Powercolor Radeon 7950 Troubleshooting

[HardcoreRobot]

Last night, after playing a bit of Baldur's Gate:EE, these weird colored lines started showing up. Flickering, but staying in the same place. After a minute or so, the entire display turned into blue/white stripes and I had to reset.

The BIOS welcome message and stuff appeared fine, but as soon as windows login screen appears, the lines come back. Same place each time. The rendering is all screwed up too, for example the letters of my password do not show. After logging in, trying to do anything that causes the screen to change a lot (like open an app), results in the lines getting crazier and crazy (more + more flicker) then ultimately a full blue screen (not bsod, just the color)

The GPU was not under load when it started. It has never been OCed. Is a couple months old, have had it under load in the past with no bad results. I see it from cold boot as well (after being off all night)

Swapped HDMI cable, same results.

If I boot into safe mode, there are no graphical issues at all. I removed the driver in safe mode, and used driver sweeper. Booting normally after that shows no problems, but the video card driver is not installed.

Reinstalling the driver reintroduces the problem. I have not made any system changes recently, though windows did just do some updates. Though the problem did not manifest until a few hours after those updates were applied.

Could it be a bad card? Not really sure what to test now. Have tried the current radeon 7xxxx drivers as well as the current beta.

I cant use catalyst control center for anythign, since it only functions when the driver is installed, but when its installed the system is unusable.

Can you guys recommend any diagnostic tools? I don't mess around with my systems much so anything beyond teh build is new territory for me.

 

[Tempered81]

Sounds like you have a conflict between the Drivers & maybe the OS or a custom designed Powercolor PCB. Which card do you have? Model number, or pictures?

Maybe try a different driver, or try display port or DVI instead of HDMI. What are the temperatures when you get corruption? (Use GPUZ sensor tab to log to file & read at time of crash)

Alternatively you can force constant voltage & constant clocks using afterburner. Even if you do not set an overclocked voltage or frequency, forcing constant will help keep the memory from changing frequencies - one of the main problems with display corruption.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Thanks for the reply. This is the exact card.

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950 Boost State 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Had been working fine for a couple months until last night. Didnt change the drivers until after the problem happened.

Will afterburner work in either safe mode, or in normal mode with no graphics driver installed?

Same with GPUZ can it read the info without need the device installed?

I would just try it myself , but stuck at work for the time being

 

[Tempered81]

Maybe the card is dying. I doubt it though, because you say it works fine without Catalyst installed.

Yeah the programs should work fine. If not, install some new drivers for the card, then AB & gpuz will work for sure. There is a 13.6 beta 2 and a 13.151 driver up on guru3d forums. I think AMDs website has 13.4 or 13.5 up.

Your card looks like a refrence 7950 boost. Make sure the cooler isnt dirty & filled with dust. If it just gradually happened over time, that isn't a good sign. Maybe the card needs a higher voltage to keep stability now. The artifacts on your screen are strange looking too, I've never personally experienced that kind of problem.

Since you say they showed up after time while playing baulders gate, I would be almost certain that if you increased the core & memory voltage just 30mv each and/or increased the fan speed & cleaned out the HSF, the lines would either take longer to appear, or not appear at all.

 

[Stuka87]

When you reinstalled, did you use driver sweeper? If not, do so, so it clears out any files and settings.

If that doesnt work, call powerColor. Your card should still be under warranty.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

When you reinstalled, did you use driver sweeper? If not, do so, so it clears out any files and settings.

If that doesnt work, call powerColor. Your card should still be under warranty.

Yes I did. I swept then upgraded to the newest driver first, same result. Then swept and upgraded to the newest beta driver (from AMD).

Ill look at the driver versions on guru3d forums. But, it happened without a driver change so I'm not sure how much that is involved.

The card is basically new, use it a few times a week for a few hours for ~3months.

In my experience, artifacts and crashes are usually due to temps, but the card/cooler and case are in pristine condition still, cool, and it happened not under load.

Im leaning towards bad card too, but the fact that everything looks fine without the driver installed is what makes me hesitate.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Maybe the card is dying. I doubt it though, because you say it works fine without Catalyst installed.

Yeah the programs should work fine. If not, install some new drivers for the card, then AB & gpuz will work for sure. There is a 13.6 beta 2 and a 13.151 driver up on guru3d forums. I think AMDs website has 13.4 or 13.5 up.

Your card looks like a refrence 7950 boost. Make sure the cooler isnt dirty & filled with dust. If it just gradually happened over time, that isn't a good sign. Maybe the card needs a higher voltage to keep stability now. The artifacts on your screen are strange looking too, I've never personally experienced that kind of problem.

Since you say they showed up after time while playing baulders gate, I would be almost certain that if you increased the core & memory voltage just 30mv each and/or increased the fan speed & cleaned out the HSF, the lines would either take longer to appear, or not appear at all.

Its not just the flickering artifacts either, there should be a dialog box and graphics around the password entry box that aren't rendering. I do want to experiment with the voltage, I have seen other people recommending that too. Though its still worrisome with essentially a new card artifacting not under load.

 

[smithkt]

Does your motherboard have built in graphics also? Last night all my systems were updated automatically with the lastest patches from Microsoft. Perhaps a driver update occurred for onboard graphics which is conflicting with the AMD drivers? I know I had to disable onboard graphics for my 3750K when I setup the system. The AMD and Intel graphics drivers were not playing nicely. In my case, as soon as I installed the AMD drivers the system would hang at the windows logo. Just a thought.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Yes it does. I think I have it off in the bios, but I will double check that. I restored my system to before the last updates and the issue remained...

This driver from guru3d didn't help either - AMD Catalyst 13.6 BETA2 (13.101.0.0 June 4)

This is what GPUZ is showing (in windows,non safe mode but with no amd driver installed):

Afterburner looks useless without the driver:

Thanks for all the suggestions so far though.

 

[Tempered81]

Try DP or DVI. And those programs work better with the driver installed. Afterburner has options in setup to 'force constant voltage & clocks'. Do that. You have to reboot about 3 times for afterburner. It's kinda a PITA. So yeah, HDMI problem on a clean new card when not gaming, just sitting on desktop...

HDMI is becoming corrupted, maybe because the memory is changing clock profiles. There are about 8-10 different p states & clock profiles in the bios. You can try using an updated bios from Techpowerups vga bios collection. There are probably 10 different 7950 3gb powercolor bioses for u to try. If you screw up theres always the secondary bios backup via the switch.
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/


Check for an bios update for your motherboard too. Make sure you have all your windows update hotfixes current & .net framework.

You still should try DP or DVI/VGA to isolate the issue to HDMI.

Afterburner has 3.00 beta 10 out, use that. Once you run the program, be prepared to enable all the options via AB menu & reboot a few times.

Sounds like you've narrowed down the problem to [happens in 2D with catalyst installed & doesn't happen in 2d without catalyst installed]. So the problem is probably not voltage for the core and relevant to 3d, but it could still be the memory cycling through designated clock profiles for idle/2d/multi monitor/hdmi/eyefinity/bluray/video/3d/peak/max..

AMD has its own "uninstallation utility" that removes all the driver files & registry strings. http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/catalyst-uninstall-utility.aspx

Always reboot, especially with afterburner, after install/uninstall, and also the first time you run it.

I have 4 7950s. AMD isn't very user friendly. Your problem kinda sux too. If you can't isolate the issue you can always rma/return since it's so new.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Ill dig through your post in a second, just wanted post updated screenshots first. I am now able to work with the driver installed (OLD 12.6), but still have the artifacts...

Obviously the first is not very helpful, so I wrote it to a log file

        Date        , GPU Core Clock [MHz] , GPU Memory Clock [MHz] , GPU Temperature [°C] , Fan Speed (%) [%] , Fan Speed (RPM) [RPM] , GPU Load [%] , Memory Usage (Dedicated) [MB] , Memory Usage (Dynamic) [MB] , 12V [V] , VDDC [V] , MVDDC [V] , VDDC Current [A] , VDDC Current In [A] , VRM Temperature 1 [°C] , VRM Temperature 2 [°C] ,

2013-07-11 22:13:03 ,              300.0   ,                150.0   ,               39.0   ,              30   ,                1407   ,          0   ,                          60   ,                        26   , 12.22   ,  0.807   ,   1.602   ,            0.3   ,               0.0   ,                   53   ,                   55   ,

2013-07-11 22:13:04 ,              300.0   ,                150.0   ,               39.0   ,              30   ,                1405   ,          0   ,                          57   ,                        26   , 12.22   ,  0.807   ,   1.602   ,            0.3   ,               0.0   ,                   53   ,                   55   ,

2013-07-11 22:13:05 ,              300.0   ,                150.0   ,               40.0   ,              30   ,                1406   ,          0   ,                          57   ,                        26   , 12.22   ,  0.807   ,   1.602   ,            0.3   ,               0.0   ,                   53   ,                   54   ,

2013-07-11 22:13:06 ,              300.0   ,                150.0   ,               40.0   ,              30   ,                1405   ,          0   ,                          57   ,                        26   , 12.22   ,  0.807   ,   1.602   ,            0.5   ,               0.0   ,                   53   ,                   54   ,

2013-07-11 22:13:07 ,              300.0   ,                150.0   ,               39.0   ,              30   ,                1405   ,          0   ,                          64   ,                        26   , 12.22   ,  0.807   ,   1.602   ,            0.3   ,               0.0   ,                   53   ,                   54   ,

Those clocks dont look right at all do they? AB confirmed it too. (ok i see these are right for idling) The settings in AB were 925/1250. I tried over and under volting the memory by .25, no effect? Does this help evaluate the problem any futher? Would a driver be influencing the clock speeds?

I think my core voltage should be 1.125? thats the setting in AB, but GPU-Z shows it at .807?

 

[Tempered81]

Core voltage has a setting like a VID and an actual reading through the buck controller like a vcore/vdimm vddc/mvddc. so... set at 1.1, and read 0.988 for example.

under/overvolting memory wont do squat, the problem is when the memory goes from 150 mhz to 1250mhz, and the 6 to 7 intermediate stages in between. Just lock it to 1200mhz full time, see if thats solves it.

 

[Tempered81]

Sometimes folks end up having to use a home made bios that stops the GDDR5 memory on the video card from ever clocking down below a certain threshold. Usually 500-700mhz is the lowest they'll have it go, and it solves a myriad of absurdities with AMD cards.

Maybe when you dont install the catalyst software, and just run the card in windows at default or safe mode, the driver doesn't attempt to throttle down your memory speeds for these 2D or idle clock states. This way you don't experience corruption.

A custom bios will likely allow you to use the newest 13.xxx drivers and not have these artifacts because your memory never clocks below a given threshold - assuming your problem stems from the 150mhz memory. Using afterburner to force 800mhz core / 1200mhz memory & a corresponding voltage profile can weed out the memory cycling pstates.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

I need to play around with AB more. It showed the clocks set at 925 and 1250, but it obviously wasnt running at that. Was hard to use the app since much of the text wasn't rendering. So I'll do some research to see how to get it to do that.

 

[Rikard]

I need to play around with AB more. It showed the clocks set at 925 and 1250, but it obviously wasnt running at that. Was hard to use the app since much of the text wasn't rendering. So I'll do some research to see how to get it to do that.

Have you tried uninstalling AB? I got a similar problem a while ago when I enabled the unofficial overclocking in AB, I had lots of artifacts when idle in 2D. Disabling the option solved the issue. They probably fixed it since then, but that experience points to that AB itself can cause problems like those you are seeing.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Have you tried uninstalling AB? I got a similar problem a while ago when I enabled the unofficial overclocking in AB, I had lots of artifacts when idle in 2D. Disabling the option solved the issue. They probably fixed it since then, but that experience points to that AB itself can cause problems like those you are seeing.

I was having all these problems before installing AB at all, so I dont think its the culprit. Though Im reading that the unofficial overclocking is what i will need to try to force the idle clocks to be higher.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Got AB set up to actually override the idle clocks, any change to the RAM and i get insta-black or blue screen

 

[Tempered81]

Poor guy. If you tried all this, then the card is just bad...

My friend had a HD 4850 go bad, and he switched to the Core i7-2600k's built in Video and the problem went away. He wound up getting an HD7850 to replace it. His artifacts looked similar to what you're showing us in that picture.

Check the basic stuff. Sounds stupid, but maybe something easily overlooked is messing it up. Make sure power supply is good enough, all cables are securely plugged in, no loose screws rolling around shorting & grounding out. Card is installed & secured properly, CPU is stable cool & stock clocked, heat sinks are attached firmly, case is clean, neat & dust free, bioses & OS up-to-date & virus free, etc. Use one stick of ram, one HDD, Take the card out, reseat it. Try different PCI-E slots & DP/DVI instead of HDMI. Try it in a different PC... Then adjust your ram freq in AB. Kinda running out of options now.

Good luck.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

I tried a fresh install on the same system, same results once driver was loaded. Im going to enable the on board video and see how that behaves with its driver.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Sent it in for RMA, they tested and said that it would take a long time to repair so are going to replace it with this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131499

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD 7950
previous was
PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950

so basically the same. the new one has dual dvi and displayport which i dont need. also looks like it might have a better cooling design?

anyway thanks for everyones help. hopefully the replacement comes soon... been a long time without a working video card. thank goodness for onboard.

 

[Accord99]

so basically the same. the new one has dual dvi and displayport which i dont need. also looks like it might have a better cooling design?

It's way better, the new one is similar if not identical to the one used on their 7970s. The cooler with a single fan in the middle is probably the worst 7900 series cooler in terms of both temperature and noise.

 

[Stuka87]

Sent it in for RMA, they tested and said that it would take a long time to repair so are going to replace it with this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131499

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD 7950
previous was
PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950

so basically the same. the new one has dual dvi and displayport which i dont need. also looks like it might have a better cooling design?

anyway thanks for everyones help. hopefully the replacement comes soon... been a long time without a working video card. thank goodness for onboard.

Yeah the new cooler is better.

I wonder if you will get new game serials with it?

 

[jacktesterson]

Sent it in for RMA, they tested and said that it would take a long time to repair so are going to replace it with this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131499

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD 7950
previous was
PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950

so basically the same. the new one has dual dvi and displayport which i dont need. also looks like it might have a better cooling design?

anyway thanks for everyones help. hopefully the replacement comes soon... been a long time without a working video card. thank goodness for onboard.

For sure an upgrade on the cooler side of things.

Powercolor initially used that really crappy design on the 7800/7900 series.

 

[Stuka87]

For sure an upgrade on the cooler side of things.

Powercolor initially used that really crappy design on the 7800/7900 series.

PowerColor had two versions of the 7950. A non-OC version with one fan, and an OC version with dual fans similar to the Sapphire 7950 OC.

 

[XiandreX]

Sent it in for RMA, they tested and said that it would take a long time to repair so are going to replace it with this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131499

PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV5E Radeon HD 7950
previous was
PowerColor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 Radeon HD 7950

so basically the same. the new one has dual dvi and displayport which i dont need. also looks like it might have a better cooling design?

anyway thanks for everyones help. hopefully the replacement comes soon... been a long time without a working video card. thank goodness for onboard.

You scored big time. The card you are getting is my exact card. Its quiet, cool, overclocks well, construction seems to be top notch quality wise and has been a pleasure to use.