Sapphire RX 5700 XT Pulse Tear-Down: Cooler Quality & Assembly
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Date: 2020-05-06
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Comments and reviews: 10
Today
The copper staining on the die seems like a failure waiting to happen. Copper is toxic as far as semiconductors are concerned. The copper interconnects within modern CPUs and GPUs are very meticulously encased in a barrier metal that stops the copper from diffusing out into the chip. The reason for this is that copper forms deep-level traps that practically inhibit transistors and other semiconductors from working. The diffusion barrier on the back of the chip (the surface connected to the heat sink) does slow down diffusion, but inherently doesn't stop it. (same thing goes for the barrier metals surrounding the copper interconnects) In essence, the copper will leach out over time and eventually stop the device from working. (the speed of this diffusion is directly proportional to the temperature. (rough rule of thumb, 2x faster for an increase of 10 degrees C) So seeing the chip stained with copper is mildly concerning, since the diffusion barrier shouldn't easily get stained. (unless it is missing, or if the chip has had a copper coating on its back, could be for thermal transfer reasons, not that this really would do much other then be a very thin base extension per say)
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The copper staining on the die seems like a failure waiting to happen. Copper is toxic as far as semiconductors are concerned. The copper interconnects within modern CPUs and GPUs are very meticulously encased in a barrier metal that stops the copper from diffusing out into the chip. The reason for this is that copper forms deep-level traps that practically inhibit transistors and other semiconductors from working. The diffusion barrier on the back of the chip (the surface connected to the heat sink) does slow down diffusion, but inherently doesn't stop it. (same thing goes for the barrier metals surrounding the copper interconnects) In essence, the copper will leach out over time and eventually stop the device from working. (the speed of this diffusion is directly proportional to the temperature. (rough rule of thumb, 2x faster for an increase of 10 degrees C) So seeing the chip stained with copper is mildly concerning, since the diffusion barrier shouldn't easily get stained. (unless it is missing, or if the chip has had a copper coating on its back, could be for thermal transfer reasons, not that this really would do much other then be a very thin base extension per say)
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Boorock70
They should make these custom cards longer and wider but not thicker 2 slots thickness would be perfectly fine for cooling/silence then. Maybe some people need those below slots for other components. This is why a 2 slot GPU is crucial! Someone should stop this more than 2 slots thick GPU madness. Not every desktop owner is a 13yrs old gamer, got my point? Additionally, if the card was wider & longer they can even equip it with bigger fans (120mm) and a wider/longer heatsink which will be ultra effective just because of the increased cooling surface area. Unfortunately, its simply cheaper and easy to manufacture thick cards and they don't care about the unusable slots on your overpriced MoBo which you paid willingly. - Cause, no-one asked for it!
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They should make these custom cards longer and wider but not thicker 2 slots thickness would be perfectly fine for cooling/silence then. Maybe some people need those below slots for other components. This is why a 2 slot GPU is crucial! Someone should stop this more than 2 slots thick GPU madness. Not every desktop owner is a 13yrs old gamer, got my point? Additionally, if the card was wider & longer they can even equip it with bigger fans (120mm) and a wider/longer heatsink which will be ultra effective just because of the increased cooling surface area. Unfortunately, its simply cheaper and easy to manufacture thick cards and they don't care about the unusable slots on your overpriced MoBo which you paid willingly. - Cause, no-one asked for it!
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oceankhayne
If you read sapphire's official warranty policy, The limited warranty does not cover products that the user has disassembled. GPU or ASIC devices (VGA) are sensitive to thermal (heat) issues. The heat sink has been designed to meet the requirements to ensure reliability of the product. Any warranty is rendered invalid if the product has been dismantled or the heat sink has been removed as this may cause damage to the GPU or ASIC device. Non-compliance will cause the warranty of the product to be void and repair will be at the users cost. So yes, by disassembling the card, they state that you have voided the warranty. You should get on that.
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If you read sapphire's official warranty policy, The limited warranty does not cover products that the user has disassembled. GPU or ASIC devices (VGA) are sensitive to thermal (heat) issues. The heat sink has been designed to meet the requirements to ensure reliability of the product. Any warranty is rendered invalid if the product has been dismantled or the heat sink has been removed as this may cause damage to the GPU or ASIC device. Non-compliance will cause the warranty of the product to be void and repair will be at the users cost. So yes, by disassembling the card, they state that you have voided the warranty. You should get on that.
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Randall
Disappointing. Hangs on in bang for buck. 110 c is just fine, says amd. Take your receipt, warranty, place in original box and store safely. OOPS I looked, 1 year. So maybe use it for 8 months then sell. AMD is killing overclocking, (why give away what we can sell, Think Intel and Nvidia will do the same? Just wait for the next gen, it will be great! As a consumer this card appears to be at end of life on launch, (short hand, desperate attempt to remain in market, kind of like the leaked fake price. I really hope it sells well, perhaps the 1850 will be interesting.
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Disappointing. Hangs on in bang for buck. 110 c is just fine, says amd. Take your receipt, warranty, place in original box and store safely. OOPS I looked, 1 year. So maybe use it for 8 months then sell. AMD is killing overclocking, (why give away what we can sell, Think Intel and Nvidia will do the same? Just wait for the next gen, it will be great! As a consumer this card appears to be at end of life on launch, (short hand, desperate attempt to remain in market, kind of like the leaked fake price. I really hope it sells well, perhaps the 1850 will be interesting.
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Ξανδρος
On the dual heat sink design, it looks like the exposed heat pipes sit on top of the second heat sink's plate that's right above the GPU, the part that sits on the top two memory modules. Of course there's no paste or pads between the two, but it looks like the two heat sinks do touch in that location. I wonder if the two heat sinks are supposed to be pasted there. Not the most efficient design, but could have been done for ease of manufacture, or for more fin surface area, or something.
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On the dual heat sink design, it looks like the exposed heat pipes sit on top of the second heat sink's plate that's right above the GPU, the part that sits on the top two memory modules. Of course there's no paste or pads between the two, but it looks like the two heat sinks do touch in that location. I wonder if the two heat sinks are supposed to be pasted there. Not the most efficient design, but could have been done for ease of manufacture, or for more fin surface area, or something.
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June
When i bought my RX-580 I discovered the BIOS switch was for Normal mode and Mining mode, which has tighter timings and clockspeeds for mining. I hope theybdo that again with these cards because it's actually a really nice feature. Also, mining mode doesn't game well, and you can't change the clocks so i couldn't adjust the memory frequency lower to stabilize it. P. S. I bought an RX-580 Nitro+ 8 gb from newegg for the game Bundle. Also, mining mode doesn't break Driver Signatures
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When i bought my RX-580 I discovered the BIOS switch was for Normal mode and Mining mode, which has tighter timings and clockspeeds for mining. I hope theybdo that again with these cards because it's actually a really nice feature. Also, mining mode doesn't game well, and you can't change the clocks so i couldn't adjust the memory frequency lower to stabilize it. P. S. I bought an RX-580 Nitro+ 8 gb from newegg for the game Bundle. Also, mining mode doesn't break Driver Signatures
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Blahorga
It seems Sapphire has used the same fans on this card as on at least some of their earlier Radeon cards. From what I can see these fans have a ball bearing, don't know if it's dual or what the other bearing is if it isn't. It's listed as having a 30, 000 hours fan life and a max speed of 3500RPM. And yes, it's available from AliExpress, though it's not the cheapest at 20. Hopefully the quality matches the price.
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It seems Sapphire has used the same fans on this card as on at least some of their earlier Radeon cards. From what I can see these fans have a ball bearing, don't know if it's dual or what the other bearing is if it isn't. It's listed as having a 30, 000 hours fan life and a max speed of 3500RPM. And yes, it's available from AliExpress, though it's not the cheapest at 20. Hopefully the quality matches the price.
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Michał
I really like this card, the whole look, performance and improvement of cooling, design, etc. but it's a shame i just can't afford it in the place where i am. I'm still waiting for refunds for stuff btw, when i can do that even then it's 50gbp asking price, and i still got to pay for about 10-20 for delivery. UK is such a ripoff for computer bits, it's like they have no idea, IBM = 'computer shop': facepalm:
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I really like this card, the whole look, performance and improvement of cooling, design, etc. but it's a shame i just can't afford it in the place where i am. I'm still waiting for refunds for stuff btw, when i can do that even then it's 50gbp asking price, and i still got to pay for about 10-20 for delivery. UK is such a ripoff for computer bits, it's like they have no idea, IBM = 'computer shop': facepalm:
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AbrasiveWaif
Hello everyone! I have just purchased this GPU (From green team to red. As been a Kraken G12 user, can the G12 be installed while retaining the heatsinks for the mem and vrm? Do you guys advice for me to remove the heat sink to install the kraken? Your advices will be appreciated. If you guys are asking why I need a liquid cooling option is because my country temperature is always 30+ degrees C 24/7.
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Hello everyone! I have just purchased this GPU (From green team to red. As been a Kraken G12 user, can the G12 be installed while retaining the heatsinks for the mem and vrm? Do you guys advice for me to remove the heat sink to install the kraken? Your advices will be appreciated. If you guys are asking why I need a liquid cooling option is because my country temperature is always 30+ degrees C 24/7.
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FRAG
Have you ever cleaned a heatsink/heatpipe assembly in the kitchen sink or dishwasher? With all electronics removed (wires, fans, etc) of course, it's just metal. Same with CPU cooler with the fans removed. I've done this before to deep clean dust and grime out of the heatsink fins, let it dry for about an hour, and it really helps (I've not used a dishwasher, just did it in the sink)
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Have you ever cleaned a heatsink/heatpipe assembly in the kitchen sink or dishwasher? With all electronics removed (wires, fans, etc) of course, it's just metal. Same with CPU cooler with the fans removed. I've done this before to deep clean dust and grime out of the heatsink fins, let it dry for about an hour, and it really helps (I've not used a dishwasher, just did it in the sink)
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