- Apr 15, 2016
- 10
- 0
- 1,510
Hi everyone, and thanks in advance.
I have the weirdest problem, ever. I recently built a new setup:
XFX Radeon R9 295x2 (watercooled) Drivers from 15.15 - 16.3.2
Old/Backup Card - PowerColor R9390 PCS+, Same drivers (Cards NOT used at same time)
Asus Z170 Gaming Pro Mini-ITX - have tried all the BIOSes but am currently on 0803 (latest)
2x4GB GSkill DDR4 3200mhz running at 2400mhz (mobo default, isn't unstable at higher speeds)
Intel i5 6500(non-K) not overclocked, stock cooler
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD
1TB 5400rpm SSHD
Samsung 24" FHD LED
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Connection to the monitor is either a j5create mini-displayport to HDMI convertor to HDMI cable or a DVI-D to HDMI convertor to HDMI cable (I always test both)
Corsair 380T case (which is why I kept trying to get 160mm PSUs)
Everything other than the R9295x2 is no older than 4 months.
A few PSUs have been through my system:
1. Raidmax 730ss Hybrid (http://www.raidmax.com/power-supplies_rx-730ss.html)
2. Seasonic MII850 pre-evo edition (http://www.seasonicusa.com/M12II-Bronze-650-750-850.htm)
3. Raidmax RX-1200AE (http://www.raidmax.com/power-supplies_rx-1200ae.html)
4. Seasonix X-1050 (http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_1050-1250.htm)
OK, so I received the R9 295x2 and installed it into my system with the 730ss Raidmax and did a fresh install of Windows. The crashes came soon after, in any game, though I've primarily been using BF4, The Division, and Furmark to test the card. Crashes were preceded by graphical glitches on the screen. Brightly coloured lines flashing horizontally on the screen. Or entire horizontal sections of the screen flickering sideways and/or going a single solid colour. This was a sign of the coming crash, usually within a few seconds the screen would freeze or go black, sometimes red. The PC would then freeze or reboot. Occasionally I only got kicked to windows desktop with a 'driver stopped responding' error (this was sorted out with tricks below, but the hard crashes and glitches remained).
Crashes could sometimes be delayed for an hour or so by not turning on Xfire mode, but with Xfire on and the card pulling max current the crashes would happen within minutes of starting the test, sometimes seconds.
First thing I reckoned was that my PSU couldn't handle the card. Looked it up and AMD recommends a 1500w PSU with 28A available on each of 2x 12v rails and a minimum of 50Amps combined on 12v available. The 730ss doesn't meet these reqs (oops). After a lot of reading I've concluded that Wattage isn't everything, the most important is that the PSU can deliver the required Amps at a stable Voltage. In this review they run this card on a 500W PSU without failure:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-power-supply-balance,3979-5.html
To focus on wattage: In reviews where the power consumption of the R9 295x2 was measured, the HIGHEST peak consumption I could find was about 550w. Given that the rest of my PC can't use more than 150W (say, 200W) that means I only need 750w, surely!
====Please note that this whole time, while I couldn't use my R9295x2 due to it failing, I've switched back to my Powercolor R9390 (itself a power-hungry card who's voltage regulators sing because of the dirty power coming from the Raidmax 730ss) plus the Raidmax 730ss. It works flawlessly, though I must say the framerates are worse in The Division than a Single GPU of the R9295x2 running with the same quality settings. I can play any game for hours without a single crash or glitch.====
So I got the Seasonic 850. It can do 70 Amps total on a single 12v rail, so that should meet the criteria. Didn't work either, same errors.
So I got the Raidmax 1200, this was not what I'd originally ordered, I'd ordered the RX-1200AE-B, which gives 100Amps on a single 12v rail. But I gave the non-B version a shot anyway as it was a demo model from the wholesalers and was half the price. This version has 4 rails (but only 2 modular PCIE outputs +1 fixed PCIE output) with 40A limit each, with what I calculated to be a ±80A limit total for 12v. Same problem remained.
Then I got the Seasonic X-1050. This thing is the bomb. Reviews give it full points. Voltage regulation is perfect and it puts out 87A on a single 12V rail.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Seasonic/SS-1050XM2/5.html
SAME PROBLEM! In fact, the problem was worse, the card would bug out as windows boots up, and then sometimes get stuck in a loop where the PC was frozen but the card's PCB fan was speeding up and slowing down rhythmically. I couldn't even get into a The Division game, past the menu. BF4 would bomb after 2 mins max. Windows would have graphical glitches as described above just while being on the desktop, with a few crashes and freezes. I eventually got it booted into safe mode and removed all drivers, that at least got me back into windows, but still no luck with the games.
Now, with EVERY PSU I've tried all the tricks:
I've turned off ULPS in the registry (yes, I found all the entries and changed them)
I've increased TDRdelay to 8 and to 16 in the registry
I've tried all the available AMD drivers from 15.12 - 16.3.2, each one as just the driver by itself, or the whole package, but I've always left AMD Gaming Evolved uninstalled as it takes long to install and is a pest.
I use DDU to completely remove drivers before I install new ones.
The card doesn't run particularly hot, maybe 63C, if I close up the case it might go around 67C.
With Xfire mode OFF it runs around 45-50C
I use MSI Afterburner to monitor temps and voltages, and sometimes I'll leave it off to see if it is causing instability.
I've given the golden fingers on the card a wipe-down with a cotton swab.
I've tried various configs with the power cables to the card, single split cable, two separate cables (modular), one fixed cable plus one modular cable (on the RX-1200)
I've tried turning all sorts of AMD Radeon features off, scaling, special textures, Xfire modes, etc.
Nothing worked.
But wait!! Before you say my card is faulty, one thing actually works:
When I had the Seasonic 850 I connected it to ONLY the R9295x2 while the rest of the PC ran off the Raidmax 730ss. No more crashes, no more instability. (one can start a PSU by shorting two pins on the PSU's motherboard plug)
So I figured the Seasonic wasn't powerful enough to power the whole PC, ordered the 1200W raidmax and sent the 850 back.
The only way the 1200 Raidmax would work reliably was if I connected it to the R9295x2 and the rest of the PC to the 730ss. I ran BF4 in virtual super resolution at 4k for an hour, temps reached 72C in a closed case, no instability). Sooooo, same conclusion as before, also the 1200 was a demo so maybe it was faulty... (that was my thinking)
So I sent it back and ordered the X-1050. Same thing... This time I've got the X-1050 hooked up to the R9295x2, the harddrives, the case fan and fan controller and LEDs (because I was too lazy to switch everything to the 730ss, I'm now sure the other PSUs also would've worked in this setup). The 730ss is running the mobo and CPU fan, that's it. Great stability, no crashes.
I'm now running The Division on single gpu mode (Xfire doesn't currently work in The Division, known issue) runs great, single GPU giving me 75fps avg on just under high settings.
Now, does anyone have any idea what the heck is going on?!!!
PS. I have another mobo, a Gigabyte B150M-D3H DDR4 which I used before the mini-itx Asus and the R9295x2 showed up in the same box, I'm going to move everything to this mobo over the weekend to test.
Any help/opinions/ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated!
I have the weirdest problem, ever. I recently built a new setup:
XFX Radeon R9 295x2 (watercooled) Drivers from 15.15 - 16.3.2
Old/Backup Card - PowerColor R9390 PCS+, Same drivers (Cards NOT used at same time)
Asus Z170 Gaming Pro Mini-ITX - have tried all the BIOSes but am currently on 0803 (latest)
2x4GB GSkill DDR4 3200mhz running at 2400mhz (mobo default, isn't unstable at higher speeds)
Intel i5 6500(non-K) not overclocked, stock cooler
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD
1TB 5400rpm SSHD
Samsung 24" FHD LED
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Connection to the monitor is either a j5create mini-displayport to HDMI convertor to HDMI cable or a DVI-D to HDMI convertor to HDMI cable (I always test both)
Corsair 380T case (which is why I kept trying to get 160mm PSUs)
Everything other than the R9295x2 is no older than 4 months.
A few PSUs have been through my system:
1. Raidmax 730ss Hybrid (http://www.raidmax.com/power-supplies_rx-730ss.html)
2. Seasonic MII850 pre-evo edition (http://www.seasonicusa.com/M12II-Bronze-650-750-850.htm)
3. Raidmax RX-1200AE (http://www.raidmax.com/power-supplies_rx-1200ae.html)
4. Seasonix X-1050 (http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_1050-1250.htm)
OK, so I received the R9 295x2 and installed it into my system with the 730ss Raidmax and did a fresh install of Windows. The crashes came soon after, in any game, though I've primarily been using BF4, The Division, and Furmark to test the card. Crashes were preceded by graphical glitches on the screen. Brightly coloured lines flashing horizontally on the screen. Or entire horizontal sections of the screen flickering sideways and/or going a single solid colour. This was a sign of the coming crash, usually within a few seconds the screen would freeze or go black, sometimes red. The PC would then freeze or reboot. Occasionally I only got kicked to windows desktop with a 'driver stopped responding' error (this was sorted out with tricks below, but the hard crashes and glitches remained).
Crashes could sometimes be delayed for an hour or so by not turning on Xfire mode, but with Xfire on and the card pulling max current the crashes would happen within minutes of starting the test, sometimes seconds.
First thing I reckoned was that my PSU couldn't handle the card. Looked it up and AMD recommends a 1500w PSU with 28A available on each of 2x 12v rails and a minimum of 50Amps combined on 12v available. The 730ss doesn't meet these reqs (oops). After a lot of reading I've concluded that Wattage isn't everything, the most important is that the PSU can deliver the required Amps at a stable Voltage. In this review they run this card on a 500W PSU without failure:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-power-supply-balance,3979-5.html
To focus on wattage: In reviews where the power consumption of the R9 295x2 was measured, the HIGHEST peak consumption I could find was about 550w. Given that the rest of my PC can't use more than 150W (say, 200W) that means I only need 750w, surely!
====Please note that this whole time, while I couldn't use my R9295x2 due to it failing, I've switched back to my Powercolor R9390 (itself a power-hungry card who's voltage regulators sing because of the dirty power coming from the Raidmax 730ss) plus the Raidmax 730ss. It works flawlessly, though I must say the framerates are worse in The Division than a Single GPU of the R9295x2 running with the same quality settings. I can play any game for hours without a single crash or glitch.====
So I got the Seasonic 850. It can do 70 Amps total on a single 12v rail, so that should meet the criteria. Didn't work either, same errors.
So I got the Raidmax 1200, this was not what I'd originally ordered, I'd ordered the RX-1200AE-B, which gives 100Amps on a single 12v rail. But I gave the non-B version a shot anyway as it was a demo model from the wholesalers and was half the price. This version has 4 rails (but only 2 modular PCIE outputs +1 fixed PCIE output) with 40A limit each, with what I calculated to be a ±80A limit total for 12v. Same problem remained.
Then I got the Seasonic X-1050. This thing is the bomb. Reviews give it full points. Voltage regulation is perfect and it puts out 87A on a single 12V rail.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Seasonic/SS-1050XM2/5.html
SAME PROBLEM! In fact, the problem was worse, the card would bug out as windows boots up, and then sometimes get stuck in a loop where the PC was frozen but the card's PCB fan was speeding up and slowing down rhythmically. I couldn't even get into a The Division game, past the menu. BF4 would bomb after 2 mins max. Windows would have graphical glitches as described above just while being on the desktop, with a few crashes and freezes. I eventually got it booted into safe mode and removed all drivers, that at least got me back into windows, but still no luck with the games.
Now, with EVERY PSU I've tried all the tricks:
I've turned off ULPS in the registry (yes, I found all the entries and changed them)
I've increased TDRdelay to 8 and to 16 in the registry
I've tried all the available AMD drivers from 15.12 - 16.3.2, each one as just the driver by itself, or the whole package, but I've always left AMD Gaming Evolved uninstalled as it takes long to install and is a pest.
I use DDU to completely remove drivers before I install new ones.
The card doesn't run particularly hot, maybe 63C, if I close up the case it might go around 67C.
With Xfire mode OFF it runs around 45-50C
I use MSI Afterburner to monitor temps and voltages, and sometimes I'll leave it off to see if it is causing instability.
I've given the golden fingers on the card a wipe-down with a cotton swab.
I've tried various configs with the power cables to the card, single split cable, two separate cables (modular), one fixed cable plus one modular cable (on the RX-1200)
I've tried turning all sorts of AMD Radeon features off, scaling, special textures, Xfire modes, etc.
Nothing worked.
But wait!! Before you say my card is faulty, one thing actually works:
When I had the Seasonic 850 I connected it to ONLY the R9295x2 while the rest of the PC ran off the Raidmax 730ss. No more crashes, no more instability. (one can start a PSU by shorting two pins on the PSU's motherboard plug)
So I figured the Seasonic wasn't powerful enough to power the whole PC, ordered the 1200W raidmax and sent the 850 back.
The only way the 1200 Raidmax would work reliably was if I connected it to the R9295x2 and the rest of the PC to the 730ss. I ran BF4 in virtual super resolution at 4k for an hour, temps reached 72C in a closed case, no instability). Sooooo, same conclusion as before, also the 1200 was a demo so maybe it was faulty... (that was my thinking)
So I sent it back and ordered the X-1050. Same thing... This time I've got the X-1050 hooked up to the R9295x2, the harddrives, the case fan and fan controller and LEDs (because I was too lazy to switch everything to the 730ss, I'm now sure the other PSUs also would've worked in this setup). The 730ss is running the mobo and CPU fan, that's it. Great stability, no crashes.
I'm now running The Division on single gpu mode (Xfire doesn't currently work in The Division, known issue) runs great, single GPU giving me 75fps avg on just under high settings.
Now, does anyone have any idea what the heck is going on?!!!
PS. I have another mobo, a Gigabyte B150M-D3H DDR4 which I used before the mini-itx Asus and the R9295x2 showed up in the same box, I'm going to move everything to this mobo over the weekend to test.
Any help/opinions/ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated!
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