2 separate graphics cards artifact in on same motherboard.

[micahelt52]

So my friend bought an R9 280X from ebay (noob mistake) and a week later it started artifacting. So today I upgraded from a perfectly fine R9 270 to an R9 290. So I gave my friend the 270 out of pity. Anyways, he calls me an hour ago saying there are artifacts while playing gta v. Would that be a motherboard problem? Also, u plugged the R9 280X into my computer and it artifacts also. So would that mean that his motherboard definitely artifacted it?

 

[SBMfromLA]

From my research... The R9 2xx cards do suffer from artifact problems caused by bad/poorly tested VRAM. My first 280X card had it bad and I had to return it. My replacecard has worked ok... but if you do a search on 280X artifact problem you'll find a lot of info.

Also, your friend should have a PSU of 500-750 (depending on the card).

 

[Calculagator]

Ebay is a great place to get a good deal on a GPU, but you do have to be willing to test them and send them back if they don't work.
There are a number of possible problems, but a motherboard issue is not likely. Your friend should first examine his PSU and his cooling system. Does he have a quality PSU rated for the wattage that those cards pull? Does his case have proper ventilation for the extra heat those cards generate? What do his temps look like when he runs a game?

Most likely, his system is overheating or pulling too much current for the PSU. Heat could have permanently damaged the 280x and the fact that the artifacts only started a week after he got it probably indicates this. You may be able to revive it by replacing the thermal paste on the card. Of course, if the card is full of dust or has non-functional fans, fix that first.