AMD has confirmed the existence of a bug in its latest Radeon Software Crimson driver bundle which causes fans to spin too slowly, but not before users have reported complete GPU failures as a result.
Released last week, Radeon Software Crimson is a major rewrite for AMD. Boasting a brand-new control panel system and boosted performance, AMD also made much of the bundle's new quality assurance programme: compared with the previous Catalyst bundle, the company claimed at launch, the Crimson package features double the number of automated test cases and a further 25 per cent manual test cases, along with a 15 per cent increase in the system configurations on which the drivers are tested before release.
Sadly for AMD, all that extra testing doesn't seem to have stopped a rather serious bug from sneaking through. Reports have been surfacing since the launch of Crimson that using the software causes the fans on a graphics card to spin more slowly, increasing the temperature of the GPU. For some, that has been disastrous: reports of complete GPU failures on higher-end parts, which naturally run hotter than their lower-TDP budget equivalents, are rife on the company's forum and social networking services.
While AMD has promised a hotfix release to address the issue, due to land later today, some customers are complaining of dead cards and asking the company whether it plans to replace hardware damaged as a result of the bug. Thus far, AMD has not offered comment on possible compensation for those who are left with damaged hardware following installation of the Crimson bundle.
Released last week, Radeon Software Crimson is a major rewrite for AMD. Boasting a brand-new control panel system and boosted performance, AMD also made much of the bundle's new quality assurance programme: compared with the previous Catalyst bundle, the company claimed at launch, the Crimson package features double the number of automated test cases and a further 25 per cent manual test cases, along with a 15 per cent increase in the system configurations on which the drivers are tested before release.
Sadly for AMD, all that extra testing doesn't seem to have stopped a rather serious bug from sneaking through. Reports have been surfacing since the launch of Crimson that using the software causes the fans on a graphics card to spin more slowly, increasing the temperature of the GPU. For some, that has been disastrous: reports of complete GPU failures on higher-end parts, which naturally run hotter than their lower-TDP budget equivalents, are rife on the company's forum and social networking services.
While AMD has promised a hotfix release to address the issue, due to land later today, some customers are complaining of dead cards and asking the company whether it plans to replace hardware damaged as a result of the bug. Thus far, AMD has not offered comment on possible compensation for those who are left with damaged hardware following installation of the Crimson bundle.
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