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Corrupted display signal?

H

Haswell

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Jan 24, 2010
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I've been getting this problem for a while, but recently it's increasing in frequency. The display basically drops out of alignment with part of the screen containing flickering lines based on what I think it's the refresh rate. Left becomes right and vice versa. I can usually fix this by unplugging the display for a few minutes, but it's getting more and more frequent. I'm pretty sure digital signals died on the card as well, as DVI and HDMI both doesn't work now, leaving only the DVI-VGA analog signals, and even that faces the same issues.
5TXg4l.jpg


Tried swapping displays and cables, not the card itself as I don't have a replacement. Card is a DirectCU II 6950 (unlocked shaders and OC'd).

Any help would be appreciated.
 
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This happens when your memory is OCed too high. It sounds like some component in the VRAM department has gradually degraded.
 
Clocks have been sitting at 890/1375 for as long as I remember since I unlocked the card, and even then those aren't high clocks to speak of, as they are just 6970 speeds.

I also lost the box, and thus the serial number that came with it...
 
Haswell said:
Clocks have been sitting at 890/1375 for as long as I remember since I unlocked the card, and even then those aren't high clocks to speak of, as they are just 6970 speeds.

I also lost the box, and thus the serial number that came with it...
Click to expand...

Keep in mind those cards were binned at 6950 for reason. You wouldnt be the first to kill one running it at 6970 speeds unlocked.
 
Flipped the switch back to the default VBIOS, VRAM is running as low as possible dictated by the bios (1250mhz). Also lowered the clock from 810 to 790, will see if that helps.

Any chance the card is permanently borked, as digital signals no longer work (DVI + HDMI) ? If so, what's a nice replacement at this point?
 
Since you have already tried different monitors, it sounds like your card is artifacting, see if it does the same thing from another PCI -e slot, you can try the bake method to fix bad solder joints, if you can set it back to stock and if it's under warranty then use it, otherwise buy a new card.

I thought the direct CUII were already clocked to their limit?
 
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Returning an unlocked and overclocked card to stock for rma purposes is a douche move.
 
Looks like VRAM to me - I have the same card and it would do that if I overclocked the VRAM too high.

Question: did you flash the BIOS with a 6970 BIOS or a modified 6950 BIOS to unlock the shaders? The 6970 uses a higher voltage for the RAM, which may account for why it took time for your card to degrade.
 
IIRC, it was a stock bios VBIOS from a DirectCU 6970. It worked fine for over a year until this became frequent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't a DirectCU card account for overclocking, and thus be more robust in its power tolerance?

I do agree that returning a product that failed due to my own negligence is a dick move. Is there anything coming down the line soon for a viable upgrade, or should I splurge on another card now?
 
Usually cards designed for OCing focus more on the core rather than memory. Think of all the [H] and Anand reviews that say "We were able to push the GPU 400MHz over stock! (and the memory about 40MHz...)"
 
Underclocking the core and the memory to the lowest possible clocks didn't help. If anything, the artifacts became more and more frequent when compared to higher clocks. Strange and ironic, I know. I wonder how high I would need to OC until it stabilizes...

Jokes aside, is there any news on the future 7xx and 8xxx series? I'd like to hold out as long as possible until an upgrade seems worthwhile. Benchmarks for the 670 and 7950/7970 didn't look too impressive here, and I'd prefer to get something around the $350 mark with similar performance to a 6970.
 
Haswell said:
Underclocking the core and the memory to the lowest possible clocks didn't help. If anything, the artifacts became more and more frequent when compared to higher clocks. Strange and ironic, I know. I wonder how high I would need to OC until it stabilizes...

Jokes aside, is there any news on the future 7xx and 8xxx series? I'd like to hold out as long as possible until an upgrade seems worthwhile. Benchmarks for the 670 and 7950/7970 didn't look too impressive here, and I'd prefer to get something around the $350 mark with similar performance to a 6970.
Click to expand...

Lowest possible clocks can make new issues. Just reflash it to the stock 6950 bios and see what happens.
 
I'm using the backup VBIOS with the switch on top, not touching the 6970 VBIOS for now.

Since this might be a VRAM issue, should I decrease the voltage in order to minimize any additional stress, or increase it for (maybe) additional stability? I've heard cases of OC requiring more and more voltage over time to maintain high clock speeds, could this be the case?

Will look into the 7950, as long as nothing better and cheaper is coming down the line.
 
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