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AMD cops to RX 480 power issue

Although AMD's new RX 480 has reviewed well with most publications, a few issues have arisen in certain circumstances with some cards, namely, that the power can spike for seemingly no reason. AMD has now admitted the flaw and is said to be working on a fix.

The flaw in question was raised by the likes of Tom's Hardware, which found that at certain times, seemingly without warning, its RX 480 test sample would spike its power draw to 90w on its PCIExpress slot; more than the 75w its rated for.

rx480222

RX 480 owners then went on to conduct their own tests, with some finding similar findings. AMD has since released a statement admitting that it is looking into the issue and is currently working on an update that should come out this Tuesday, which will fix up the problem.

“As you know, we continuously tune our GPUs in order to maximise their performance within their given power envelopes and the speed of the memory interface, which in this case is an unprecedented 8Gbps for GDDR5,” AMD said in a statement (via Ars).

“Recently, we identified select scenarios where the tuning of some RX 480 boards was not optimal. Fortunately, we can adjust the GPU's tuning via software in order to resolve this issue. We are already testing a driver that implements a fix, and we will provide an update to the community on our progress on Tuesday.”

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KitGuru Says: It may well be that we don't find out exactly why these cards are having these issues until the aftermarket versions start showing up, potentially with additional power connectors for added support. Clearly though something needs to be done, so it's good to see AMD responding so quickly.

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8 comments

  1. Irishgamer Gamer

    If they make the card slower then I think people should return the cards………just saying

  2. If they turn my card into a flying squirrel then I should probably return the card…….just saying

  3. Another one from HT4U http://ht4u.net/reviews/2016/amd_radeon_rx_480_review/index12.php also found over the limits.

    http://images.ht4u.net/reviews/2016/amd_radeon_rx_480_review//power_hawx.png

  4. If my cards turn into hippos then yes i shall be returning them now i just have to work out the cost for 1 ton x 2 hippos

  5. rx 480 is total fake and dissapointment gpu from amd.ever!
    just like fury.,much took little hardware.

    1st watercool then they try low speed and try also say effiency.

    for that speed and tdp and game watt eaating and heat its lausy

    you just cant and dont want pay much that, i think 75$ is ok, if i MUST buy new gpu now,,if anything else gpu isnt market. hope there is.

    i must say this… rx 480 is release 6/2016 with 14nm technics but still loose almost 2 years old 28nm technics gtx 970.. its scandal and buyers peeing eye,specail amd fanboys (sympaty boys..)no1 hust CANT say its good gpu. it lausy.

    if we check rx 480 goodies and badones,bads win cleary. and iäm angry for amd,bcos they hypeting and commercial it all away amazng gpu..b-shit, hope no1 re.ordered it..amd cheat.

    well 275$… so what lausy and slow gpu with lausy effiency cant pay more,thats too much!

    i’m happy with my gtx 970 strix,rell me why i put 275$ to get that,tell me…noway.

    ahh,also,i almost forget,remembe thouse bugs and heat and effiency and technics problems… grr!.

    shame amd!

  6. “that the power can spike for seemingly no reason” I have folow this closly but never heard that Before. I pulls way to much Power from the 12-volt rail in the PCI slot while the card is under heavy load during gaming. Who have said “that the power can spike for seemingly no reason”???

  7. Educate yourself with PCper detailed explanation

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjAlrGzHAkI

  8. Worst case-probably drop down 5% to 970 performance level.
    Most probably wouldn’t notice unless benching.
    Don’t know why people are buying the ref with crap cooler in first place.
    Couple of weeks and we’ll have some great cards out there………………