Sapphiretech Radeon R9 280X Toxic 3GB GDDR5 Artifcats and Glitches

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jerkingbad

jerkingbad

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Dec 10, 2013
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Gentlemen,

I just replace my ZOTAC GTX 770 for this Sapphiretech Radeon R9 280X Toxic 3GB and I couldn't be more disappointed.

I have bought this card on June 12th, 2014 (only 8 days ago) and, after the first hour gaming the card showed artifacts and constant glitches.

Not satisfied with the product, I returned the card to the reseller store and they replaced for another one on the same momment.

I went back home and installed the card, after couple hours playing the same issues happened again.

Then, I start to become worried about the situation, because I spent a lot of money on this card (R$1200 BRL) and apparently the card is not that good as they inform.

I start searching online and found out that a lot of people have the same issues that I, and a lot of people have RMA the card back to Sapphiretech, and the new one comes with the very same issues.

Then, I called the store, explained the situation and they said that they don't have another piece to replace, they are out of stock and recommended that I should contact the Sapphiretech support and they will help me with.

That was what I did, I contact the support and opened a ticket for this incident, but so far no lucky at all.

Then, I decided to record what is happening with this card and put on youtube. Follow the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e3XHiE_RTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8kq06Mtow0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0gDcVxAzpo

I would like to know from someone that possess this card, and had the same issues I am having if you figured out how to fix this, or I will need to RMA the card back to Sapphiretech hoping to receive a good one?

My specs are:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970-DS3P
CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz Octa-core processor
RAM: 8GB Kingston 1066MHz
VGA: Sapphiretech Radeon R9 280X Toxic 3GB GDDR5
HD: 1TB Seagate
PSU: Corsair CX750 750W

The BIOS version is: 015.041.000.000.000000 (113-C38665001-TU4) and the Catalyst driver is 14.6

Thanks in advance,

Fred



 
Solution
jkhoward
"If I reduce more, I will loose performance and wouldn't be reasonable to buy this expensive overclocked card to use as a "regular" non-overclocked card, don't you agreed?"

I do agree. We do want to lower them until the artifacts go away for testing purposes. If they do go away we know that the card is defective and you have a case with Sapphire as long as you meet the other system requirements for this card which you do.

"My card does not run at the stock specifications without major artifacts. I was able to lower the core and memory clocks to X and X. This prevented the artifacts from appearing."
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jkhoward

jkhoward

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When you switched from the NVIDIA to the AMD card did you remove the old drivers completely using a program like Driver Sweeper?

The 770 is better than the 280X unless you are playing at a higher resolution where the extra memory on the 280X will give it a slight advantage. Why in the world would you change from a 770 to a 280X anyways?

EDIT: Definitely appears to be driver related.

http://www.guru3d.com/content_page/guru3d_driver_sweeper.html
 
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jerkingbad

jerkingbad

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Dec 10, 2013
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jkhoward,

Thanks for the reply, I did an entire upgrade from my system, I was using old Intel configuration and decided to upgrade everything to a better AMD configuration.

My entire system is brand new and answering your question, I did a clean installation from Windows and all drivers after I installed the VGA. So, there is no driver conflict.

I always used Intel and NVIDIA and never had any kind of trouble. I do ask myself the same question about why in the world I changed so don't be mad with me...lol

I don't know what else to do, the support from Sapphiretech sucks and don't help you at all. I really don't know what to do...

I've tried to install many differents VBIOS drivers found here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?manufacturer=Sapphire&model=R9+280X

But no one them works properly, also I have tried to install dozens of Catalyst drivers and still no lucky.

Definitelly won't buy from Sapphiretech again.

If you know another solution for me, I'll really apprecciate it.



 
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jkhoward

jkhoward

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Do you still own the 770? If you do my recommendation would be to out that back in the system and enjoy better performance.

Where you having these issues before you tried to update the video card BIOS? I would NEVER download a BIOS from any site other than the manufactures website. Installing the wrong version will destroy your card.

Does your card have a "boost" switch on it? If it does, try changing it to the other setting while the system is off and see if that resolves the issue. It could be that the "boost" setting is overclocking the card higher than it can support. If that is not the case.. I would try to underclock the card using the AMD drivers and see if that resolves the issue. If it does, the card is faulty and is not able to run at its stock speeds.
 
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jerkingbad

jerkingbad

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Dec 10, 2013
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No. I don't have the 770 anymore. I sold with my old configuration.

I did a backup from the original BIOS before attempt to do any update on the BIOS. This card have dual BIOS (UEFI and non-UEFI). The UEFI is not possible to change only the non-UEFI, and I already returned the original BIOS on it.

There is only a switch button on the card that is used to swtich between those BIOS. I've tried both and is pretty the same thing. No big difference at all.

About the downgrade, I did a reduce on the Core Clock from 1150MHz to 1100MHz and the Memory Clock from 1600MHz to 1500MHz, the frequency of the artifacts has decreased. But still there.

If I reduce more, I will loose performance and wouldn't be reasonable to buy this expensive overclocked card to use as a "regular" non-overclocked card, don't you agreed?



 
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jkhoward

jkhoward

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Nov 24, 2011
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"If I reduce more, I will loose performance and wouldn't be reasonable to buy this expensive overclocked card to use as a "regular" non-overclocked card, don't you agreed?"

I do agree. We do want to lower them until the artifacts go away for testing purposes. If they do go away we know that the card is defective and you have a case with Sapphire as long as you meet the other system requirements for this card which you do.

"My card does not run at the stock specifications without major artifacts. I was able to lower the core and memory clocks to X and X. This prevented the artifacts from appearing."
 
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Solution
jerkingbad

jerkingbad

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Dec 10, 2013
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10,510
Got it.

About this citation:

"My card does not run at the stock specifications without major artifacts. I was able to lower the core and memory clocks to X and X. This prevented the artifacts from appearing."

Is it about the Radeon R9 280X Toxic or just another similar situation?

I am using MSI Afterburner here and the default values from this card are:

Core Voltage(mV): Locked (can't change anything here)
Power Limit(%): +0
Core Clock(MHz): 1150
Memory Clock(MHz): 1600
Fan Speed(%): Auto

To be honest with you I never was that entusiastic to be overclocking my VGAs, I always used them with the default manufactures values. So, this is kinda of new for me.

What settings do you recommend for me to decrease and what kind of software can I use to test them?



 
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jkhoward

jkhoward

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That was me being a goof. I was talking about what you would tell Sapphire if the artifacts went away after lowering the clocks.

I would just drag the slider down to 800 for the core and memory clock and play a game that was giving you an issue. If the artifacts are gone, you know there is a problem with the card.
 
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