Graphics Card Failure Rates Published

five8five · 4 Aug 2020 at 12:37

Mindfactory have published Nvidia and AMD GPU failure rates. It confirms the high RMA rates of 2080ti cards but also AMD 5700/5700XT cards, in particular the PowerColor brand.

https://wccftech.com/mindfactory-report-amd-gpus-fail-more-often-than-those-from-nvidia/

BTW ignore the clickbait title of the link

Toothy1911 · 4 Aug 2020 at 12:58

Now you've got me worrying about my 2080ti.

I wonder over what time period this is. A manufacturer with longer warranty might see more RMAs but actually be more reliable than others. Not good for Powercolor though.

Connell · 4 Aug 2020 at 13:05

13.18% failure rate on the Red Devil 5700! Powercolor also have the second highest 5700/XT with the Red Dragon at 7%. Think I'll be avoiding their cards in future.

Phixsator · 4 Aug 2020 at 13:18

I see a potential problem with these statistics though. Is it confirmed defective cards? or more like "user does an RMA request and returns the GPU" sorta list?

Unseul · 4 Aug 2020 at 13:53

Sapphire and MSI looking fairly good there. Very large sales numbers should mean more accurate data.

Perhaps a bit more accuracy in the % numbers would have been good though. MSI at 1.99% overall, Sapphire are actually 2.34%. Asroc is 1.9%

May not seem much, but it means you've got nearly a 25% more chance of needing to return a Sapphire card vs an Asrock one.

Chrisc · 4 Aug 2020 at 13:54

Certainly doesnt bode well for the Power colour cards.

Id love to know the return rate of founders/reference models

SonicSW20 · 4 Aug 2020 at 14:02

Their data backs up what I've thought for a long time - stick to Sapphire when it comes to AMD cards. They've consistently put out decent quality cards with the Pulse and Nitro lines, and it seems they're reliable.

nashathedog · 4 Aug 2020 at 15:11

My 5700XT Red Devil died after a couple of months, I sent it in under warranty & got a new replacement which has been fine (touch wood) ever since (6 months) & it's had a lot of use due to the lockdown.

danlightbulb · 4 Aug 2020 at 15:25

Anecdotally, always thought powercolor weren't the best to go for following advice on here. Like MSI myself and planning for their mobo and GPU in my next upgrade.

Freddie1980 · 4 Aug 2020 at 15:35

Interesting that Mindfacotry is showing the 5700XT is pretty much at parity with the 2070 Super in terms of units sold.

pugheaven · 4 Aug 2020 at 16:37

I've owned two Powercolor cards over the years and both were 100% fine... I'd actually have no problem buying one again but yes based on figures... it doesn't look good. Personally for Mobo's I have nothing but ASUS, simple as that but with GPU's I've had all sorts over the years and not one GPU has actually failed whether AMD/nVidia or any of the manfiactorers.

EDIT: Infact owned 3 Powercolor cards and all were fine, but yeah just luck of the draw I think tbh and everything nowadays is made so cheap anyway...

Unseul · 4 Aug 2020 at 16:49

It's less than a 1 in 10 chance for all of them, but still makes me think twice who I'd back.

C64 · 4 Aug 2020 at 17:38

presuming asus not on there as nobody has received a reply about their rma yet

varkanoid · 4 Aug 2020 at 17:38

Toothy1911 said:
Now you've got me worrying about my 2080ti.

I wonder over what time period this is. A manufacturer with longer warranty might see more RMAs but actually be more reliable than others. Not good for Powercolor though.

I wouldnt worry about your 2080ti if you have had it a while from what I can remember they seemed to let you play Space Invaders within a couple of weeks. If they were going to fail they did so pretty quickly. If you have had it longer say 4 months or more and its still fine then its probably a good one.

Toothy1911 · 4 Aug 2020 at 18:15

Thank you, that is a relief. Yeah I've had it a long time. Been hearing more coil whine recently, so that was a little worrying, but probably nothing... I'm sure....

Unseul · 4 Aug 2020 at 18:15

C64 said:
presuming asus not on there as nobody has received a reply about their rma yet

BUDFORCE · 4 Aug 2020 at 21:33

SonicSW20 said:
Their data backs up what I've thought for a long time - stick to Sapphire when it comes to AMD cards. They've consistently put out decent quality cards with the Pulse and Nitro lines, and it seems they're reliable.

100% agree, every AMD (or ATI as they were) card I've ever bought has been Sapphire and all 100%. I got an x1800xt that lasted me years, then I donated it to a mate I think he was using it 10 years after I bought it.

Nvidia I go EVGA and upgrade the warranty, although I've never had to use it, which is s good thing.

varkanoid · 4 Aug 2020 at 21:44

Toothy1911 said:
Thank you, that is a relief. Yeah I've had it a long time. Been hearing more coil whine recently, so that was a little worrying, but probably nothing... I'm sure....

Coil whine is not just down to the card it can also be the PSU. Its where I discovered the bog roll method of detecting coil whine. Back when I had a GTX 580 I suddenly could hear coil whine. Opened the case and I thought it was coming from the graphics card. Some suggested they used an ear trumpet for detecting where it was coming from. Another didnt have an ear trumpet to hand (funnily enough) so used an empty bog roll. I scoffed at the idea, then I tried it and lo and behold it was like magic. Listening to my 580 via the empty tube and it was near silent apart from the fans pointed it at the power supply and it was actually coil whine coming from the PSU. So I got rid of my Antec and bought a brand new one which had good reviews and then no coil whine. So an empty bog roll saved me from buying a new GPU when it was the PSU.

Toothy1911 · 4 Aug 2020 at 21:53

varkanoid said:
Coil whine is not just down to the card it can also be the PSU. Its where I discovered the bog roll method of detecting coil whine. Back when I had a GTX 580 I suddenly could hear coil whine. Opened the case and I thought it was coming from the graphics card. Some suggested they used an ear trumpet for detecting where it was coming from. Another didnt have an ear trumpet to hand (funnily enough) so used an empty bog roll. I scoffed at the idea, then I tried it and lo and behold it was like magic. Listening to my 580 via the empty tube and it was near silent apart from the fans pointed it at the power supply and it was actually coil whine coming from the PSU. So I got rid of my Antec and bought a brand new one which had good reviews and then no coil whine. So an empty bog roll saved me from buying a new GPU when it was the PSU.

It's insights like this you just don't get elsewhere

. Could well be the PSU as it's getting a little old now. I have a new one ready to go on a new build.
I'll have a closer listen the next time it's doing it! Thanks.
AFAIK coil whine isn't typically a bad thing, other than it's a little irritating to listen to.

gpuerrilla · 4 Aug 2020 at 22:21

Phixsator said:
I see a potential problem with these statistics though. Is it confirmed defective cards? or more like "user does an RMA request and returns the GPU" sorta list?

Latter would be a high %. People who were on an nvidia card previously and got buyers remorse. There will be a chunk of legit returns though with the 5700XT's mostly from driver problems probably not so much hardware issues.