AMD addresses a potentially hazardous design flaw in the RX 7600

AMD has launched its Radeon RX 7600 graphics card. This has caused much hype amongst mid-level gamers looking for a card with decently good performance at a competitive price.

The revised MSRP of USD 269 has baffled many fans, but most are overjoyed that they are getting very good value for money, with the RX 7600 standing up strong against the pricier Nvidia’s RTX 4060 Ti.

Now, AMD has confirmed, as per the point raised by TechPowerUp, that the reference RX 7600, i.e., non-custom MBA (Made by AMD) models have a design flaw that prevents certain kinds of 6+2 pin PCIe power cables from connecting correctly, which could potentially cause a fire hazard.

The backplate of the RX 7600 causes a flaw in the reference model of the graphics card. It was mentioned that the cutout near the power connector doesn’t allow specific 6+2 pin PCIe power connectors.

It must be kept in mind that all major Power Supply Units PSUs have their 150W delivered through 8 pins that come in the handy 6+2 combination. This makes the PSUs flexible as a 6-pin as well.

Some PSU brands use a passive hook-type tail-end bridge that ensures the 2-pin portion isn’t dangling but inserts along with the 6-pin portion. Others rely on more elaborate stubs holding the 6+2-pin parts together.

The AMD RX 7600 reference model’s backplate design prohibits precisely this. Some known PSUs that work fine are Seasonic and the Thor 1200. On being contacted by TechPowerUp, AMD replied with an official statement.

It said that they would not be circulating the RX 7600 reference design cards before fixing them. The cards will be made “available over the coming weeks with a design that accommodates all power supply cables.”

It must be noted that none of the custom-designed cards have this flaw. The fact that AMD mentioned over the coming weeks means that they do not have a fixed window in mind for when the cards will make it to the market.

Since AMD maintains its classical marketing approach wherein its AIBs sell reference cards, it was notable that none of the AIB partners have published product pages of the reference design RX 7600 on their websites.

About Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

AMD develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. AMD’s main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations, personal computers and embedded system applications.