The Radeon RX 7900 XT and XTX excelled in the test with high power consumption in idle mode. This is particularly noticeable on monitors with high refresh rates. The driver could help.
As can be seen in our test of the new RDNA 3 graphics cards, the Radeon RX 7900 XT and XTX have problems with high power consumption. While the compute loads in the grid area are where you’d ultimately expect them to be, the Navi 31 cards don’t do well with hardware-accelerated video playback and monitors with high refresh rates.
“Our suspicion that the ‘high refresh rate = high power consumption’ issue is making a dubious comeback is correct.”
AMD promises a remedy for some of the problems with the new drivers. But when they come it is left open. The launch driver for the Radeon RX 7900 XT and XTX only says: “High idle power has been observed in situations when using select high-res, high-refresh rate displays.”
That doesn’t necessarily sound like there’s a solution for a cheaper video accelerator. In a UHD video on Youtube, the Radeon RX 7900 XT uses a respectable 64 watts and the XTX even 69 watts. Radeons were never fans of food: the Radeon RX 6900 XT reports between 52 and 59 watts, depending on the model. Geforce cards handle the task with 20-35 watts, again depending on the model.
Until the issue is resolved, ours applies. Radeon RX 7900 XT(X) Review Tips: “Therefore, we recommend all Radeon owners to switch between different refresh rates and check power consumption using tools (eg GPU-Z or Hwinfo) to find a good compromise. Geforce graphics cards are not immune to the problem, here Thirst is severely limited with increasing frame rate though.”
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