MSI R9 390x Crashes any game @ 80C

Geong1

Honorable
Apr 8, 2015
88
1
10,635
Hello all,

Recently, I have been having a problem with my r9 390x crashing on games that I try playing. It does fine for a little while, and as it heats up I do not see any artifacts on my screen or anything else. It will runn fine until 79C, and the moment it pops the border to 80, my computer will either completely crash (sounds like a BSOD), or it will minimize the game and take me to my main screen for a few minutes.

Some ways I've found to aggravate the problem:
- This will happen in games like CSGO, where I am getting 300 fps (I've worked around on this to use console to set me to max 150)
- In game menus like Assassins Creed Origins, where my FPS is allowed to spike.
- Idling in game seems to really set off the problem.
-Any time temps spike to 80C

What I have done to fix it:
- I have tried updating my utility engine.
- I have tried locking the voltage (afterburner)
- I have tried boosting the max power limit.
- I have set my fan curve to 100% all the time
- I have rewired my case and installed max airflow fans to alleviate inner temps, but my CPU rarely spikes above 50C, so I doubt it's inner temp problems.

From the research I've done, this card should be fine until the lower 90s. Has something gone bad with an update? Any help diagnosing this would be greatly appreciated.
 

Geong1

Honorable
Apr 8, 2015
88
1
10,635


So, I dropped my core clock to 1060 and kept my ram clock @ 1500Mhz and all is well after doing a few stress testing w/ furmark as well as the games that were making it crash.

Does this mean my card is going bad, because it can no longer support 1080Mhz?
 
probably you can still push it to 1080mhz as long as you can keep it below 80c. but if you want much more stable operation down clock the card a bit. at 1060mhz you're basically lose nothing in performance. personally i take this is something that can happen in any factory overclocked card. my factory overclocked GTS250 also have some issues when temp reaching 80c. in my case the game still run (no crash) but black artifact will start showing all over the place once temp reaching 80c. downclock the card to GTS250 reference clock and the black artifact was all gone.