[SOLVED] Is my XFX R9 280x finished now? Advice on upgrading pls...

[Dave Thompson]

GA H81M DS2V Gigabyte
R9 280x
i7 4790
Corsair TX650M
12 Gig ddr3 value ram
LG 1080p TV 60 hz
WD Blue SSD

Dear members,

I was intending to upgrade late in the year, but it appears now might be the time. Before I go there, is there a way to confirm this card (R9 280x) is finished? Played some Subnautica the other night and experienced a crash to a BSOD. Restored another backup and it crashed to a light blue screen when the game became more graphically demanding. Booted up from another drive with Win 10, and Furmark & "Heaven" (I think), both resulted in a crash. Nasty too, as the system sometimes won't boot for a couple of minutes (no beep). 90% sure this card's life is finally coming to an end, but I would appreciate a bit more evidence, as I realise the PSU "could" be under-powering it. I have re-seated and checked all plugs. Is there a way to rule out the PSU? Maybe voltage checks?

The motherboard is also 9 years old, so it is time to upgrade that. I guess I can re-use the PSU (Corsair TX650m) and the SSDs, but everything else I will probably want to upgrade - pc case/system fans, mobo, cpu, ram and gpu. As you can see in the specs, I am still using ddr3 ram, but does that affect game performance much?

I think I am looking at £700 tops, so is there anything I should know before ordering the components please? I would be quite happy to go with AMD both cpu and gpu. Does pairing brands make much difference?

I hear that cards made after the 280x require less power, so does that mean micro ATX cases are fine for gaming? I have one, and I couldn't fit a decent cooler on it, so along with the power-hungry card, I ended up opening up the side of the case to keep temps down.

Anyways...sorry to waffle. Just want to know if the card is over, and just some tips before I enjoy creating my first custom build.
(I hope I may now get to enjoy Subnautica with settings maxed-out (gimme some screen-space reflections!) with a smooth 1080p 60fps gameplay... that would be nice.)

Many thanks indeed.

p.s. Oh, I will probably go with Amazon, as I can have peace of mind when ordering. I wasn't planning to upgrade immediately like this and want to keep it low stress.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Has that TX650M been in service for the same length of time as your 280x?

There is no way you are going to upgrade all those things for that price. You MIGHT be able to get a board, CPU, memory and graphics card, but anything else, not likely unless you buy used and I absolutely recommend against doing that.

Something along these lines would give you nice bumps in performance on both the CPU and GPU sides of the ball.

This would be about 40 bucks cheaper using different retailers, but since you want to use Amazon exclusively for simplicity then maybe it's worth the extra 40 bones.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660M GAMING DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£104.37 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£65.53 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 3050 8GB 8 GB GAMING Twin Edge OC Video Card (£354.59 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £704.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-04-05 04:34 BST+0100

 

[Dave Thompson]

Has that TX650M been in service for the same length of time as your 280x?

There is no way you are going to upgrade all those things for that price. You MIGHT be able to get a board, CPU, memory and graphics card, but anything else, not likely unless you buy used and I absolutely recommend against doing that.

Something along these lines would give you nice bumps in performance on both the CPU and GPU sides of the ball.

This would be about 40 bucks cheaper using different retailers, but since you want to use Amazon exclusively for simplicity then maybe it's worth the extra 40 bones.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (£179.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660M GAMING DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£104.37 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£65.53 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce RTX 3050 8GB 8 GB GAMING Twin Edge OC Video Card (£354.59 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £704.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-04-05 04:34 BST+0100

Thanks for the reply. Maybe if I keep the case and fans I might keep close to the target. I wanted to get a bigger case than a micro-atx because of high temps, but the more modern GPUs run cooler than the 280x I believe, so it might not be an issue?

The Corsair PSU is a lot younger than the 280x. Maybe 4 years, whereas the GPU I got 2nd hand, but I believe it's from 2013.

Please though, how do I rule out the PSU being at fault? I installed Passmark Performance test, and on the HOME tab of that software, the PSU was making an odd noise. That is the only time it makes such a noise. I am wondering if the PSU is failing now, so is there a way to know without using a multimeter?? I still want to upgrade, but I need to know what's what.

Thank you.

 

[egda23]

You mean that you could perform a Passmark performance test without BSOD ?
Than I would do an OCCT test, to max stress your PSU, and to see if it holds. This would likely eliminate the PSU as the failing part.

 

[Dave Thompson]

You mean that you could perform a Passmark performance test without BSOD ?
Than I would do an OCCT test, to max stress your PSU, and to see if it holds. This would likely eliminate the PSU as the failing part.

No, I get a crash when running it, same with Furmark and Heaven, but it's intermittent. Heaven did one lap without a crash today, but that is rare. When the Passmark menu screen is up, and the Home tab is on (I think it shows a 3d model of the board). the PSU makes a high pitched sound, although quiet - I have the side of the case off so I can hear it well.

It took almost 10 minutes for it to boot again after a crash today. I will try the OCCT test, so thanks.

 

[Dave Thompson]

I have the OCCT installed. How do I check PSU please?

UPDATE: I didn't change any settings, and ran OCCT, and it blackscreened immediately with a buzzing sound from speakers. Fortunately it booted afterwards.

 

[egda23]

OK so it crashed with Passmark.
Your CPU has an iGPU. So you can take the R9 280x out (take it physically out of the box) and connect your monitor to the the VGA or the DVI-D port from your motherboard.
Test your computer, and see what happens

 

[Dave Thompson]

OK so it crashed with Passmark.
Your CPU has an iGPU. So you can take the R9 280x out (take it physically out of the box) and connect your monitor to the the VGA or the DVI-D port from your motherboard.
Test your computer, and see what happens

Thanks muchly. I mentioned in above post that OCCT crashed it immediately.
I took out the card yesterday and played a game without crash, but I will do it again now and try the tests. Thing is, the IGPU is not going to draw the same power as the card, so may not prove the fault. The crashes usually occur during GPU stress (fans increasing). I will isolate the card now, and run the stress tests and see if it remains stable - good thing to find out for sure. Thanks sincerely for for your time.

 

[egda23]

Thanks muchly. I mentioned in above post that OCCT crashed it immediately.
I took out the card yesterday and played a game without crash, but I will do it again now and try the tests. Thing is, the IGPU is not going to draw the same power as the card, so may not prove the fault. The crashes usually occur during GPU stress (fans increasing). I will isolate the card now, and run the stress tests and see if it remains stable - good thing to find out for sure. Thanks sincerely for for your time.

To point is to be able to see if the PSU crashes even without the GPU.
If not, you have no definite answer

 

[Dave Thompson]

To point is to be able to see if the PSU crashes even without the GPU.
If not, you have no definite answer

The result is STABLE with Furmark and Passmark. Can I draw the same amount of power as the card would? Not sure what tree I'm barking at there. Is it possible the PSU is struggling to supply the needed power?

P.S. Is there a way to remove these PSU plugs without hurting fingers? Hate pulling them out.

 

[egda23]

The result is STABLE with Furmark and Passmark. Can I draw the same amount of power as the card would? Not sure what tree I'm barking at there. Is it possible the PSU is struggling to supply the needed power?

P.S. Is there a way to remove these PSU plugs without hurting fingers? Hate pulling them out.

No I don't think that you can draw the same amount of power without the GPU. This of course does not entirely resolve the question if it is the GPU that is failing, or the PSU that fails when it needs to supply the GPU.
If you do not have a spare GPU or PSU, there is no way to be 100% certain.
The only thing that is clear is that the PSU is not entirely cold dead (which is not surprising, as this is supposed to be a good quality PSU)

 

[Dave Thompson]

No I don't think that you can draw the same amount of power without the GPU. This of course does not entirely resolve the question if it is the GPU that is failing, or the PSU that fails when it needs to supply the GPU.
If you do not have a spare GPU or PSU, there is no way to be 100% certain.
The only thing that is clear is that the PSU is not entirely cold dead (which is not surprising, as this is supposed to be a good quality PSU)

I forgot to test with OCCT, so just ran it and CPU cores reached 100c!! Omg. This is without the GPU. CPUID monitor showed 100 in red. Scary. Didnt crash for the few nailbiting seconds I left it running. No idea what that was all about.

 

[egda23]

I forgot to test with OCCT, so just ran it and CPU cores reached 100c!! Omg. This is without the GPU. CPUID monitor showed 100 in red. Scary. Didnt crash for the few nailbiting seconds I left it running. No idea what that was all about.

Well OCCT pushes the CPU (and the GPU when present) to the max ! And of course the temperature depends of the type of cooler you have. Yep, 100°C is high for a i7 4790 (not suppose to go over 95°C).
That said the PSU did not crash.
If I had to bet, I would bet on a failing R9 280x (but I never won the Loto !)

 

[Dave Thompson]

Well OCCT pushes the CPU (and the GPU when present) to the max ! And of course the temperature depends of the type of cooler you have. Yep, 100°C is high for a i7 4790 (not suppose to go over 95°C).
That said the PSU did not crash.
If I had to bet, I would bet on a failing R9 280x (but I never won the Loto !)

Yeah, I think I agree. I wanted to upgrade GPU anyway, and I think a good one would still work on this mobo, so really, there isn't much harm in buying one, is there? If the new card runs stable, then all good, and I can look at mobo upgrades at my leisure.

The CPU cooler is rubbish, but I couldn't get a much larger one due to board and case size.

Thanks for your advice. Unsung heroes on these forums helping people out with tech issues. Great service.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Oops!

Went on ebay and started looking at cards, and the next thing I did was bid on an XFX RX 580 GTS xxx with 7 minutes to go and got it for £170 delivered. 2 years old and light use. Get it by Friday, and totally was impulse buy. It's gonna take me a while longer to research other upgrades, and I need a new card asap. Did I do bad on that?

 

[Darkbreeze]

You can get a cheap volt meter from Walmart or Harbor freight, or most home centers, which is more than sufficient for testing. Or if you have one, or can borrow one, so much the better.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Oops!

Went on ebay and started looking at cards, and the next thing I did was bid on an XFX RX 580 GTS xxx with 7 minutes to go and got it for £170 delivered. 2 years old and light use. Get it by Friday, and totally was impulse buy. It's gonna take me a while longer to research other upgrades, and I need a new card asap. Did I do bad on that?

Yes, that was not a good idea. EVERYBODY says "light use" even if it's been used 24/7 as a mining card. Which is why in my very FIRST post to you I specifically said don't buy any used hardware. It's been a long time since buying a used graphics card or motherboard from anybody you don't know well enough to invite to your mother's house for dinner during the holidays was a good idea.

Now you will have no guarantee the card works, because if you think Ebay will back you if the card has ANY kind of issues you are in for a rude awakening, and you'll get no warranty, which for another 100 bucks you would have had, three years at that. Plus, you bought a card that is barely better than what you had and is already five years old.

You really didn't improve your situation by much, if any, and might well end up spending a lot more than you needed to in order to correct the situation. Hopefully, you will get lucky, but 90% of the time somebody does this that's not what happens.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Yes, that was not a good idea. EVERYBODY says "light use" even if it's been used 24/7 as a mining card. Which is why in my very FIRST post to you I specifically said don't buy any used hardware. It's been a long time since buying a used graphics card or motherboard from anybody you don't know well enough to invite to your mother's house for dinner during the holidays was a good idea.

Now you will have no guarantee the card works, because if you think Ebay will back you if the card has ANY kind of issues you are in for a rude awakening, and you'll get no warranty, which for another 100 bucks you would have had, three years at that. Plus, you bought a card that is barely better than what you had and is already five years old.

You really didn't improve your situation by much, if any, and might well end up spending a lot more than you needed to in order to correct the situation. Hopefully, you will get lucky, but 90% of the time somebody does this that's not what happens.

I realise it was a gamble. The RX 580 GTS does produce a decent bump in framerate from what I've seen (at least 20 fps). Looking at past sales for the card, £166 was at the lower end. The seller has a score of over 300 with 100% feedback, and I can see he sold a phone and was honest about a fault it had. I don't have a GPU right now, and it's going to take some time to work out all the parts I need for a new build. The R9 280x was 2nd hand from ebay, and I got 3 years use out of it. Good job I am more optimistic than you, otherwise I'd be seriously stressed out right now. I wish I had the money to throw at brand new parts.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok. Well, I hope it works out too.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Ok. Well, I hope it works out too.

Thanks. Sorry I didn't take your advice, but I do appreciate the effort you made providing me with those links. I started looking at cards, saw an opportunity and went for it. Never bought a pc part so quickly! If it's a good card, I can re-sell when I do a new build. ETA is Friday, and I will test it and report the result here. I won't lie, and if it was a failure, I will put my hands up and learn from it. Ebay are much better than they used to be, and I see no evidence they will refuse a refund for a faulty GPU. Check out the improvements over the 280x, and bear in mind I bought it just so I can still play my games for the time-being,

View: https://youtu.be/pPdg1yU3a34

 

[Dave Thompson]

I said I would be honest about the outcome, so here I am. The XFX RX 580 arrived (after my winning bid of £170), and the card looked brand new. Popped it in and ran some tests and it passed.

However, it's not all great, as it seems clear that the guy sold it due to one of the fans wearing down. I was hearing a strange noise, almost like a fart noise, and at first I thought it was coming from the HDD. After a closer look, it's the GPU fans making the sound. I was very happy to learn that these cards' fans switch off when the GPU is not working, but sadly, every time they spin up, one of the fans makes an unpleasant sound, which doesn't happen when the computer is on its side.

So it's not a deal-breaker, as I can replace the fans when I need to (and they are cheap), but still a bit irritating. I could just configure the fans to stay on, or just accept the sound it makes. I like to hear a good sound when I switch on my computer, not a fart sound lol!

Anyone know much about this fan issue? This is what I am experiencing: https://youtube.com/shorts/_XRZFtMjcGs?feature=share.
View: https://youtu.be/_sVX_UVKNSI

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't like hearing them come on, go off, come on, go off. I set my configuration to stay at a minimum of about 40% at temperatures below 50°C, which on my 2060 Super is basically inaudible anyhow, and then increase from there based on need. That way, I don't hear them but I also don't hear them going on and off either. Might be a good idea to do that until you replace them as it's generally harder on a motor to start up than it is to remain running once it already has momentum. Might last a bit longer actually by setting them to not operate under zero RPM.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Yes, indeed. Some people are saying it's the fan's blades hitting on the metal plates they're attached to. Of course you are correct that powering off and on frequently is going to shorten their life, but I guess it depends on what you are doing. Video editing causes them to constantly do it, where as gaming keeps them on. 58c seems to be the level. I just don't like the sound, so perhaps when I get motivated, I will check out the screws on it, and maybe look into the solutions here

View: https://youtu.be/_sVX_UVKNSI
They are quiet when on, so I'll try disabling zero rpm in Radeon.

What are your thoughts on running a 9 year old mobo? Am I punishing performance using cheap "value ram" at DDR 3 spec? I remember learning that DDR4 don't actually improve much accept lower energy consumption.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What are your thoughts on running a 9 year old mobo?

Cough. (And choke a little bit)

I just replaced my six year old platform, and I REALLY thought I was a hanger on. LOL. If it's 9 years old, you have MORE THAN got your money's worth. Move on. That's my advice.