AMD has finally releases the Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.1 driver which contains the hotfix for the RX 480 power draw issue that was plaguing users since it was launched.
One critical problem for Radeon RX 480 users was that it was drawing more power from the PCIE slot which is not safe for most motherboards as they can degrade quickly or even short circuit. The problem also led to some stuttering in some video game titles which turned off most users.
There was a temporary fix before the driver was released. Users had to tweak with the RX 480's Wattman settings to lower the voltage it uses. It allowed for some marginally better framerate improvements and lower power draw overall.
Now, AMD has released their promised driver fix for the Polaris card's power draw problems. The new AMD Radeon Crimson 16.7.1 driver automatically shifts the power draw of the Radeon RX 480 to take the pressure of the PCIE slot and transfer it to the 6-pin power connector instead, PC World has learned.
It does alleviate the problem but it is nowhere near a permanent fix as the increased power draw is now sent to the power connector instead. The fix is a better choice than letting the motherboard take all the load as it could lead to a damaged CPU, RAM or even the RX 480 itself in the long run.
There is also another Compatibility Mode toggle that the new Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.1 driver comes with and it lowers the overall power draw of the RX 480 from both the PCIE slot and the 6-pin connector, Anandtech reported. PC Perspective still found that the Polaris card still exceeds several watts over the official spec of the card in Compatibility Mode which suggests that it is really a hardware issue.
Compatibility Mode also has a low impact on the framerates because of the lowered voltages. However, it only reduces one to two frames at most in the framerate which means that it would be a better choice for most users instead of having to risk their whole system unit.
AMD has delivered their promise and brought a fix in the form of the Radeon Crimson 16.7.1 driver. However, there are still reports of some exceeding voltages for the RX 480 and the company has yet to address these issues once again.