AMD announces its first GPU under Polaris architecture, which is the Radeon RX 480 at $199. (Photo : YouTube/TechnoWin)
Users who recently bought the latest GPU from AMD, the Radeon RX 480, will have their power draw issue. The developer has acknowledged its mistake and is currently working on a patch that will address the problem.
The AMD Radeon RX 480 has allegedly been burning PCIe slots in some few cases, causing the death of motherboards, according to Ars Technica. Based on some reports and recent benchmark testing, the cause of the problem was found in the RX 480's general power consumption that goes beyond the set limits of 150W TDP for most systems.
The RX 480 was approximated to consume 170W and above. As a result, the GPU draws up to 90W from its PCIe bus, which is beyond the standard 75W.
AMD's sub Reddit reported the first incident, which was initially ignored by moderators who ultimately banned the original poster (OP) from responding to comments. Apparently, the moderators had not received any user complaint due to the RX 480's successful public reception.
Other similar incidences began coming in, however, with some users posting on the AMD forum community. One poster gave more insight into the problem and attached important documentation to prove the claim in the event AMD forum moderator opted to flag it as some form of hoax that would mar the company's reputation.
The Reddit OP suggested that users who believe their system has been destroyed by RX 480 should seek legal intervention. Luckily, AMD has finally acknowledged the AMD Radeon RX 480 PCIe issues after three days since the issue came to their attention. The company stated that a software fix could easily resolve the problem.
A statement on AMD official website reads, "Recently, we identified select scenarios where the tuning of some RX 480 boards was not optimal. We are already testing a driver that implements a fix, and we will provide an update to the community on our progress on Tuesday (July 5, 2016)."
However, AMD did not reveal its plan for users whose motherboards were already damaged. Stay tuned for updates as soon as the company gives a statement.
Here is footage for more information on AMD Radeon RX 480 power draw issue:
