Possible problem with new R9 290X

[itsanss]

Just installed my new R9 290X.

Got the three identical monitors set up for Eyefinity. The first and second monitors, connected with DVI are working perfectly. However, the third monitor, hooked up via HDMI is not. It's displaying the desktop, but the border of the screen is green and it just looks terrible.

What am I doing wrong?!

Thanks!

 

[TechyInAZ]

Have you tried DP?

 

[itsanss]

My monitors don't have Display Port. :-\

 

[itsanss]

Just launched Call of Duty to see what it looked like (on a single screen). Holy lag. The mouse cursor lags, skips, and jumps like crazy before, during, and after gameplay. Don't know if this is significant or not to the third green screen, but something isn't right! It's all the same settings as I had before with my HD 5870. It only does it within the game; it's fine while using Explorer, Firefox, Excel, Word, etc. etc.

*sigh*


edit: Just had a blue screen of death followed by immediate involuntary reboot. Just sitting there browsing the web. It's never had a blue screen ever in five years!!!

Also, if I shut down or restart, the computer forgets my Eyefinity group and goes back to three identical monitors.

Thanks

 

[TechyInAZ]

Wow, that is one messed up PC. Here are things to try:

1. Update your motherboards BIOS.
2. Check for viruses via malwarebytes.com
3. Update the drivers on your graphics card.

Have you had any problems before getting your r9 290X?

 

[itsanss]

Indeed it is.

The BIOS is way old. May 2009. There have been many updates since. I've never updated a BIOS. Been reading how to do so. Sounds just a tad bit scary. I won't try it tonight as it is already getting late. But bringing that up to date certainly couldn't hurt.

I don't have any viruses. I run a full system scan weekly.

Graphics drivers are up to date.


I DID fix the green border and crappy looking third monitor. I read a tip to adjust the scaling via CCC. That sure enough fixed it right up. However, system still not running correctly. Very laggy and frequent crashes.

I will see about flashing the MOBO tomorrow. I'll either make it or break it!

Thanks for the help thus far! I'll probably need more of it!

 

[TechyInAZ]

No problem. BIOS updates don't break anything, however if you force shut down the computer during the flashing is the only time the mobo will defiantly not work. (Unless you have 2 bioses.)

 

[itsanss]

BIOS successfully updated! I think I need an anti-anxiety 'scrip' now. lol The BIOS update only took about 10 seconds to do - super easy. However, when I went to get back into the OS, it couldn't find OS. Then I messed around with boot priority, etc. and then it couldn't find something else. Made some more changes and then it couldn't find NTLD or something like that. Then I made another couple of changes and it worked!! Got back into the OS and all my data was still there. lol It was an extremely nerve racking 20 minutes! I was most nervous once it didn't boot right away because I have my two 1 TB HDDs in RAID 0. I thought I was about to have to start over with them! My back up is about a month old and I would've lost a bunch of information. I know better than that, too - got lucky!

I haven't messed with it long enough yet to know if that did any good or not with the crashing and stuff.

However, I have launched Call of Duty - literally the only game I play besides FreeCell - and it's still the same. The graphics look fine and have good frame rates, but moving cursor side to side or up and down or both it's super laggy - unplayable.

I'm not sure where to go from here. It looks to be only the game that's affected....IF there are no more crashes and the computer remembers my Eyefinity group after sleep/reboot/shut down. Super annoying to have to make a new group every time I bring the computer up.

I'll try to get some more usage to determine what exactly is working and not. But I'm remodeling a house and work full-time, so I only have an hour or so each evening before bed to mess around on the PC and also eat at the same time. lol

Thanks thus far!!!


Edit: Before I even got my boots put on and left the room, the PC woke itself up from sleep - for no apparent reason (that sure does piss me off) - went back single display and have to reconfigure Eternity group. Damn thing is frustrating!!!!!

 

[TechyInAZ]

Sheesh, somethings not working.

Now that the BIOS is updated, do you have another graphics card laying around to try? Because I'm trying to figure out if it's a software/driver issue or a GPU (hardware) issue.

And how are the temps?

 

[itsanss]

I stuck my old HD 5870 back in. It must be software related because now I can't play CoD with my old card.

In CoD, sitting still my FPS was 63 at maximum settings with the R9 290X. When I swung my cursor back and forth the FPS dropped to as low as 22.

In CoD, sitting still my FPS was at 45 at maximum settings with the HD 5870. When I swung my cursor back and forth the FPS dropped to as low as 15.

It might also be worth mentioning that booting up now seems like it takes a lot longer to do. Almost as if the "GPU Tweak" software that came with the card demands a lot of power to run.... Because it comes up on startup.

So I'm thinking it's software - recent software - that's causing it because my old card never gave problems like this but now it is after I've put it back in the machine after having run the new one with new software.

Could it be the GPU driver? The GPU Tweak software? Maybe I need to max out the clock? :-D 😛

Also, I ran the "Windows Experience Index" from the control panel. During the test, the GPU monitor (GPU Tweak) showed the card cycling from 0% to 100% for about one minute and the temperature ranged from 60 C to 70 C. I don't know if that's high, low, or about right.... Got a 6.1 base score out of a 1.0 to 7.9 scale.

Gonna power down and put the R9 back in now.

Thanks again for your patience and help!

 

[itsanss]

I uninstalled CCC hoping it would do something different, but it didn't. Installed CCC with latest driver but to no avail.

A new thing it's doing, though, is the third monitor in the group (connected via HDMI) is black and white only. No color whatsoever in any program. While booting up it has vibrant nice looking color, so it's not the cable or the monitor. But when at the desktop or in any program it's black and white. I've messed with the settings on the monitor and in CCC all I knew to do but no change.

Something I've noticed is that the computer remembers my Eyefinity group from cold boot or from a restart, but not from sleep. If I put it to sleep and then wake it up, I have to restart the PC if I want my Eyefinity group back. It defaults to the HDMI monitor. But if I restart, then it goes back to Eyefinity just the way I had it. Don't know if this info. is helpful or not.

It is noticeably slow from when it says "Starting Windows" (while booting) to when it actually gets to the screen where I select my user account. It didn't used to be that way...

So frustrating to have spent the money on a new card that's twice what my old one was and it's been nothing but problems. Like I said, when I get home from my 12+ hour day I want to just get on the PC and play a game or two and check e-mail, but I'm having to dick with this thing instead! No fun!