Radeon users are experiencing fan issues with the Crimson driver

When AMD prepares for 2016, it’s not just about new hardware. The company is also making a real comeback around the drivers, where the result is a retirement of Catalyst in favor of the new Radeon Software.

The first version of the software was rolled out last week under the name Crimson. The package includes, among other things, a completely new interface and optimized performance in many titles, as well as not least substantial improvements to the Freesync technology.

By all accounts, however, some bugs have found their way into the software, where one in particular is making waves on discussion forums around the world. In short, it is a matter of the fan speed in some cases being locked to a fixed value, where the graphics card is not allowed to compensate for higher loads.

The result is rampant temperatures and, according to reports on Reddit, among others, the risk of the graphics card being damaged. The behavior is also confirmed by users in SweClocker’s forum, but apparently does not apply to all configurations. However, Radeon users are strongly advised to check their own system to avoid problems.

Fan problems with new drivers are uncommon, but not unknown. One notable case is the Nvidia Geforce 196.75 software, which made graphics cards sweat on the assembly line in March 2010. Even then, it was a matter of the fan speed being locked to a certain level, regardless of temperature and load.

Update: AMD confirms that some configurations are affected by fan concerns with Radeon Software Crimson. The company’s engineers have identified the problem, and updated software is promised on Monday.

We’re aware of isolated reports of low fan states following the installation of Radeon Software ‘Crimson Edition’ on select Radeon GPUs. Our engineering teams have identified and addressed this issue, and we intend to release a hotfix on amd.com this coming Monday, November 30th.