The card still has Thermal Pad covers on :O
Yikes! Oh dear, this is NOT good for your graphics card … some guy at the production line must have fallen asleep!
Taken from TPU … A user discovered a manufacturing defect with their PowerColor Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card. Apparently a card still has the protective covers of its thermal pads still in place on a finished graphics card. “angry_kitten” on Reddit posted pictures of a disassembled PowerColor RX 6700 XT graphics card showing protective covers over the thermal pads that pull heat from secondary components such as memory chips and VRM. The user spotted the blue protective film before installing the card, and decided to take the card apart. With modern memory chips and MOSFETs capable of heating up beyond 100 °C, this card would have raised quite a stink. This is likely a defect at the plant that assembles the card, installing the cooler onto the PCB, rather than at the OEM that makes these coolers. These protective covers are meant to be removed at the final assembly line. There’s no evidence at this point to suggest that the issue is widespread.
Source: angry_kitten (Reddit), Igor’s Lab, VideoCardz , TPU