AMD RX6000 series cracked dies and blown voltage rails after December driver update?

[muon]

That makes sense. Either way it seems to be a non-issue for the wider install base.

Also I've learnt something though about storage of unused equipment

That is also something I never knew.

I'm not gonna be soaking cards in IPA now for too long if cleaning.

 

[Meddling-Monk]

This is precisely why if I'm buying a second hand item, it needs to be a cheap item that I don't really care about. A GPU that costs multi-hundreds if not more, is not a viable item to purchase second hand. Especially since you never know the exact history of it's useage.

 

[varkanoid]

The Mystery of the Radeon RX 6000 Mass Extinction Event May Have Been Solved

Ex mining cards were probably a victim of humidity from poor warehousing

www.tomshardware.com

The original tale is derived from a YouTube video from KrisFix, the eponymous channel of the German board-level repairer. In an update video today, KrisFix comes to a firm conclusion (starting 18 minutes in, video embedded above) about what exactly happened to the 61 cards that he received from various customers (note that it's not clear if these were all from one customer, multiple customers, or potentially 61 different individuals).

He reckons most if not all of the very new looking graphics cards that he received in his shop in recent weeks were bought by individual customers from a batch released by an ex-cryptominer. Perhaps there was a local eBay or Facebook Marketplace ad selling them cheap.

KirsFix explains that when he buys electronics that may have been stored in an unsatisfactory way, perhaps passing through widely variable climates in transit, he will open the items to let them acclimatize, fully dry, and settle at room temperature. These catastrophically damaged GPUs show that, even though they worked fine initially, the effects of humidity that had gotten deep into the products caused the silicon to crack during / after their first rigorous session under load.

In other words, these cards would have worked fine immediately after decommissioning from the crypto mines, but humid storage conditions “soaked” them, and without proper dehumidifying they were going to face problems.

 

[KompuKare]

Well i learnt something from it, that silicon dies are slightly hygroscopic. I would've though being made of sand and various metals would've made it effectively resistant but i guess tiny amounts of moisture finds it's way in given the right conditions.

Yes, in the video (I still think that KrisFix person was unprofessional with the way they jumped to conclusions in their first video) they went even farther than THG says: they actually pre-heat / bake any newly delivered chips. At temps which I though was almost dangerously hot. If the silicon packaging can soak up moisture, then surely a slower drying process at ~50°C or so seems far safer.

Anyway, next time I get something which isn't new I will place it near the dehumidifier just to be safe.

 

[LtMatt]

Yes, in the video (I still think that KrisFix person was unprofessional with the way they jumped to conclusions in their first video) they went even farther than THG says: they actually pre-heat / bake any newly delivered chips. At temps which I though was almost dangerously hot. If the silicon packaging can soak up moisture, then surely a slower drying process at ~50°C or so seems far safer.

Anyway, next time I get something which isn't new I will place it near the dehumidifier just to be safe.

I'm sure it got him a few subs and coin from YouTube clicks/ad revenue.