not like you could accidentally set it without knowing. but I agree that information needs to be presented clearer about it.
Its like they have just flashed the card with a preconfigured setting outside the usual terms. it offers more performance but its up to the end user to deal with it. Its AMD’s call to support it or not. which they arent.!
wow its like AMD home base central in here. Are you insane? Why the hell would you offer a mode set to your own standards then say ‘ oh incidentally if you use this mode, tough shit if it fails or takes out your system?’
I dont see a deal with this. unless you move the switch you are fine. if you move the switch then you will have already known it was there by reading about it, which will indicate if you do move yoru finger and switch the setting then you are on your own.
I guess that almost every 6990 user will switch it to full OC mode. the audience buying these dont play safe at all. so in a way its clever by AMD, especially after their last dual GPU failure rate was so high.
@ EVOXSNES.
I thought the reasoning was logical. If you arent supporting a product with a setting that the company configured it seems unethical to me.
Its a little like buying a ferrari and not offering warranty for the sports mode. They would be in court immediately from owners. I actually dont think AMD have a legal ground to stand on here.
Simple to me. either you stick with the default setting which is still awesome or you lose warranty and apply a preoverclocked bios setting which AMD have helped you to get without having to flash the card yourself. They are offering it as an extra, not a default setting. if you dont like it, dont use it. life is full of decisions, this is one of the more simple ones.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6990/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6990-overview.aspx#4
its misleading. ‘AMD does not provide support or service for issues or damages related to use of an AMD graphics card outside of specifications or in excess of factory settings. You may also not receive support or service from your system manufacturer.’
But it IS a factory setting. so they should support it.
the default setting is classed as the factory setting. the OC mode is an optional mode for ocing.
Well unless AMD hardware is getting hijacked by a rogue bunch of bios overclocking thugs who take over planes and trucks to flash all the cards on the route to the shops, then it is a factory setting. both settings are on the card out of the factory.
This is not good at all, one should be covered for warranty i think
What! You mean they are making overclocking void your warranty! Who ever heard of such a thing?
Get real people-overclocking has always voided your warranty.If you ship a borked card back with the bios switched, well you get no sympathy.