• 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.

HELP: 5870 FAILURE

Planettera

n00b
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
60
I purchased an XFX 5870 XXX edition from Newegg.com and had to get my video card RMA'd for a replacement due to vertical striped appearing randomly when within a 3 week period. I am now on my 2nd replacement card and this one also started to act up.

The vertical stripes appear when my PC is idle or when just srufing the net. I will now return this for a full refund for a store credit from Newegg. I don't know what to do:

A) Should I try my luck with a 3rd replacement of the same XFX card since they offer a lifetime warranty? (I live in North America).

B) Should I got with Sapphire 5870 or Sapphire Vapor-X 5870 which have a better customer rating but offer only 2 years manufacturers warrany.

I don't overclock my components, and here is whay I have:

Cooler Master ATCS 840 case (3X230mm fans)
Windows 7 64-Bit Ultimate
Asus P6TD Deluxe
Intel i7 960
12GB Corsair Dominator Memory (Corsair cooling fan on top)
850 Watt Corsair HX Power Supply
XFX 5870 XXX Edition GPU (2X120mm fans added to cool GPU)
Creative Labs Fatality Platinum Sound Card
2 DVD/Blu-ray drives

Here is the card I have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150456
 
Sounds like the issue alot have. It's power play. Download AMD GPU Tool and set the mhz 1 mhz above stock under said program, then use whatever else to overclock (if doing so).

It tricks the voltage into running all the time and corrected the issue for me.
 
Run mem test, if you're overclocked go back to stock and see if the issue persists.
 
A few people mentioned using firefox might cause issues...my one and only grey screen happened when browsing but I can't remember what else was open at the time.

Try the cat 8.70 RC2 drivers as well...skip the 10.1/hotfix
 
Please give what I said a try. I had this issue as well. Random grey lined screens doing whatever - everything from GTA4 to firefox /chrome. I did what I said above and it all stopped and is flawless now.
 
Also, disable the ati hdmi audio in device manager (helped some people I believe).
 
A few people mentioned using firefox might cause issues...my one and only grey screen happened when browsing but I can't remember what else was open at the time.

Try the cat 8.70 RC2 drivers as well...skip the 10.1/hotfix


No problems here with the Cat 9.2 or 10.1/hotfix.
 
rflair (guru3d ati beta driver release *guy*) recommends the newest 10.2 beta drivers (8.70 RC2) over the recently released 10.1/hotfix (based off older code, etc) I'm just throwing suggestions out there as I'm hoping Planettera is just running into software issues.
 
Why would you not R.M.A the card? It sounds like a cheaper option.
I think you just had some bad luck. 3rd times the charm ;)
I would buy anther card for crossfire. Then you have a backup card.
As far as cards go, XFX & EVGA have the best warranties out there.
Those are the only ones I buy.
 
Why waste time RMA'ing when the card is most likely fine? My card did it before, most have. It's a software issue.
 
OK. Here is the thing. Just in case my card is defective, I already got an RMA to send the card back. If the card is defective and if I don't send it back for another card, I have only 2 days left for an exchange before I'm permanently stuck with the card.

To answer some of the questions:

1) I'm not using Firefox.
2) The video card comes overclocked from the factory, and underclocking doesn't resolve this issue.
3) My apologies for being a newbie here, can I have a link for the ATI GPU DOWNLAOD site please.
4) In the devie manager, is it the "ATi High Definition Audio Device" under "Sound Controllers" tab what I have to disable?
5) I checked the AMD website, and couldn't find the the 10.2 beta drivers suggested.
 
Last edited:
I would just go to amd.com and download the 9.12 hotfix drivers. Then download AMG GPU tool in the link I suggested. Set the clock 1 mhz above, effectively tricking it to run full power all the time and disabling power play. And yes, the Ati HDMI audio under sound vid game is what you right click and disable. Another thing is, get the latest realtek drivers for your soundcard, assuming you use realtek HD or comparable.
 
OK. Here is the thing. Just in case my card is defective, I already got an RMA to send the card back. If the card is defective and if I don't send it back for another card, I have only 2 days left for an exchange before I'm permanently stuck with the card.

Worst comes to worst, email newegg for a return for refund because card is defective, and head over to your local Best Buy, pick out a 5870/5850 of a different brand and see if the problem is reproducible. Then you know for certain if its a hardware or software issue.
 
AMD confirms grey screen problem:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ATI-Grey-Screen-Fix-5870,9549.html

AMD has confirmed that a previously reported issue of grey lines or screens with certain Radeon HD 5000 GPUs affects both the 5700 and 5800 series.

...

Today Dave Erskine, an AMD spokesperson, informed us that, "only a small number of ATI Radeon HD 5800 series and ATI Radeon HD 5700 series cards are exhibiting the behavior," and that the team is closing in on a fix for the apparently software related issue.

"The team is testing a driver hotfix and initial tests indicate that it resolves the issue," Mr Erskine said. "We need to test it further but we expect to make the hotfix available shortly."
 
ShuttleLuv, I think he was asking for the link to the AMD GPU Tool program that you mentioned.
 
its the factory oc xfx card, I had a bad one also. Ya, they are working on a fix, more voltage please.....
 
Back
Top