10 of 30 new RX470 Asus Mining 4GB cards dead in just 2-5 days

[Shivansps]

So it goes like this, we got a provider that has tons (+1000) Asus RX470 Mining cards that with the crash of mining they were not able to sell so we are getting a good price out of these, those are OEMs cards.
They are new, they are not used, i look in every inch on those cards, they do come with RX570 bios what is strange, but i was unable to find ANY other bios file so...


It goes like this, it use the card, everything is fine, only DVI-D no audio for DVI-HDMI cable what is expected, but they just die after a few days of gaming use, it could be 1 day or 3-4 weeks, fine one day, fails to post the next, just like that, the GPU dosent work anymore, no video out, and they are not detected by bios flashing tool so they are 100% dead.

I have no idea of what is going on here, the provider(is a long term provider) is not giving us problems, they just give us new cards, but any idea of what is going on here? its not the PSUs thats for sure.

 

[psolord]

Maybe they were stacked close to some RTX cards and caught the same virus? xD

 

[VirtualLarry]

LOL, "RTX disease".

Anyways, I have no clue, I would suspect PSU, but who knows.

Maybe they were designed for a steady load, and the "spikey" load that gaming puts on them, is too much for them, either the VRMs (hotspotting) cooling (VRAM?), or maybe the lot is just faulty from the factory, that's why they were made into mining cards, or something.

Was the BIOS replaced (mining BIOS) with a "normal gaming BIOS" on these? That might cause issues too.

You've got me worried now, I've got an RX 470 4GB Sapphire "mining card" with DVI output. (Was really hoping that one could get audio through this too.) Haven't tested it yet. If it's no-good for gaming, I want to know.

 

[ZGR]

Next card try undervolting. Will probably end up dying too. Maybe 1 in the batch is flawless.

I would try a different PSU and Mobo just to make sure it isn't something else. Probably is the card though.

 

[Shivansps]

The cards failed across multiple systems the only thing in common is the gpu.

I tried to find another bios, but i was unable to find another one that would work.

 

[maddie]

The cards failed across multiple systems the only thing in common is the gpu.

I tried to find another bios, but i was unable to find another one that would work.

Thanks for this info, some friends were thinking of getting a few as cheap basic good performing cards. Saved a headache.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Something is fishy here. The BIOS thing makes me wonder if these aren't knockoff/fake cards, or are defective ones that someone was hoping to squeeze into the mix of the glut of mining cards, and looking to dump without warranty or something to screw people. Maybe these were chips that were defective that were never supposed to end up on cards but someone bought them under the table and slapped them on boards. Or they're legit chips slapped on subpar boards (if they were intended for miners, I think they were banking that miners would tweak the power use to maximize hash rate per watt).

How many have you returned? How many did you buy? That your supplier isn't giving any pushback and if its happened more than twice (the good price and them offloading them usually means very limited warranty and kinda YMMV situation in my experience), I think that's probably telling.

 

[whm1974]

It really looks like it isn't a good idea to buy video cards intended or used for mining.

 

[zinfamous]

Check the text stamped on the broken boards. Make sure it doesn't say Azus or Asuz or something like that.

 

[ozzy702]

Something is fishy here. The BIOS thing makes me wonder if these aren't knockoff/fake cards, or are defective ones that someone was hoping to squeeze into the mix of the glut of mining cards, and looking to dump without warranty or something to screw people. Maybe these were chips that were defective that were never supposed to end up on cards but someone bought them under the table and slapped them on boards. Or they're legit chips slapped on subpar boards (if they were intended for miners, I think they were banking that miners would tweak the power use to maximize hash rate per watt).

How many have you returned? How many did you buy? That your supplier isn't giving any pushback and if its happened more than twice (the good price and them offloading them usually means very limited warranty and kinda YMMV situation in my experience), I think that's probably telling.

^ This. These cards are probably counterfeit knockoffs. You could try flashing them to factory bios and underclocking memory and gpu core.

 

[Feld]

Even if the cards themselves are legit and not knockoffs or undisclosed refurbs, the mining-specific cards were intentionally made by AIB vendors as cheaply as possible. A miner who knows enough to even think about cards like that will know how to undervolt and underclock the card to maximize efficiency, which puts a lot less strain on the components. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if AIBs cut corners on component quality to save a few bucks with that in mind. Such a card could work fine for mining, but be unable to handle the stresses of gaming.

 

[coercitiv]

Even if the cards themselves are legit and not knockoffs or undisclosed refurbs, the mining-specific cards were intentionally made by AIB vendors as cheaply as possible. A miner who knows enough to even think about cards like that will know how to undervolt and underclock the card to maximize efficiency, which puts a lot less strain on the components. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if AIBs cut corners on component quality to save a few bucks with that in mind. Such a card could work fine for mining, but be unable to handle the stresses of gaming.

To give people with no mining experience an example, for one particular coin a good efficiency point for the GPU is 1050Mhz @ 850mV, and for VRAM is 2000+ @ 850mV. Voltages go up only if memory can hit higher frequencies with modified straps. Default values for the RX 470 are 1200+ Mhz and around 1150mV, which means the mining configuration & load will likely consume just half of what a stock configuration consumes in gaming.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

My vote is on the PSU(s). That's a freakishly high failure rate.

 

[Feld]

To give people with no mining experience an example, for one particular coin a good efficiency point for the GPU is 1050Mhz @ 850mV, and for VRAM is 2000+ @ 850mV. Voltages go up only if memory can hit higher frequencies with modified straps. Default values for the RX 470 are 1200+ Mhz and around 1150mV, which means the mining configuration & load will likely consume just half of what a stock configuration consumes in gaming.

Yes, when properly set up, a Polaris card mining Ethereum will achieve its maximum efficiency while consuming only ~100-120W. That's total power coming from the wall for the card, not a GPUZ reading.

 

[Stuka87]

Thanks for this info, some friends were thinking of getting a few as cheap basic good performing cards. Saved a headache.

There is nothing wrong with normal RX470's, and they are known for being reliable cards. This particular case is not something that should sway you away from them.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Perhaps they will offer a replacement BIOS on one of those "2 TB" USB flash drives for $20?

Fake cards with who-knows-what GPU and RAM sounds plausible.

 

[thilanliyan]

I think there's a reason that mining only cards were warranted for so little, typically less than one year.

 

[maddie]

There is nothing wrong with normal RX470's, and they are known for being reliable cards. This particular case is not something that should sway you away from them.

I meant these overproduced mining cards. Sometimes going for $100 new. I have no problem with the general use models.

 

[Stuka87]

I meant these overproduced mining cards. Sometimes going for $100 new. I have no problem with the general use models.

oh, ok. Gotcha