Flickering square pixels/triangles on AMD R9 290 Tri-X

[solidforger]

Hello there,

I've been having a recent issue that's been the cause of a lot of grief in the past week.
I'm posting this here in hopes to figure out what the hell is going on once and for all.

I have flickering square pixels all over the screen or on select areas/objects in game (intensity varies from game to game) and a weird triangle flickering glitch that is exclusive to the new Tomb Raider games. The latter can be fixed by disabling tesselation.

I figured it was a driver issue but after numerous clean driver installs, the issues persist in the same games.
I suspect something in my OS is corrupted or it's really down to a faulty GPU, which is what I really dread.
It also seems to be a shader issue, since in ACU, the issue is solved by changing the shadow options.

My GPU temps are pretty normal and usually average around 55 and 68~71c in more demanding games. CPU temps are around 55~61 when stressed.

As for my display, I'm using a DVI cable...but I don't believe it's the cause, since I don't think I'd be able to capture the flicker in a screenshot if it were a faulty screen/cable.

These issues aren't seen in older games, they occur on the following setup and games:

Windows 10 64bit
ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0
Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X OC 4GB (stock clocks)
AMD FX 8350 (stock clocks)
KINGSTON 8GB RAM
CORSAIR TX650

Rise of the Tomb Raider
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611478581
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=611478496

The Witcher 3
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617062716

Assassin's Creed Unity
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617377232

Ryse: Son of Rome
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617575330

tesselation dark triangle flicker:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617412144
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=617409048

Things I've done so far to try to fix the issue:

1.Clean driver re-installations (used DDU in safe mode etc):
Omega 14.12, Catalyst 15.11, Catalyst 15.11.1, Crismon 16.1, Crismon 16.1.1

2. Upgraded my OS to Win10 64bit (previously Win7 64bit, had the same issues)

3. Ran 3Dmark11 to find if the issue was related to Dx11, worked perfectly

4. Ran a Furmark GPU stress test for 20 minutes, had no issues, my max temp was 71c

5. Placed my RAM modules in alternate slots, though I highly doubt it's related to memory

6. My card has a BIOS switch, I've tried tampering with it to no avail

7. Ran the game with its lowest settings, disabled all overlays and apps running in the background


Any ideas? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tradesman1]

Have you tried different drivers for the GPU? A different PSU? Do you have latest mobo BIOS and drivers?

 

[solidforger]

Have you tried different drivers for the GPU? A different PSU? Do you have latest mobo BIOS and drivers?

Yes, I've tried all the drivers mentioned above, I have the latest mobo BIOS too. I'll be testing the card on a friend's PC this weekend.

To me, the oddest thing is that demanding games like Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, AC Black Flag etc all run glitch-free, which makes me believe the issue is related to a shader used in more recent games.

 

[Tradesman1]

Possibly it sort of sounds like artifacting, which you often get with too high an OC

 

[solidforger]

Possibly it sort of sounds like artifacting, which you often get with too high an OC

What OC? I'm running on stock clocks...here's a similar issue:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/63517-Graphic-Bug

 

[imrazor]

To follow up with what Tradesman1 is saying, even though your card is factory overclocked, it could be that the factory overclock is too much. You could try *underclocking* your GPU to see if that helps.

My other suggestion would be to re-install DirectX, but it seems you can't do that (yet) with Win10/DX12.

 

[solidforger]

To follow up with what Tradesman1 is saying, even though your card is factory overclocked, it could be that the factory overclock is too much. You could try *underclocking* your GPU to see if that helps.

My other suggestion would be to re-install DirectX, but it seems you can't do that (yet) with Win10/DX12.

I've tried that through Afterburner, nothing changed...I only messed with the memory and core clock though, haven't touched the voltage.

 

[Tradesman1]

If any OC might need a touch more voltage, the 290Xs can be picky, especially those that are pre-OCed

 

[solidforger]

If any OC might need a touch more voltage, the 290Xs can be picky, especially those that are pre-OCed

The thing is, seeing that this is not a reference model, the card was overclocked out of the box. I haven't really overclocked it and I usually avoid doing so.

As I've mentioned previously, I think that if this is a software related problem...maybe it's related to the shading and lighting in newer games. I'll test the card on another PC and update this thread once the issue is isolated.