PowerColor Factory Tour

[Space Lynx]

I'm surprised this factory is brand new, considering it still uses manual assembly. From what I understand, ASUS graphic cards have all been auto assembled by robots for many years now, skipping the whole manual assembly section of this article. Not sure, maybe I remember that wrong.

I feel like if I were building a new factory, and the robot tech was there, that's the way I'd go for long term cost savings.

 

[W1zzard]

I feel like if I were building a new factory, and the robot tech was there, that's the way I'd go for long term cost savings.

That depends on the cost of labor and the chance and cost of fixing the robot's mistakes vs humans. Also how complex it is to setup the robots .. it's easy to tell people what to do

 

[user556]

As Elon Musk found to his frustration, it's bloody hard to get robots doing everything just right. And just right is the only option. You have to improve one stage at a time. I've seen much bigger volumes of product going through manual processes.

The Pick'n'Place machines do the vast bulk of the assembly already. Manually attaching the final awkward pieces by hand isn't a big deal. And they are intending to automate more.

 

[redeye]

would the best brand for amd be Sapphire ?

dude, read the room… powercolor or TUL is the best brand…

I wonder if these were made 100% in europe or USA with 100% unionized labour, how much would they cost?


So you finally updated your 2600 sandy bridge??

you know the answer (being from canada)… “ if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”

 

[geniekid]

Very interesting article! I was surprised about the manual TIM application - it's good they're planning on automating that aspect.

 

[mechtech]

dude, read the room… powercolor or TUL is the best brand…


you know the answer (being from canada)… “ if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”

It would probably be double or triple. So could still afford it. Upgrades would be further apart for sure though.

 

[AnotherReader]

Thanks for the great article that's a welcome departure from the norm. It's interesting to see that there are still many manual steps in the assembly process, but given the flexibility of human beings, it isn't surprising.

 

[Yougotonejob]

i was using a random 750w power supply on my build and the coil wine was really bad and when i do heavy stuff its like jet engine even thou my Gpu was not cheap its ASUS Strix so i was upset so i started reding some articles on the internet and some YouTube videos so maybe i can find a fix and a lot of them suggested that the power supply can play a big part of the problem so i said ok and i started a small research on how pick a good power supply and i found this one

it was one of the best back the days so i ordered one after it came i tested it and Gess what it really worked the coil wine is gone and at heavy work you can barely hear it so i understanded something its not always the gpu problem as i was thinking, you don't need the best power supply available as i did i only bought it to test the theory.
i hope this was helpful cheers mate.

plz talk more about your set up. what is your GPU and noise level is about ?% in change.
thanks.

 

[damric]

When I read this I was like lol unigine heaven and furmark. Then I just had to run those for the hwbot cheapaz chips competition...

 

[Wirko]

I think there was a video in circulation showing the Playstation 4 production line in Japan, but I was never able to find it. It's supposed to be fully robotised, with robots also able to handle soft objects such as wires and cables and thin metal shields. It also means that Sony was really confident they would sell tens of millions of PS4, so they invested a lot in automation. Graphics card OEMs can't hope to have nearly as large production runs.

 

[AKBrian]

I think there was a video in circulation showing the Playstation 4 production line in Japan, but I was never able to find it. It's supposed to be fully robotised, with robots also able to handle soft objects such as wires and cables and thin metal shields. It also means that Sony was really confident they would sell tens of millions of PS4, so they invested a lot in automation. Graphics card OEMs can't hope to have nearly as large production runs.

The PlayStation's inner sanctum

Published Jul. 4, 2020 | Sony's top earner, the PS4. How are these popular game consoles made? We were given a tour of the production site that most Sony employees are not even allowed to enter.

vdata.nikkei.com

 

[joemama]

I'm surprised this factory is brand new, considering it still uses manual assembly. From what I understand, ASUS graphic cards have all been auto assembled by robots for many years now, skipping the whole manual assembly section of this article. Not sure, maybe I remember that wrong.

I feel like if I were building a new factory, and the robot tech was there, that's the way I'd go for long term cost savings

Fully automizing everything is very expensive, especially when need high customization.
For highly customized machines, you likely have to stick to the original vendor for any parts or modification so the long term costs may not be low.

 

[Space Lynx]

Fully automizing everything is very expensive, especially when need high customization.
For highly customized machines, you likely have to stick to the original vendor for any parts or modification so the long term costs may not be low.

Now I understand why ASUS charges such a premium... they are the only company that I know of that advertises the gpu's, etc are fully made by robots only.

Heh, I always give ASUS shit, but it makes sense now.

 

[joemama]

Now I understand why ASUS charges such a premium... they are the only company that I know of that advertises the gpu's, etc are fully made by robots only.

Heh, I always give ASUS shit, but it makes sense now.

BTW advertising fully automated processing makes no sense to me
Like if I buy a burger I only care about how it tastes, not how many processes it took to cook it or how experienced the chef is
Only the result has an impact on the consumer, not the process

 

[Space Lynx]

BTW advertising fully automated processing makes no sense to me
Like if I buy a burger I only care about how it tastes, not how many processes it took to cook it or how experienced the chef is
Only the result has an impact on the consumer, not the process

robots are generally better at everything if optimized right, no risk of mistake once everything is setup and verified. where as humans, even if trained perfectly and do well at first, can sometimes make mistakes later on.

also, robots won't spit on my burger.

 

[KrazyT]

also, robots won't spit on my burger.

It will come, it will come ...

I believe some crafting cannot be done by robot ... for now, but repetitive task is what they're designed for ... (and like humans, they stills can broke down)

 

[Space Lynx]

It will come, it will come ...

I believe some crafting cannot be done by robot ... for now, but repetitive task is what they're designed for ... (and like humans, they stills can broke down)

in America we already have several locations of robot only fast food places, and they make it perfect every single time - to order. don't resist!

but yes... more seriously... my area recently got robot trucks too, so now there are less people being employed at the trash pickup company... its just a robot arm that comes down now... we are facing a big change in society I think. if I were president I would offer free community college to everyone for in-demand positions, so if you are displaced, you at least have a way to get the schooling needed for something in-demand that pays well. many states have already moved to a free community college model, but our Congress is so broken it will never happen at the federal level.

 

[ent]

Cool article, nice to see how GPUs are made, but I have one question regarding this part:

In the next stage, a worker uses a stencil to apply a precise amount of thermal paste onto the GPU ASIC die. Previously, PowerColor would use a blob of TIM that's spread under pressure from the cooler, but has since changed it to a stencil-based application method that ensures uniform amounts of TIM. PowerColor intends to upgrade this stage to a fully mechanized TIM application in the near future, using a machine that's essentially similar to the one that applies solder paste in the earlier stages of the automated assembly.

The same statement can be found pretty much in every article about that tour (der8auer also talks about that in his video). Few weeks before people visited PowerColor fab, there was an article about completely borked thermal paste application on PowerColors 7900 XTX cards published by Igors Lab (not sure if linking to competition is allowed, so I am not gonna do it). A lot of users had issues with their PowerColor cards getting ridicolous delta between edge and hot spot temps (+30K), the reports were all over the net even before Igor's article. However, no major media picked up that story, yet all comment on how great new method of application thermal paste as PowerColor lab is gonna be.....

To be completely transparent I bought PowerColor 7900 XTX, my delta between GPU temp and hot spot is around 32 degrees. Hotspot temp reaches 100 C on default settings, PowerColor is not willing to help me, pretty much standard in the business. I will repaste the card myself, lose the warranty, never again buy anything from them, end of story (if card survives ).

What boggles my mind is that all big HW sites ignore the fact that dude, who is pretty well known in the community publishes a piece showing how PowerColor failed pretty hard. 2 weeks later everyone is so pumped about how open about their manufacturing PowerColor is. I can't believe you guys missed the article Igor made, so what's the reason of keeping it quiet?

 

[KrazyT]

Bah, you can apply manualy thermal paste and fail it ... no ?

 

[Wirko]

Igors Lab (not sure if linking to competition is allowed, so I am not gonna do it)

It is allowed and it is common. With a twist: you must not be Igor nor his Lab. At least that's what I can gather from forum rules.

 

[ent]

It is allowed and it is common. With a twist: you must not be Igor nor his Lab. At least that's what I can gather from forum rules.

I am not related to Igor's Lab in any way. This is the article I was talking about:

PowerColor RX 7900XTX Red Devil with built-in manufacturing defect - When the hotspot becomes a performance killer (with repair instructions) - Update | igor´sLAB

I didn’t really want to believe it at first, but after receiving feedback in the double digits, I combined what was pleasant for the customer with what was interesting for me. I analyze and repair the…

www.igorslab.de

You can see how good their TIM application was on some cards.