Gigabyte 7970 Vertical Lines Crash

Chaython Meredith

Reputable
Feb 24, 2014
1
0
4,510
If I play any 3d game it will randomly get a vertical line crash or black screen, audio is still transmitted and everything seems to continue running fine besides video output.
I have to underclock to around -5% power limit, 950/1400 from 0/1050/1500.
I was wondering if there was anything to consider, I did recently take the casing off and clean the fan, the heatsink was clean [after I started having this issue assuming it was relative to heat]. I didn't take off the heatsink etc but what was visible looked as it should. I've always had issues with this card, this particular one started recently. Doesn't seem to be relative to any software change, and the only solution has been to underclock it, I've seen one post that mentioned managing a preset file using textpad, but it was for a much older card.
 

Ravi Gagan

Honorable
Feb 6, 2014
735
0
11,360
Make sure both PCI-e power plugs are well seated (one 6 pin and one 8 pin). Do not use any "adapters" for video power, those video power plugs must come direct from the PSU for a power hungry card like the 7970.
If your motherboard has a second PCI-Expressx16 slot, move the video card to that slot and try again. By default, it should be in the slot closest to the CPU, but if that slot is defective, the second should work.
However, to be sure about the video card, see if you can find a friend with a big enough PSU and try your video card in their machine (if they are willing...). You have to rule out the video card for sure, else that is what it is.