Issues with HD Radeon 6970 (or possibly the motherboard)

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Akira Blaze

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Mar 23, 2013
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Recently I have been running into some trouble with a roughly one year old 6970 (Sapphire edition), there has been quite a number of issues ranging from no boot what so ever (PCI error light on the mobo lighting up) any monitor being plugged in showing up as unsupported, simply a black screen after the windows logo, complete crash after a random amount of time, graphics drivers failing (but recovering) and sometimes some odd displays being shown during the crash.

Unfortunately due to the fact that the card was working perfectly fine in it's previous system and the fact the motherboard is next to brand new I can't figure out the cause of the problem and nobody is willing to try the card in their own system to confirm if the card is at fault, or the motherboard it's plugged into. Owing to the fact the card is not made anymore, and a replacement card/motherboard will easily set me back £160+ I was hoping I'd be able to get outside opinions on what may be causing the issue.

Firstly, my drivers are up to date, and I suffered issues even in the bios (and as mentioned, pre-boot). Secondly, a list of the installed hardware.

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V
RAM: 8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133MHz (2x4GB)
Processor: I-7 3770K OC @ 4662MHz
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 160GB

I've uploaded a couple of pictures of some of the errors over at http://imgur.com/a/oRKBT/all

Thanks for reading, as I said I know I am likely going to have to replace something, I'd just rather be sure on what.
 
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larkspur

larkspur

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Mar 10, 2011
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Since it's a new system, here's a few thoughts:

1) Make sure your overclock isn't to blame. Ivy Bridge is often stable in prime95 but can still show instability. Remove the OC and run at default during all your future testing.
2) Does the system behave unstably on the integrated? Remove the 6970 and see if the system is good on the integrated graphics. This can help determine whether its the card or something else.
3) Are you SURE you have an adequate PSU?
4) Try reseating the card. Try the other PCIe x16 slot. Ideally the card should be installed in the x16 PCIe slot nearest the CPU, but its worth a try in the other slot.
5) Rule out a bad stick of RAM - run memtest86.
6) Remove the mobo from the case, place it on a non-conductive surface (the proverbial "breadboard") and run it like that. Check to see that all the standoffs were used and are secure in the case's motherboard tray. Essentially you are making sure the mobo isn't shorting against the case.
7) Have you updated the mobo BIOS? Make sure to do this while on the integrated and while it is running stably - you don't want the system unstable during a BIOS update.
 
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Akira Blaze

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Mar 23, 2013
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10,510
Thanks for the reply, unfortunately I cannot do all of these right now but.

1) The card was displaying these issues pre-overclock of the CPU (I thought I had it running stable for a while).
2) My system works perfectly fine on the integrated graphics.
3) I have a Corsair AX850 (so 850W) Which I should hope is sufficient for a card like the 6970.
4) I have tried it in 2 of the 3 PCIe x16 slots (can't access the third due to card size).
5) Unfortunately I don't have access to to a memory stick/CD to stick memtest on, and as I'm aware it needs to be run off one?
6) Surprisingly the only screwdriver I currently have is too small to unscrew the motherboard screws (at a friends currently).
7) The bios was updated to make sure that wasn't the problem (card was out at the time to make sure nothing went wrong).

Should probably also be noted that upon trying to run a benchmark of the card on either slot it crashes the system (CPU and RAM benchmarks proceed fine)
 
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larkspur

larkspur

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Mar 10, 2011
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Mmmkay, it sounds like the card is on the fritz. To be sure the mobo is ok, see if you can try a different graphics card in it and test that. Since it runs fine on the integrated (you've stress-tested and its perfect yes?) then no need to breadboard - its not a short. PSU is more than enough, it's highly unlikely to be a bad PSU. I'd still keep the OC off if you are going to try any more testing with the card. At this point you need to test the card in another mobo, like you originally said. I realize your friends aren't going to let you, tell them they aren't very good friends if they don't : ) Good luck!
 
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