Regular readers will already know that KitGuru broke this news last week, but AMD have now made their official statement regarding the HD6990 warranty, when using the ‘overclocked' bios profile.
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This statement is provided In order to clarify questions around AMD’s product warranty for hardware overclocked AMD Radeon™ HD 6990 graphics cards.
Each AMD Radeon HD 6990 graphics card come with a hardware switch that, if toggled, activates a pre-flashed “overclocked” BIOS. Toggling this switch to the overclocked setting has the same functionality and effect as common software overclocking and overvolting utilities, will run the HD 6990 outside of the warrantied specification, and will require more electrical current than some power supplies are designed to deliver.
As with software overclocking, damages caused by use of an AMD graphics card outside of the warrantied specification are not covered under AMD’s product warranty. This is in line with industry practice relating to overclocking or running a product out of warrantied specification.
To ensure end users understand this before using the switch to activate the overclocked BIOS, every HD 6990 graphics card has a yellow warning sticker covering this switch. The switch is not user accessible without removing this sticker. The HD 6990 user guide and support website each contain an overclocking warning message similar to the AMD Overdrive software warning. An example of both the sticker and warning are shown below.
1 Photograph of switch-covering warning sticker
2 AMD Overdrive Warning Message
AMD’s product warranty only applies to HD 6990 graphics cards operated under the default configuration (830MHz GPU clock), and does not cover damages caused by running the HD 6990 graphics card in the overclocked toggle position. Consequentially, AMD will not warrant or accept RMAs for HD 6990 graphics cards which have been overclocked, or where the yellow warning sticker has been removed or otherwise tampered with.
For further details, please visit www.amd.com/6990support or your user manual.
Wow. Thanks AMD.
Now I have to have a giant yellow sticker present on my graphics card to show that I’m a wuss with a warranty.
Damn windowed chassis.
Why supply the switch in the first place? Its like taking a room of drunken men to the Peppermint Hippo and telling them about the no touching rule! You are alienating your own customer base. IF your vendors will not supply this card with their own warranties for the overclocked state then I fear you are either going to have a lot of irate customers or none at all!
I was hoping this was a kitguru mistake last week, but sadly not.
They need to remove the switch, I dont care who argues against what. its all fine and dandy until it fails, then what happens. you are out £550? ill pass.
I dont mind it to be honest, it makes sense in a way. its ‘optional’.
The big issue is, that everyone has tested this card with the maximum performance settings enabled. Do people really know that those figures are only valid if you buy the card and have NO comeback with the manufacturer? I doubt it
I have Radeon HD5770 and I unlocked Ati Overdrive in my system (not switch on a card because I don’t have it, just clicked OK on this “2 AMD Overdrive Warning Message” ) . I don’t overclock my card, did I lose my warranty anyway?