Chinese GPU manufacturer Zephyr confirms dead RDNA 2 GPU chips due to cracking, bulging, or shorting — Company says it has replaced several dead Navi 21 cores under warranty

Trays of dead high-end RDNA 2 GPU cores.

In 2023, reports of dead Navi 21 GPUs began to surface, raising questions about the cause of the surge. While this was essentially a contained, isolated event that has since been put to bed, we've now received an update to the story more than a year later. Zephyr, a GPU brand from China, has just revealed that it has replaced numerous high-end RDNA 2 GPUs under warranty to date, all of which had dead cores. The company also displayed GPU dies that had died due to cracking, bulging, or shorting, saying there was "a 1% chance of it exploding every year" in reference to the odds of this occurring to users.

zephyr西风, a gpu brand in china, showed a tray of dead rdna2 (6800/6900xt) gpu dies, to prove that zephyr is willing to handle rma regardless of whether the gpu die is shorted / cracked / has the substrate blistered.afaik, this is the first time a gpu brand confirmed these… pic.twitter.com/YjgAz1h1JfDecember 27, 2025