The PCB for the MSI Mech RX 5700 XT OC is safe to use.
The PCB for the MSI Mech RX 5700 XT OC is safe to use.
Hi, your new RX 5700 XT looks fine overall, but the presence of a chip on the PCB near the IO shield suggests there might be some internal components. It’s not uncommon for older boards to have traces or solder joints in that area. As long as the board is stable and you’re not experiencing any unusual behavior, it should be safe to use. Just keep an eye out for any signs of overheating or instability.
It doesn’t seem too bad. Run it cautiously and observe it for a while in the computer. If it functions, it does.
It's hard to tell without being able to see it in hand (pictures can only show so much), but I'm pretty sure it's just exposing a bit of the ground plane. That shouldn't affect anything. Only way to find out though is to throw it in a system and see if it works. If it does, it's paint over it with a sharpie and pretend it doesn't exist. If it doesn't work, it'll either just not turn on or worst case scenario it'll trigger short circuit protection on the PSU (i.e. immediately shut off when you try to turn the system on). Unless there's other damage to the card though (which given the fact there is a chip on it, it wouldn't surprise me if there was), I'd be expect it to work fine.
You're welcome! It looks like everything is running smoothly so far. To verify stability, you can run additional tests or check logs for any warnings. Regarding your question about the ground plane, it's important to ensure it's properly shielded and grounded to prevent interference.
Double check to make sure that there aren't two different power planes that can be shorted. Only way to test that is to get a multimeter and try to see if one side have a low resistance to a screw hole and the other one has a not so low resistance to a screw hole. Given the size of that chip though, not sure that would even be possible. It's complicated to explain, so it's very likely that I'm going to do a bad job doing it, but here's an attempt: The reason you don't want something exposed is it's likely to short. Shorting to ground, however, has very little risk, so having the ground plane exposed isn't really that big a deal, plus most other metal (HDMI ports and the IO shield, for instance) are actually connected to ground, so it's not like the ground plane isn't already exposed. If you want to look it up, there are actually a ton of GPUs (mostly very high end) that have exposed ground planes on them for one reason or another. K|NGP|N cards, for instance, were known for this, having exposed ground planes partially for aesthetic benefits (the 1080 Ti's gold edge does look pretty cool) and partially for cooling benefits.
Sure, simply to be clear—you're asking if something could unexpectedly ignite and if electrical tape might help prevent that.
It usually doesn't happen naturally unless something like a screw or a leak gets in the way. There are many safeguards in place, making it very unlikely to cause a real issue and just stop the system. It probably wouldn't cause any damage. The tiny chip might help a bit, but I wouldn't waste time trying it.
I'm referring to some past details about the RX 5000 lineup, so keep that in mind. Back then, they experienced quite high temperatures in the hotspots. The 109 model tops my comfort level, but it should be fine in theory. I’d make sure to verify the thermal paste application just to be cautious.
It looks like the temperature has settled into a stable range around the upper mid to high 90s, with occasional spikes up to 103°C. In softer areas of Heaven 4.0 it's typically between 80-90, while intense moments can reach 101-104. It rarely goes higher now. Edit: It still occasionally hits 106-107 but takes longer to reach it. Worth considering a Kryonaut if you're interested?