Sapphire R7 260x black screen!!!

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
Bought a sapphire R7 260x 2gb(says oc edition but core and memory clocks are lesser than referrence) 25 days back.
Whole system is new.Got a black screen just when sitting on the desktop two days after i built the pc.Restarted pc,everythjing fine for 2 weeks,black screen again,all components running fine inside the cabinet,still black screen tried unplugging and replugging DVi cable,no go,monitor still gets signal after black screen.This was with the the driver which came along with the gpu.
Then installed 13.12 from amd webiste,black screen next day,just when browsing the internet.
Uninstalled that too and installed 13.12c from sapphire which had catalyst version 14.1,worked fine for 8 days,black screen again when watching a movie.Movie sound form the speaker turned into a wird long loop,still monitor was recieving signal.So uninstalled that too and installed 14.3 beta.Restarted the pc and when installiong arkham origins,black screen again,restated the pc and uninstalled that too and installed 13.10.Worked fine for one day and black screen again just after starting the system when browsing thorugh my folders on the hard disk.

Everytime i do a clean uninstall and boot into safe mode and run driver sweeper and only then i install another version.

When gaming this has never happened,No heating issue,max temp is 76 even with crysis 3.To be noted:I live in India,chennai.It is summer now and temps are between 35 and 40c outside.

Even tried leaving the system on for 5 minutes after black screen,display does'nt comeback,all components would still be running.I have to hard shut down and restart everytime this happens.

Even before i bought this card i knew many are facing this issue,with all manufacturers like asus,xfx,sapphire and all.Stll took a risk by going with the card.I just wanna know if it is hardware issue or a driver related problem.If its latter i can wait for a table version.Just wanna make sure it is not a hardware issue,if so i will have to rma this card.

I could not relate each occurance with another,happens completely random.Everytime happened under diferrent scenario_Only thing i could get out of those were like the gpu did not have lot of work to do.Was almost at idle.

Tested drivers:
13.20(worked fine for 2 days black screen,again worked fine for 2 weeks,black screen) which came along with the disc(for some reason this was released before 13.10 or 13.12)
13.10(good for 1 day)
13.12(good for 2 days)
13.12c from sapphire website.(good for 8 days)
14.3 beta(not even for 1 hour).

My whole system config is:
I3-3220
Gigabyte B75m-D3h
Corsair value select 4gb 1600mhz ddr3
Seagate barracuda 1 tb
Sapphire R7 260x 2g Gddr5
Power supply:Corsair VS450(UK version)34A on 12v.
 
Solution
From mtdew332:

"So after two weeks of searching for the cause / solution to my Black Screen issue, I think i've finally nailed it down.
With some help from overclock.net forums.
I'll just quote it here.

(This black screen from power transitions occurs because the memory clock jumps up to full speed (1250, etc), while the GPU voltage (which also controls the IMC--this is the problem) is STILL running at idle volts of 0.9xxx). That idle voltage is too low to handle the IMC, which is controlling the memory running at that speed (this is NOT due to defective memory modules btw), and thus the card black screens.)

The fix, is to increase the GPU voltage, which ALSO increases the idle voltage to the IMC as well. (previous...
If you read the graphics /monitor threads, you will see that there are similar threads nearly every day. Quite often all it takes is to re-seat the RAM with clean contacts. Other times, the problem is due to an inadequate power supply. Still other times,the GPU driver has become corrupted or a new driver update is incompatible. And sometimes, the graphics card is just beginning to fail.

(Also sometimes just reseating the GPU works too.)
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
I just pointed one thread for you,but this has been happeneing for too many people with r7 260x and r9 series cards recently with same symptoms.That's the reason i just suspect the gpu and its driver as it is a brand new system.I also understand we can suspect some other component.Also understand it is a probem which can happen with any card and any component,btu why iam suspecting the gpu and driver is because many people are facing the same issue with same card within a short period after its release.
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
And if you can just check the reviews in newegg with r7 260x cards of any manufactuer you will know what iam saying,almost everyone are happy with the card's performance,but not with the drivers and black screen.I don't think this is one of those common problems,but i will definitely test my memory and re seat it properly and make sure.And i have found one connection with all drivers,with every driver i enabled overdrive but did not change anything there.Could that have been a reason as my card's core and memory are lower than the referrence design?
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
The 260x requires a 500w psu. A 450 is usually good enough, however, the Corsair VS are the absolute worst of the Corsair psu's. Not only do they fail atx standards miserably, they do not come close to output of rated power, are built with multiple substandard parts and can fail spectacularly.
If you are getting "black screens", chances are your psu is to blame. Driver issues usually result in "blue screens"
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
Some more,all from tomshardware with exact symptoms:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2090652/black-screen-issues.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2089323/random-black-screen-crashes.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2048608/screen-black-random-times-running.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2053127/random-black-screen-gaming-watching-movie.html

www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2044003/black-screen-loud-buzzing-sound.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2084529/catalyst-driver-giving-black-screens.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1940145/freezes-randomly-fitting-asus-260x.html.

Iam afraid it would be a gpu(hardware) issue,if so i will have to RMA through a sapphire dealer here as i don't have an option to call sapphire from India.I even don;t know how iam going to prove it to them if that is the case as it happens very rarely and randomly.
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
I don't think it is a psu issue as with 100% load it is absolutly fine even for long hours.I know this is not the psu with best quality but i went for this as i did not get antec vp450p or corsair cx430v2 available(those were my first options) and i went for this only because this has 34A in 12v and even it does'nt go full i would not need more that 250w with my system i guess.

And if you can check the links i've pasted you will know it is not a psu problem,not everyone there has got vs450 and still everyone are facing the same black black screen isuue like me and that too same sysmptoms(very random again).
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
And for your information this psu is not the old vs450 which had 2 12v rails which accounted for 22A.After this vs450 launch in India we could not find the cx430v2 as that has lesser 12v output than the model i have.

And i also know this psu is not as bad as the other desi psu's we would find here.

If you can check the first review on this link you will know what i am saying:

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/corsair-vs450-cp9020009uk-450-watts/236875

http://www.corsair.com/en/vs-seriestm-vs450-450-watt-power-supply -This link says my model conforms to atx standards
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
The old VS were built by Seventeam and were an absolute disaster of a psu. Didn't take Corsair long to yank that line, but they did use another manufacturer and re-released the VS, keeping the same designations for some odd reason. Unfortunately, the new release is not all that much better, and still fails atx standards often at only 50% load. The CX line is meant to be the replacement for the VS.
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
So what is the alternate option from corsair at this range with 450w.Would corsair release only one model in a range and leave it to fail atx standards.And also if it fails atx standards only after 50% load that's not a problem here.As i have already said there is no problem when the whole system is under load for a long time. This just happens randomly when there is no load on the gpu.And did you check my other links with people having the same problem?

I don't understand how corsair would advertise this as that if it fails

Also wanna know how you say this psu failed atx standar under 50% load.
 
I think you may be misunderstanding me. I'm not denying that it may be a driver. If a previous driver (or a n update) works that's great, it solves the problem.
What I was saying is that your reported problem in general has many possibilities or combinations of issues. Don't assume that it is a driver just because others have reported it. Eliminate possible causes until you are left with the correct cause.
 

Aravind92

Distinguished
Apr 1, 2014
699
9
19,065
Iam really sorry if i was harsh with my statements,i know you guys are trying to help me out.I do understand your point and even i would like to narrow the issues down to one part.I just wanted to have my thoughts registered here,just felt you guys would have more ideas to help me out.And what do you think about the other poster's comment.How can we make sure it is not a power supply issue,because i really don't have another PSu to check nor i can ask my friends to use my card with thier rigs(all my friends have laptops),even i had a laptop which i sold to build this pc..And i cannot spend for another psu even as i bought everything new just 3 weeks back.Stays at 11.9 when not under load and doing normal tasks.

I even checked my 12v voltage,did not go below 11.78 under load(CRYSIS 3).I know i cannot rely on software readings,but i don't have a multi meter to test unfortunately.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I went shopping, and OMG, could make a fortune if I could figure out how to export pc stuff to India, I'm sorry but in psu's alone your choices are dismal at best. Corsair VS/CX, Antec Basiq, CoolerMaster, a few Silverstone and Seasonic, and Zeb??? For the price, you are pretty much stuck, cost you about r2,800 for the basic Antec, and r3,900 for the CX430m, all 3 of which are better than the CoolerMasters that are double the price.

Have you done as the posts suggested to fix, and bumped clock speeds up to 1750 from the default 600? If not, read all of this post and follow the advice there. Not sure if sapphire includes any OC utility, But the Asus GpuTweak might work, as might the MSI AfterBurner. Just make sure you have Sapphires latest drivers, not AMD, and you completely remove any and all older driver versions, or better yet anything labeled AMD in registry too. Remove them before installing latest! Try this, may help http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/AMD-Driver-Uninstaller.shtml