Vapor-X HD7970 GHz Edition 3GB Persisting Graphical Errors, Please Help

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Hello all!

I recently purchased a Sapphire Vapor-X HD7970 GHz Edition and within a few days started noticing graphical anomalies such as ripples and flickering. Having posted on Tom's Hardware we came to the decision that I had a faulty card and it has since been replaced with a new 7970 but the issue has persisted.

Since then, following advice from Tom's Hardware I have:
- Reset my CMOS
- Reset my CPU Overclock of 4.4GHz
- Tested previous Catalyst Control Center versions (12.2 and 13.1)
- Tested Beta versions of Catalyst Control Center (13.6 Beta)
- Performed a fresh install of current Catalyst Control Center version (13.4)
- Tested the GPU on my secondary PCIe slot (x4 speed)

I am running out of ideas as to what the issue could be :-(
Any suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

OS: Windows 8 Professional 64-bit
MoBo: ASUS P8P67
CPU: Intel i5-2500K @ 3.3GHz
RAM: 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 @ 1333MHz
GPU: Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD7970 GHz Edition 3GB
PSU: Corsair 650W TX650 V2-80 Plus
Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo


Thanks in advance for your help,
Conor
 
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As of right now I have passed three full MemTest86+ tests with no errors. I don't think it is my RAM.
I am all out of ideas now :-(
 
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Okay guys, I have:

- Reset CMOS
- Reloaded BIOS 'Optimised Defaults'
- Underclocked GPU
- Tested Memory
- Ensured PSU is running properly
- Tested secondary PCIe slot on MoBo
- Trialed Past CCC versions and Beta versions
- Fresh install of current CCC version, including driver wipe with CCleaner

What else is there for me to troubleshoot?
Please help, getting desperate now
 
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Underclocking seems to have improved the situation but not solved it entirely, same thing occurred with original card
 

Fulgurant

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Nov 29, 2012
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Over the course of the previous thread, and afterwards, through a long PM exchange, we have done the following, in no particular order, to diagnose the OP's problem:

1. Undone his CPU overclock (finally, after much wrangling with a stubborn ASUS BIOS).
2. Underclocked the GPU.
3. Run memtest and discovered no errors.
4. Ruled out overheating.
5. (Tentatively) Ruled out a bad PSU.
6. Tried several different versions of AMD drivers.
7. Tried a different PCIe slot on the OP's motherboard.
8. Tried a different GPU altogether (HD 6770, in crossfire no less).

Number 8 in the list above appears to have worked; the OP reports no artifacts in Furmark using the HD 6770, which suggests to me that the 7970 is dodgy (which would be a rather large coincidence, given that he already replaced the card once).

He will run a couple of different graphical benchmarks tomorrow. If anyone else has any insight, it'd be greatly appreciated. I'm about out of ideas, except that the OP should RMA his card.
 

Mr_Majikat

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Jun 4, 2013
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Here's two things that I would try if it hasn't been done already.
1. Format HDD with a fresh install of Windows 7 (my preference for no major reason is Pro x64) - Windows 8 in of itself could be the problem.

2. If that doesn't work, make sure cooling is really working properly (although I doubt this is it, the stock coolers should be fine).

3. If all else fails, try the 7970 in a different motherboard.

My experience with these kinds of problems almost always come down to OS and/or mobo.
 
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I haven't really got a spare MoBo or copy of Windows 7 to test.

Doesn't the fact that the problem seems to have resolved itself with the old cards rule out a MoBo issue?