• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

5870 gray screen crash.

This problem just started with 9.11 Cats. I've uninstalled Afterburner from the machine, seems like these crashes were related. Since removing afterburner I've yet to have an issue.
 
I am using afturburner with a Sapphire 5850 win7 64 bit, not had a grey screen since i installed 9.12 hotfix drivers, things seem ok now for me, i am runing it at stock all the time except when i game, then i change to my overclocked profile.

I have noticed some ppl r flashing their bios to overclock when this is not necessary, all u need is afturburner and to alter its config file to allow clocking beyond what the drivers will allow.

I bet there will be a new driver release soon or a vid card bios flash to resolve these issues.

When experimenting with oclocking the 5850's mem i noticed if i pushed it too far i got a grey screen crash due to not enough voltage to the mem for the given clock speed, this is possibly whats happening with stock cards when they are idling and at load, i think its fair to say that if amd undervolted things at idle then its probable that its the same for under load, seems amd have been working hard to get power usage down and ended up too far on the lean side of things, just my theory, i am probably totally wrong!
 
NIKO-007 said:
[snip]
When experimenting with oclocking the 5850's mem i noticed if i pushed it too far i got a grey screen crash due to not enough voltage to the mem for the given clock speed, this is possibly whats happening with stock cards when they are idling and at load, i think its fair to say that if amd undervolted things at idle then its probable that its the same for under load, seems amd have been working hard to get power usage down and ended up too far on the lean side of things, just my theory, i am probably totally wrong!
Click to expand...

that actually make a slot of sense.. it's hard to validate these kinds of things until they hit the street.. and some mem chips that end up on these cards might be more sensitive to minor voltage differences and fail while on the threshold of minimum voltage than other chips.. Glad to hear something positive about the hotfix driver clearing this up for someone.. well, here's hoping the card I get it stable.. :)
 
DOWN-CLOCK YOUR CPU!

I dropped my i7 back to stock and I haven't crashed since!

6 flawless hours of Dragon Age!

I want other people to try this to see if this is an actual fix.
 
Wests said:
DOWN-CLOCK YOUR CPU!

I dropped my i7 back to stock and I haven't crashed since!

6 flawless hours of Dragon Age!

I want other people to try this to see if this is an actual fix.
Click to expand...

That means your overclock wasn't stable in the first place
 
Wests said:
DOWN-CLOCK YOUR CPU!

I dropped my i7 back to stock and I haven't crashed since!

6 flawless hours of Dragon Age!

I want other people to try this to see if this is an actual fix.
Click to expand...

I just uninstalled afterburner and set OC to 950/1300 (flashed asus bios) and no problems. I have been using 1000 core @ 1.187v since I got the card and never had this crash till 9.11. Its something with afterburner and 9.11+ drivers but removing afterburner fixed it for me. I dont think it was changing voltages properly anymore for the card.
 
As a point of interest, my card idles at 0.949mV as shown in afturburner and jumps to 1.087mV under load, i read on here somewhere that cards with a plug in the second dvi slot idle a little higher than 1 without, can any 1 with just 1 panel attatched verify this ?

If i were still suffering grey screens what i would do is make an afterburner profile and set mV to 1.100mV and touch nothing else, then if u do not get any grey screens in a few days u deffinitely know that it is a volting issue of some sort.
 
Hmmm...I wonder if anyone got this grey screen crash without overclocking their card from day one. Maybe some of you guys oc'd your cards and messed it up. There is probably even less head room on the 5870 then at launch, since ATI has now had a chance to bin the cards.
 
PS3 said:
Hmmm...I wonder if anyone got this grey screen crash without overclocking their card from day one. Maybe some of you guys oc'd your cards and messed it up. There is probably even less head room on the 5870 then at launch, since ATI has now had a chance to bin the cards.
Click to expand...

Yeah i had the grey screen issue b4 i tried clocking, i did not try clocking till i installed the 9.12 drivers, no way was i going to even try clocking if the card was unstable out of the box.

So in short, NO, we have not damaged our cards by clocking ;)
 
how many people grey crash or gc when somthn is in running in background ?
i notice i am always downloading somthn..eg- movie torents - [no not those kind of movies] !
when i play l4d2 and gray screen crash.randomly. I am now tesating and not dloading .
 
No grey screen here. Stock or oc'ed. At 900 / 1300 maxed CCC Overdrive. I only got it one time when the card was overclocked and not enough fan rpms were going.

It's user error.
 
I'm sorry, but it is NOT user error. We are not n00b/average users. Take a look around the web (i.e. Guru3D, XtremeSystems, AMD Game forums, MS Technet forums, Anandtech forums, Toms Hardware forums, Overclocker UK forums, etc.). This problem IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. The n00b/average user is expected to drop the card in and install the driver. Done. We happen to know much more than that when it comes to installation, config, troubleshooting, etc.

I have been building high-end gaming machines for over 10 years now. I have extreme OCD when it comes to clean/stable builds. I do not overclock at all (gasp!). Ever since I built my latest rig and installed this 5870 (about 1 month ago now), I have been getting the dreaded grey screen/vertical line crashes. See my sig for specs.

I have tried:

1. Reformatting Windows 7 Ultimate x64 three times now.
2. Disable HDMI audio in Device Manager.
3. Disable all non-Microsoft services and all start-up items in msconfig
4. 9.11, 9.11 + Dirt2 hotfix, 9.12, 9.12 + hotfix and I even flashed the VGA BIOS to the latest official ATI release.
5. Profile hack (raising 2D GPU and MEM clocks)
6. Under clocking the card below official specs via Overdrive.
7. I have all the latest drivers, firmware, patches, BIOS, Windows Updates, etc.
8. Trust me...cooling is NOT an issue in my machine. I have several 120mm and 140mm Noctua fans running and my case is huge and cable managed. LOTS of cool air flow.

The problem continues.

I am thinking this has got to be bad silicon from TSMC. Its not stable. Something to do with voltages and speeds and maybe even Powerplay....or as someone apparently heard from an ATI rep....something is degrading out of spec.

Maybe this only affects the first batch that went out??? I purchased my card as soon as it hit retail online (09/23/2009). I was not able to complete my build and test it until about 1 month ago.

The only other rumor was from someone on the AMD Game forums that claimed AMD told them it was a Windows update that causes the issue.

So we still need to confirm a few more options:

1. Reformat Windows 7, but do not install any updates.
2. Try Catalyst 9.10
 
Last week, I called Newegg to try and RMA my nearly $400 dollar XFX 5870. Since it had been nearly two months I was told I would have to deal directly with XFX. I was extremely frustrated with all the constant crashing etc etc.

The guy on the other side of the phone also added that, "off the record" a rep with ATI had spoke with a few of the people there at Newegg and had told them, the problem is very wide spread and that one of the things they are looking at is a small part / component of the video card that is rapidly degrading out of spec.

I then contacted the only other email I had of someone that worked in the hardware sector, a guy I became friends with who works at XXXXX. Yes, I know, they make mice. But I thought it was a shot since he is a very hardware and performance oriented and has and still does attend many trade shows, lan parties etc. So I emailed him and received a response this morning.

He basically confirmed what I had heard from the Newegg customer rep. But where the CSR at Newegg said that could be one of the problems, my friend said they had heard it "was" the problem. To me, this would explain the same problem everyone is having but at the same time how random it appears. I am no expert. edit: I also want to add, and I forgot he had said this, he also mentioned not to be surprised if there is a massive card recall, not thru ATI but from the different card resellers, of course supported by ATI. He also mentioned he had heard there had been a few meetings at ATI over this issue and that it seemed pretty serious.

What really bothers me is why HardOCP or one of the other top news sites doesn't get an offical comment for us from ATI since they all clearly have friends at ATI.

Why hasn't ATI come out and talked about this problem?

Why are we even dealing with this, seemingly alone. I mean, this is a huge huge problem and no one is coming up to bat for us little guys and getting answers?

Eyeinfinity is cool and all but honestly, I'm looking at Nvidia as my new home. I am currently trying to get rid of my 5870 card. Not only that, I canceled my plans to purchase 3 new 32" LCDs for my Eyeinfinity setup.

And, to anyone curious, yes I reformatted, CPU or GPU or MEMORY was not overclocked. Many fresh installs between two different machines.... end result, gray vert lines crash screen hardlock. Basically, the same thing that has been happening to thousands of other owners. I've had nearly 100 crashes to date.

Why is ATI letting this continue? Why haven't they come out and talked about this huge huge problem?
 
Last edited:
Last week, I called Newegg to try and RMA my nearly $400 dollar XFX 5870. Since it had been nearly two months I was told I would have to deal directly with XFX. I was extremely frustrated with all the constant crashing etc etc.

The guy on the other side of the phone also added that, "off the record" a rep with ATI had spoke with a few of the people there at Newegg and had told them, the problem is very wide spread and that one of the things they are looking at is a small part / component of the video card that is rapidly degrading out of spec.

I then contacted the only other email I had of someone that worked in the hardware sector, a guy I became friends with who works at XXXXX. Yes, I know, they make mice. But I thought it was a shot since he is a very hardware and performance oriented and has and still does attend many trade shows, lan parties etc. So I emailed him and received a response this morning.

He basically confirmed what I had heard from the Newegg customer rep. But where the CSR at Newegg said that could be one of the problems, my friend said they had heard it "was" the problem. To me, this would explain the same problem everyone is having but at the same time how random it appears. I am no expert.

What really bothers me is why HardOCP or one of the other top news sites doesn't get an offical comment for us from ATI since they all clearly have friends at ATI.

Why hasn't ATI come out and talked about this problem.

Eyeinfinity is cool and all but honestly, I'm looking at Nvidia as my new home. I am currently trying to get rid of my 5870 card. Not only that, I canceled my plans to purchase 3 new 32" LCDs for my Eyeinfinity setup.

And, to anyone curious, yes I reformatted, CPU or GPU or MEMORY was not overclocked. Many fresh installs between two different machines.... end result, gray vert lines crash screen hardlock. Basically, the same thing that has been happening to thousands of other issues. I've had nearly 100 crashes to date.

Why is ATI letting this continue? Why haven't they come out and talked about this huge huge problem?
 
SixFootDuo said:
Why hasn't ATI come out and talked about this problem.

Eyeinfinity is cool and all but honestly, I'm looking at Nvidia as my new home. I am currently trying to get rid of my 5870 card. Not only that, I canceled my plans to purchase 3 new 32" LCDs for my Eyeinfinity setup.

And, to anyone curious, yes I reformatted, CPU or GPU or MEMORY was not overclocked. Many fresh installs between two different machines.... end result, gray vert lines crash screen hardlock. Basically, the same thing that has been happening to thousands of other issues. I've had nearly 100 crashes to date.

Why is ATI letting this continue? Why haven't they come out and talked about this huge huge problem?
Click to expand...

Because it would be a PR disaster. "Hey we have the fastest cards in town but a small side note, they crash all the time"

Note: I went from a 5870 to 2 GTX 285's.
 
I just did some follow up testing to test a theory.

Now I have been running 1Ghz, 1300 @ 1.187v since I got this card. Never had a grey screen crash till cats 9.11 arrived. Anyways, after uninstalling Afterburner and setting my OC to 950 / 1300 @ stock voltages (my card is already flashed with Asus bios) I've had no issues.

Initial testing when I first received the card showed that @ 1Ghz, stock volts my card would lock or BSOD which I why I needed the bump in voltage to 1.187v. When this started happening in 9.11 I bumped to 1.25v and it would still randomly happen.

So tonight for shits and giggles without afterburner installed I OC'd to 1000 / 1300 @ stock volts. Within about 2 minutes in COD MW2 I crashed to the Grey screen exactly the same as when I was overclocked in afterbuner to 1Ghz @ 1.187v. So here is the problem - either the voltage isn't applying properly - or is at some point dipping from what is set in Afterburner ***OR*** something in the Cats 9.11 and 9.12 is causing a sudden drop in core voltage which causes the card to crash with this grey screen (powerplay possibly?). At 950 core I have absolutely no problems, it has never crashed - but I know 1Ghz needs a touch more voltage and this has been where its crashed with 9.11 + 9.12.

Now if you are having the same problem stock then you have a different issue. if you are overclocking - drop your overclock a bit and see if its stable. Once you get to the point where you dont need the forced extra voltage from Afterburner I'd imagine you will find your card stable again too.

Hopefully this information is useful to someone else out there. Not sure what ATI is going to do for people that overclock, I guess stick with 9.10 and you will be fine as I never had an issue till I went to 9.11. I can live @ 950/1300 watercooled with load temps about 35c. :)
 
this all smells so much like the GTX280 launch... tons of cards failing with what appears to be a hardware issue but it's really tough to pin down.. very random and wide spread...

well.. here's hoping the card I get is a good one.
 
Compddd said:
That means your overclock wasn't stable in the first place
Click to expand...

Prime 95 ran for 26 hours with sub 80c temps and no errors when I had an OC'd GTX 295. Maybe the inherent instability of the 5870s are pushing things over the edge?
 
mike_j_johnson said:
I'm sorry, but it is NOT user error. We are not n00b/average users. Take a look around the web (i.e. Guru3D, XtremeSystems, AMD Game forums, MS Technet forums, Anandtech forums, Toms Hardware forums, Overclocker UK forums, etc.). This problem IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. The n00b/average user is expected to drop the card in and install the driver. Done. We happen to know much more than that when it comes to installation, config, troubleshooting, etc.

I have been building high-end gaming machines for over 10 years now. I have extreme OCD when it comes to clean/stable builds. I do not overclock at all (gasp!). Ever since I built my latest rig and installed this 5870 (about 1 month ago now), I have been getting the dreaded grey screen/vertical line crashes. See my sig for specs.

I have tried:

1. Reformatting Windows 7 Ultimate x64 three times now.
2. Disable HDMI audio in Device Manager.
3. Disable all non-Microsoft services and all start-up items in msconfig
4. 9.11, 9.11 + Dirt2 hotfix, 9.12, 9.12 + hotfix and I even flashed the VGA BIOS to the latest official ATI release.
5. Profile hack (raising 2D GPU and MEM clocks)
6. Under clocking the card below official specs via Overdrive.
7. I have all the latest drivers, firmware, patches, BIOS, Windows Updates, etc.
8. Trust me...cooling is NOT an issue in my machine. I have several 120mm and 140mm Noctua fans running and my case is huge and cable managed. LOTS of cool air flow.

The problem continues.

I am thinking this has got to be bad silicon from TSMC. Its not stable. Something to do with voltages and speeds and maybe even Powerplay....or as someone apparently heard from an ATI rep....something is degrading out of spec.

Maybe this only affects the first batch that went out??? I purchased my card as soon as it hit retail online (09/23/2009). I was not able to complete my build and test it until about 1 month ago.

The only other rumor was from someone on the AMD Game forums that claimed AMD told them it was a Windows update that causes the issue.

So we still need to confirm a few more options:

1. Reformat Windows 7, but do not install any updates.
2. Try Catalyst 9.10
Click to expand...

I've tried all the drivers. Even 8.651. No dice

I put in a tip to ENGADGET and linked a bunch of forum posts. I suggest everyone do the same (go to the top bar and click the red "tip us"). If we can get ENGADGET involved we may get a statement from ATi.
 
Last edited:
Just recieved my XFX 5870 XXX and I am having all the same issues. I had a Nvidia gtx 280 before this and never had a single issue. So much for coming to ATi again and having issues right off the bat. They better fix this FAST!!!! :mad::mad:
 
revenant said:
this all smells so much like the GTX280 launch... tons of cards failing with what appears to be a hardware issue but it's really tough to pin down.. very random and wide spread...

well.. here's hoping the card I get is a good one.
Click to expand...

Funny I had 3 4870's fail on me each within a month so I was able to RMA. After the third one I went to a 260GTX, then 280 GTX, never had a problem with either.

No one is immune.
 
I'm getting so @#%@ing frustrated that I even bought this 5850. I have had nothing but issues with grey screen crashes for 2 months now, and hoping it was just drivers issues I can't even RMA it back to newegg now. I've contacted Sapphire support which was useless, and have formatted, reinstalled windows, installed multiple drivers versions, and the same issues keep coming back. If this is how ATI cards perform I can tell already I'm going back to Nvidia for stability.
 
I just got my HIS 5970, last friday, and I have to say that its been fubar of an experience. OC to whatever setting will get me a lock or black screen when I game. Even at 800/1100 on stock or 1.10v, which everyone seems to attain easily, I get a lock or balck screen when gaming. I have never had my system crash when running dual 260 but this card is giving my load of grief.
Hopefully running on stock presently would provide me with some stability. After having spent so much on a card and getting griefed is what one expects from a card supposedly with hand picked chips.
 
Why is this such a big problem? Can't you just RMA the card back to the partner directly and get a replacement? It's obviously a hardware issue from reading many of the posts, you shouldn't be getting the card and "running it for 2 months" when theres an obvious problem like this. If there is an error then you need to immediately raise an RMA support ticket with the manufacturer.
 
Nonpareil said:
I just got my HIS 5970, last friday, and I have to say that its been fubar of an experience. OC to whatever setting will get me a lock or black screen when I game. Even at 800/1100 on stock or 1.10v, which everyone seems to attain easily, I get a lock or balck screen when gaming. I have never had my system crash when running dual 260 but this card is giving my load of grief.
Hopefully running on stock presently would provide me with some stability. After having spent so much on a card and getting griefed is what one expects from a card supposedly with hand picked chips.
Click to expand...

Sucks but I don't think these cards are guaranteed to run over stock clocks.
 
Very doubtful this issue will be getting fixed anytime soon. This product was shipped with this problem full well known by ATI. Product was rushed to market and not tested as it should have been. I've had the gray vert crash hardlocks since day one.

I would suggest you hold off any plans whatsoever of buying an ATI product. Also, IF you have an ATI product, I would try and get it sold FAST before any value is lost.

Sold mine this evening via eBay and have already ordered a Nvidia 295. Pretty excited.

So much for eyeinfinity, ATI had something good, I know I was excited at first. unfortunately, as we all know, problems like this can make or break a brandname for that generation of hardware. The trend I am seeing lately is the smart people getting out while the getting is good.

I had a huge compiled a huge list of threads on different forums of this issue and was going to post it but decided not to fan the flames of ATI rage. I will say, there are over 30 different active forum threads, some small and some over a week old, but still. This is a massive massive nightmare for ATI.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Very doubtful this issue will be getting fixed anytime soon. This product was shipped with this problem full well known by ATI. Product was rushed to market and not tested as it should have been. I've had the gray vert crash hardlocks since day one.

I would suggest you hold off any plans whatsoever of buying an ATI product. Also, IF you have an ATI product, I would try and get it sold FAST before any value is lost.

Sold mine this evening via eBay and have already ordered a Nvidia 295. Pretty excited.

So much for eyeinfinity, ATI had something good, I know I was excited at first. unfortunately, as we all know, problems like this can make or break a brandname for that generation of hardware. The trend I am seeing lately is the smart people getting out while the getting is good.

I had a huge compiled a huge list of threads on different forums of this issue and was going to post it but decided not to fan the flames of ATI rage. I will say, there are over 30 different active forum threads, some small and some over a week old, but still. This is a massive massive nightmare for ATI.
Click to expand...

Send all your info to Engadget.
 
I have signed up just to post on this subject! Please forgive me, as I have not read all 14 prior pages.

I noticed from some of the, sigs that a lot of you are running x64 & 8GB of ram, it is my understanding from personal experience, that the ATI driver has "issues" with large memory systems.

I was upgrading a friends system a few months back, which was a stable, non overclocked system my friend was VERY happy with, from 4GB & a 8800GT to 8GB & a 4870, I chose to re-install windows XP x64 from scratch, as I tell ALL my friends to use external drives to keep personal data on.

Install went without a hitch with the new components in, I then set about the task of installing the drivers, within 15mins of installing the ATI GPU & Intel MB drivers, the system was blue screening randomly, If I ran a game, very quickly it would RTD, become unstable & eventually BS & crash.

To cut a VERY long story short, after a weeks worth of extensive system checking, I discovered that with all 4 slots populated (with 2GB dimms) the system was unstable, only after installing the ATI drivers! (the ram was thoroughly checked on multiple systems & was A OK)

With this realisation, I removed 4GB of ram, and to this day, the system is humming along nicely.

I sincerely hope this may be of use to any of you experiencing issues with your 5xxx series cards, I did not intend for this post to be/become an anti-ATI post as I believe they make some great hardware.

Here's hoping there is some word from ATI on this soon!

Slowflow
 
I'm getting a XFX 5870 today and I have win7 x64 with 8GB. I won't OC and will let you know if I have any problems.

I saw a few mentions about 4870s dying too. Mine has lasted over a year, and I think it's due to me manually cranking the fan to 50% with a hotkey when i'm gaming, then setting it back to 20% when not gaming.

If I have to take 4GB out of my rig to be stable i'm gonna be super pissed.
 
Ugh...with 9.10 I seemed to have some stability. 9.11 brought a bunch of random bsods. 9.12 brought back the grey/beige screen crashes. I just got 3 in about an hour.

I hope for atis sake this isn't hardware related, or else they're in for a hell of a lot of returns/exchanges.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Very doubtful this issue will be getting fixed anytime soon. This product was shipped with this problem full well known by ATI. Product was rushed to market and not tested as it should have been. I've had the gray vert crash hardlocks since day one.

I would suggest you hold off any plans whatsoever of buying an ATI product. Also, IF you have an ATI product, I would try and get it sold FAST before any value is lost.

Sold mine this evening via eBay and have already ordered a Nvidia 295. Pretty excited.
Click to expand...

Yeah, unload your possibly defective card "fast" to someone on eBay. I'm guessing you didn't bother to disclose that yours was locking up. Good job.
 
Wazooty said:
Ugh...with 9.10 I seemed to have some stability. 9.11 brought a bunch of random bsods. 9.12 brought back the grey/beige screen crashes. I just got 3 in about an hour.

I hope for atis sake this isn't hardware related, or else they're in for a hell of a lot of returns/exchanges.
Click to expand...

this is what i noticed too, i just got a 4850 and 9.10 works flawlessly, anything after that bsods left and right.
 
PS3 said:
Sucks but I don't think these cards are guaranteed to run over stock clocks.
Click to expand...

All cards are not guranteed to run at overclocked speeds, with the possible few rare exceptions where cards may have been sold with a guranteed overclocking rate (I've never seen it personally but have seen it done with CPUs)

Of all cards the 5970 is more likely to give better overclocks simply because the hardware is rated for 5870 speeds but runs at 5850 speeds, so chances are you'll get 5870 speeds with no issue.

If you're having trouble reaching 5870 speeds on a 5970 then chances are something is wrong with the card, but since it runs fine at stock then you have no grounds to send it back. That's just the nature of overclocking I'm afraid, not all parts are made equal and some yield better results than others.

If all cards of a specific model were "guaranteed" to run at a faster speed then the manufacturer would probably just sell that speed as stock for the card anyway, in reality that isn't the case for all cards, so the lowest common denominator values are used which are guranteed to work on all correctly functioning chips.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top