AMD 6970 Lightning vertical lines crash

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luock

Reputable
Jul 1, 2014
7
0
4,510
I posted here before, but only got a response to update my drivers. This did nothing whatsoever to help. I have also turned off AMD OverDrive and used the Microsoft solution to no use.

The graphics card is the MSI R6970 Lightning Edition, with 2GB video RAM. I have been playing many games, some of which are not very demanding and I still get crashes. The crashes are vertical lines of any colour, usually similar colours. This is accompanied by the sound from the game for the first few seconds, and unless the Ctrl-Alt-Delete menu appears if I press it, this sound changes in to a buzzing sound. I have to restart the PC after this.Some games do not crash at all whereas others do all the time. Strangely, Tropico 3 does not crash but Tropico 4 does (very, very often - much more than it used to and I only bought it about a week ago), despite running the same engine. I used to be able to fix the issue with V-Sync, but recently this has done nothing at all to help. I have checked temperatures and they are around the 65C mark often. The card is not overclocked.

Thanks for any help.
 
Solution
coozie7
Either the drivers haven't installed correctly of the card is on its deathbed.
Try this (again?)
Download and save, do not install, the latest WHQL drivers for your card and system.
Download and install Drivercleaner or Driversweeper.
Uninstall the current drivers.
Restart into Safe Mode.
Run the cleaner software, but be careful to check everything it's going to remove, they've been know to delete system files!
Restart normally then find and delete the AMD folders that should be in Program Files and Program Files x86.
Restart again.
Install the saved drivers using the 'express' option.
Restart...Yet again.
If still no go, run GPUZ (excellent freebie BTW) and see what it reports.
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coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
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Could be several things the only option is to work through each and see which solves the problem.
Please provide full details of the system, particularly the power supply, the 6970 draws quite a lot of juice under load and an old or cheap power supply may be causing this.
Download HWInfo and check the CPU and chipset temperatures, an overheating CPU will cause this type of crash as well.
Reset the BIOS to factory defaults, don't try to troubleshoot with any system or CPU overclocks in place.
Remove and reseat the add in cards and memory modules and check all the power cables are fully home. Examine the card closely when it's out, look for discolouration/burning of the circuit board and that the capacitors are not bulged or leaking-they should be cylindrical, not barrel shaped and flat topped.
Make sure all the system drivers are installed and updated, yes, I know you've been there but just check the software is WHQL certified for your system, don't use Beta drivers or software when troubleshooting, and include the motherboard chipset and sound drivers.
Uninstall any tweaking software (EVGA precision, MSI Afterburner etc) and delete any data/profiles when asked, they're usually stable but...
Check your version of Windows is updated.
Run virus and malware scans.
If possible, try your card in another system and see if the fault follows it, just check the other system has enough power to run the card.
 
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L

luock

Reputable
Jul 1, 2014
7
0
4,510


OK, I have my specs here
Cooler Master 700w power supply
Corsair XMS3 1600Mhz 4GBx2 RAM
Intel Core i5 3570k at 3.70Ghz w/ Arctic Cooling Freezer 13
Seagate Barracuda 1000GB 7200rpm
MSI R6970 Lightning Edition 2GB w/ Twin Frozr III

EDIT: When I try to open Catalyst, which I recently updated even further I get this message http://gyazo.com/bfafc601d718c9ab3efc19eae99688ed

Also I get a message saying "AMD display driver has crashed and successfully recovered" if I can get to my desktop
 
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coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
Either the drivers haven't installed correctly of the card is on its deathbed.
Try this (again?)
Download and save, do not install, the latest WHQL drivers for your card and system.
Download and install Drivercleaner or Driversweeper.
Uninstall the current drivers.
Restart into Safe Mode.
Run the cleaner software, but be careful to check everything it's going to remove, they've been know to delete system files!
Restart normally then find and delete the AMD folders that should be in Program Files and Program Files x86.
Restart again.
Install the saved drivers using the 'express' option.
Restart...Yet again.
If still no go, run GPUZ (excellent freebie BTW) and see what it reports.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
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