AMD acknowledges RX 480 power issue, talks about software-based fix (PC Perspective)

[Sweepr]

The launch of the AMD Radeon RX 480 has generally been considered a success. Our review of the new reference card shows impressive gains in architectural efficiency, improved positioning against NVIDIA’s competing parts in the same price range as well as VR-ready gaming performance starting at $199 for the 4GB model. AMD has every right to be proud of the new product and should have this lone position until the GeForce product line brings a Pascal card down into the same price category.

If you read carefully through my review, there was some interesting data that cropped up around the power consumption and delivery on the new RX 480. Looking at our power consumption numbers, measured directly from the card, not from the wall, it was using slightly more than the 150 watt TDP it was advertised as. This was done at 1920x1080 and tested in both Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3.

When overclocked, the results were even higher, approaching the 200 watt mark in Rise of the Tomb Raider!

As is usually the case in this market, there are some asking for a recall on the RX 480 or saying that AMD is going to be liable for some kind of class action lawsuit. I don’t agree with either sentiment. AMD is clearly pushing the envelope with the power delivery system on the Radeon RX 480 and we have shown that they are definitely drawing power outside PCI Express specifications even at stock clock speeds and power settings. I haven’t run into any stability concerns yet nor have I heard of any other reviewers indicating as much. As the RX 480s start to reach consumers hands today and later this week, I will be paying close attention to community reports while doing our own longer term testing at PC Perspective.

For its part, AMD has acknowledged the issue publicly during its launch day AMA on Reddit and to me through email. They have stated they are looking into the issue and may even be able to come up with a software-based fix. I hope that's the case and I'll be curious if there are any performance changes that occur because of it. Consider this space reserved after a more thorough discussion with the Radeon team.

www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Power-Consumption-Concerns-Radeon-RX-480





We already have a thread for discussing power on the 480.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2478845

There are multiple complaints about a new thread when the old one will do just fine.
Please post in that older thread.

esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[Erithan13]

Did this really need a whole separate thread? We already have one on the power issues and the only new information here is the possible software based fix and the acknowledgement email to PCPer.

 

[dark zero]

They screwe hard.. likely their reference 480 will be taken out of the markets and the chips will be transformed into 460s.

This is a critical disaster from Raja. He commited suicide himself. His team is likely to being fired.

Well.. AMD fought well, but time to go. NVIDIA MUST double their prices. Mainstream must die too. Mainstream lowered the standards a lot... and that are the consequences.

 

[Bacon1]

There is already a huge thread on this: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2478845

That article was already posted in this post: http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38328464&postcount=68

 

[Tweak155]

Did this really need a whole separate thread? We already have one on the power issues and the only new information here is the possible software based fix and the acknowledgement email to PCPer.

Srsly.

 

[SK10H]

Srsly.

:thumbsup:

Sigh

 

[Sweepr]

Did this really need a whole separate thread? We already have one on the power issues and the only new information here is the possible software based fix and the acknowledgement email to PCPer.

This is a new article, with more data on the subject and the first mention of a possible software fix.

Does anyone know what kind of fix they could do here via software? Reduced clocks?

 

[dark zero]

This is a new article, with more data on the subject and the first mention of a possible software fix.

Does anyone know what kind of fix they could do here via software? Reduced clocks?

This is a hardware error. So no SW fix can be applied. And hardly is reducing clocks. Is maybe locking some instructions...

 

[PhonakV30]

They can reduce clock, i saw some reviewers did that by saving up to 34w.

 

[amenx]

Ryan Shrout in comment section: "For our part, we are going to be plugging the Radeon RX 480 into a couple of older platforms and running it in some “bad case” scenarios…just to see what happens."

 

[Bacon1]

This is a new article, with more data on the subject and the first mention of a possible software fix.

Does anyone know what kind of fix they could do here via software? Reduced clocks?

It is not a new article, I posted it yesterday, and the software fix was mentioned on reddit when the issue first came out

 

[railven]

Ryan Shrout in comment section: "For our part, we are going to be plugging the Radeon RX 480 into a couple of older platforms and running it in some “bad case” scenarios…just to see what happens."

Well that's a novel concept. Better yet, they should get some OEM stuff like from Dell/HP where most budget gamers end up trying to upgrade the GPU to get a little more gaming going.

 

[Sweepr]

I posted it yesterday,

So you are aware of the situation. Reduced clocks, recall or something else? What do you think Bacon?

 

[richaron]

So you are aware of the situation. Reduced clocks, recall or something else? What do you think Bacon?

There is already a huge thread on this: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2478845

That article was already posted in this post: http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38328464&postcount=68

3rd Reply. Bacon obviously thinks this should be discussed in one of the threads already made which address this topic.

Instead you're trying to push yet another flimsy excuse for a thread which "just happens" to be bad news for AMD &/or good news for nVidia. Pls don't think you're transparent.

 

[antihelten]

Well that's a novel concept. Better yet, they should get some OEM stuff like from Dell/HP where most budget gamers end up trying to upgrade the GPU to get a little more gaming going.

Interestingly enough, from AMD's perspective this is probably the biggest issue. Most end customers who go out and buy the RX 480 are probably going to be fine, but OEMs may very well be having second thoughts about putting this card in their machines if it is out of specs. The RX 480 breaking the PCIe specs may only lead to a slight increase in RMAs, but many OEMs are already operating with so slim margins that it simply doesn't make sense for them to risk it (especially considering that they will also tend to use the cheapest mobos they can get away with).

 

[zinfamous]

Why a new thread for this?

 

[zinfamous]

They screwe hard.. likely their reference 480 will be taken out of the markets and the chips will be transformed into 460s.

This is a critical disaster from Raja. He commited suicide himself. His team is likely to being fired.

Well.. AMD fought well, but time to go. NVIDIA MUST double their prices. Mainstream must die too. Mainstream lowered the standards a lot... and that are the consequences.

Is this a serious post?

 

[Abwx]

Interestingly enough, from AMD's perspective this is probably the biggest issue. Most end customers who go out and buy the RX 480 are probably going to be fine, but OEMs may very well be having second thoughts about putting this card in their machines if it is out of specs. The RX 480 breaking the PCIe specs may only lead to a slight increase in RMAs, but many OEMs are already operating with so slim margins that it simply doesn't make sense for them to risk it (especially considering that they will also tend to use the cheapest mobos they can get away with).

That s all talks, OEMs would had done so long ago and we would have hear some noise about it, the card below is overloading the PCIe power line much more than the RX480 in terms of electrical stress.

140W peak and hoovering around 100W for times long enough that 65W can no more be called an average.

 

[railven]

Interestingly enough, from AMD's perspective this is probably the biggest issue. Most end customers who go out and buy the RX 480 are probably going to be fine, but OEMs may very well be having second thoughts about putting this card in their machines if it is out of specs. The RX 480 breaking the PCIe specs may only lead to a slight increase in RMAs, but many OEMs are already operating with so slim margins that it simply doesn't make sense for them to risk it (especially considering that they will also tend to use the cheapest mobos they can get away with).

Well we saw how OEMs treated Carrizo (no love), so that angle never really occurred to me.

I'd love to see the chips Apple is getting. They must be pristine!

If the current rumors/leaks for GTX 1060 holds any water, the uphill battle is going to be fierce.

 

[antihelten]

Why a new thread for this?

A better question would be why 11 out of 20 posts in this thread are wasted on discussing the existence of it instead of the topic at hand. If people have such a big issue with it, just ignore this thread and stick to the other one.

 

[esquared]

We already have a thread for discussing power on the 480.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2478845

There are multiple complaints about a new thread when the old one will do just fine.
Please post in that older thread.

esquared
Anandtech Forum Director