R7 260X Artifacts

[asimr]

Hello All,

I posted an issue a few months back about my GC having artifact issues here is the article.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2109029/sapphire-260x-2gb-edition-artifacts.html

Now after doing some more testing, I took the GC to work and got one of the technicians to test the PC we tested it for two days and no problem occured. So while that was being tested I put an old ATI Radeon HD 3450 GC in my pc to rule out any mobo problems or ram, and that graphics card worked fine work weeks.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0By1JSNTEj8DvQmZscTdDTmg5TUE/edit?pli=1

I can't RMA because if I do Sapphire will see the card, check its working fine and probably send it back, this problem only happens at times, all though has happened just now and yesterday. I am now really really sure that it cannot be a GC issue (hardware side) because if I scroll, highlight the artifact, right click, minimize the window the artifact would disappear if it was a hardware artifact surely it would not do this right?

That above image happened while I was browsing BBC news..

 

[damric]

What do you have for a power supply?

 

[asimr]

Corsair CS650M Modular Series 650 Watt ATX Power Supply Unit (80 PLUS Gold Certified)

 

[damric]

Try a different PSU. CS= Corsair Sucky

 

[asimr]

Try a different PSU. CS= Corsair Sucky

Thank You, very helpful solution, just a blanket opinion of yours on the company being crap. When we tested this at work we used a corsair PSU more or less the same, think that was a 600W

 

[damric]

Try a different PSU. CS= Corsair Sucky

Thank You, very helpful solution, just a blanket opinion of yours on the company being crap. When we tested this at work we used a corsair PSU more or less the same, think that was a 600W

There is a big difference between the various Corsair PSU models. The CS, CX, VS are the low end models manufacturered by Channel Well Tech using substandard parts like flimsy Chinese capacitors. The good Corsair PSUs are the AX, TX, HX, ect that are made by Seasonic. Corsair just puts a sticker on the box and hopes you don't know the difference.

Be careful using "budget class" PSUs for gaming rigs. There are posts on here everyday about one failing. Sometimes it is catastrophic and destroys other components with it as it bursts into flames (happened here yesterday with a CX).

 

[asimr]

OK but it is still strange as to why the artifact disappears if I minimize, highlight, or clicked on it, surely the PSU would not do this?

 

[damric]

OK but it is still strange as to why the artifact disappears if I minimize, highlight, or clicked on it, surely the PSU would not do this?

Artifacts can be caused by insufficient power. I want you to try another PSU so that we can eliminate that from the list of possibilities of things gone wrong.

You could also see what happens when you underclock a bit on the GPU core and memory. It's possible that Sapphire was a little overzealous with this "OC" version. You could also try raising voltage a bit.

You might even have other instabilities in your system, but I don't want to go there until you at least tried a different PSU and adjusting clocks.

I read your other thread that you linked and they didn't do the simple troubleshooting steps.

 

[smeezekitty]

Sounds like it is a hardware problem. Often artifacts disappear when the region is refreshed
If you cannot solve it through drivers, then RMA is worth a try

 

[damric]

IF it wasn't under warranty, this one is a good candidate for baking.

 

[asimr]

Underclocking won't cause any issues will it? Here is the Trixx utility and current default settings. I will underclock highlight by -10 and see how that goes for a few days.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By1JSNTEj8DvUGhJVU5vU2xFU0k/edit?usp=sharing

 

[damric]

Underclocking is normal. Your card naturally does it all the time to save power. I would try underclocking by 100MHz. IF that fixes the problem, then I would contact Sapphire tech support since your card is supposed to work at advertised clocks.

 

[asimr]

OK if I underlock at 100 what settings shall I apply to GPU and Memory? Just minus 100 on both?

 

[damric]

Yes that's a good start. Then I would run a few loops of a 3D test program like Unigine and see if your artifacts have gone away.

 

[asimr]

Right now I just got a BSOD, should down instantly and when booted back up it did not give me an error message, went into Event viewer and got this XML.

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date: 01/06/2014 00:02:04
Event ID: 41
Task Category: (63)
Level: Critical
Keywords: (2)
User: SYSTEM
Computer: asimpc
Description:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
<EventID>41</EventID>
<Version>2</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>63</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2014-05-31T23:02:04.496803600Z" />
<EventRecordID>62923</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>asimpc</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="SleepInProgress">false</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

After Googling the Keywords it seems is GC related

 

[asimr]

Guys I completely forgot to mention that I got a UPS connected to this system, this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BE700G-UK-Interface-Power-Saving-Back-UPS/dp/B002RXED6A

 

[sora]

Try a different PSU. CS= Corsair Sucky

Thank You, very helpful solution, just a blanket opinion of yours on the company being crap. When we tested this at work we used a corsair PSU more or less the same, think that was a 600W

A blanket opinion? The CS/CX series are both the low-end series of Corsair power supplies and therefore use cheap capacitors that could easily cause the power supply to blow, which even gives it a chance to damage other components!