Issues with Sapphire R9 295x2 8gig video card

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englandr753

englandr753

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Hi,

I purchased this sweet looking card about 4 months ago and enjoyed it for 3 months then it began to flicker and distort my screen and began to flicker on and off then began to flicker so often I couldn't stand it any longer.

I contacted Sapphire and they appear to be a leason to the manufacturer that actually performs the RMA repair/exchanges. Their responses so far have been quick. After 2 days of emails I was issued an RMA and I shipped the card off to althonmicro.

I received the card in about 2 weeks. I immediately installed and the screen was back to normal. 3 days passed and then boom, the issues began again. I took out the card and put my spare R9 290x card in (luckily I had one of these) until I get word from Sapphire (althonmicro) that I have approval to RMA again.

Although its been irritating to have this issue with such a beast of a card, the support has been very good. Having my spare card has made it bearable to deal with tbh.


I will update as I get replies and keep everyone interested posted.

My other reason for posting this is my curiosity of anyone else experiencing failures on these cards? (sapphire or any other brand for that matter)

Thanks!
 
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MarkW
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Stija

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That reminds me of a situation that I had with HD6850. My screen would go black after i finish playing a game. I found out that's a series error. I got a new card and it worked for a few months and bam again.
I really had bad luck with that card, I wished I never bought it.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Thanks MarkW, I'll give that a shot. I did get a reply from althonmicro today but it was just a reply to let me know they're working on it.

I'm very disatisfied with the whole minidisplayport and dvi connectors being the only connection methods on this card. I was basically told none of AMD cards including the 300 series support hdmi 2.0. So now I'm forced to use an adapter that's limited to 30hz until a manufacturer on a white horse rides in with a new adapter supporting 60hz.

If I had it to go over again I would've went with the new titan and have the full 4k benefit from my vizio 42" 4k tv.

You live and learn and sometimes have to lick your wounds when you don't research enough before you throw money around on that dream machine...
 
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MarkW

MarkW

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Starting next year, only DP and 1 HDMI will be on most cards.

Intel, Nvidia, and AMD all announced over 3 years ago that by the end of this year, only DP and HDMI would be used. And we are now there pretty much.

DP 1.2 has been able to do 4K video at 60Hz since 2009. And you can buy a DP to HDMI 2.0 cable at Amazon.

Belkin Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Cable 6'. 4K Compatible (F2CD080bt06) $44.99

gofanco@ Gold Plated Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Active Converter for 4K UltraHD Display/Monitor - Thunderbolt Compatible, Support Eyefinity, DisplayPort 1.2 - Black MALE to MALE - MULTIPLE SCREENS SLS Supported for Gaming $18.99

I actually use a DP to HDMI cable with my 42 inch 1080p Sanyo TV. The cable above will support 4k at 60Hz or should.

VGA ports have been gone for most of 2 years now.
DVI-I ports are pretty much already gone.
DVI-D is done with, but some cards still have them. When they quit making these models that are shipping now, there will be almost no additional cards with DVI-D. And the ones that do, will mostly be for third world countries.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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That first cable is out of stock and the 2nd link is like my current adapter which supports 30hz only, not 60hz. Thanks for the links though, much appreciated.

That Belk in cable may be the same amazon link I've found previously but there was complaints that people were receiving knock off cables that didn't support 60hz. I'll read up more in the previews when I have more time later.

Thanks for the replies and I'll post the progress of my RMA as I get updates.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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I see where you're coming from. I think if your going 4k now you need to go Nvidia as they have the current interface needed for most devices to easily connect. 4k honestly wont be mainstream until then or shortly afterwards anyway so its pointeless atm anyway for most things.

I got my approval for the RMA. Will ship either late this evening or tomorrow am early.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Was afraid of that. Thanks for the input as it was what I was expecting to hear, unfortunately.


This card has failed me twice and cost about 35.00 in shipping to send back through the RMA process. 3 strikes and that's it. I will RMA a 3rd time if necessary and it will be time to bail. At that point I will feel stuck with a defective card that is supposedly repaired but will likely die again.

It looks like after so many failed attempts the manufacture should allow you a trade up on your old card instead of forcing you to put a product on ebay to stick someone else with a bad card. I know I'm thinking ahead here but after my experience so far it looks like I will need to plan for another possible issue.


What do you guys think?
 
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MarkW

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Any video card with DisplayPort will do 4k at 60Hz. AMD, Intel or Nvidia. How well depends on the card itself.

Once the new cards come out next year, everything should have DP 1.3 (8k or 2x 4K per DP), and a HDMI 2.0 port (4k @60 Hz). And the cards should do 4K significantly better. Many video cards will also get much more than 4K video ram.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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I guess I failed to mention that since I'm using a visio 43" 4k tv instead of an actual monitor I'm pinned to using an hdmi cable that supports 4k and the missing link I need is the dp adapter that has an active link @ 60hz. AMD dropped the ball for users of their products that want to do 4k on a tv.

I have 600 bucks tied up in a very nice tv very capable of producing 4k and a card of equal value that also supports 4k but no one seems to make this adapter. The sales rep that sold me this tv seemed to think the cable he handed me would work but it didnt. Now I'm stuck. My mistake for not going home and researching first then choosing a display later. I didn't realize at the time there would be such an issue making this work.

Now I'm not only having issues with the adapter, I have a defective card the manufacturer themselves can't seem to repair. Not a good place to be after rebuilding a new system from the ground up at this high end of a setup!!
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Check this out. Go to newegg and look for 295x2 any brand. You'll only see xfx. They completely pulled the listing for the sapphire 295x2 which had 1 negative review.

This makes me think they had serious issues to not leave up the listing. I left a review in which will likely never be seen.

Does anyone else find that strange?!?
 
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MarkW

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No. AMD has moved on to the 300 series cards now, and slowly but surely, the 200 series cards are disappearing.

2vttaoz.jpg

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9621/the-amd-radeon-r9-nano-review
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Yes, that's the normal pattern, you're right.

What I found strange was the fact that newegg normally deactivates their listings and you can usually see the product listing and all associated reviews. I can't say I've seen newegg completely remove all traces of a listing. This must be a new practice.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Althon micro received my defective card last Friday so the RMA is under way. Ive been debating on what to do with this card once I get it back. I'm now using Windows 10 Pro so I understand I can now use two different video cards and get the benefits of both Nvidia and AMD. I wonder how it would pan to pair up my 295x2 with a 980ti and use the 980ti as the main card to use the hdmi 2.0 port.

Has anyone else out there tested this?

I know Windows 10 memory pools as well so I would have a total of 14gigs vrm.

All that sounds sexy but I'd like some feedback before I throw any more dollars around.

Thanks!
 
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MarkW

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Times are changing. As they always do in the computer industry. Everything has gone digital, even the monitors.

Starting next year, which is only a few short months away, video cards will only have multiple DisplayPort and a single HDMI port for the most part. VGA and DVI are dead. Their deaths were announced by AMD, Nvidia and Intel years ago. VGA is gone because it was analog. DVI is gone because it was not being updated, and DP was so far beyond where DVI was that DP won out. HMDI got support because it is what is the most common consumer video connection, and it has been rapidly and repeatedly been getting upgraded as it attempts to stay relevant in a digital 4K, 5K, 8K and soon 16K world.

The HDMI 2.0 spec was finalized after AMD created the GPU's that became the 200 series of video cards, which are now the 300 series of video cards. Both AMD and Nvidia actually expected to be producing 20nm GPU's 2 years ago, but TMSC, the fab that makes their GPU's, never created the manufacturing processes that they needed to make high performance GPU's at the 20nm node. Nvidia went back and created Maxwell on 28nm and was able to add HDMI 2.0 at that time. But AMD for the most part, has just been rebranding their GPU's year after year.

Both companies are in the process of certifying new 16nm GPU's right now. I expect DP 1.3 and HDMI 2.0 or 2.0a to be on all of those new cards, but they will not be here until mid year 2016. And since their are multiple GPU's involved, they will likely still be shipping various new models around the end of 2016. None of these video cards are expected to be produced with anything but DP and HDMI on them. There will be some models created for third world countries that will have VGA and/or DVI on them. But those are not expected to be seen in the US or EU.

What power supply do you have?
How old is it?
What else is in your case?
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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Good read Mark and thanks for the reply again.

I currently have the following setup/hardware config:

Xigmatek Elysium case (its huge like a server case)
Antec 1200 watt psu (will need to upgrade if I go with a 980ti w/the 295x2, apprx 3 years old)
Windows 10 Pro 674 bit
Asus Rampage V Extreme 3.1 motherboard
Intel 5930k Haswell CPU
Crucial Ballistix 2400 DDR4 32G ram
Samsung 850 Pro 256G 3-D V-Nand SSD
Western Digital Black 2Tb drive (for gaming/program installs)
NZXT Kraken X61 CPU closed loop cooler
Sapphire R9 295x2 video card
XFX 290X video card
Vizio 43" 4k tv (monitor)

I pulled the XFX card after the first failure and the 295x2 failed again so I don't believe my issue is power supply related. I have been using the 290x flawlessly since it replaced the 295x2 during the RMA process.
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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I received the RMAd card back from Sapphire and within 24 hours its defective again. I sent Sapphire another support ticket request stating I'm done with RMAing the card and will need to discuss an exchange for another "working" product that I can actually sell.

This experience gave me a very bad taste in my mouth about Sapphires products so once I get something working that I feel good selling on ebay, I will likely go either Team green or another brand card, maybe a 2nd xfx 290x to crossfire with the one I already have.

Needless to say I'm not a happy camper with this card....
 
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englandr753

englandr753

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That would be my thoughts but I just got word yesterday directly from the guy that is handling my current RMA. The first issue they tested the card, they got the same results that I did so they replaced the card. The 2nd RMA, the fan was throttling so he determined it over heated and damaged the card.

This 3rd round they are sending a paid for shipping label for me to return the card. Once they determine its bad again, they have accepted my request to either send me a brand new, not refurbished 295x2 or two 290x cards in place of the 295x2.

They suggested I try the card in another system so I installed it in my old AMD 8350/Crosshair V setup and got the same exact results.

Apparently I'm just the unluckiest guy in the world...

In addition to it all, I've had 3 motherboard issues that I somehow think the 295x2 had a hand in causing the problems.. I'm on my 3rd ASUS Rampage V Extreme motherboard. While the 295x2 was installed I couldnt get my system to boot with more than 1 stick of ram. Then the next day i began to get blue screen errors with 1 stick of ram. After getting approval from Sapphire to do a 3rd RMA, I pulled out the 295x2 and reinstalled the spare 290x and now my system boots normally without any overclock errors I kept getting with the 295x2 installed.

This rig has been a nightmare and Ive spent around 200 in shipping back and forth for the 295x2 and the warranty replacement cost for my motherboard in which I'm beginning to see was unnecessary.

What a nightmare this setup as been so far.
 
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