R290 Crashing issues

S

slunge

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 1, 2003
Messages
216
Hi All

Ive had a R290 sitting about for a good while that I hadnt got round to installing, due to the fact it didnt fit in my old Lian Li case.

Just moved to a Fractal R5 case and as a result now have room for it, just installed and updated drivers etc. Its crashing over and over when under load (initally noticed this behavior when updating windows experience, even that crashed out the driver). Then playing quake live resulted in similar issues.

I tried downclocking memory and gpu, same problem - overvolting to imrpove stability same problem.

Then.. tried dropping target gpu temp down as low as it will go and raised max fan speed - which seems to stabilise it (also raised memory and gpu frequency back to default, still stable providing fan is screaming).

Im assuming this is down to a terrible fitting heat sink or VRM temps - is this something fixable by reseating the reference heatsink or should I be going aftermarket cooling (was thinking Gelid Icy rev2).

thanks for any pointers.
 
Make sure that you have two dedicated PCI-E leads coming from your PSU to the card, not a shared or split PCI-E connector.
 
What are your temps? What PSU do you have?

Also, make sure you are using 2 separate rails on the power supply to power the card.

If you have a semi-modular PSU like HX850, DO NOT USE the 8 pin that comes out with a 24 pin mobo connector.
 
Hi, thanks for the replies.

Psu wise I'm using a corsair hx750, with a fairly light install (see sig). Dedicated gpu power leads as the psu is modular and only has one connector per cable (I can try plugging one of the power leads in to a different connector to see if it moves rails).

Temp wise, all very reasonable, I haven't checked vrms etc yet and need some software to check but with the fan screaming I'm 60/70ish - the new fractal r5 case has v good throughput also.

Annoyingly now, it also seems I'm getting blue screens when not gaming and not under load on the desktop, I will try a different driver, and maybe my old 280x just to confirm its not something shorting I'm my case,
 
I had a weeird issue with my HX850 where if the 2 8 pin connectors were connected next to each other horizontally my 290 would crash. I connected them next to each other vertically and had no issues since then. If that does not solve the problem, then it sounds like your card might be toast.
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dangman might have more insight on this but at first blush it seems like a 12v rail issue. that is when the pci-e connectors are top to bottom, the card is drawing from the same 12v rail.
 
Currrently have 2x pci-e power connectors connected vertically (same as in the pic). I changed the target temp right down, and upped the max fan speed and it seemed to settle things down (and oddly no crashes on desktop).

Since yesterday, have now fitted an Accelero extreme III, along with vrm and ram sinks. So far so good - no noise, nice low temps, and no crashes yet....

Had it looking Heaven Benchmark on repeat to give it some work to do, so fingers cross so far.

Also for anyone who is interested (as I was yesterday before buying the accelero xtreme) - you do not need to purchase additional ram sinks for a r290 (alot of places I read suggested you did).

providing you are happy to use a couple of the included ram sinks, and use across 2 ram chips at a time - everything you need is in the box. (have pics of the install if its of use to anyone).

thanks for your help
 
Before the accelero, it was a reference 4g gigabyte r290, bought fairly early on for bc mining but rarely used, then it wouldn't fit in my old gaming case until I replaced the case (would have had no chance with the accelero on it, it's huge).

Crashing wise, initally it was screen artefacts followed by notification that the driver had crashed /recovered (similar to too high over locking attempts on previous cards). Then seemed to move on to random blue screens and hard lockups.

Had no issues before installing, was using a 280x before.
 
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What does it have now for cooling? Do the temps skyrocket once you present a load to it? Can you make it through any 3d benchmarks without crashing? Have you been swapping heat sinks around? Are you certain whatever is attached now is properly installed? If you are seeing artifacts before the crash, you're most likely not cooling it properly. I've seen some terrible looking reference heat sinks surfaces (that raised copper area) that were not flat at all where they should be mating with the main GPU chip.
 
seanmcd said:
What does it have now for cooling? Do the temps skyrocket once you present a load to it? Can you make it through any 3d benchmarks without crashing? Have you been swapping heat sinks around? Are you certain whatever is attached now is properly installed? If you are seeing artifacts before the crash, you're most likely not cooling it properly. I've seen some terrible looking reference heat sinks surfaces (that raised copper area) that were not flat at all where they should be mating with the main GPU chip.
Click to expand...

I took off the reference cooler 2 days ago and put on the accelero xtreme 3 - temps are v good (60 tops for core, 52 for vrm1 and 2). As for swapping around, no just the single swap, the artifacts and crashing were with the reference cooler on, so far so good since putting the accerlero on.
 
OK yeah I think I read every post in the thread except the one where you state that! I have the same setup - works great. I never used any RAM sinks either.
 
slunge said:
I took off the reference cooler 2 days ago and put on the accelero xtreme 3 - temps are v good (60 tops for core, 52 for vrm1 and 2). As for swapping around, no just the single swap, the artifacts and crashing were with the reference cooler on, so far so good since putting the accerlero on.
Click to expand...

What are you using to read the VRM temps? I assume you are using GPU-Z? VRM1 is the main VRM and 52C is insanely cool, as in what I get on my sig rig with 590mm of high output rad space and water (duh)...Now to see VRM2 that cool that is understandable since its just a single tiny chip..
 
There is more to power supply's then just watts as just because it says 750watts does not mean it has enough amps to power the card and keep it powered .
 
ccityinstaller said:
What are you using to read the VRM temps? I assume you are using GPU-Z? VRM1 is the main VRM and 52C is insanely cool, as in what I get on my sig rig with 590mm of high output rad space and water (duh)...Now to see VRM2 that cool that is understandable since its just a single tiny chip..
Click to expand...



GPU-Z indeed. since installing the accelero, things seem all good now, bear in mind this is with the 3x 90mm running over it.
 
Somewhat agree but this corsair PSU should cover that 290's requirements, its not pushing the envelope IMO.

Issue appeared to lie with the cooling on the card, as I say since getting the accelero up and running properly, everything appears to have settled down without issue.
 
slunge said:
Somewhat agree but this corsair PSU should cover that 290's requirements, its not pushing the envelope IMO.

Issue appeared to lie with the cooling on the card, as I say since getting the accelero up and running properly, everything appears to have settled down without issue.
Click to expand...

I would even go on to say that it was probably the thermal paste. It gets old and literally turns to dust or worse cement. Probably could have gotten away with slapping on a new application. But I'm like you. If I'm going to spend the time to open it, then I'm going to make it better.

My Corsair watercooling kit is on it's way from Amazon and a new H80 replacement from Corsair RMA is coming also. I hope that it assembles as easy as your kit. ;)
 
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