Sapphire HD 4870 Problems Thread

[imported_Lipton]

This worked for me, don't know if I should link or post it so here goes:
got it at AMD forums, works for me. Had problems with spore but nothing with Armed Assault...

http://forums.amd.com/game/mes...tid=260&threadid=98860

PAGE 5, third post. Hopefully it will help some of yu guys out.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Canai
Aren't all the 4870 cards out right now just rebranded ATi reference cards?

Is heat maybe an issue? The card overheating either itself or some other components near it?

i have Sapphire HD4870 since launch week. It runs as hot as hell but exhibits no problems [other than hitching at 19x12 ]

the entire card gets hot; good thing the hot air gets exhausted! .. i just removed it to replace with an X2 and you think you'd need oven mits to handle it

:sun:

i exaggerate .. but it is hot .. maybe hotter than my 2900xt, i think
- only the X2 is hotter

 

[dguy6789]

Just posting to say I got my replacement HD4870(Sapphire) from newegg finally and it is working perfectly so far.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Just posting to say I got my replacement HD4870(Sapphire) from newegg finally and it is working perfectly so far.

Good news ,maybe a faulty batch or they have changed something on the cards,who knows with Sapphire .

 

[Spike]

I have been getting some random what I believe is the vpu recovering icon (little triangle with exclamation mark in it) but so far only a single game crash and that is more due to the game since Medieval 2 was never 100% stable. I have not done tons of gaming since getting the Sapphire 4870 but I have done a few 3 hour + gaming sessions with Med 2, UT 3, and COD 4 with no other issues.

I'm worried though since I got my card through ebay so I could use that MS live cashback. I went through mwave on ebay but it was still through ebay so I don't know about return policy's if I do start encountering issues. This kinda has me worried now...

 

[dguy6789]

It was pretty random for me, and actually took me a couple days to even realize I had a problem. I could play Crysis for 5 hours without a hitch sometimes, and then sometimes get the problem in under 20 mins of play.

 

[pikenzu]

Hi there,

I just got my HD4870 and i can't really find a way to make it work decently. First i confess i am using Windows Vista 64 bit, but i dunno if any of the following problem is related to that.
I also tried both catalyst 8.8 and the hotfix driver from AMD website with these results:
- Crysis & Bioshock: no way to make them work on dx10 mode. funny thing is that when the first menu screen appears everything is scrumbled: the screen size is deformed and incorrect and the positioning of the mouse cursor is fake (meaning that options of the menu are highlighted when my cursor is some place else)
- Oblivion: works great for a few minutes..... then artifacts everywhere and shut down necessary.
This is a very strange behaviour and i fear i am being punished as usual for being an early enthusiast and buy my video cards as soon as they hit the shop!
Someone has a solution? Maybe a graphic setting i should disable from ATI control panel? What i am really worried about right now is that something is wrong with the card and if i should send it back
Thanks to everyone.

----------------------------------------
CPU Athlon X2 4800
ASUS A8N-SLI
2 GB RAM
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 650W
Sapphire HD4870 512 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: pikenzu
Hi there,

I just got my HD4870 and i can't really find a way to make it work decently. First i confess i am using Windows Vista 64 bit, but i dunno if any of the following problem is related to that.
I also tried both catalyst 8.8 and the hotfix driver from AMD website with these results:
- Crysis & Bioshock: no way to make them work on dx10 mode. funny thing is that when the first menu screen appears everything is scrumbled: the screen size is deformed and incorrect and the positioning of the mouse cursor is fake (meaning that options of the menu are highlighted when my cursor is some place else)
- Oblivion: works great for a few minutes..... then artifacts everywhere and shut down necessary.
This is a very strange behaviour and i fear i am being punished as usual for being an early enthusiast and buy my video cards as soon as they hit the shop!
Someone has a solution? Maybe a graphic setting i should disable from ATI control panel? What i am really worried about right now is that something is wrong with the card and if i should send it back
Thanks to everyone.

----------------------------------------
CPU Athlon X2 4800
ASUS A8N-SLI
2 GB RAM
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 650W
Sapphire HD4870 512 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

Sounds like a faulty card to me,no way should you get artifacts in Oblivion or any game,the odd glitch due to drivers sure,I've played Oblivion with my 4870/Vista x64 combo and can tell you its runs great,I would consider trying FURMARK see if you get artifacts in that,if so RMA time.


FurMark Download link.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: pikenzu
Hi there,

I just got my HD4870 and i can't really find a way to make it work decently. First i confess i am using Windows Vista 64 bit, but i dunno if any of the following problem is related to that.
I also tried both catalyst 8.8 and the hotfix driver from AMD website with these results:
- Crysis & Bioshock: no way to make them work on dx10 mode. funny thing is that when the first menu screen appears everything is scrumbled: the screen size is deformed and incorrect and the positioning of the mouse cursor is fake (meaning that options of the menu are highlighted when my cursor is some place else)
- Oblivion: works great for a few minutes..... then artifacts everywhere and shut down necessary.
This is a very strange behaviour and i fear i am being punished as usual for being an early enthusiast and buy my video cards as soon as they hit the shop!
Someone has a solution? Maybe a graphic setting i should disable from ATI control panel? What i am really worried about right now is that something is wrong with the card and if i should send it back
Thanks to everyone.

----------------------------------------
CPU Athlon X2 4800
ASUS A8N-SLI
2 GB RAM
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 650W
Sapphire HD4870 512 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

Overheating?

What are your GPU temps?

 

[imported_Lipton]

Have you done the fan fix?

If its overheating that should help you for sure.

I had a problem with spore and I managed to fix it. go to page 5 and try the fix. Pretty much the fix is to set the GPU core clock at 750 always. Worked for me, looked for the 4th post or so.
http://forums.amd.com/game/mes...tid=260&threadid=98860

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: Lipton
Have you done the fan fix?

If its overheating that should help you for sure.

I had a problem with spore and I managed to fix it. go to page 5 and try the fix. Pretty much the fix is to set the GPU core clock at 750 always. Worked for me, looked for the 4th post or so.
http://forums.amd.com/game/mes...tid=260&threadid=98860

Your link is broken.


Update: My new card crashes too :|

Fuck sapphire. I'm taking it back and getting a different brand if this doesn't fix it.

 

[pikenzu]

Hi,

i made a few tests more with following results:
- I can run 3DMark Vantage fine without system crash.
- Oblivion sometimes crashes with strange fixed screen, but it seems to happen only when I am in inventory or menu (I know it sounds weird but i am pretty sure of it) and it can be after hours of playing
- I checked the temperature and it stays around 74°C (during Oblivion play)
- Crysis runs fine on DX9 but on DX10 it has the odd behaviour i described: screen is sized incorrectly and the cursor is not where it is supposed to be.

Do you think I still have to worry about potentially faulty hardware or these glitches mus be driver issues? If it is only driver I can stop worry and just wait for some new catalyst that will make everything run smooth.

thanks!

----------------------------------------
CPU Athlon X2 4800
ASUS A8N-SLI
2 GB RAM
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 650W
Sapphire HD4870 512 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

 

[dguy6789]

It is unlikely to be driver because non sapphire users have not reported the issue. My machine just crashed even with the video card clocks forced to stock like Lipton recommended. I am fed up with this. It took almost two weeks to get my parts from newegg in the first place, then I got to use my pc for a couple days before I had to rma my card. Costs me $20 to ship it, and takes more than three weeks to get my card back. Now I have to do it again :|

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: pikenzu
Hi,

i made a few tests more with following results:
- I can run 3DMark Vantage fine without system crash.
- Oblivion sometimes crashes with strange fixed screen, but it seems to happen only when I am in inventory or menu (I know it sounds weird but i am pretty sure of it) and it can be after hours of playing
- I checked the temperature and it stays around 74°C (during Oblivion play)
- Crysis runs fine on DX9 but on DX10 it has the odd behaviour i described: screen is sized incorrectly and the cursor is not where it is supposed to be.

Do you think I still have to worry about potentially faulty hardware or these glitches mus be driver issues? If it is only driver I can stop worry and just wait for some new catalyst that will make everything run smooth.

thanks!

----------------------------------------
CPU Athlon X2 4800
ASUS A8N-SLI
2 GB RAM
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 650W
Sapphire HD4870 512 MB
Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit

Try FurMark since it has both stability and stress test plus gives you GPU temps,it also stresses the video card like no other game or program.

It is unlikely to be driver because non sapphire users have not reported the issue. My machine just crashed even with the video card clocks forced to stock like Lipton recommended. I am fed up with this. It took almost two weeks to get my parts from newegg in the first place, then I got to use my pc for a couple days before I had to rma my card. Costs me $20 to ship it, and takes more than three weeks to get my card back. Now I have to do it again

dguy6789 I don't know what to say,it'll be interesting to see what happens in your rig with another 4870 card ( non Sapphire of course).


I have added another two more games to my excellent stability list,Stalker Clear Sky and Warhammer Online Open Beta( using my trusty Gigabyte 4870 card).

 

[dguy6789]

I set the profile to force the card at 750mhz gpu all the time instead of variable between 500 and 750 depending on load. I also forced the gpu fan at 60%. My problems have seemed to have stopped. Chances are the former solved the problem. I'll update later on if I get any more problems, but so far things are looking good

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
I set the profile to force the card at 750mhz gpu all the time instead of variable between 500 and 750 depending on load. I also forced the gpu fan at 60%. My problems have seemed to have stopped. Chances are the former solved the problem. I'll update later on if I get any more problems, but so far things are looking good

I don't use the fan profile hack ,the temps don't really bother me even 78C idle temp,besides its stable in every game I have thrown at it and I have decent case cooling too.

I don't overclock either since at my age its no longer fun .

 

[dguy6789]

I don't really overclock anymore either, I just bumped my machine from 266 to 333 fsb for a free and safe boost. I just thought lowering temps might help, but it's much more likely that locking the gpu clock at stock instead of letting it waver based on load fixed the problem.

 

[dguy6789]

Updating to say it is still working fine so far.

 

[imported_Lipton]

I'm trying to find that thread.
Basically what it said was to change your settings in your xml save file so that it always runs at 750mhz (GPU CORE CLOCK).
After I did this, spore didn't crash and neither did WoW.
Apparently in lower end apps the card keeps switching from 2D to 3D mode and that causes the clock to go from 500 to 750 and it ends up locking up.
You can also control the fan from there.
I'll update this post with the link when I find it.

http://forums.amd.com/game/mes...AR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

here is the post

Originally posted by: ziher Found it, after two days of testing not a single freeze. It's #$%&! powerplay causing stutters and lockups because it switches every few seconds from 2d to 3d mode in less demanding 3D apps. Look at GPU Core clock graph when running Google Earth. ATI please fix this...

That explains why it didn't crash in Crysis or other GPU intensive games.

Try "disabling" powerplay in same yourprofile.xml that we have to edit for fan fix. It's at beginning of file, for Sapphire card just change Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0" Property name="Want_0" value="50000" Property name="Want_1" value="50000" Property name="Want_2" value="75000"

to:

Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0" Property name="Want_0" value="75000" Property name="Want_1" value="75000" Property name="Want_2" value="75000"

Unlike fan fix that stays after reboot, you need to select your profile after each Win startup usually TWICE so check with latest GPU-Z that it works, it should read 750 Mhz Core clock when idle at desktop. Also you can create another profile with normal speeds for 2D and use it while not gaming.

If that doesn't help then it must be your PSU for sure

After seeing above post I am really excited to try out this solution, am really sick of all these crashes and graphic related error messages... However, being the total computer-noob I am, I do have some questions: Is this solution completely safe, or are there any risks involved in it? And is it necessary to make 2 profiles, (ie one for gaming, and one for "normal"use) or could you just have the adjusted profile on all the time? Also, what is it exactely (without getting to technical, if possible ) your doing, when editing this profile? Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[Kozzi]

Same problem here with spore.
Crash with squares at the menu in the game (at the beginning) and i must reboot computer.
It is happening in less than 30 seconds.
Changing the xml file profile to force the gpu to be at full speed all the time and no more issue at all. (i can play for hours)
I think sapphire has sent some cards that have problem with powerplay as other card are working well.
This could be a bios issue.
Could we compare with people who have sapphire HD4870 without issue to know which bios and revision they have.
Mine is a Sapphire HD4870 Blue PCB, SKU :11133-00-20R, Bios: VER011.006.000.003.000000, 113-AB68800-XXX (2008/07/24)
And it is having the bug in Spore menus (i can play crysis and trackmania without problem for hours without the fix)

 

[dguy6789]

GPU Z says my bios version is VER011.006.000.003.000000

 

[Kozzi]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
GPU Z says my bios version is VER011.006.000.003.000000

same as mine
I'd like to know from people without issue which one they have.

 

[Spike]

At this point I have experienced no issues with my Sapphire 4870 (except the windows photo screen saver sometimes crashing) but I have been mainly playing Med 2 total war and UT3. I am going to do some extensive testing with clear sky and probably crysis again to be sure. My BIOS version is VER011.003.000.001.029254 That seems older than the versions you guys have but I'm not sure.

 

[Kozzi]

Originally posted by: Spike
At this point I have experienced no issues with my Sapphire 4870 (except the windows photo screen saver sometimes crashing) but I have been mainly playing Med 2 total war and UT3. I am going to do some extensive testing with clear sky and probably crysis again to be sure. My BIOS version is VER011.003.000.001.029254 That seems older than the versions you guys have but I'm not sure.

Interesting that you don't have game freezes with that bios.
The best test would be with spore (crash in less than 1 min).
And yes your bios seems older. You can have the date in gpu-z for example.

EDIT : I see via this link : http://www.techpowerup.com/vga...HD4870.512.080609.html that your bios is from 2008-06-09

 

[Stupido]

I guess you all have 512MB version?
I ordered 1G version and curious if it has the same problem?