Artifacts on Sapphire HD 7970 3 GB Stock version

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dvistaSL

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Oct 23, 2013
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Sapphire HD 7970 3 GB Stock version was overclocked but when it displayed a wireframe (like a matrix display), I lowered it to its base settings. Now, all my games have artifacts at more than high settings, earlier I could play Tomb raider at almost close to 60 FPS at Ultra but no more.
My system specs: i3 3220 (stock), 8 GB Corsair vengeance RAM, 500 GB HDD, Coraise VS 450 power supply.

Please advise how could I get back to the base setting ( tried the Trixx to reset the clocks, it does rest but can't get the artifiacts away, now even when I'm browsing i see the flicker too much).
 
Solution
meowmix44
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fjaesbog

fjaesbog

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Aug 6, 2013
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It's your PSU. The card requires minimum 500w.. And you have 450. And it's even a overclocked edition GPU. You should get a new PSU, 600W at least. I wouldn't recommend playing anything until you get a new one. You could damage your GPU.
 
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dvistaSL

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Oct 23, 2013
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You are right, This was my first issue before zeroing in on the purchase of the graphic card. But had it not been for the fellow folks here at Tomshardware to suggest that this power supply is actually sufficient (it actually outputs about 495) and my GC is not overclocked (its a stock version), I wouldn't have bought the graphic card before upgrading the PSU. And it was all working all find for about a month until I took that risky decision/step to overclock :-(

I will definitely be upgrading the PSU in sometime, but not possible to do right away. Could you please think of something else as a solution?

Thanks a ton for your help.
 
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fjaesbog

fjaesbog

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Well remember you have a CPU and RAM's, HDD, running aswell which also needs powering. The PSU itself is a good brand, and it might almost be manageable to run your card, but it's definitely not gonna live for long if you keep playing games, as you already can see now. Try to lower your settings more, and see if it still flickers/artifacts. If that doesn't help, you should get yourself a new PSU right away, or else you'll damage your system.
If you found any helpful information, remember to select answer! :)
 
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dvistaSL

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Thank you so much for your prompt response. I really find myself pressing the "Answered" button, but only if I could actually get to understand why would there be a sudden degrading after attempt to overclock? What you are suggesting definitely holds weight but I really don't have funds to spend on PSU. Also, as you rightly said, games work better without any artifact if I lower the settings, but the flickering is on my desktop as well, also on the very browser that I'm using to type this in! :-(

Could there be something that still keeping the clocks or something else at different than the stocks (I used the Trixx utility to over clock and then used the same to reset). BTW, just checked GPU-Z and it reflects the same default clocks in GPU and Default clock. If you are still firm on the need for the PSU, I'd then have to buy that...but again, it was working all fine at the highest possible settings of each game until I made that risky attempt to overclock :-(
 
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meowmix44

meowmix44

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Temperatures are your prob. Restart then run trixx and run default settings then set your fans to 100% and see if you still get artifacts.
 
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Solution
eirikheggelund

eirikheggelund

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Oct 21, 2013
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The PSU may not be the problem though. I have had three Asus Radeon HD 7970 Matrix Platinums, and I've had to RMA all of them. I decided to keep the last since I got fed up of RMA-ing. Oh, and I'm using Corsairs newest AX860 power supply.
 
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fjaesbog

fjaesbog

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Meow, it cannot be the temps since he already gets artifacts when he's surfing on the internet. And if he set his fans to 100%, it will require more power, which isn't the best idea here.

Dvista, did you overclock with voltage increase or just the MHz and memory?
 
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fjaesbog

fjaesbog

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If you overclock your GPU without voltage, it wont damage your card. The heat damages your card. So, if you did increase voltage, or if the temps have been high all the time, it may have damaged your GPU.
 
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dvistaSL

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Oct 23, 2013
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Many thanks, meowmix44 - gonna try and report back.

Hey Guys, many thanks all...I uninstalled the AMD drivers and reinstalled that seemed to have fixed the issue for now - no artifacts neither on the desktop nor at the highest setting in game. If it recurs, I guess I'll buy the PSU and swear to never touch that OC utility again, its too smart for a stupid like me :)

Thanks All.
 
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meowmix44

meowmix44

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You are nowhere near stupid!
If you think you're stupid, then you should have saw what I first tried to pull off on an air cooled 7970...
1300MHz core with like 1182MV. Artifacts were everywhere and I thought I broke my card.
---------------
The point is, it takes mistakes to learn how to do something properly.
 
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