Bought used graphics card. Weird colors and dots in screen. Broken? Screenshot attached

[pkim1230]

I bought a used HD 6870 graphics card today and been trying to get the monitor to recognize the source.
It's black, but sometimes, it realizes there's something plugged in the DVI, and the monitor shows Windows. When it does, the colors are always like this:
The screenshots are here:

Is it broken? If it is indeed broken, what caused it to break? Heat? Dropped it on the way to selling it?
I haven't installed any drivers, but I'm not sure if I should bother.
I was using rx 460 graphics card just fine, and just replaced it with the 6870 to see if it worked.

 

[pkim1230]

That card is broken.

You could try the baking method, but as it is, that card is no good.

Hi brian
Do you think flashing the bios will be a futile attempt?

 

[RobCrezz]

That card is broken.

You could try the baking method, but as it is, that card is no good.

Hi brian
Do you think flashing the bios will be a futile attempt?

Yes, the problem Is likely due a hardware fault (solder joints, vram etc). Highly unlikely a bios flash will fix this unfortunately.

 

[xxxlun4icexxx]

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-repair-your-Graphics-Card-by-baking-it/

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

Here are some yummy winter treats- Delicious!
GPU baking is very risky and should ONLY be used as a last resort.

 

[RobCrezz]

That one is a bit well done.

 

[pkim1230]

Here are some yummy winter treats- Delicious!
GPU baking is very risky and should ONLY be used as a last resort.

damn, did it work though?
i don't think i'm going to bake it. Just gonna throw it out..
By any chance, can anyone think of a decent and quiet gpu I might be able to grab for around $20? i'm looking at used.

 

[xxxlun4icexxx]

Here are some yummy winter treats- Delicious!
GPU baking is very risky and should ONLY be used as a last resort.

oh dear god what happened to those, did he just forget to take them out??? lol

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

Something went terribly wrong... Defiantly research your specific card, find what storage temps the thing can handle, know when the solder melts...
Then you can test your culinary genius!

 

[RobCrezz]

Yeah obviously this should only be attempted when the card is not working like this, and its a last resort.

That said, it brought back a 8800GT from death for me, still works to this day.

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

Here are some yummy winter treats- Delicious!
GPU baking is very risky and should ONLY be used as a last resort.

damn, did it work though?
i don't think i'm going to bake it. Just gonna throw it out..
By any chance, can anyone think of a decent and quiet gpu I might be able to grab for around $20? i'm looking at used.

Those pictures are wost case examples, just thought it was importat to know. If you're just going to toss it, I'd still recomend baking or BIOS flashing, sinse the card obviously is not working. You won't be getting much for $20, the best is probalbly a HD7470- with no gaurentees it wont be broken like the other one was. Why do you want this again? Its such a downgrade to the RX460.

 

[gimpie65]

u need older non GCN driver for 6870's. that's ur problem.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

The opening shots kind of look like what happens when you try to display 8 bit color on a monitor that doesn't support it. What color depth is the card set to? It almost looks like it's trying to do VGA. (640x480 256 colors)

 

[pkim1230]

u need older non GCN driver for 6870's. that's ur problem.

What is that problem and how do I solve it?
I don't understand what non GCN means.

The opening shots kind of look like what happens when you try to display 8 bit color on a monitor that doesn't support it. What color depth is the card set to? It almost looks like it's trying to do VGA. (640x480 256 colors)

Yeah, in the Windows load screen and BIOS screen, there are many colors on screen. But when it enters windows, it drops to 16 bit colors. I don't know how to correct it.

 

[maxwellmelon]

def looks like driver issue. uninstall all current amd drivers newer drivers then a specifc verson will cause issues as this is a discontinued product.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows%207%20-%2064

the last update driver you should be using is here just chose the 32 or 64bit depeding on your windows 7 os

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-Software-Crimson-Edition-16.2.1-for-Non-GCN-Products-Release-Notes.aspx

yes i've seen your graphic card picture before. it is def a driver issue and is due to running in low bit low resolution mode (basically safe mode vga driver)

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

def looks like driver issue. uninstall all current amd drivers newer drivers then a specifc verson will cause issues as this is a discontinued product.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows%207%20-%2064

the last update driver you should be using is here just chose the 32 or 64bit depeding on your windows 7 os

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-Software-Crimson-Edition-16.2.1-for-Non-GCN-Products-Release-Notes.aspx

yes i've seen your graphic card picture before. it is def a driver issue and is due to running in low bit low resolution mode (basically safe mode vga driver)

I'm pretty sure he said he got the most recent drivers for the card from AMDs website.

 

[hang-the-9]

def looks like driver issue. uninstall all current amd drivers newer drivers then a specifc verson will cause issues as this is a discontinued product.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/legacy?product=legacy3&os=Windows%207%20-%2064

the last update driver you should be using is here just chose the 32 or 64bit depeding on your windows 7 os

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-Software-Crimson-Edition-16.2.1-for-Non-GCN-Products-Release-Notes.aspx

yes i've seen your graphic card picture before. it is def a driver issue and is due to running in low bit low resolution mode (basically safe mode vga driver)

This is not a driver issue, what you are thinking off is not at all how the basic VGA drivers look like. A tiny bit similar in the first image, but not the same at all. Just the fact that it's a used card and the guy that sold it is ignoring contact shows the card was bad to begin with.

You are thinking about how the 8 bit image looks like, but that is not what is happening.

 

[pkim1230]

OP here.
I've tried the non GCN driver as suggested above and it didn't do anything.
I'm stuck at low resolution with 8 bit color and lots of artifacts all the time except the BIOS. Very strange.
I will try oven method on the weekend and see if that works as last resort.

 

[xxxlun4icexxx]

OP here.
I've tried the non GCN driver as suggested above and it didn't do anything.
I'm stuck at low resolution with 8 bit color and lots of artifacts all the time except the BIOS. Very strange.
I will try oven method on the weekend and see if that works as last resort.

Make sure to add cinnamon spice for extra success probability (joking). Good luck let us know how your cooking adventures go. Also make sure when you do take the card out, ventilate the oven/house for a good while, you don't want toxic fumes to stay in there. I've baked car parts and the sort before and never had an issue, but with electronics it's still a good idea to properly ventilate.

 

[crispykiller96]

Sounds like the card is knackered i had a old 9500GT but dropped it on a carpet and when i booted it it looked like a mess like this the card went in the bin RIP

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

Sounds like the card is knackered i had a old 9500GT but dropped it on a carpet and when i booted it it looked like a mess like this the card went in the bin RIP

So it could be ESD damage?

 

[crispykiller96]

@NeoWolf7

I'm not certain exactly i lent the card to my friend as i upgraded to the GTX 460 768MB so i thought it was a great idea as we could play Halo 2 Together but when he moved away he gave me it back i was going to put it into a Pentium D computer as anything was better then the crappy VGA it had built into the motherboard it looked like this when i installed it with the latest drivers i even rolled back drivers to find a solution the card hit the carpet at the PCB side but i touched the card to the metal of the PC case to remove any static but sadly it was not meant to be :-o

back to subject it looks as though its in a super low resolution proberly 640 x 640 or whatever it was if you could get it somehow back to its native resolution it might be possible to fix but i had no luck with mine :-(

I hope you find a solution

Thanks

Joe

 

[crispykiller96]

Here are some yummy winter treats- Delicious!
GPU baking is very risky and should ONLY be used as a last resort.

Is this the reason why you're the CPU Expert and not the GPU Expert? i can smell it from here lol
😉

 

[Ne0Wolf7]

These came off of google, my parents wouldn't want me doing something like this, lol, even my overclocking is covert operation.

 

[Grzegorz_3]

Hey dude, this is weird i face the same problem with my 7750. For more fun in story i can said we had problem in the same day, and if i good remember i download newest AMD drivers beta. Problem started when i launched game on direct X11, suddenly screen go out for a while, and and i must restart pc. After that i see same colours on the screen as You have. For sure i replaced that card with my 8600 GT and all workin good - i decide to try once more install 7750 and wow suddenly working good again fo 20 minuts and again face 3 colours graphs. In Bios i saw all correct, this was strange for me too.
I decide to give card to expert, he tell me its baked and better throw it to junk - but today my 8600 GT did me the same. Dunno wtf maybe this is motherboard problem?? i have Asrock h81m whats Yr mb?

 

[pkim1230]

Hey dude, this is weird i face the same problem with my 7750. For more fun in story i can said we had problem in the same day, and if i good remember i download newest AMD drivers beta. Problem started when i launched game on direct X11, suddenly screen go out for a while, and and i must restart pc. After that i see same colours on the screen as You have. For sure i replaced that card with my 8600 GT and all workin good - i decide to try once more install 7750 and wow suddenly working good again fo 20 minuts and again face 3 colours graphs. In Bios i saw all correct, this was strange for me too.
I decide to give card to expert, he tell me its baked and better throw it to junk - but today my 8600 GT did me the same. Dunno wtf maybe this is motherboard problem?? i have Asrock h81m whats Yr mb?

I have a gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2 motherboard. I don't think it's the motherboard because I also have a rx-460 video card that works fine with it. I'm going to try the oven method to reheat the solders in the video card. I've removed the fans and thermal grease and ready to oven it up when I get the chance.