New PowerColor Radeon 280 GPU installation problems (Monitor out of range, Screen Scrambling)

[kthompson]

So I am replacing my aging 550ti with a new PowerColor Radeon 280 graphics card, and have been running into some problems with it. I uninstall the old Nvidia drivers, shut down the comp, and switch out the cards. Upon normal reboot I am greeted with a black monitor that is showing "out of range 33.7ghz/33ghz". Ok, I can kind of get past this by going into safe mode. Well, I then find out that you can't actually download drivers in safe mode, so I have to go back to normal boot up where I am greeted by the same message. I have tried going into safe mode to try different resolutions, but they all end up in the same message upon regular re-boot. I need to get past this problem to go on to actually install the drivers for the card, but this is not even the problem that has me the most concerned.

About half the time that I have started up the card I have recieved a very scrambled image that looks like it is projecting the same image 4-6 times across the screen. Looks like this http://imgur.com/jb8lJkK. This is the problem that caused me to send back the first card that was mailed to me, as I would get it working (drivers installed and everything), and then after an hour or so or upon opening a new game it would suddenly go back to the scrambled image. I figured it was likely just a faulty card, but now the second one that they shipped to me has done the same thing a few times. Am I unlucky enough to have recieved two faulty GPU's in a row?

Specs:

CPU: Intel i3-4140 Processor
Motherboard: ASUS H81M-A
Power Supply: Seasonic 550W
GPU: PowerColor Radeon R-9 280

 

[sincreator]

Run the DDU in safe mode and remove all AMD and Nvidia drivers, then reinstall the latest AMD driver. The Catalyst 14.12whql omega driver.

DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

This program gets rid of leftover registry files that the uninstallers miss. These leftover files, when switching from Nvidia to AMD or vice versa can cause issues. This is why the team over at Guru3d decided to provide this program to people.

 

[kthompson]

Run the DDU in safe mode and remove all AMD and Nvidia drivers, then reinstall the latest AMD driver. The Catalyst 14.12whql omega driver.

DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

This program gets rid of leftover registry files that the uninstallers miss. These leftover files, when switching from Nvidia to AMD or vice versa can cause issues. This is why the team over at Guru3d decided to provide this program to people.

The problem I am having right now is that as soon as the computer boots I have nothing but a scrambled screen, so I can't see anything to take these steps. Should I put my old GPU back in, go into safemode and remove those drivers, and then
switch back to the 280 for re-install?

 

[sincreator]

Run the DDU in safe mode and remove all AMD and Nvidia drivers, then reinstall the latest AMD driver. The Catalyst 14.12whql omega driver.

DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

This program gets rid of leftover registry files that the uninstallers miss. These leftover files, when switching from Nvidia to AMD or vice versa can cause issues. This is why the team over at Guru3d decided to provide this program to people.

The problem I am having right now is that as soon as the computer boots I have nothing but a scrambled screen, so I can't see anything to take these steps. Should I put my old GPU back in, go into safemode and remove those drivers, and then
switch back to the 280 for re-install?

Yes that is what you may have to do then. After the shutdown after removal, make the switch before you boot back up again. Either that or a full reinstall of windows, lol. I'd try putting the card back in first and following those steps first though. Reinstall of windows would be a last resort if nothing else works.

 

[kthompson]

Run the DDU in safe mode and remove all AMD and Nvidia drivers, then reinstall the latest AMD driver. The Catalyst 14.12whql omega driver.

DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

This program gets rid of leftover registry files that the uninstallers miss. These leftover files, when switching from Nvidia to AMD or vice versa can cause issues. This is why the team over at Guru3d decided to provide this program to people.

The problem I am having right now is that as soon as the computer boots I have nothing but a scrambled screen, so I can't see anything to take these steps. Should I put my old GPU back in, go into safemode and remove those drivers, and then
switch back to the 280 for re-install?

Yes that is what you may have to do then. After the shutdown after removal, make the switch before you boot back up again. Either that or a full reinstall of windows, lol. I'd try putting the card back in first and following those steps first though. Reinstall of windows would be a last resort if nothing else works.

>Reinstall of windows<

These are words I do not like :C

Will try the first steps. Hope they work.

 

[sincreator]

I hope they do.

So to review.

1. Put old card back in
2. Boot into safe mode
3. While in safe mode, remove ALL nvidia and amd drivers
4. Once step 3 is complete, shut down. NOT restart.
5. Put new card in
6. Boot Windows and install the 14.12whql driver: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/amd-catalyst-14-12-whql-omega-download.html

7. Let me know how it goes 😉

 

[kthompson]

Well, I downloaded the DDU, but it seems to not be working. I get an unhandled exception upon starting the program, and then all I have are some blank "buttons" and a dropdown list that has Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. I click on one of those and I get a box saying "could not find part of the path" and then a whole bunch of jargon I don't understand.

My internet went out as well so I had to wait a while to even try it.

Edit: Ya, there is definitely something wrong with the program. I'll I see is white with the specifics drivers logo in the middle of the page. Nothing like what it looks like on the website.

Edit: Nevermind on this, I may or may not be a complete idiot.

 

[kthompson]

Ok, well I finally managed to get the drivers uninstalled and switched out the cards and installed the CCC from the AMD disk. New drivers are installed and I have managed to re-boot twice now with no sign of trouble, so I am cautiously optimistic so far. Going to load up some Star Citizen and see if it ends up giving me any trouble on my most graphically intensive game. If this finally works alright then I thank you very much for your help. If not, well then I imagine you will be seeing me back soon.

 

[sincreator]

No problem. Don't forget to pick the best answer. 😉