cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Graphics Cards

Exinos
Adept I

6900XT junction temperature issues. Low core clocks.

I finally managed to buy the 6900xt reference model a few weeks ago, but after some disappointing/lower than average results i started troubleshooting.

The issue i seem to be having is that the junction temperature just pins to 110 degrees celsius within 10 seconds of starting a GPU intensive task.
Sometimes it peaks at 114 degrees celsius for a split second after which the core clock & power draw plummets.

I seem to be averaging out at 1976mhz core clock @ 215-230 watts.
Temperatures at average: 73 degrees celsius (with 110 degrees celsius junction)

Right now i have an open air case with additional airflow blowing directly through the fin stack.

I don't really care about the performance in general as long as it's close enough to advertised.
What i do worry about is the lifespan of the GPU running at these conditions.

What i've already tried:

  • Undervolt (makes no difference. Junction temps still shoot to 110 degrees celsius)
  • Add additional cooling directly through the GPU (overall GPU runs cooler. Junction temps still go to 110 degrees celsius)
  • BIOS updates (no difference)

My specs:

  • Ryzen 5600x
  • Gigabyte Aorus B550i Pro AX motherboard
  • Seasonic GX-850 power supply
  • 32gb Kingston DDR4 3000mhz


If anyone has any tips or a potential solution to these issues (or simply that i have to RMA) i would appreciate it.
I'm gonna do some more tests today so i will be adding screenshots.

 

19 Replies

Basically your GPU card is overheating within 10 seconds.

The Hot Spot Maximum Operating Temperature (T.Junction) is 110c. Once it starts reaching or has reached and surpassed 110c the GPU card will automatically to throttle or slow down to keep the T.Junction (Hot Spot) at 110c or below.

If the GPU card is still under Warranty I suggest your open a Warranty Ticket to have it checked. Seems like either the Thermal paste is defective or the heat sink is not making good contact with the GPU chip or the GPU Fans is not working the way it should to keep the GPU card from overheating.

NOTE: If the GPU card is still under Warranty just RMA it rather then do some action that might void your Warranty.

EDIT: Does your PSU have good voltage outputs?

Also do you have two separate GPU power cables connected from the PSU to the GPU card or one Y cable from PSU to both GPU Power connectors?

Running the Power Color Demon RX 6900 XT.

On 5 minute or longer stress tests my junction temp peaks at around 70 to 74C with VPU clocks hovering from 2425 to 2485MHz. 

Also CPU Ryzen 7 2700x at 4.2GHz MOBO MSI X370 M7 ACK RAM PC3200 4x8 Corsair Dominator Platinum PSU Thermaltake Tough Power 1200 watt SSD SATA 3 Samsung 870 EVO V-NANO 4TB. 

I thought I would get higher junction temps running a 4.0 GPU in a 3.0 PCIE slot but I experience no bottlenecking that I can find through any test. The only thing I run into is some early access and DX9 games get small audio issues (just an annoyance has no impact on game performance).

I know the audio issue has nothing to do with AMD. I've tested the onboard Realtek Audio and an aftermarket Creative Labs PCIEx1 audio card and got the same audio issue so I'm leaning to the audio glitch being caused by windows 10 interference or the game platform Steam. All early access and older DX9 games I play from Steam have this issue.

I'm already in contact with AMD warranty and will do an RMA if possible.

This video here shows what happens with the AMD Radeon Software set to "Default" (excuse my terrible recording).
I do notice the fan speed is terrible but i'm guessing that it only looks at the Current/Package temperature?
It seems to finally ramp up towards the end.
Benchmark is Red Dead Redemption 2 @ Ultra (with unlocked settings, on Vulkan & everything Ultra). Resolution: 5120x1440.

I've done some more testing and the only way to get the junction temperature stable below 110 degrees celsius (hovering around 104-106) is to ramp up the fan control to basically 80-100%, undervolt to 1100mV & set a max frequency of 2100mhz.
This way the power draw stays below 210 watts and seems to be running stable with sadly, terrible performance.
The 1976mhz average I stated in my first message was with the AMD stress test for a longer period.

When it comes to the power supply I do not have the know-how to measure values.
But the 6900XT is replacing my custom watercooled Vega56 (with OC) which was drawing around 250 watts without issues.
I'm using 2 separate PCI cables from/to the power supply, so not the daisy-chain.

Im guessing that the thermal pad is just not making a great connection.
I read the 6900XT has no thermal paste, just a pad for the die.

Thanks for the reply!

Definitely, definitely RMA it. These are expensive cards, and you deserve the performance you paid for. Obviously, you have enough know-how to mitigate the problem with voltage, frequency, and fan curve--that's great and kudos to you--but you shouldn't have to.

I know it sucks to be without a card for a while, but the people I know who are most unhappy with their rigs are the ones who say, "I should have RMAed when I had the chance." Don't get stuck.

Best wishes to you.

Hey i have the same issues with my 6900xt. Did amd solved your problem?

0 Likes

Sorry for the late reply. What orientation is your card in?
My issue turned out to be the issue of having it hanging (XTIA Proto case).
The vapor chamber is very specific about orientation apparently.
Couldn't find anything about it at the time but now there seems a bit more information out  there.

If you have the GPU hanging (ports at the top or bottom) that's your issue.
If you don't, it's something else than what I was running in to.

0 Likes
shadow007
Adept III

Undervolt to 1000mv and lower the clock to 1600mhz 

MOBO :EVGA X299 DARK 151-SX-E299-KR CPU : Intel Core i9-10900X Skylake-X 10-Core 3.7 GHz LCR :Corsair Hydro Series H80i V2 GPU :SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 6900 XT SE MEMORY: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum SE Torque 32GB (4 x 8GB) CMD32GX4M4C3200C14T SSD 01: SAMSUNG 970 PRO M.2 1 TB NVMe PCI-Express 3.0 x4 MZ-V7P512BW SSD 02: SAMSUNG 860 PRO 256GBX2 Raid 0 PSU : Corsair AX1200I 1200 Watts CASE :Thermaltake (Armor+) VH6000SWA SC :Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 5.1 Channels Monitor Acer XR382CQK IPS 3840x1600 @ 75HZ BD Samsung SH-B123L
0 Likes
FederaluL
Adept III

I'll just leave these pics here of my 6900xt Ref gpu as it came from factory after 2 months of use. I took it apart to install a waterblock on it (which btw it's great) when I realised the temps where ridiculous.

 

If i was you seeing these pics on some forum I would just take the **bleep** thing apart and repaste it!

 

PS: Shame on you AMD, some people are saving months to afford this Gpu

 

6900xt_1.jpeg6900xt_2.jpeg

EK watercooled 6900xt - 5900x - Lian Li XL - Samsung neo G8 - Logitech G910 - Hero G502

Do i lose warranty if i take the gpu apart? Maybe a simple change of quality thermal paste could help.

0 Likes

Depends on where you live. If you damage it while repasting they may not cover it, but at least in the United States doing so by itself cannot void the warranty.

Watch this video before you do, especially if you plan on swapping the thermal pads as well as one for your exact gpu model if possible before repasting:

https://youtu.be/VIUU5ogVHg8

Justifier_0-1672581138046.png

I'd also highly highly recommend you keep very careful track of the screws as you remove them and replace each screw back where you removed it from. So many people who aren't patient and careful ruin their GPUs

14900k • Z790 Apex Encore • 4090 • 2x24Gb-8000 • 1200 Corsair Shift • 420mm Arctic II Push-Pull • Noctua • Fractal Torrent • Guilded.gg/justifiers
0 Likes

Hi! Im the same situation... the only way ive found it is keep frequencies under 2100, i would know if your able to keep it fresh with waterblock or could be a gpu problem?

Regards

0 Likes

In my case the mount orientation made the vapor chamber not function.
I've since custom watercooled my pc again & all issues are gone.

The vapor chamber does not work in orientations where the display ports are facing the top or bottom of your computer case.

0 Likes
one123
Adept II

High junction temp is about gpu cooler not even pressure or not enough p[ressure.Its about trial to find a good thermal paste and pads for memory to have even pressure.Undervolting just hide real problem.With red devil 6600xt had same problem,with 6750xt nitro witch have separate vram heatsink and pressure is even work great,no junction problem even in overclocking.

0 Likes

Ive tryed... mx4 and new vram pads (the vrm pads are toasty and not sure cpuld be the problem),nothing changed, today im trying, and all settings i try go over 200w overheat the hotspot, im thinking about the psu... 

Or maybe the reference heatsink not enough to handle this heat?

0 Likes

In my case it was the orientation of the card. Having the display ports facing the top or bottom of your case does not work with the vapor chamber.
So if the card is hanging like you can do in the new Lian Li V3000 Plus it would cause problems.
I had an open air case XTIA Proto which I just flipped on its side and "solved" the issue.
Now I have a fully custom watercooled build so it's all fine too.

I told AMD that my card was hanging when I requested an RMA & they didn't tell me anything about it.
At the time I could also not find any posts about orientation with the vapor chamber.
Now there seems to be more information about it but nothing official sadly.

Ive read some posts same yours, to be honest, in my shift x case, the card had ports up...

0 Likes
one123
Adept II

Today i did some test on my 6750xt nitro+ and surprise,50C edge and 100C junction.In summer ,when i buyed this card junction was 80-85C,so clear that something is wrong.

 

I opened the card and in middle of gpu die was zero paste,i replace thermal with mx2(mx4 is no good because is to thin,pump out effect) and my temp are better than factory:60-61C edge and 75C junction.

Im at second navi with problem after some month,red devil 6600xt and now 6750xt nitro+.Both worked great from factory,but after few months junction sky high.Both mounted normal,horizontal.

Really? I had same problem!! Same with this 6900, after a fette bech i open it and found no paste on the center!! 

You suggest mx2? Im thinking about mx5... 

0 Likes
one123
Adept II

Mx2 ,mx5 and mx6 ,all are better then mx4 on bare gpu die.For gpu die or laptop  paste with higher viscosity are much better.I have only mx2 and mx4 ,so for me choice was easy-mx2.