Graphics Card Problem - R9 280x or PSU

[adamwestleyyoung]

I recently purchased a used Sapphire Vapor-X R9 280x video card from Ebay. I plugged it into my system, and it seemed to work fine with my 500W power supply. But when I tried doing anything graphics intensive, the system would freeze immediately.

I decided that it was freezing because my power supply couldn't supply enough power, so I bought a 850W power supply. Unfortunately, I got nothing but scrambles with the new power supply. So I ordered a replacement. (EVGA 850W) With the 3rd PSU, I don't get any signal at all.

Here is where it gets weird: the gpu works fine in my friends system, which has a 1000W PSU and an AMD processor. If I put his gpu in my system with my power supply, it works great (the only difference is 2x 6-pin instead of 2x 8-pin) If I put my GPU in his system with my power supply, it doesn't get any signal to the display.

So basically, I'm not sure what the problem is. I think it is for sure either my GPU or PSU. It seems like the card works if paired with a certain set of hardware, but it fails to work on my system for some reason. I'm at a loss of what to try replacing next! I guess I could order a new card, but I'm not sure if the seller with take the current one back, since I don't know for sure if it actually is broken.

Here is my build:
EVGA 850 G3
i7-7700k
Asrock Z270m Pro4M
16 Gb Ram
Sapphire Vapor-X R9-280x 3Gb DDR5 (Requires 2x 8-pin or 2x 6+2-pin connectors)
2x SSDs

PS: My system also works fine with a 1050 ti installed.

 

[Darkbreeze]

First place I'd start is with a clean driver installation.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html

If it works fine, under the same kinds of loads that it has problems with on your system, on a different system, then I'd say it's fine. If you had similar problems in another system I'd agree that it's the card, but you say it doesn't so that kind of rules that out.

Since a different card works fine in your system, then it's unlikely to be the power supply or motherboard. What card did you have installed prior to the purchase of the 280x?

 

[helpstar]

unplug the graphics card and use the onboard graphics to update the motherboard´s BIOS within BIOS and try again.

reset BIOS if it won´t boot

8pin EPS/ATX12V power plug is connected to the motherboard?

Do you use the original deliverded power cables with the corresponding power supply? Don´t exchange the cables and plug them into different PSUs, because it could damage your hardware.

 

[adamwestleyyoung]

Thanks for the input, guys, I will try updating the BIOS next.

Darkbreeze, I was using a 1050 ti before. I'm still using the card until I can straighten out the issues with the 280x.

Also, I should have mentioned that I'm unable to see the BIOS at all with the 280x unless I use the 500W PSU.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Why would you want to go from a 1050TI to an older 280x? The 1050TI probably just slightly outperforms the 280x, at least in a few areas, uses a lot less power and is newer, so it likely has support for technologies that might not be supported by the 280x now or going forward.

Going from an Nvidia card to an AMD card usually presents the potential for driver issues. I'd really suggest you use the Display Driver Uninstaller, removing all traces of the Nvidia drivers, and if there has ever been ANOTHER video card in there that used an Intel or AMD driver, run the DDU again and get rid of that as well, then install the most current AMD driver IF you intend to use the AMD card anyhow. Personally, I think the 1050TI probably puts you in just about the same performance category or close enough to not matter considering it WORKS and the 280x doesn't.

The fact that you are unable to access and see the bios, much less make any changes, leads me to further believe there is a problem with that card.

I'd feel ok saying that probably 30% or more of the graphics cards being offered on Ebay that are used, are being sold because the owner had issues with them and had to replace it.

 

[adamwestleyyoung]

I wanted to move to a 280x for hackintoshing, but I couldn't even make the card work in Windows! The 280x works better with FCPX.

Regarding driver issues, would the drivers affect my ability to reach BIOS? It seems like I should be able to get into BIOS no matter if the drivers are corrupted.

The main thing puzzling me now is why the 500W works and two EVGA 850W PSUs have not.

Update: I verified that I had the latest version of BIOS, and I reset the CMOS. Still no luck.

 

[helpstar]

Drivers are just for operating systems, the BIOS is not affected by those.
That´s why it seems the graphics card is defective because if the driver is loading and features of it step in, it get´s trouble to initiate the card correctly and quits.
Uninstall all graphics drivers (nvidia and AMD) via "DDU uninstaller" in safe mode and try reinstalling the latest compatible driver from AMD.com.

BIOS version is on 2.00 ?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, probably a good idea to make sure you are on BIOS version 2.0, however, the 280x is an older card and there should not be any issues with a motherboard that new identifying or supporting any PCIe 3.0 graphics card that was released prior to the manufacture of that motherboard. A card newer than the board, maybe, but not usually the other way around. I have seen a few case of that happening but it's not typical behavior.

No, drivers will not affect the BIOS working normally with the card installed nor interfere with the BIOS/UEFI identifying the card. Should work normal.

The power requirement for the 1050TI is much lower than the 280x, which means a weak or faulty PSU might still work ok with the Nvidia card but struggle with the AMD card.

Maybe try unplugging the power from the system, installing the AMD card, removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard for two minutes or so, put it back, plug the system back in and try to boot. See if anything changes.