Possible Video Card Problems with Gaming PC

[rfreeman057]

Hi all, recently put together a gaming PC. It worked long enough to install windows updates and download some software (so at least a few hours) then just blipped off. I turn it back on and it boots into windows, but a series of horizontal black bars flicker across the log in screen, and when you input password and try to load the profile, it just goes black. At the time I hadn't installed the latest video drivers from the AMD website, which is the only error that I know that I made.
I tried removing the video card, deleting the drivers, and installing the new driver from the website, but still get the same problem. The system worked with the on board video. Any help? So far, I've only managed to create a $1000 fan machine!

i5-3550 3.3 GHz

HD 7850 video card

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 Motherboard

Seasonic 620W PSU

Corsair 2x4GB RAM

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Sounds like a bad GPU, can you RMA still?

 

[TheBigTroll]

try putting the video card in another pc if you can and test it out. if it doesnt work, RMA

 

[rfreeman057]

Yeah, amazon is giving me a refund. Now I'm not sure if I should maybe buy the 7870 instead. What kind of performance increase would I see on the 7870 compared to 7850?

 

[TheBigTroll]

10%

id rather get a 7950 for 329.99

 

[rfreeman057]

Interesting...and what kind of improvement from 7850 to 7950 am I looking at? Thanks for all the help people!

 

[rfreeman057]

And would 7950 still work with my 620W PSU?

 

[TheBigTroll]

yes. crossfire might be still ok if you dont overclock the gpus

you see around 18% performance increases. the 7870 and 7950 are pretty close

 

[rfreeman057]

Sweet, this is getting a bit pricey though. I think I'm gonna stay with 7850, seems like most bang for buck. I don't want to buy from asus again though. What's the most reliable company to buy the gpu from? I'm thinking either gigabyte or MSI.

 

[TheBigTroll]

asus is the better one

there is a top version and there is a regular version. they are 20 dollars apart

regular clockspeed: 870mhz
top clockspeed: 1000mhz

the top chips are binned for this level of oc so the regular might not reach that high

 

[rfreeman057]

Going with gigabyte 7850 from newegg because of rebate. Thanks for all the input!

 

[TheBigTroll]

remember that gigabyte warranty starts at manufacturing and not when you buy it. if it was made in janurary, you lost 8 months of warranty already