4870 1GB screen flicker issue

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simmah

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Dec 27, 2008
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Just assembled a new PC:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P rev1, Q6600 CPU (OC'd stable @ 3.0GHz), 4GB (2x2GB) G-Skill 1066 RAM, 700W OCZ ModXStream, Powercolor HD 4870 1GB

I am running Vista Ultimate 64bit and using the latest drivers from ATI: Catalyst 8.12 for Vista 64.

CPU temps are in the low-mid 30Cs. GPU temp hovers around 45C-48C. So everything seems normal.

Here is my issue:
My screen flickers a LOT! Under regular use its okay, but anything that requires GPU activity, it starts flickering. For instance, I am using Photoshop CS4 and if I try to simply re-size an image, I get a lot of flicker. OR if I run a Vista screensaver that uses 3D I experience the same random flicker.

ATI Overdrive shows default clock speeds as GPU:780 and Memory:925. (I thought PowerColor had GPU factory OC'd to 800?) :heink:

Anywho, in the process of diagnosing the issue, I started out w/ the following. Underclock both GPU and Memory to 700 and 900 respectively. Tried a simple resize in PS CS4 and no more flicker! So I incremented the GPU clock to 780 and then 800 in ATI Overdrive, and no issues in either. Then, I incremented the Memory clock to 925 and flicker was back. Brought it down to 900, no flicker. 905, flicker was back......

I ran the 'Auto-Tune' feature, keeping an eye on the temps, and it produced a result of GPU:780 and Mem:1010! :??:

I tried gaming @ the default speeds of GPU:780 and Mem:925 and the flicker was driving me nuts. Setting Mem to 900 resolves it, however, I can't help but wonder if this is the only work-around, when Powercolor seems to be boasting 800 and 925 and no one else seems to be experiencing this (from my online searching atleast).

Any insight anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated!
 
possibly a heat issue?

i know you said the card runs at 45-48c but look on everest and see what temperature the memio is running at?

when i was experimenting with under/overclocking this single entry showed the highest rate of change.
 
montyuk: Doesn't seem to be a temp issue since I have two separate apps (EasyTune6 and ATI's CCC) both showing the same temp. I downloaded Everest as you suggested (Home Edition) but I can't seem to locate Temps anywhere on it.. when I click on the 'Sensor' node within the menu, nothing shows up.
 


Nevermind... I downloaded Everest Ultimate and now I see MemIO:49C...

I also found a post on AMD Game Forums that seem to indicate that I'm not the only one experiencing this issue...
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=260&threadid=104965

So I guess I'm going to have to leave it at 900 for now, until 8.13 perhaps? :sarcastic:
 
I don't know dude. The company advertise 925 for the Mem and it's not working. Now you have to downclock it to 900. How long before it starts flickering at 900 or how long before the mem just burns?

I would RMA the product. I know it's a pain now to RMA it but don't forget that it will be more painful when the card just dies and the warranty is over.
 
Hottfuzz: I was actually heading in that direction until I saw the above link on AMD's forums... clearly indicates that there are a lot of folks experiencing the same issue, so it looks like RMA'ing the product might not help :-(
 


Assuming you are already running on Catalyst 8.12, go to Catalyst Control Center, turn on ATI Overdrive, and underclock Memory from 925 to 900. That seems to immediately eliminate the flicker.
 
Hi yes, i have 8.12. I have changed the memory to 900.

Isnt the whole point of spending mad $$ on this card to work it hard???

When can i start getting more out of my investment....

 


Aaah.. I get your question now. Although I am in no position to answer it since I am in the same boat as you and am not affiliated with ATI/AMD.

I am just hoping 8.13 or whatever the next iteration is would have better support for memory clock #s higher than stock. I have heard that some people are having success with RivaTuner as well.. I haven't gone that route yet.

If you give RivaTuner a try, please post your experience on here.
 
I recently bought a 1gb Powercolour 4870. i get the flickering also.
i did as instructed turned down the clock to 900mhz.
i rang the company, they know about the issue and told me to wait for a new set of drivers to fix the flickering.
in game, theres no flickering wat so ever, or so little that its not worth worrying about....
SO i came to the conclusion, that if im gonna be running a stupidly high end game id clock it back up, but if im just bumming around in explorer better to leave UNDERclocked at 900mhz.

SUMAMRY:
1gb 4870s in general
900 mhz = no flickering
925mhz = better performance in game, flicking while NOT under load.
 
well i know for a fact without ANY drivers installed (at least on nvidia cards) the screen flickers a lot... just uses basic windows drivers with a low refresh rate.

btw the next drivers will be 9.1 not 8.13... ati makes a new driver every month. 9 being 2009, 1 being the first month. :lol:

i don't see how higher clocks could cause flicekring butn ot aartifacts though...weird.
 
there are no drivers yet released to fix the flickering. if ur card is clocked it wants to roar.
its liek a car tuned for racing. itll stall if its just left idoling, its tear it up wen racing.
browsing the net is idoling, playing crysis is racing.
 
I have an XFX 4870 1GB and it was clocked at 950 out the box.

I've dropped it down to 925 and still get flicker, but less.

Dropping to 900 seems to fix it.

Temp is 69 degrees using the supplied fan (it was at 50% - seems a little hot - that's just while idling!).

Whacked the fan speed up to 100% and that dropped it to 40 in under a minute, 30 after about 3.

I used to be nVidia for all my cards but was convinced by the reviews for this one and now I'm thinking I should have stayed put...

--------------------
Vista 32, Biostar TPower I45 MB, Core 4 6600, 4gb OCZ Reaper ram, Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, XFX 4870, drivers 8.561, Cat 8.12



 
I have an XFX 4870 1GB and it was clocked at 950 out the box.

I've dropped it down to 925 and still get flicker, but less.

Dropping to 900 seems to fix it.

Temp is 69 degrees using the supplied fan (it was at 50% - seems a little hot - that's just while idling!).

Whacked the fan speed up to 100% and that dropped it to 40 in under a minute, 30 after about 3.

I used to be nVidia for all my cards but was convinced by the reviews for this one and now I'm thinking I should have stayed put...

--------------------
Vista 32, Biostar TPower I45 MB, Core 4 6600, 4gb OCZ Reaper ram, Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, XFX 4870, drivers 8.561, Cat 8.12
Click to expand...


I have the same card, just got it yesterday. My card was idling at 75 C - I then discovered in the CCC that the fan speed was 0! I've turned the fan up to 35% now and I'm idling at 49 C.

I also scaled my card back to 750 GPU / 900 Memory and my flickering is gone.
 
I had the same freakin problem..with ASUS 1 gb, it flicker constantly, I thought about rma it, but then i ddnt want to go through the whole aggravation. I flashed the BIOS and the flickering seems to stop, i m hoping these solves it.
 


Cool - just done the same.

I find that 30% makes it just quiet enough to be a good balance between coolness and quietness and that keeps it at around 50 deg.

I'm keeping an eye on XFX's and ATI's site for a BIOS update that takes this card out of *BETA*.
 
Oh - and I just _upgraded_ from Vista to XP and everything is just SO much nicer :-D
 
Koala - you sure that was the fan? the CCC is a little badly laid out - the three items are Temp, Activity and Fan Speed. Looks like the titles are for the gaugues above, not below. If your fan was at 0 I think you'd be a little higher than 75 deg!
 
I'm positive it was the fan, it really was not spinning. I even had the door off the side of my case to double check as I didn't believe that reading myself.

I'm quite anxious to get my new Zalman VF1000 and ZM-RHS70 on this card... the stock cooler is an absolute noisy joke.
 
I have exactly the same problems as everyone else are describing with my XFX HD4870 XXX. (775/950)

With the memory on 900MHz with the fan basically off everything is fine.
If I crank the memory to 905MHz and put the fan on 100% (sounds like a vacuum cleaner) I get flickers.

Makes me fairly certain this is not a heat issue (my test at 905MHz ran on temps ~25 degrees lower than the 900MHz with fan off).

The Catalyst 9.1 drivers are out now, anyone tried them?
 
I just received my zalman cooler and it is SO MUCH BETTER. Even on 100% fan speed its quieter than the stock xfx cooler at 25%.

At 25% fan speed on the xfx cooler I was idling around 54 C, with the zalman cooler at 25% fan speed I'm at 48 C... at 100% I'm at 44C (which leads me to believe I can cool it even more with better air flow, since it doesn't exhaust to the rear anymore like the stock cooler).

I want to try the 9.1 drivers but I'm reluctant... 8.10 were the latest I could get to work on my system (8.11 and 8.12 both gave me errors with 8 GB of memory installed).
 


Yeah kinda the same here, 8.12 really screwed my system up. That's why I would like to know if someone who has these issues has tried 9.1 and been successful with getting clocks higher than 900?
 
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