Is my video card going to be okay?

[Tim]

Hello all.

I've got a Sapphire 6950 that is acting a little weird. When I first turn on my computer, the card makes a slight chirpping sound for about 3 or 4 minutes, and I notice little green artifacts randomly appearing and dissapearing during that time. As soon as the chirpping stops (it slows to a stop in about 3 or 4 minutes), so do the artifacts, that is until the next time I power down my computer and power it back on.

Here's some extra background info on the card that may or may not be related to the issue. The extra shaders on the card are unlocked, but the voltage is at the 6950 stock level , as are the core, and memory clocks. The card hardly ever reaches above 70 degrees Celsius., as I have a custom fan profile that spins the fan pretty high during heavy usage.

What's going on here?

 

[Stuka87]

Switch the BIOS back to 6950 and see if they go away.

 

[Tim]

Switch the BIOS back to 6950 and see if they go away.

I can definately try that out later, but lets say for arguments sake that doing that doesn't change anything.... is my video card going to be okay?

 

[Denithor]

Have to agree with Stuka87, first thing is revert to 'locked' extra shaders and see if that fixes things. Artifacts are typically from some kind of instability, whether heat or shaders that didn't pass muster and were locked for a reason.

However, even if reverting the card fixes things, you may want to unlock them again, if the problem goes away after 3-4 minutes and doesn't come back (at all - even during heavy gaming?) it sounds like something you could live with to get the extra performance.

 

[96Firebird]

Might be lack of voltage since you are trying to run it as a 6970, or could be something else...

A couple days ago I was getting the green artifacts and freezes when trying to launch BF3 with my GTX 460. Whenever it would clock to 3D clocks, it would happen. I took a can of compressed air and cleaned the card a bit, and it has been working fine since.

Has it been doing this since you got the card?

 

[Arkadrel]

Could be ram or motherboard too.

Take your graphic card, try it at a friends house, see if it has same issues.
If it does, its the card, if it doesnt its either memory or your motherboard.

if it is the card, try giveing it a slight bit more voltage, if that doesnt fix it, revert back to normal.

 

[Stuka87]

Could be ram or motherboard too.

Take your graphic card, try it at a friends house, see if it has same issues.
If it does, its the card, if it doesnt its either memory or your motherboard.

if it is the card, try giveing it a slight bit more voltage, if that doesnt fix it, revert back to normal.

System Memory and the motherboard typically are not going to cause graphic corruption. They typically result in BSOD's or system wide issues. What he described is corruption being caused by the graphics card itself.

 

[Tim]

However, even if reverting the card fixes things, you may want to unlock them again, if the problem goes away after 3-4 minutes and doesn't come back (at all - even during heavy gaming?) it sounds like something you could live with to get the extra performance.

It goes away after 3 or 4 minutes after system start up, and never comes back (even during hot and heavy BF3 sessions) untill the computer is rebooted. I have ran with unlocked shaders from day 1 (several months ago) without this happening, this is a very recent issue.

 

[tweakboy]

I agree, this is caused by the BIOS upgrade,, if your on stock clocks and voltage you shouldnt see artifact, If you do then the VRAM maybe defective. gl