Does Anyone Else have a Sapphire Nitro+ 6600XT? Backplate Query.

[Freddie1980]

If you look at edge of the backplate where the 8 pin power connector is is there minor imperfections in the metal shroud like someone has run a switchblade across it on your card? You can't really see it in this photo (this is my old card that I returned but i've outlined the area that I'm talking about)



Just to give some context I've just received a replacement 6600XT from OCUK and I have this sense of foreboding that they've just sent me back my old card. The retail box it was sent in is in exactly the same condition, the seal has been cut the same way (cut not pealed), it came with all the dust covers and the shroud has the same/similar markings in the backplate right along where the metal is rolled over the edge

 

[Freddie1980]

Not really helpful now but for the future, take a note of serial numbers of any items you RMA.

Yeah, had it been ebay or a trade deal i would have but in all honesty this being OCUK I thought they would have just sent me a new one. I sent it back about a month ago and then yesterday I got some emails saying a replacement would be sent and the card coming back was a b-grade card. I was a bit disappointed tbh but so long as it worked I wasn't to bothered.

However when I opened the delivery box I saw the retail packaging and everything looked so familiar such as the way the seal had been cut at one end and the card having all the dust caps in place. I immediately checked the side of the card to see if there were any markings like there were on the card I returned and there where which resulted in a raised eyebrow.

 

[Freddie1980]

You should not be getting a second hand card when you just bought a brand new one surely.

Why did you return it and have you asked why you got a b grade replacement? I assume you bought this card within the last couple of months from OcuK?

Hi Matt, I returned the card because the issues I was coming up against the issues mentioned in this thread. The card was purchased the day after launch which was 13th August and I made OCUK aware of the issue on the 4th October (someone from the shop claimed it might because my PSU wasn't up to scratch and suggested a 750 watt was the minimum even though that's contrary to what's on Sapphire site) and eventually an RMA was raised on the 20th October.

I did ask in the customer service forum why b-grade was sent and this is the response I got:

Hi,

As the card is over 30 days old and outside of the DOA period a new replacement won't be issued.

Sapphire are yet to issue a replacement or return your card repaired. Since brexit we've seen a huge increase in shipping times outside of the UK. We are unlikely to get an outcome from Sapphire before the end of the year. However, drawing from past experience they will either issue us with a market value refund or a b-grade replacement. Sapphire's replacements are just repaired, reworked/refurbished units in an antistatic bag, no retail packaging or accessories.

The replacement GPU that has been issued is in open box condition, our system does not have a way to process it as open box so we have to issue it as B-grade.

 

[Freddie1980]

Are you still having the same issue?

Not yet but with my old card when I was able to get it working again the time between issues was between 5-7 days.

 

[Freddie1980]

I've seen other users with this exact model fix issues with a beefier PSU, so if issues come back that is something to try.

Thanks Matt. Any suggestions on what PSU I should consider?

 

[Freddie1980]

650W or higher.

Hi Matt,

I don't if you read this thread on AMD's support page but it seems that Sapphire are aware of this issue as far back as September and they seem to think it's a driver issue:

Here's an answer I got from Sapphire today:

We do have some users reporting similar problem, however AMD has not officially released anything about this so far. We are thinking its something driver related. We are waiting for the next driver update to be released to solve this issue you are experiencing.

Guess we just wait for AMD to do something

I'm going to read through all 27 pages to see if there's a fix but I'm at least comforted knowing I'm not he only person who's having this issue.

Edit 1

Matt is this you??

Matt_AMD
Community Manager


‎09-10-2021 04:16 AM

Re: Sapphire pulse RX 6600 XT black screen driver instalation

Thanks for all the posts, we are looking at this issue.

 

[Freddie1980]

Multiple users of that GPU fixed by upgrading the PSU.

Yeah after reading through all 27 pages that seems to be a workaround of the problem but I lets be honest with each other a 500 to 650 watt PSU should be more than capable of running a 6600XT which has a TDP of 180 Watts (or 160 in the case of the Pulse model).

 

[Freddie1980]

"B-Grade card?"

You should never have accepted that. They've had your pants down.

Tbh my biggest worry was being offered a refund. To buy the equivalent card again would set me back another £200 at least.

 

[Freddie1980]

It is for the reference 6600 XT, but AIB cards can have different requirements as is the case here with this particular model.

Sapphire are still advertising the card as needing a 500 watt minimum PSU.

 

[Freddie1980]

***UPDATE***

After doing some more digging and testing it looks like Sapphire may have done something funny with the power delivery circuitry. Although the card only requires 180ish watts of of power if the 12v rail on your PSU is split over multiple rails you will run into problems like the one I described. I've forked out for Corsair RM850 PSU which has just one fat 12v with plenty of amps and been running this setup for over a week now and not had any issues.

During this time I had this problem I reached out to Sapphire technical services and they came back and just said, 'use a 750 watt PSU' yet they still market this card as needing a 500 watt PSU. I know not all PSU's are created equally but come on now BeQuiet PSU's are pretty decent.

 

[Freddie1980]

Got a 6600XT red devil and have overclocked the **** out of it using MPT with a 500W PSU. I have no issue what so ever from the card running with a 3900X as well. I obviously run the card stock day to day though with no issue. Only time I saw any issue was with unstable RAM overclock. I'm guessing the type of PSU will be the issue if that is the case. Although mine is a cheapo unit.

Yeah people on the AMD forums were reporting issues with BeQuiet PSU's and this graphics card although I'm not sure exactly what the issue is. I know when I swapped the cable at the back of the PSU from PCIE 1 to PCIE 2 I couldn't get the GPU to display at all once I was past the Windows logo. PCI 2 run at 20amps verses PCI 1 which was rated for 25 which is why I thinking it's something to do with the Ampage (is there such a word?) that's supplied on the 12v rail.

 

[Freddie1980]

Get Tech Jesus on the case

He's recently invested ton of money on testing equipment for PSU's, this would be an interesting for to dig into and make video out of.