ATI Radeon HD 4870 Graphics Card - Horizontal lines on screen

[harry12345678]

Hi,

Basically when I installed the graphics card, the white horizontal lines came on the screen (including the bios), but when i installed the latest drivers from the ATI site for the card, the lines stopped appearing and everything was fine. I even played GTA 4 and did not have any lagg.

Then I went into the ATI CCC and changed overclocking settings because the card was at 66C. And suddenly horizontal lines and random stuff came on the screen and BSOD. It said something about memory management but i couldn't read the rest.

I tried removing all drivers using Driver Sweeper and re installing which did not work. Also when i boot up my computer two big thick white lines come up when loading BIOS (and even in safe mode) and I got this card from my cousin because he bought a new one and he did say there were some issues. My previous card was a ATI HD 5570.

Sorry for the long post, but is there anything I can do or is it because the card is just dead and there is no use? I have got a picture of the horizontal lines but i don't know how to post it.

Thanks,
Harry

 

[drums101]

if you are getting the lines while you are loading the BIOS then it is def a hardware issue and there is really nothing you can do about it...if the card has a warranty still maybe you can try and send it back and get a new one but I highly doubt it is still under warranty. the temps you gave us are not bad so its not just overheating there is definitely something wrong with the card that you cannot do anything about unfortunately.

 

[djscribbles]

The 4870 is going to have a higher power requirement than the 5570. Are you certain you have a good enough PSU to run it?

Also worth checking to see if the thing is still under warranty, if so you could have your cousin RMA it for you (my VisionTek 4870 was RMAd a year ago, had a lifetime warranty). The 4870 is still a beast of a card, and would be worth the shipping cost if you can resurrect it.

 

[americanbrian]

Try new thermal pads on the gDDR chips.

You can buy some nice hi performance pads/strip on ebay. Takes like 10 mins to install.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270919367013?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

did this for mine when it played up.... sorted it out.

 

[harry12345678]

The card is out of warranty, do you think I should try and take it to a repair shop and see if its worth it because my ATI HD 5570 isn't that powerful.

 

[americanbrian]

it is really easy to apply new thermal pads. It will cost a fortune to get a PC shop to do it for you. if it is out of warranty, and it is not working, what is the risk?

Either you successfully repair it (and learn a little along the way) or you have to replace it anyway...

It is your stuff and your choice. I can tell you it is not that hard as far as these things go. you should re-apply thermal paste to the GPU too if you remove the cooling block. you may not need to as it depends on the cooler.... (some have seperate plates and H/S block, some are one whole piece)

 

[harry12345678]

Thanks for the reply, but the card is not overheating so it is some other issue and how will I be able to find what is the cause?

Also I talked to a repair center and they said no point in repairing so I might as well wait and get a new one I guess and I don't mind damaging the card so if you have any fixes you can tell me

 

[americanbrian]

you can try the oven bake trick....

check youtube for how to's...

If you are going to bin it anyway its worth a punt.

 

[djscribbles]

How about your PSU? If you have a 400W PSU, or a junky PSU, you'll have issues for sure; if you don't know what PSU you have, there's a good chance it wasn't designed for a power hungry gaming card.

 

[harry12345678]

I think the PSU is 400W or 500W, not entirely sure though. I'll check some time later