[SOLVED] GPU only works with AMD CPU?!

Sep 21, 2021
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Hey everyone,

I've got a small problem.

So when everyone was buying etherium because of the outbreak, I bought some GPU's (mostly being RX 580 8GB and GTX 1070/1080 8GB ) and 20 x ASUS Expedition RX 570 (4GB)
They were all working as they should have, atleast thats what i thought.
Most of them did actually function like they should have.
for the AMD GPU's I had to use ATIflash to change their mining BIOS that was put on, to the BIOS for normal use and the Geforce GPU's didn't need a flash, BUT after selling almost all of them, I was left with 5x ASUS Expedition RX 570 (4GB)
The problem is that when I shipped one GPU to a customer, he sent it back complaining it would show a checkboard squares pattern while booting up Windows or sometimes opening an benchmark test, it also showed some random squares on the screen on different locations.

So I refunded the money and tested the remaining GPU's myself and apparently I had the same excact problem with the other 4.
I assumed that I flashed the GPU's with the wrong BIOS , so instead of the normal GPU version, I installed the OC version, so it would be bricked, but thats not the case KEEP READING
So I used ATIflash to changed the BIOS of the GPU's but that didn't work.
I also tried testing the GPU's on a pc that I made myself, so i could test the GPU's i bought, and it worked perfectly fine, the GPU's didnt cause any checkboard square pattern and no frame drops or any weird symptoms, plus they all stayed between 50 °C and 60 °C and that really confused me.
So I compared the two pc's I used to test the GPU's and found a few interesting differences.
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NOTE:
First pc = the one where the GPU's didnt work on
Second pc= the one where all the GPU's worked on

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1. The first pc I used had an Intel CPU, while the second pc I used had an AMD CPU
- NOTE: I assume this plays a big factor.
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2. The power supply of the first pc was 450 W and the power supply of the second pc was 650 W
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3. The first pc instantly found the drivers of the GPU, without taking the usual time to install and download the drivers, wihle on the second pc it took way longer.
(at first i thought it wouldnt download because it really took like 5 minutes so I tried to install the drivers manually on the AMD site, but pc eventually installed the drivers on its own.)
-NOTE : I also used a "Display driver uninstaller" so i could wipe all the information of the other GPU's which I've previously installed on the first pc but that didn't work.
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4. The motherboard of the first pc already had a few graphics cards mounted on because I build PC's for a hobby and I experiment quite abit, while the motherboard of the second pc never had a RX 500 Series graphics card installed.
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5. The memory used on the first pc and second pc were almost the same so i didnt really think that would have been the problem. ( 8GB DDR 4 i think)
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6. The motherboard of the first pc is older the the motherboard of the second pc.
- The first pc had 1x CPI while the second pc had 2x PCI's
NOTE: when I tried running 1x RX 570 on the first PCI of the second pc ( the pc which the GPU's worked on) it showed some minor checkboard mark squares, like flashes, but when I mounted it on the second PCI slot it worked perfectly, they all did.
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So I built a third pc with similar components to the second pc:

( A better motherboard - AMD CPU - 16 GB of ram - 650W power supply - No previous RX 500 series GPU's installed on )
I installed a RX 570 and it had no problem booting Windows up and it showed positive signs (no weird flashes etc.)
and when i tried "Unigine Heaven Benchmark" it didnt show any problems, unfortunately after 3-4 minutes, the whole screen turned purple and it shut down, I dont remember it it showed any checkboard square though.
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So now I don't really know what to do, I've tried quite alot and I do find it really weird that the GPU's only function as they should on only 1 pc.
Any tips or advices are welcome, I don't want to sell them as defect whiile I've seen them work perfectly with my own eyes, I hope y'all understand what I mean.
I've tried to be as clear as possible and detailed, but English is not my native language, so the post might contain some grammar mistakes ;)
I'll try to answer the questions I get as detailed as possible.

Thanks for your help!
 
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Solution
its about same as with system ram
u put incorrect ram settings and system gets unstable

gpu bios defines ram settings for each clock step

for example Micron module EDW4032BABG at 2GHz is set to have 24-24-29-29-79-25-129 timings (tRCDW-tRCDWA-tRCDR-tRCDRA-tRC-tCL-tRFC)
and hynix H5GC4H24AJR at 2GHz goes with 19-19-27-27-83-19-197 timings
now imagine your gpu has hynix ram and you use settings for micron
it couls work and it may also not work..rising voltage on ram could do that trick to make those timings work...but u see the point right?
amd vs intel cpu...hmm thats probably not it, its some mainboard (bios) difference, bios defines which pci device will work

could be UEFI vs legacy bios difference, but hard to tell if you dont post your two system specs

but eitherway, you bios flashing adventure made your cards unstable

do you know which ram modules your GPUs have?

here some bioses based on RAM modules:
Hynix
Elpida
 
Last edited:
Sep 21, 2021
4
0
10
amd vs intel cpu...hmm thats probably not it, its some mainboard (bios) difference, bios defines which pci device will work

could be UEFI vs legacy bios difference, but hard to tell if you dont post your two system specs

but eitherway, you bios flashing adventure made your cards unstable

do you know which ram modules your GPUs have?

Oh, im really unfamiliar with that, do u by any chance mean ram modules which are inserted in the motherboard? or really the ram modules of my GPU?

Thank you for you reply!
 
its about same as with system ram
u put incorrect ram settings and system gets unstable

gpu bios defines ram settings for each clock step

for example Micron module EDW4032BABG at 2GHz is set to have 24-24-29-29-79-25-129 timings (tRCDW-tRCDWA-tRCDR-tRCDRA-tRC-tCL-tRFC)
and hynix H5GC4H24AJR at 2GHz goes with 19-19-27-27-83-19-197 timings
now imagine your gpu has hynix ram and you use settings for micron
it couls work and it may also not work..rising voltage on ram could do that trick to make those timings work...but u see the point right?
 
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Solution
Sep 21, 2021
4
0
10
its about same as with system ram
u put incorrect ram settings and system gets unstable

gpu bios defines ram settings for each clock step

for example Micron module EDW4032BABG at 2GHz is set to have 24-24-29-29-79-25-129 timings (tRCDW-tRCDWA-tRCDR-tRCDRA-tRC-tCL-tRFC)
and hynix H5GC4H24AJR at 2GHz goes with 19-19-27-27-83-19-197 timings
now imagine your gpu has hynix ram and you use settings for micron
it couls work and it may also not work..rising voltage on ram could do that trick to make those reduced timings work...but u see the point right?

Thank you so much for the explanation, I can see the point yeah, I will definitely try this tomorrow!
Thanks for your time and effort, I really appreciate it!