ASUS R9 290 begins showing artifacts in intense games, then black screens

[cant_be_held_liable]

In the last week or so, my graphics card has been having some issues. During normal browsing and video watching, lower-end games, etc, it's fine. Lately when I am in a game that is harder on it (Witcher 3 on high, FFXIV maxed out, etc.) small black boxes will start flickering across the screen, followed by a crash/black screen. Only a restart will bring it back to life, and the event logs in Windows turn up nothing of use to me.

I've tried underclocking the GPU for these kinds of games, but still it seems to have no luck. It's completely random too; sometimes I can play the game for 6 hours and sometimes I can't play it for 20 minutes.

My build:
Operating System - Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
CPU - AMD FX-6300
RAM - 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 802MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard - ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. M5A97 LE R2.0
Graphics - 4096MB ATI AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (ASUStek Computer Inc)
Audio - Realtek High Definition Audio
PSU - Antec High Current Gamer HCG-620M

I'm thinking that the graphics card itself is on the way out, but I wanted to get a 2nd opinion. Thanks.

 

[OreoTheCookieMonster]

Well if it is in the last week or so and you got the crimson driver update i hear they got a bug which locks the fan speed to 20% or so. You might want to roll back or wait for a fix to be released. If it is not the crimson driver wait for someone else to reply

 

[cant_be_held_liable]

Well if it is in the last week or so and you got the crimson driver update i hear they got a bug which locks the fan speed to 20% or so. You might want to roll back or wait for a fix to be released. If it is not the crimson driver wait for someone else to reply

Nah I already grabbed the hotfix, plus on the previous set of drivers (most recent beta revision before crimson I believe?) it was having the same issue. But thanks anyways. I think its just on the way out. I'm leaning towards RAM, thermal paste, or something of the like.

 

[OreoTheCookieMonster]

Ah well sorry about maybe someone more experienced might have a solution for you if not i suppose New gpu

 

[Steve-man]

I had the exact same problem. Mine too had nothing to do with the drivers as I hadn't done the update to Crimson, but I tried it after the hotfix to diagnose to no avail there.

I found that my GPU was over heating even with fans at 100% and my side cover off.
Try running it with Furmark and monitor the temps. I was getting through about a minute and a half before the test would stop at 85C or artifact and black screen at 90C before shutting off.

I sent mine back for RMA a few days ago. But no word back yet.