AMD Says 5700 XT 110°C Temperatures are “Within Spec”

Since the release of the AMD Radeon 5700 (and XT) graphics cards, pretty much everyone has agreed on an overall analysis of the reference models. Great performance, but hot and noisy! You can, incidentally, check out our review of the cards via the link here! – Over the last few weeks, however, various users have been reporting substantially higher temperatures while in a gaming environment. In fact, figures as high as 110c have been recorded on the card which is more than a little toasty.

In a report via PCGamesN, however, AMD has answered these concerns stating that the temperatures are both “expected and within spec”.

AMD Report 110c 5700 XT Temperatures are “Expected and Within Spec”

Now, during our testing, while the AMD Radeon 5700 XT did run warm it didn’t come anything close to 80c. Let alone 110c. So what are people referring to here exactly? Well, in basic terms, a closer look at the design has revealed that certain temperature sensors within the graphics card have registered scores as high as 110c. This, of course, gets rounded up into an average temperature via most applications. It is, however, clear that at least one part of your GPU is getting amazingly hot.

In answering this, AMD has said:

“With the AMD Radeon VII GPU we introduced enhanced thermal monitoring to further optimize GPU performance. We built upon that foundation with the Radeon RX 5700 series GPUs. And now utilize an extensive network of thermal sensors distributed across the entire GPU die to intelligently monitor and tune performance in response to granular GPU activity in real time.

Paired with this array of sensors is the ability to identify the ‘hotspot’ across the GPU die. Instead of setting a conservative ‘worst case’ throttling temperature for the entire die. The Radeon RX 5700 series GPUs will continue to opportunistically and aggressively ramp clocks until any one of the many available sensors hits the ‘hotspot’ or ‘Junction’ temperature of 110°C. Operating at up to 110°C Junction Temperature during typical gaming usage is expected and within spec.”

What Do We Think?

Overall, as dramatic as this sounds, it’s (probably) nothing to worry about. It’s well known that GPUs can run hot. In addition, reported temperatures via applications will never give you pinpoint readings of specific areas. It may, however, answer why so many of the custom AIB models we have seen to date have plumped for a pretty huge heat sink and fan combination. Hopefully, they will provide a better performance in all areas!

So, we’re going to go out on a small limb here, but overall as worrying as this sounds, we don’t think it’s anything to get too concerned about. It’s a bit of a storm in a teacup.

What do you think? Do you own a 5700 (or XT) graphics card? If not, are you waiting for the custom models? – Let us know in the comment!