Radeon 6870 and my aching head

Lowell2013 · 02-05-2013, 10:15 PM

So I hate to be that guy who asks for help on his very first post, but desperation>pride right about now. I bought a 6870, and installed it to find that I can hear windows booting, but I get nuthin in the way of video. I have swapped cards, manufacturers, monitors, and on and on. I have RMAed a few times. But that is not why I am here.

I am needing to upgrade, and since I am, I want to make sure I get a setup that will dance with this card. If anyone is running a 6870, please tell me what kind of mainboard and processor you have.

Durvelle27 · 02-05-2013, 10:16 PM

Can you please list system specs

VulgarDisplay · 02-05-2013, 10:32 PM

Plug in monitor and turn it on.

Lowell2013 · 02-05-2013, 10:40 PM

sure! AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core, Biostar TA790GX A2+, Sapphire 4850 512MB DDR3, 4 gigs Crucial DDR2 5-5-5-18. I am planning to upgrade from tyhis setup though. I can only conclude that the card is not compatible with the system I am trying to put it in, so I want to upgrade to a board that likes this card.

zebrax2 · 02-05-2013, 10:41 PM

Have you tried using a different cable? Also try using VGA instead of DVI or vise versa

Lowell2013 · 02-05-2013, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zebrax2

Have you tried using a different cable? Also try using VGA instead of DVI or vise versa

Yessir. I have tried both old and new style DVI, HDMI, and HDMI to DVI. I have tried anything and everything that I could think of and what has been suggested, except trying a new motherboard.

RussianSensation · 02-05-2013, 11:55 PM

If you get different HD6870s, it could be a motherboard BIOS compatibility issue. Did you flash your motherboard with the latest BIOS? Also, have you tried re-installing windows?

What's your budget for upgrading and your main system uses? Do you keep your system for a long time? Do you plan on overclocking? Do you have a Fry's or MicroCenter near you?

Lowell2013 · 02-06-2013, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussianSensation

If you get different HD6870s, it could be a motherboard BIOS compatibility issue. Did you flash your motherboard with the latest BIOS? Also, have you tried re-installing windows?

What's your budget for upgrading and your main system uses? Do you keep your system for a long time? Do you plan on overclocking? Do you have a Fry's or MicroCenter near you?

I agree with your suggestion of compatibility issues. I initially had an XFX card that I sent back to Newegg, then bought the Sapphire. I RMA'ed a card to them, and they sent me another, so there were 3 cards, all with the same issue. I did flash the bios. I did a full reformat with a fresh Windows install. I keep stuff as long is it satisfactorily runs what I am interested in playing or doing. Once I see performance issues, or system requirements are creeping up to the point that I might have issues, I upgrade. Budget is around 500-600.00 for board, processor and memory. Less is better of course.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

RussianSensation · 02-06-2013, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lowell2013

Budget is around 500-600.00 for board, processor and memory. Less is better of course.

CPU:

Core i5 3570K = $230 - $15 off coupon EMCXVXR22 until Feb 11 = $215

^ On the CPU side, you could upgrade to i7 3770K if you do video encoding/rendering/serious multi-tasking. If you do gaming while streaming with xsplit, FX8350 could be a good option. Otherwise stick to i5/i7s.

Motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H = $165
^ On the motherboard side you could go down if you want to say Asrock Extreme 4 or 6 (tons of features for the price). Alternatively, you could step up if you need more features like Thunderbolt (Gigabyte UP4-TH). If you are into serious hardcore overclocking, maybe spend more for MSI Z77 Power or ASRock Z77 OC Formula. Although, I'd personally rather downgrade to Asrock Extreme 6 and put the $ into a 128GB SSD or towards an i7 3770K than spend > $200 on a mobo. Alternatively you can get a $150-160 board and a $40 Thermalright True Spirit 140 that would help you MUCH more than a $200 board and a stock Intel heatsink. Just make sure the 173mm clearance isn't a problem in your case. There are plenty of other CPU coolers I could recommend. If you aren't overclocking, you can save $ on getting a non-K series i5 and skip the after-market cooler. I would personally get the K series CPU since overclocking is so simple. Later you could learn it

Memory:

Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 1.35V = $84

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 = $99 - $20 off with coupon EMCXVXW78, ends Feb 7th.

^ Again if you don't do Adobe Photoshop or know that you require more than 8GB of RAM, you can cut the price in half by going with 2x 4GB sticks and take that $40 savings towards an SSD. An SSD is really a much more important upgrade than 8GB --> 16GB of RAM. But 16GB fits into your budget still.

Only caveat is Intel's next generation Haswell CPUs will launch around June 2-5th. I am not recommending you to wait but just letting you know that the 3000 series Intel CPUs (Ivy Bridge) are based on the 2-year-old Sandy Bridge architecture with minor improvements. So if you spend $500-600 now, I am just letting you know that the "next thing" from Intel is coming in June 2013 so that you are aware of buying near the end of this CPU generation. I obviously don't think it's worth waiting for though since you'd be without a computer!

mkmitch · 02-06-2013, 06:36 AM

I am running a 6870 2gb with MSI z68 GD55 board and i5 2500k cpu.

Tweak155 · 02-06-2013, 07:02 AM

8gb of ram should be plenty

I have my 6870 shoved into a PC with an MSI mobo (forget model #), 1x4gb DDR3 1600, 240ssd and an E7300 (C2D FTW!). I previously had it in a setup with I7 920, 12gb mem (3x4 ddr3 1600), 256ssd and a Gigabyte mobo. Worked fine in both systems.

Your setup still seems decent, but yeah the 6870 would be a nice step up.

One thing hit me - are you using a 64bit OS? Having 4gb of ram and a 1gb video card could cause some headaches on a 32bit win xp setup if that's what you're using.

lavaheadache · 02-06-2013, 07:06 AM

could your monitors back light be dead?

lopri · 02-06-2013, 07:16 AM

It sounds like a simple misconfiguration which can be fixed by plugging into different output on the video card. Did you try both the DVI ports?

And if your motherboard has any video-out, go into BIOS and kill it (look for labels such as IGP, Quicksync, onboard video, etc.)

KingFatty · 02-06-2013, 09:58 AM

Hmm if you see an issue, and tried three different video cards and all three did not fix that issue, I would think the issue is not caused by the video card but instead by the motherboard?

Maybe the PCIe slot is messed up on your motherboard? Does it have a different slot you could try?

djshortsleeve · 02-06-2013, 12:04 PM

SEE MY SIG

As far as your issue, upon updating my driver since 12.8 I believe, when the update completes my monitor is black, but my system appears to be running fine. I reboot and everything is normal. I am not sure why this occurs. Could be some sort of BIOS conflict.

Lowell2013 · 02-06-2013, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lavaheadache

could your monitors back light be dead?

No my old radon 4850 works well. I just can't put the 6870 in it.

Lowell2013 · 02-06-2013, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lopri

It sounds like a simple misconfiguration which can be fixed by plugging into different output on the video card. Did you try both the DVI ports?

And if your motherboard has any video-out, go into BIOS and kill it (look for labels such as IGP, Quicksync, onboard video, etc.)

Yessir i have done all of that.

Lowell2013 · 02-06-2013, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingFatty

Hmm if you see an issue, and tried three different video cards and all three did not fix that issue, I would think the issue is not caused by the video card but instead by the motherboard?

Maybe the PCIe slot is messed up on your motherboard? Does it have a different slot you could try?

I have tried both slots.

Soundmanred · 02-06-2013, 08:33 PM

Stupid question - you are plugging in the power to the card correct?

Lowell2013 · 02-06-2013, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soundmanred

Stupid question - you are plugging in the power to the card correct?

Yes. It is running. The computer will boot to windows. I can type in my password and I can hear when it reaches the desktop, just can't see anything. When I shut down and reinstall my old card, all is well. Just weird.

Mongo6 · 02-07-2013, 08:10 AM

I have the XFX Radeon hd 6870. I'm running it with a Asus m5a97 r2.0 with an AMD FX-4300 vishera. With my build I can run BF3 on ultra with 70 fps constant and crysis 3 on medium perfectly fine.

Lowell2013 · 02-07-2013, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mongo6

I have the XFX Radeon hd 6870. I'm running it with a Asus m5a97 r2.0 with an AMD FX-4300 vishera. With my build I can run BF3 on ultra with 70 fps constant and crysis 3 on medium perfectly fine.

I like the sound of that. Thanks!