Any idea what is wrong with my PC? Or is XFX BSing me?

[GameGuideWorld]

A month ago I posted on here about a problem I was having with my computer that was causing graphical issues on a consistent basis.

My post is here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/349546-33-weird-boxes-display-hiccups-assuming-card-advice

Here are some screenshots of the issues I was having:

And in games:

Disabling Aero made it better, but still couldn't play 3D games, and still got crashes consistently. I finally convinced XFX to RMA the card for me, which I did two weeks ago. They e-mailed me today with this message:

[DANIEL_E 5/10/2012 6:38:10 PM] We have performed extensive testing on the card you sent in and have not been able to find any issues with it. At this point I am confident that the product is fully functional and the issue you described is not related to the card. We would like to send the card back as it is fully functional. Please let us know if there is anything in particular you would like to have tested before we do so. To give you a little background on our testing process, the card has been put into 4 different systems and a battery of tests have been performed on the card. All ports are tested, both digital and analog, and then if all the ports show video, the card is then tested in a number of benchmarks for stability. We test the card through Crysis, Heaven, Resident Evil 5, The Last Remnant, and 3DMark Vantage to name a few of the tests. If the card fails at any time, then the test is over. If it doesn`t fail then the last test we do on the card is an overnight burn in test that loops a benchmark for 12+ hours. We ran the card in the heaven benchmark overnight to see if it would fail. It went throuh fine for about 16 hours. Thanks, Daniel

I don't know what else it could be. I've reinstalled drivers, tried a different PCI slot, tried different cables, etc. I've been considering ordering a 7970 and just reselling this one, but if it's something else on my PC causing the problem I would still have the issue, plus I don't want to sell someone a busted 5970. Since sending the card back I got by with a temporary card, a 5450...have had no problems with it, other than it sucks.

Any idea what is wrong with my PC to cause these problems?

 

[GameGuideWorld]

Hate to bump but any ideas anyone? I'm very excited to order a 7970 and get it here, but if XFX isn't BSing me around, and there's something else wrong with my PC, I'd obviously need to get that fixed before I can use a new card

 

[ko888]

Have you tried the "defective" card in another system to see if the problem follows the card?

 

[monsta]

PSU?
Tried the card in a different slot?

 

[Chainzsaw]

What motherboard do you have?

I couldnt find it in either of your posts. Also what exact PSU do you have?

Have you tried clearing the CMOS?

You don't have any other high energy device sitting next to you computer that might cause EMI would you?

 

[GameGuideWorld]

My motherboard is: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641
My PSU is: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814010

I have not cleared the CMOS. I did just recently get new RAM, so if the RAM was somehow causing the issue with that card, it shouldn't any more.

And no I have no other high energy devices anywhere near here.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS!
Ehem...

First, clear your CMOS. See if it helps.

Amost positive it isn't a RAM problem. Your power supply seems fairly solid; it could be causing the problem if it isn't putting out enough power to the card, but I'd only expect that to be happen if this was only occurring at high load.

I highly doubt XFX would outright lie to you like that. It's possible that you're losing a PCIe slot, but if a temporary card works fine in the same slot, then that's out of the question. I'll look around and see what I can find for you...

Have you done a complete reinstall of Windows? I know they suck, but sometimes it's worth trying before you go out and buy a new $400 card. I noticed that only parts of the screen are being corrupted; in the shot of Tom's, the task bar looks completely untouched. If disabling Aero makes a difference in the artifacting, then there's a slight chance it might just be a software issue... I wouldn't expect a hardware failure to take the Windows GUI into account while artifacting.

I remember my Java control panel window used to do that for some reason, too. Do a backup and reinstall of Windows before you buy a new card.

 

[GameGuideWorld]

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS!
Ehem...

First, clear your CMOS. See if it helps.

Amost positive it isn't a RAM problem. Your power supply seems fairly solid; it could be causing the problem if it isn't putting out enough power to the card, but I'd only expect that to be happen if this was only occurring at high load.

I highly doubt XFX would outright lie to you like that. It's possible that you're losing a PCIe slot, but if a temporary card works fine in the same slot, then that's out of the question. I'll look around and see what I can find for you...

Have you done a complete reinstall of Windows? I know they suck, but sometimes it's worth trying before you go out and buy a new $400 card. If you claim disabling Aero makes a difference in the artifacting, then there's a slight chance it might just be a software issue, although I really doubt it.

League of Legends FTW eh?

I have a card a friend is letting me borrow, a 6990, at least until I get my 5970 or order a 7970. I'll be picking it up tomorrow morning.

When I do, I will clear my CMOS. To do that I just take the little battery out and put it back in right? Also, as far as a complete reinstall, I actually ordered a new SSD (a 120 GB) and once I get my card back, I will be doing a complete reformat / fresh install.

And with AERO disabling, essentially what it did, is made it so all those black and white blocks in the first few screenshots stopped appearing, both while idling and under load. With AERO disabled, I would only get problems if loading a game.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

Sounds good. I'll just wait and listen to how it goes. Man... all of your hardware is hurting me and my two little 5770s...

Hope it turns out well for you.

 

[GameGuideWorld]

Sounds good. I'll just wait and listen to how it goes. Man... all of your hardware is hurting me and my two little 5770s...

Hope it turns out well for you.

I'm excited to play TERA and Diablo 3, but can't with my 5450 I currently have! I'm really hoping this isn't a motherboard issue...I'd hate to have to take this machine apart completely and put it back together with a new motherboard, plus I don't even know what to look for in a mobo these days

 

[smorizio]

i would email xfx back and say that you do not want that card back as it is defective. let them know that a replacment card has worked fine in your system and the old card was fine till a few weeks ago. there going to send you a card in replacment it may be new or another used card. most vendor rma parts are returned parts that qa testing say there good. most times with rma dept it not till the same part comes back a 2 time that they scrap it.

 

[GameGuideWorld]

XFX is terrible. Their support has been terrible the whole time and I'm lucky they even allowed the RMA. This being said, they will not give me a replacement card. They said in their email their testing found no issues with the card and they will be returning it to me.

 

[ko888]

XFX is terrible. Their support has been terrible the whole time and I'm lucky they even allowed the RMA. This being said, they will not give me a replacement card. They said in their email their testing found no issues with the card and they will be returning it to me.

Did you include the pictures, you posted above, when you returned the card for RMA?

 

[GameGuideWorld]

Did you include the pictures, you posted above, when you returned the card for RMA?

Yep. Even talked to them on the phone several times through the RMA process, and indicated and reiterated what was going on.

 

[GameGuideWorld]

I ended up getting a Sapphire 7970 OC 3B overnighted...put it in this morning and have had zero problems so far. Any advice on what to do about XFX BSing me on my card?

 

[ko888]

I ended up getting a Sapphire 7970 OC 3B overnighted...put it in this morning and have had zero problems so far. Any advice on what to do about XFX BSing me on my card?

I would try to provide proof that the problem follows the card by trying it out in a different system and also taking pictures of it.