AMD: ‘small percentage’ of RX 7900 XTX reference cards have defective vapor chamber

A small percentage of AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX reference cards suffer from high temperatures and throttling due to a defective vapor chamber. The company confirmed this in an interview with PCWorld. The defective video cards are replaced by new ones.

The temperature issue with some Radeon RX 7900 XTX reference cards is caused by a ‘small batch’ of defective vapor chambers, confirms Scott Herkelman of AMD’s Radeon division opposite PCWorld. The CEO confirms that a number of vapor chambers contain too little liquid, as has already been speculated.

Herkelman says that this concerns a small percentage of vapor chambers, but does not mention exact numbers. The issue only affects Radeon RX 7900 XTX cards with the reference design and not video cards with a custom cooler. The RX 7900 XT is also not affected by the defect.

Herkelman continues that AMD and partner companies will exchange the Radeon RX 7900 XTX cards in question for new ones. AMD calls on users to contact the customer service of the manufacturer that sold their video card: AMD itself or a partner company. According to AMD, there are enough video cards in stock to exchange the affected models.

The temperature problems came to light at the end of December. Several users reported that their reference video card suffered from high hotspot temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius, causing the GPU to experience thermal throttling. After research and inquiries from professional overclocker der8auer and journalist Igor Wallossek, the problem turned out to be caused by a defective vapor chamber, which AMD has subsequently confirmed.