Sapphire HD6870 Problem

Could be a couple of things, but most likely is the video card. Have you run a Windows Memory Diag or Memtest yet?

Also, what does the sticker say on the power supply regarding available watts and amps?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

This is the case and the power supply that came with it.

i havent done any of the memory tests yet

Is the PSU the TR2-430 (can you see the label)?
If so, the PSU looks to be able to handle a single 6870 fine. You do have the OC edition of the 2500 processor, though. Are you OC'ing anything?

If you're OC'ing anything, you could be exceeding the 12V available on the rails and that can cause issues. Stop OC'ing anything and run the system that way or pick up a PSU with more gusto (ie Corsair TX650).

If you're not OC'ing and your memory checks out OK, return/exchange that video card.

I am not OC'ing anything everything is on stock speeds i will run the memory test when i get home. Its wierd though i was playing the witcher 2 for a couple of hours yesterday with no errors it only happens with flash content and it seems that if i disable hardware accelaration it stops the issue.

The PSU is a TR2-430

Like Ubercake, I'd question the PSU under load conditions, but we're not talking about load conditions here. We're talking about a card running in UVD-mode during Flash playback. And while the Tt TR2-430 is not a very good PSU (especially for a power/gaming build), it should be sufficient. He does bring up a good point regarding overclocking, though. If indeed you are OC'ing your CPU, you very well could be running into power deficiency issues.

Perhaps Flash needs updating...?

Also, by recent drivers, are you referring to Catalyst 11.6? I've run into many people over the last month or so complaining about issues with 11.6, most of which were resolved by using or rolling-back to 11.5 or 11.4 instead.

I am currently using 11.6. but you bring up a valid point i will try to roll back the drivers. i am using the most current flash player but i will try to update to flash 11 beta to see if that helps. Its hard to check if the issues is fixed because it happens randomly.

It could be a driver issue if it's just with flash content. You're running 11.6 drivers? I think this a known issue documented somewhere (I'm still looking). Which browser are you using?

I am using Firefox and using 11.6. i just had a thought too could my ram be causing an issue

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

i am using DDR3 1600

i just want to thank you guys in advance you have been really helpful and i appreciate it greatly.

Can you try flash and youtube in IE? Does it behave the same?

I will try it when i get home today.

I am home and in front of the computer i ran the windows memory test and no errors. i also updated flash to flash 11 beta. its hard to diagnose the problem since it happens so randomly is there a way to test it?

Aside from simply playing Flash videos and trying to make it happen again, no...

Replicating the conditions under which the problem occurred previously should be as simple as that, unless there was something else you were doing simultaneously.

i downgraded to ati 11.5 drivers and been on youtube clicking random videos for 15 minutes and no error. So i gave up and went back to playing The Witcher 2 which actually is getting a solid 50-60fps with the 11.5 drivers. Keeping my fingers crossed that its just a driver issue.

Looks like a spoke to soon got another error this time just a brown screen then all black. Had to restart. looks like i need to RMA the card.

can you guys recommend anything else to try.

Was this during youtube again?

Yes, during YouTube using CAT 11.5v drivers the screen went brown i heard the GPU fan kick on and than stop than a black screen.

I'd suspect the card then, as it seems to have a problem operating in UVD mode, and/or alternating between 2D and UVD mode.

Can you still return it to the vendor? If so, exchanging or RMA'ing it shouldn't be a big deal. If you have to go through Sapphire, you'll have to explain the problem to their tech support. At that point, you'll have to satisfy their requirements to approve an RMA. You may wish to speak to Sapphire tech support regardless to see if they've encountered the issue previously and are aware that it's a problem.

I had my own issues with recent Flash 10 version updates on my 4890 and 4850 systems. Both systems would regularly suffer display driver lock-ups during Flash playback when switching from boxed to full-screen and back. Fortunately, GPU recovery would kick-in and prevent system crashes. The most-recent Flash update cured the problem on both my systems, but I suspect a little-known issue existed between ATI/AMD GPUs and Flash. It's possible such an issue still exists, or a new one may have arisen.

Is it possible that my PSU is causing these issues i read that the recommanded for the HD6870 is at least a 500w PSU i only have a 430w

The recommended wattage is to try to cover those generic supplies which don't have the right proportion of wattage available to the 12V rail and should be considered a general guideline only. Your supply has enough Wattage and Amperage available on the 12V rail for your card. The following review shows the power requirement for a system with a 6870 at full load:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-revie...

I don't think a power problem would cause an issue with Flash content only. You'd definitely see this thing fail while playing games if power was a problem as the load on the GPU would be at its highest while gaming and in turn the power draw would be at its highest.

I think RazberyBandit makes a good point with regard to the UVD to 2D mode as the trigger.

I would go the RMA route first. Get a new card. If the same thing happens, you can conclude the drivers and the interaction with flash is the issue. But I wouldn't think AMD customers would just accept their cards not working with flash, though. So I think this case is more isolated and due to a faulty card.

I would also suspect it's an isolated issue, but having run into similar issues myself on ATI/AMD hardware while using Flash recently, I'm not entirely certain. Exchanging the card to see if a replacement suffers from the same issue would definitely narrow it down, as ubercake explained. Should a second card suffer from the same problem, then you should completely uninstall Flash, update your browser(s), and reinstall it. Heck. You might even want to try that now. At least then you'd be certain you've avoided any potential version errors/conflicts.

Its such a wierd problem i would understand if it was doing it while under heavy load but while playing flash content and having it happen so randomly its a pain to test. I dont want to RMA it and have them not find anything wrong with and send it back to me.

Did you buy it online or in a store?

on newegg.com i checked with them and its not a big issues to do a RMA. but i did do what u recommended. I uninstalled all my drivers flash and browsers. I installed CAT 11.5 and Google Chrome instead of Firefox. Been watching videos on youtube for about 45 minutes without a error. keeping my fingers crossed

i gave up error came back, I RMA'd the card and ordered a XFX HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB hopefully no issues with that one thank you again for all the help

I wish you hadn't rmad your card so quickly, as this is a common problem with ati harware and the latest flash versions since it had an option to 'enable hardware acceleration'. My solution was to uninstall flash 10.45, and download and install an older version of flash that doesn't have hardware acceleration. First, you should try right clicking on any youtube video, opening settings, and unchecking the box that says "enable hardware acceleration". My flash videos would crash instantly so my only option was to install an older version. I know that the first version 10 of flash works. There's a website that has every old version of flash available for download if you google it, let me know if this works.

I also had the grey vertical line crash while gaming, it turned out that my memory clock stock at 1200 would crash, but if brought down to 1150 it was fine. However, you only get this problem with flash so I'm sure your issue is the buggy "enable hardware acceleration" feature in the newer versions of flash that cause ati cards to crash.

If this happens only in flash, not while gaming, and you already said you fixed it with disabling the hardware accel... didn't you fix the problem??? And why is everyone going on and on about the psu? If its only happening in flash its obviously not the psu... you've already determined its a flash/ati problem which is adobes fault and nothing to do with your system. Is there any difference in picture quality with hardware accel off? If not, problem fixed!

Lol i am actually waiting till tomorrow to RMA the card but maybe ill hold off on it i have 20 days at least

I think i narrowed down the issue to being 100% flash based. I also came up with a great idea to test the issue.

First i installed the Latest Flash Player and Firefox. In Firefox i installed an Add-on called Reload Every and set that to reload a website with a flash video, every 5 seconds.

Results: Current Flash Version

Test 1: 7 Minutes till crash
Test 2: 1.27 Minutes till crash
Test 3: 3 Minutes till crash

Second I installed an older version of Flash V 10,2,152,26

Test 1: 45 minutes and still going without a crash.

Good thing i didn't RMA the card yesterday.

So the new version of Flash and 6870 AMD cards/drivers aren't working together?

I wonder if this a known issue?

I am having this same issue with my Sapphire 6870. I have disabled flash hardware acceleration. Problem solved. I have also e-mailed Adobe to see if they have a solution. I suspect this is more common than we suspect.