New HIS Radeon 6870 1gb gddr5 restarts my computer during every game...occasiona

[syrum8486]

Hey all. This is the first time I have installed a new graphics card so the possibility of the human factor is definitely real. With that said here is the issue:

I followed the install instructions:

1. Uninstalled drivers/software for previous GC(which was an ati radeon hd 5450)
2. Shut Computer off
3. Removed old card and installed 6870 in pci-e x16 slot
4. Turned on comp and installed drivers from disc
5. Restarted

From here I tried a bunch of different games like AC Brotherhood, Dirt 3, Battlefield bad company 2, Crysis 2 and for all of them, within 5-10 min my screen goes black and my computer restarts. I have looked to see if others have had a similar problem, but cant find anyone with my restarting problem(theirs just freezes and they have to force reboot). Mine doesn't freeze...it just suddenly restarts. The odd thing is I ran Furmark to stress test it afterwards and no shutdown whatsoever. Granted i only ran it for 10 min, but with my games shutting down within that time frame i figured that would be long enough(i could be totally wrong here). I have read that it might be a PSU issue(it shouldn't be I had to purchase and install a new PSU and being short on money i opted for a X-power pro 600 watt from newegg) or it might be a driver issue(which i cant see either because it says my drivers are up to date).

Anyway...computer specs:

HP Pavillion Elite hpe-400z:

AMD Phenom II x4 quad core 945 processor
H-RS880-uATX (Aloe) motherboard
8 GB DDR3 Ram
X-Power Pro 600 watt power supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Here are some screenshots of Furmark and GPU-Z:

Direct link: http://i55.tinypic.com/6zr2qf.gif

Direct Link: http://i55.tinypic.com/33xdgzm.jpg


Any input would be most appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Onus]

It could very well be a PSU issue. The little voltage switch on that HEC X-Power PSU gives it away as an older, obsolete design. It may also be overrated, despite what its label claims. It could also be the part that is overheating, and wandering out of spec so far your PC simply reboots. Do check your temps, including a subjective feel of the air exhausting from the PSU.
A quality modern PSU has full range active PFC (no little voltage switch) and some level of 80+ certification for efficiency. Seasonic, Antec, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax/LEPA are among the better brands. For your system, a 500W-550W PSU would be sufficient.

 

[geekapproved]

I wouldn't trust that to power my usb coffee warmer.

 

[Onus]

"Should be" and "is" are two different things, when the label may be a lie.

 

[syrum8486]

Thanks for the quick feedback. I knew the PSU wasn't top of the line, but you have to go with what you can afford. Also I read something about how cards fan speeds are sometimes too low. Mine seemed to max out around 44% (roughly 3000 rpm) when my card was 90 degrees during one of the stress tests. Shouldn't the fan be at least 60% for running that hot?

I will monitor my temps with Hwmonitor and post a screenie. Thanks again!

 

[syrum8486]

never mind about the fan question. just had it explained to me, but here are some screenshots of gpu-z while running furmark and a comparison of my computer's power when idling versus when running furmark:

GPU-Z under 99% gpu load:

Hwmonitor Idle:

Hwmonitor Hot:

I don't think its the power supply. It is slightly warm to the touch and the graphics card is a little hot side but not burning my fingers. Im guess that some drivers are in conflict somewhere. I tried uninstalling the drivers that i got off the disc and installing drivers i got from:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/auto_detect.aspx
The app wouldn't open. Flashed once and closed. Tried it again with right click run as admin, same thing. (this was after i had already uninstalled the disc drivers and restarted the comp)

Anyway i guess i will try reinstalling again.

 

[syrum8486]

Ok I figured out the problem. The first couple installs I didn't get any errors. All of a sudden I started getting an error when installing Ati catalyst software. It turns out it had to do with microsoft redistributable 2010 already being installed on my computer. The install would error at the point when it needed to install it. So I just uninstalled microsoft redistributable 2010, ran the catalyst install, and voila..no more crashing. Hope it holds up though. I thought it would just over write any existing files as it was copying them to my hard drive, save for any related ati file that I was suppose to uninstall first.

Thanks again for helping me out!

 

[syrum8486]

IMO, it's the GPU temp.
it's hitting 90celcius load. not good,
how is the ventilation in ur case? have u been cleaning out the dust lately?

Yeah I'm not sure... just had two crashes this morning on dirt 3. AC plays fine and so does Crysis. I think any high capacity game gets too hot or something. I was wondering about ventilation because the case would be considered medium sized and the only place for the power wires to sit is right above the GPU's fan(all zip tied and with no possibility of falling into said fan). I wondered if air flow was being restricted. Dust is minimal but i will clean it out just to be sure. So far the original problem of every game crashing after 5 min is gone, just crashing on dirt 3 so far. From what i've read my gpu should be able to handle it. Oh and its only reaching 90 degrees during the stress tests.. when i am playing AC at least, it only gets up to ~70 degrees. Probably should test with dirt.

 

[Onus]

Adding a fan to your case might help.
My current PC has a nVidia card in it, but I know in the past when I've used ATi cards (and I still would), I have simply not used CCC because it was unstable.

 

[syrum8486]

What alternative to ccc is there? Oh and i did a check on the temps while running dirt 3 and it was averaging 84 degrees with a max of 87...that was only after ten minutes of play though. My goal was to shut it down before my computer restarted itself on me so i could see the readout.

 

[Onus]

CCC is generally not needed; the drivers alone are what you "need." You can use something like MSI Afterburner to control the frequencies and fan on your card if the automatic (i.e. BIOS) settings don't seem to be doing a good job.

 

[syrum8486]

Adding a fan to your case might help.
My current PC has a nVidia card in it, but I know in the past when I've used ATi cards (and I still would), I have simply not used CCC because it was unstable.

What about increasing the fan speed of the card? I read some people have done it. How effective is this method?

 

[Onus]

If you have enough airflow through your case, increasing the GPU fan speed will help, definitely; but the card must be getting enough cooler air from somewhere for that to work. For example, even with a 90%+ fan speed, a HD6790 in my little PC-Q08R case will get up to 85C-87C when bitcoin mining; I had to stop that little experiment because I could not keep the card cool enough.

 

[syrum8486]

If you have enough airflow through your case, increasing the GPU fan speed will help, definitely; but the card must be getting enough cooler air from somewhere for that to work. For example, even with a 90%+ fan speed, a HD6790 in my little PC-Q08R case will get up to 85C-87C when bitcoin mining; I had to stop that little experiment because I could not keep the card cool enough.

Well i think maybe my case is a little too small? All the PSU wires are jumbled right above the GPU fan possibly restricting flow. Thanks for the response btw.

 

[Onus]

Can you put an intake fan on the side of your case, or is there room for one in front of the drives? You may also want to block that PCI slot over that is open above your GPU.

 

[syrum8486]

Can you put an intake fan on the side of your case, or is there room for one in front of the drives? You may also want to block that PCI slot over that is open above your GPU.

Unfortunately i would have to customize it myself. There are no pre made mounts for another fan. I would have to cut a hole in the cover to install another fan..which wouldn't be too hard. Does it matter where the intake is positioned? I am going to cover that slot now too.

 

[Onus]

I'd position it so it blows cool air onto the GPU.

 

[syrum8486]

I'd position it so it blows cool air onto the GPU.

Ok. I will look into it. Maybe the best option is to get a bigger case that has more fans pre installed. I have to do something Crysis just died on me for the first time. Def a heat issue it seems.

 

[Onus]

Another thing you could try is turning your rear fan into an INTAKE. Right now, you have three exhausts (that one, the GPU, and the PSU), so it is likely there's not much air actually moving because the fans are all fighting each other. If you turn the rear fan around, you'll actually get air flowing THROUGH the PSU and GPU.

 

[syrum8486]

Another thing you could try is turning your rear fan into an INTAKE. Right now, you have three exhausts (that one, the GPU, and the PSU), so it is likely there's not much air actually moving because the fans are all fighting each other. If you turn the rear fan around, you'll actually get air flowing THROUGH the PSU and GPU.

Well i just tried that and my temps still skyrocket past 90 degrees. As soon as I stop the test, plummets back to 73 degrees. Its possible i got a bad card. The reviews said it runs cooler than the nvidia of the same price, similar specs. Forget which one exactly.

 

[syrum8486]

Ok I found out that some of the HIS 6870s shipped to newegg were defected. Shipping it back on monday. Appreciate all the help guys!

 

[Onus]

Hmmm, interesting. Hopefully the replacement will be better. I've bought 4 different HIS cards, and all were good.

 

[syrum8486]

With that kind of miniature case, I would grab something like a Elite 430 just to get past the heat issues.
or keep the case open while gaming, while blowing it with a AC fan.

I like that case pretty well. As for the AC fan, I tried a regular box fan and the damn thing still restarted my computer. I guess I don't want to buy a case if the issue is the card. Will try a different card and if it still does it, then I will buy a new case.

 

[syrum8486]

Ok so I ran one last test whilst upping the fan speed to a static 60%. I was able to keep the temps below 76 degrees for about 15 minutes. I need to play longer to test the crashing issue but don't have time until tonight. All the same. I shouldn't have to control the cards fan speed for a brand new card( Im actually wondering if it was really new. Just noticed a stain on the back of the board that looks like it was sitting on something or something was attached to it at one point. Tried to clean it but it wont come off.)

 

[syrum8486]

Well it crashed/restarted my computer when the temperature was 74 degrees. The card is toast. Shipping it back.