In a recent post on its website, Asus announced that it has addressed the concerns over thermal performance and cooler mounting pressure with its RX 5700-series graphics cards. As Asus explained, it produced initial runs of the ROG Strix Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT graphics cards according to AMD's guidelines. Normally, AMD recommends a PSI (pound-force per square inch) between pressure and temperature of 30-40.
But not too long after the products shipped, Asus received some complaints from users about temperature issues. So, Asus redesigned the mounting screws to "increase cooler mounting pressure to 50-60 PSI, resulting in improved heat transfer from the GPU to the heatsink."
Essentially, these new screws increase the amount of force the heatsink physically puts onto the GPU itself. The greater force of contact means a better 'seal,' so more heat can be transferred to the heatsink efficiently. The original screws wouldn't tighten well, which lead to higher than expected GPU temperatures, so users started adding their own plastic washers or tightening the screws themselves to fix the problem—something that Asus advises against.
Asus has been shipping its RX 5700-series graphics cards with the new screws since January 2020, but if you bought one of its GPUs before then, you can get it modified for free so the new mounting screws will work with your GPU. Anyone who owns a graphics card from the list below is eligible.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | ROG Strix Radeon RX 5700 XT series | ROG Strix Radeon RX 5700 series |
|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0NA00 (Universal) | 90YV0DD0-M0NA00 (Universal) |
| Row 1 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0TA00 (Taiwan) | 90YV0DD0-M0TA00 (Taiwan) |
| Row 2 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0CA00 (China) | 90YV0DD0-M0CA00 (China) |
| Row 3 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0IA00 (India) | 90YV0DD0-M0IA00 (India) |
| Row 4 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-MTAA00 (North America) | 90YV0DD0-MTAA00 (North America) |
| Row 5 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0AA00 (North America) | 90YV0DD0-M0AA00 (North America) |
| Row 6 - Cell 0 | 90YV0D90-M0NB00 (Bulk pack) | 90YV0DD0-M0NB00 (Bulk pack) |
While you can't ship back your card right this second to get it modified, you can starting March 2020. Just contact your local Asus service center to get it taken care of. March is right around the corner, so if you were running into thermal issues, you don't have to wait too much longer to get it fixed.
