Nothing but problems with the RX 480

vinsonc11

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Aug 27, 2012
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Recently I bought an RX 480 for my custom loop. Temperatures are very good, however my screen randomly turns off while doing things like web browsing, and I have to hard reset. It also does random things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL68-GGI7gQ&feature=youtu.be


System specs:
i5 3570K
Asrock z77 Extreme4
4x4gb corsair LP memory DDR3
Samsung 840 Pro
4TB barracuda + 1TB barracuda
VisionTek RX 480 (on a waterblock)
Fractal Design Edison M 550W 80+ Gold

Temperatures are very low, nothing have ever gone above 50 degrees. Could it be my motherboard? Or my monitor/gpu? My CPU/Motherboard/Ram is nearly 6 years old, I'm not ready for a whole new system D:

 
Solution
If you had problems with the older card too the best thing you could do is a fresh install of windows and if that doesn't help then you know that it has to be a hardware problem.

YoAndy

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Jan 27, 2017
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1.Uninstall any software for GPU and system tweaking
2.Delete C:\AMD folder
3.Uninstall all AMD software and clean your system in safe mode by DDU program and install 16.11.5 or 17.2.1 driver Windows 10 (64-bit)
4.Run HWinfo64>sensors only>Logging start and play for 15-20 min.
 

vinsonc11

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Just tried that, fresh install/reinstall. Tried running userbenchmark, when it got to the graphics tests, my entire screen just went green, had to hard reset it again, couldn't alt tab or do anything, whole screen was just green.
 

YoAndy

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Jan 27, 2017
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Your AMD graphics card has a Power Limit setting in Overdrive. The default setting is 0. That is a power saving (electricity)  setting that throttles your card when it begins to draw more power...like when your gaming. Enabling Overdrive and Raising the Power Limit to it's Highest + value (currently +50 or +20 depending on the card) Disables this throttling feature. It is not overclocking, it just allows the card to perform to its maximum capabilities. Your processor is doing the same thing. 4 core processor? 3 are shut down to save power...introducing a delay as they cycle on and off. There is a fix for that as well > direct to post
The point I'm trying to make is some issues are a result of several changeable settings that are not beneficial to a gamer...and not necessarily the fault of the graphics card.
 

vinsonc11

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I'm aware of that power limit feature and what it does. I just tried raiding power limit to +50 from all stock settings, and my computer just crashes and screen goes completely black as it gets to graphics testing phase. Another thing I found odd was that when start up UNIGINE heaven, I could hear a high pitched whining sound FROM the graphics card. The graphics card is on water, so there are no fans in that vicinity, I was 100% sure that there was a high pitched sound coming from the graphics card itself (no physical moving parts??!) as it was starting up unigine. Similar sound happened with the reflection test in userbenchmark.

I know that my computer crashes too because I listen to a song through spotify and it stops playing as soon as the screen goes black, indicating that it is not simply my graphics card failing to output.
 

vinsonc11

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Aug 27, 2012
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Unfortunately, the RX 480 is in a hardline loop and it will be quite frustrating and annoying to disconnect. I do have a HD 7850, but I'm not 100% sure if that works properly either because I had quite a few problems in the last few months of its lifetime as well.

Maybe I should just scrap the whole system... ): I only just hardlined it recently though...
 

vinsonc11

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Aug 27, 2012
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It was a VisionTek one, unfortunately I bought it from Amazon and I am in Australia, so warranty doesn't cover it apparently, do you know I could do?
 

IceMyth

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Dec 15, 2015
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Hi,

I am not sure if you have the same problem. I have XFX Radeon R7 360 which has the same problem were screen goes black sometimes. The blackscreen happens when the fridge (like 30cm far from my pc, very small apartment :p) start cooling so I believe in my case the amount of power that is needed by the monitor is not provided so it goes off.

Now I saw the video you shared, but when it goes black/green appear (Maybe monitor settings) leads to think a problem in the GPU. However, since you said even music stops working then the problem maybe is somewhere else. Try to test RAM, HD with other software like memtest86, and CrystalDiskInfo. Also try to remove the GPU do some cleaning for dust in the PCIe & PC in general.

Regards,
 

vinsonc11

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Aug 27, 2012
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This is quite a new system so dust is certainly not the problem here, I'll do some mem tests soon but for some reason my GPU is working absolutely fine now! I'm not sure why it was acting up earlier but it's completely fine now. You could be right about the power draw issue.
 
Did you ever actually try the card with the stock cooler before removing it & putting it in the loop??

I'd argue if you didn't you should have done

Your custom heatsink maybe at fault here , there's no easy way of measuring vrm temps , core temps maybe fine, vrm temps may not be.