Both my cards suddenly artifacting

A

arnemetis

2[H]4U
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Aug 2, 2004
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Hello all, I recently replaced my motherboard/cpu/ram in my sig with an asus m5a990fx pro, 8350, and 8gb of ram after I was having endless issues of hard locks and even long periods of being unable to boot. Figured the motherboard was bad with the error code constantly being 23 (chipset initialization.) Now I wonder if it was really both my graphics cards to blame.
2hftfgn.jpg

Previously all my problems were hard locks with the screen becoming a solid color, ALWAYS a solid color. Now I see this weird artifacting and characters, but the system is otherwise usable. Oddly, the second card was initially functioning fine by itself, but over the course of the first few minutes of windows it slows developed artifacts until it was at the same level of distortion as the first card. Here's a video of a boot up to show some of the other fun things it does: dropbox video
1) I have tried each card independantly with the other unplugged.
2) I have tried switching pci express power connectors.
3) I have tried using different monitors and dvi cables.
4) I have tried different ram modules.
5) I have tried reseating, many times.

I finally gave up and pulled a spare 9600gso and threw it in - flawless. I ran OCCT for a while to push the power, with no difference. That pic above is with OCCT running the cpu with the second gpu hooked up, loading doesn't appear to make it any worse.

So, is it possible BOTH have died at the same time? I will admit it is possible something may have transpired during the upgrade process, but it's too odd that they both go from solid freezing to artifacts but no freeze. Is it possible that it's a power problem? My fan has gotten noisy lately, I think the bearing is going but it still seems to push decent power. These cards draw more than a 9600gso but still...

Any thoughts?
 
What about the power supply? Seems to me like you can't rule that out. You have a quality unit but any piece of equipment can be faulty.
 
I have considered that, but I have nothing on hand that is adequate to run the system. I wonder if there is any other way to test that out?
*edit* If I were to run down to microcenter, would an 850w be adequate? I remember loading my gpus and old cpu and seeing maybe 700w max load on my ups. I've upped the ante on the cpu, but the raid card and those drives aren't there anymore.
 
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2x EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked @ 735/1512/1300
Click to expand...

these cards...which i imagine are just like my evga and bfg 280's are known for going bad over time...there pretty easy to fix by baking them.....i rma'd one to fix it.....the other was a bfg that was about to be thrown in the trash by my brother....took it apart and cleaned it...baked it...was good as new (and the image from both cards looked a lot like that before baking)

course there both in the closet now replaced by one 7970...I think those older cards are heavily vram limited these days
 
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Hes probably thinking no way both cards failed the same time....it is a little odd....but the fact the older replacement card works perfect rules out all other possibility's...in my mind
 
I saw quite a few 260 failed. I can't believe you had two at once. It's possible something went wrong on one, overheated and that killed the second from the heat as well.
 
Why don't you try using only one of the video cards hooked up to a separate PSU like Brent did for the R9 295 + R9 290x review.

If your PSU is overheating due to a bad fan, it will reduce the wattage output and thus the power hunger GPUs will starve for power.
 
Tried using a secondary PSU to power just the video cards - no dice. It was an old antec earthwatts 430w with dual 17 amp 12v rails, jumpered it and used a 2 molex to 6 pin pcie adapter. I tried powering just 1 card - same artifacting. I tried powering just the second card - same deal. So it appears it is not the power supply, and I will have to bake. I will be testing one card at a time of course, hope I don't kill it.
 
I have a literally brand new Corsair AX860i PSU I would sale you for $150+10 shipping. I think these go for about $250. It doesn't have dust or a sratch one on the PSU. All parts included, even the unused usb ilink cable.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I have a literally brand new Corsair AX860i PSU I would sale you for $150+10 shipping. I think these go for about $250. It doesn't have dust or a sratch one on the PSU. All parts included, even the unused usb ilink cable.
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He has a Corsair hx1000w PSU which appears to be in working order...I would imagine he's money is better spent on newer graphics cards...assuming his try at baking the cards is unsuccessful...he should get out of this spending nothing if the bake method works..at least until he feels like upgrading ...
 
Well I baked the card at 385 for 9 minutes, after carefully cleaning the card and removing the waterblock and pci slot bracket. Unfortunately, now it no longer posts. I tried different power connectors, reseating, no good. Trying the second card out still posts, with the same artifacting. So I either fully killed it during the reinstall, or the baking actually killed it. So now it appears I'm on the hunt for new graphics card(s)! Yaaay...
 
arnemetis said:
Well I baked the card at 385 for 9 minutes, after carefully cleaning the card and removing the waterblock and pci slot bracket. Unfortunately, now it no longer posts. I tried different power connectors, reseating, no good. Trying the second card out still posts, with the same artifacting. So I either fully killed it during the reinstall, or the baking actually killed it. So now it appears I'm on the hunt for new graphics card(s)! Yaaay...
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear baking didn't work out for you...sounds like you did it correctly..it just wasn't meant to be....but its a great time to get a new card..prices are down on both camps right now...i was running (2) GeForce 280's in sli...just for reference...and this cheap 7970 (about 200 after rebates and selling games) was a huge upgrade in gaming

I keep my 280's just for emergency backup...had to put it back in after trying an incompatible bios on my 7970....but aside from that they both collect dust in the closet

Any thoughts on a replacement card?
 
Well I'd like to keep with water cooling, which skews prices when you have to add blocks to the cost of cards. I've got a pretty good offer right now on a pair of 560tis with the waterblocks included, not the newest cards but the price is right and it's still a decent upgrade for me. Will entertain any awesome offers of course :D
 
what is your total budget...one of us might spot something for you...could a swore i saw an add for a 290 with water block the other day..but we need your budget to be honest
I do see a MSI R9 290 reference - $290 shipped per ssnyder28 in For Sale / Trade area (maybe he take less?).....i wonder how expensive a block would be?

EK Radeon R9-290X VGA Liquid Cooling Block Rev 2.0 Price: $119.9...guess they aren't super cheap:eek:
 
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No blocks are pricey, hell the 280 blocks with backplates I believe were $150 each back when I got them, so I turned my $310 cards into $460 each lol. Anyway I'm not looking to spend much more than $200, so maintaining watercooling makes this a difficult thing to do. Still looking for work and the money I do have I plan on using to get a car so I can GET to work.
 
ok so your budget is $200 grand total? that gives us all something to look out for...hey you never know...would be sweet to score a 280x with waterblock for that price....and i think it would be very nice if located......mining crazy is over...so it definitely possible ...and you be blown away with the upgrade if found :D
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles :( I was plagued by a similar issue before. I was running a single 7970 at the time with a Raidmax 700w psu lmao. The psu turned out to be the problem. Because now I run 2 7970 in CFX with a XFX 1250w pus and i haven't experienced any artifacting whatsoever. I took a picture of it at the time, if i find it ill post it. Hope you get your rig lined out.
 
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