AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT BIOS reveals more about Rage mode

[HEXUS]

It is a mix of power limit, temp, and fan controls. Balanced, Quiet, Turbo modes available too.

Read more.

[Tunnah]

95c feels really unnecessary. I mean, obviously they're the experts, they build em etc. but surely that can't be good for longevity

[philehidiot]

It will depend on how it is implemented as to whether the 95C turbo limit is a cause for concern. If it's a standard feature, employed as default or just a switch with no warnings - problem.

If it's defaulted off, on the advanced settings and trying to turn it on gives you a warning that this is for playing about only, will likely reduce the lifespan of your card and voids any warranty, who cares? It's effectively auto-overclocking for people who want to push it at that stage. I for one hate it when manufacturers limit what I can do with my own card. As long as it's made clear it's at your own risk and you take full responsibility for it, who cares?

Far better than locking it all down and saying "no, you can't overclock our chips because we don't want people willing to put the time and effort into it to get better value..."

EDIT: Also, it's essential that this turbo mode is not enabled for cards being benched and disabled for shipping. Reviewers must check that to ensure we are not seeing performance which is classed as outside of the normal operational conditions and effectively voiding a warranty if attained by buyers.

[edmundhonda]

Reviewers must check that to ensure we are not seeing performance which is classed as outside of the normal operational conditions

Like Intel's endless turbo mode?

[philehidiot]

Like Intel's endless turbo mode?

Or the gaming of benchmarks by mobile phone manufacturers.

[Ttaskmaster]

So RAGE mode basically makes it almost as good as a standard Nvidia card, and slightly better in the odd game here and there?
That's like Banner transforming into The Hulk, but only being able to destroy you in a game of tiddly winks!!

Perhaps it should be renamed Minor Furtherance...

As long as it's made clear it's at your own risk and you take full responsibility for it, who cares?

I thought they started locking cards because people were overclocking them to breaking point and claiming warranty refunds (as you might expect from an overclockable GPU), and the issue was that the claims for damage done by implementing blatantly unsafe user-end settings were actually being upheld by the governing bodies?

[Yoyoyo69]

So RAGE mode basically makes it almost as good as a standard Nvidia card, and slightly better in the odd game here and there?
That's like Banner transforming into The Hulk, but only being able to destroy you in a game of tiddly winks!!

Perhaps it should be renamed Minor Furtherance...

As long as it's made clear it's at your own risk and you take full responsibility for it, who cares?

I thought they started locking cards because people were overclocking them to breaking point and claiming warranty refunds (as you might expect from an overclockable GPU), and the issue was that the claims for damage done by implementing blatantly unsafe user-end settings were actually being upheld by the governing bodies?

You do realise this card is under one thousand dollars, vs a card that is one a a half thousand?

Granted, they're using proprietary tech, but beating a card which costs 50% more.

I agree with comments above though, they have to ensure any benches are done without these boosts, if they're only temp, if possible.

I actually think they should bench with Intel processor, just give an honest indication of capability. Whilst Ryzen is clearly superior, not everyone has one, or us upgrading currently.

[QuorTek]

Still interested in how it actually works out, on what aces it may actually hide... I like both brands a lot... back in day I used to go Ati Radeon when it was called that... then on the Geforce platform.... and before that Voodoo + Matrox and more

All in all it all makes me excited, especially because getting more of a choice... but to be honest, if either card is just a matter of a few FPS in difference, then the one that offers the best economy on the power usage will win and win big.

[Gentle Viking]

You do realize ( too ) that these cards can probably OC, which as far as i have picked up are hardly possible on 30XX cards
And if AMD drivers are like they have been, performance will only go up as they get them to work better, so if thats the case probably XX % performance to be found there, though not present on day #1

Either way we will soon see, what cards can do what in which games and benchmarks, and what cards you can actually go buy.
So no reason to get too exited either way, at least not if you are not overly brand loyal.

[Ttaskmaster]

You do realise this card is under one thousand dollars, vs a card that is one a a half thousand?

You do realise that $999.99 is as good as a straight thousand, which is more than my car cost and an insane price for most people, even before the 2080Ti was born?
Presumably that's also why it only has 16GB of RAM rather than the 24?

Granted, they're using proprietary tech, but beating a card which costs 50% more.

Beating is a bit of an overstatement. 'Does almost as well as, and exceeds in some areas' is perhaps more accurate....
It loses in 4 of those benches, draws even in one and exceeds in only two of them.

So 28% of the time it beats the 3090... I think I see why that would be rage-inducing!

Personally I think results should be given both with and without overclocking.

[philehidiot]

I thought they started locking cards because people were overclocking them to breaking point and claiming warranty refunds (as you might expect from an overclockable GPU), and the issue was that the claims for damage done by implementing blatantly unsafe user-end settings were actually being upheld by the governing bodies?

Not something I'm aware of but I've not been paying much attention.

You would have thought that there'd be a fairly simple way of getting around that - once the BIOS detects that the clocks have been manually altered from stock, it creates a physical marker somewhere, such as a circuit being activated which intentionally burns out a particular resistor, etc. Then, even if the card is dead, continuity testing will show that circuit has been activated, which only happens when overclocking is applied. Yes, people can do SMD reworking but it's not exactly a skill that is in abundance.

Personally, I don't think any level of overclocking should be warrantied. It's that simple and shouldn't be made any more difficult to legally apply.

I'm happy to OC a part but I also assume that my warranty goes with it and it's on me to ensure I know what I'm doing. If you're not happy to accept that risk, save a few quid and buy a non-OC part.

[Ttaskmaster]

once the BIOS detects that the clocks have been manually altered from stock, it creates a physical marker somewhere, such as a circuit being activated which intentionally burns out a particular resistor, etc.

I'm sure people would find ways to make the system lie to the card. You can get custom BIOSes to flash onto your card easy enough, especially the ones with dual BIOS.
Besides, extra gubbins like that will only make cards even MOAR expensive.

Personally, I don't think any level of overclocking should be warrantied. It's that simple and shouldn't be made any more difficult to legally apply.

If you make a card that can be overclocked, people will expect to be able to overclock it.
If you actually market it as overclockable, you will be expected to warranty it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Now they need to rename RTG to ATI,and we can have a 25 anniversary ATI Rage Fury next year,with a box emblazoned with a modern ray traced rendtion of Ruby.

[3dcandy]

Someone actually has a car that cost less than a thousand. I mean it's all about balance but you are probably making more pollution with your car than your pc

[philehidiot]

I'm sure people would find ways to make the system lie to the card. You can get custom BIOSes to flash onto your card easy enough, especially the ones with dual BIOS.
Besides, extra gubbins like that will only make cards even MOAR expensive.


If you make a card that can be overclocked, people will expect to be able to overclock it.
If you actually market it as overclockable, you will be expected to warranty it.

My motorcycle is made so you can chop and change parts. With the appropriate research and skill, I can change any part of it. I can reflash the ECU as it uses a standard interface. I can unbolt the exhaust and bolt on a performance one as it uses standard fasteners. Given it is expected that motorcyclists will often tweak their bikes and modify them to perform outside of the manufactured specifications, the facilities are provided to achieve this (not having bespoke fasteners or locked down ECUs, for example).

However, just because they enable it (or don't disable it, knowing those tools will be created anyway), it doesn't mean they should warranty if you decide to change the parameters in the ECU so it provides 6969bhp. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean it's in any way sensible.

If you replace OEM parts with third party parts which have similar or the same performance, thats a different matter, but they do enable you to modify the performance characteristics in a way that will reduce the reliability of the bike.

Should they warranty that?

I would argue it is perfectly acceptable to provide a feature for advanced users who want to tweak whilst saying "this will void your warranty". As long as that is stated clearly, I don't see the problem.

Where I would see a problem is with some kind of easily accessible preset which comes with inadequate warnings. Or, if they overclock it out of the box and it fails with factory overclocking.

The easist compromise would be to warranty the OC available in the drivers, ensuring that won't cause permanent physical damage to the cards. Then have a separate tool which allows you to tweak anything but installation and use voids the warranty on the card.

[Ttaskmaster]

Someone actually has a car that cost less than a thousand. I mean it's all about balance but you are probably making more pollution with your car than your pc

My car isn't running 24/7.
Also, I'm pretty sure our 'leccy still comes from burning dinosaur meat, rather than sunlight and hippy song, so every time I fire up Crysis another rainforest dies.

But yes, I paid just a couple hundred quid for my car, and would have been an absolute fool to turn it down.

the facilities are provided to achieve this (not having bespoke fasteners or locked down ECUs, for example).

Most of that is more to do with ease of maintenance at the mechanic end. A few do have certain custom tools for jobs, BMW being absolute [censored] for doing this, but most mechanics (indy or dealership) won't splash out for dozens of custom tool sets each time a new car comes out.
It's also much cheaper to use standard parts across the board, which is why my Škoda comprises so many Audi parts.

If you replace OEM parts with third party parts which have similar or the same performance, thats a different matter, but they do enable you to modify the performance characteristics in a way that will reduce the reliability of the bike.

And that is why flashing a different BIOS onto the card, which enables you to run it at 6969696969GHz is similar to using third party parts on a car.
Similarly, causing physical damage to the card in the process of mucking around (slipping with a tool, dialling power to 1500% instead of 150%) will also void your warranty.
They give you a BIOS which is designed for overclocking and you're expected to take proper care when doing so. Any damage caused during intentional fiddling is thus intentional damage.

Where I would see a problem is with some kind of easily accessible preset which comes with inadequate warnings. Or, if they overclock it out of the box and it fails with factory overclocking.

But that's on them, not you, and thus under warranty.

The easist compromise would be to warranty the OC available in the drivers, ensuring that won't cause permanent physical damage to the cards. Then have a separate tool which allows you to tweak anything but installation and use voids the warranty on the card.

No need. Using what they supply means the card will throttle long before it blows up. Even those with an LN2 BIOS.

https://www.evga.com/support/faq/FAQ....aspx?faqid=55