R9 290 Black Screening

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SirYar

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Nov 9, 2013
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I've currently been struggling with my Sapphire R9 290 which I got 2 months ago. I constantly have black screening - The card simply stops working after some time on stress (Benchmarks or Heavy games like Crysis 3). I can't even go through 2 loops of Unigine Valley without it blacking out on me. I am currently running at stock speeds (947 MHz core and 1250 on memory).

I've replaced the terrible stock cooler with the Gelid Icy Vision Rev.2 (Running at 100% fan speed at all times) around a month ago and started seeing this kind of crashes. As such, I started monitoring the VRM temps while doing the valley run (Which I didn't do at all before replacing the cooler - so I don't know how hot it would have gotten then) and found out that just before crashing the Core temps were around 70C, VRM 1 was near 90-100C (depending on the occasion) and VRM 2 was sitting nicely at 60C. I remember this issue started when I first played Crysis 3 (AFTER I put on the cooler, although I was running a 1100MHZ OC then, and it stabilized on 1000MHZ).

Is the card black screening because of VRM 1 temps (which one are those? the 3 small ones or the long clutch on the right?), or is it because of driver issues? I've also updated those to 13.12 around a month ago, just when I started seeing this issue. Will try the 13.11 beta ones again.

Relevant system specs:
Intel i5 4670 CPU
Gigabyte B85M-HD3 Motherboard
Corsair CX750 PSU
 
Solution
dknight


That YouTube video is pretty much what happens yes, but not just gaming - had it happen about 4 times in 10 minutes, Google Chrome, Skyrim menu, Hearthstone menu, system hardware index, basically doing anything more than staring at the desktop caused it to black screen and I was forced to restart. I was expecting a hynix tri-x card to be ok, but looks like it's the same as everyone else's with the issue.
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jimmycooper16

jimmycooper16

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Aug 22, 2012
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I am 90% sure the only way you can fix that is my getting an exchange or RMA. I had this problem as i brought one of the earlier batches of the 290's when it was first released. Along with that came black screens and AMD aren't going to speak about it. I asked the seller on Amazon for an exchange and they accepted and had the black screens when they tried it also. They sent me my money back and i got a Tri-x Version of the 290 and haven't had them since. Use the link below to see if your card is elpida, elpida cards seem to be the ones with the problem. Elpida is the memory type in the card.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1441349/290-290x-black-screen-poll
 
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SirYar

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Nov 9, 2013
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Unfortunately, I got Elpidia (checked before)... I can't RMA since I already voided my warrenty with the custom cooler (Although I can try reassembling the stock one back). I did a small test after I posted this, where I ran it trough Valley benchmark again, but now with the side panel open. It actually survived 5 runs, and the VRM 1 temps were "only" 85C. The air flow in my case is pretty lack luster because of heavy dust filters and mediocre fans so alot of the air coming out of the cooler - comes back in. Then again, I ran the bench again with it closed down, and it black screened after 1 run but VRM 1 temps were also 85C! This is just so confusing...
 
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jimmycooper16

jimmycooper16

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Aug 22, 2012
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Yes it is. I upgraded my power supply and that didn't fix it, tried all the driver versions. I would play Dayz and last around 3 minutes and it would crash, all games would differ. It seemed that everybody would have the black screen crash on that valley benchmark which i don't have. I have heard of people putting the stock cooler back on and RMA's were being accepted. Just know that a RMA will fix it as it is nothing other then your graphics card that causing the problem. :)

 
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dknight

dknight

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Jun 20, 2008
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I had an R9 290 Tri-X Sapphire card (hynix) arrive this morning, black screens all over the place - do I need to get it sent back? Tried the release and beta drivers.
 
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jimmycooper16

jimmycooper16

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Aug 22, 2012
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Black screen on gaming only? The Hynix cards should be fine and the Tri-X cards were made not long ago. If the problem is the same as the video below and your only option is to force shut down your computer, than it sounds like the same black screen problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSXnogp32Zk
 
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dknight

dknight

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Jun 20, 2008
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That YouTube video is pretty much what happens yes, but not just gaming - had it happen about 4 times in 10 minutes, Google Chrome, Skyrim menu, Hearthstone menu, system hardware index, basically doing anything more than staring at the desktop caused it to black screen and I was forced to restart. I was expecting a hynix tri-x card to be ok, but looks like it's the same as everyone else's with the issue.
 
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Solution
jimmycooper16

jimmycooper16

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Aug 22, 2012
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Thats interesting. I was worried about sending mine back as it could of been something causing the problem other than my graphics card and when i got my new card i never experienced it again. It would affect some games differently, both battlefields would take a while to black screen but Dayz would black screen almost immediately. If you cant find a way to stop it happening i would try RMA.
 
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dknight

dknight

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Jun 20, 2008
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Thanks for your advice jimmy, appreciate it - I know it can't be anything else in my machine, it's been working perfectly for at least 18 months. I'm going to get it RMA'd for now.
 
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jimmycooper16

jimmycooper16

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Aug 22, 2012
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No worries friend, good luck with your graphics card :)
 
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SirYar

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Nov 9, 2013
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I guess I am not the only one getting bullshit like that.
I've recently did a run with and without my side panel (which has no fan) and not only did the Core AND VRM get 20C lower (On Valley benchmark, was ~90 just before Black screen), but it didn't black screen at all (even after 30 mins).
My theory is: Some of the Elpidia chips/VRMs have a lower temp bar (around ~80C) and stop working after reaching it - which is why the card loses power completely. If you don't properly cool ALL of your card below that magic number (Which the stock cooler actually managed to do quite well since each chip/VRM was connected to the main radiator), it will black screen because of that one single chip/VRM unit that overheats. If I could read VRAM temps as well, I would know which chip causes the issue and put a freaking 120 mm fan on it.
Currently, I can't find a way to avoid this black screen on heavy load, other than taking my side panel off.
Hope I can help anyone =\.
 
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dknight

dknight

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Jun 20, 2008
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Hi guys,

Two things:

1. I sent my first R9 290 Tr-x Sapphire back on RMA as it was black screening in less than a minute no matter what I did.
2. The second card arrived this afternoon and didn't seem nearly as bad, but was still black screening and crashing as soon as I tried to game with it.

Answer: I uninstalled the 14.1 Beta drivers and installed the 13.11 Beta 9.5 drivers - so far it looks like the issue's been completely solved. If anyone else out there is getting the same black screen problem, I'd give that a try.

I also whacked up the fan speed manually a bit using SpeedFan
 
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