Radeon RX 9070 XT with 113-degree hotspot found, defective chip looks to be the cause

A faulty GPU chip has reportedly been found in a PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 XT Hellhound, leading to GPU temperatures and hotspots exceeding the 110 degrees Celcius threshold for RDNA 4 GPUs - hitting 113 degrees. The full report can be found at Igor's Lab, where Igor Wallossek conducted extensive tests on the GPU sent to their lab by a reader reporting unusually high temperatures.

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Igor notes that the fault lies with the GPU die because even after applying a "high-quality PTM pad and additional thermal putty instead of rigid pads on the memory and voltage converters," the GPU's thermal performance did not significantly improve. Microscopic examination of the GPU die found 1,934 pits across the surface, with the largest exceeding industry standards.

These tiny pits prevent proper heat transfer, leading to temperatures as high as 113 degrees. This alarming situation renders the Radeon RX 9070 XT faulty or damaged; thankfully, AMD has already responded to the report, saying that it believes this is "an isolated incident" and will work with its partners to "understand the issue."

"We are aware of the reported issue and believe this to be an isolated incident," AMD's initial statement to Igor's Lab reads. "We are working with our partners and internal teams to understand the issue and remain committed to product quality and rigorous screening throughout the production process."

According to Igor, although this is (currently) an isolated incident, the automated inspection process during fabrication and production still warrants checking. "The focus to date has clearly been primarily on the detection of scratches, cracks and structural flaking, while isolated, recessed pitting has apparently been detected less frequently or not at all," Igor writes. "However, especially for GPUs with a high thermal performance profile, it should be ensured that such isolated but thermally effective surface defects are also reliably detected and classified."