AMD's flagship RDNA 3 graphics card may have a faulty vapour chamber. Roman Hartung bought four Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards to find the problem.

 Horizontal placement improved temperatures, he found. The direction improved temperatures by 20°C. After a minute of burn-in, the graphics cards showed thermal throttling. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX runs cooler and quieter horizontally, but overheating was unavoidable. However the mounting position is merely one issue. Hartung was not satisfied with his first findings, so he investigated other ideas, such as the cooler's weight or gravity. Overclocker built a bespoke stand to disprove both theories. To test mounting pressure, he removed the graphics card's support bracket and trimmed the stand-offs. But that failed. Radeon RX 7900 XTX's defective vapour chamber became more plausible. Hartung moved the graphics card and found the temperature had risen. Turning the graphics card back did not lower the heat.

Hartung feels the vapour chamber may have a design or material flaw. After condensation, it appears the vapour chamber's liquid has circulation issues. The vapour chamber may have insufficient pressure or liquid. Hartung may dissect the vapour chamber in a follow-up video.

AMD has acknowledged overheating issues with some Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics cards, but has not offered a solution beyond contacting support. The overheating issue does not affect all Radeon RX 7900 XTX samples, but it affects many consumers, far more than Nvidia's melted 16-pin power connector. After mocking Nvidia's 16-pin power connector meltdown, AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX overheating issue does not look good. 

Radeon RX 7900 XTX might be getting too hot because of a problem with its vapour chamber