GPU launches haven’t been exactly smooth for either Nvidia or AMD this year. Nvidia had a little problem with melting power adapters on its new RTX 4090 cards, and now Team Red is dealing with the fact that some of its own RX 7900 XTX MBA (Made By AMD) reference cards are suffering from high hotspot temperatures. Some have reported that the temperature reaches 110C, which is apparently a hard limit for the GPU before it starts to throttle its clock and performance.
The issue seems to be with the baseplate of the reference cooler, which isn’t making proper contact with the GPU and memory controller dies. As a result, heat gets trapped and the hotspot temperature swells, even when the cooling fans are turned up to full speed. One OP on Reddit reported that he was denied an RMA by AMD, as it is claiming that this is the “normal” junction temperature for the card.
This is a huge problem and should not be ignored by the company. It is possible that some of the early batches are affected, but it shouldn’t be left for users to sort out by themselves. Considering that the RX 7900 XTX is meant to offer up to 70% better performance compared to the previous generation, this kind of issue should be taken very seriously. Luckily, some users are finding workarounds for the issue, such as re-pasting the thermal paste or replacing it completely.