Issues with ATi pixel errors / artifacts

[Jexter]

Hi

Today I decided to format my computer since i've been having some issues with my screen / graphics card for some time.
As you can see on this picture http://i.imgur.com/0wDzZ.jpg it's really bad. These pixel errors keeps popping up on my monitor which is a Samsung SA300 24". I'm running 1920x1080 resolution.

So far I've - Uninstalled the ATi drivers and tried out the newest version, older drivers, beta drivers etc.. Still the same. However if I'm running without a driver the problem does not occur.. So is the GFX card busted?

Oh yeah I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

 

[Jexter]

Oh yeah not exactly sure what card it is but it's a HD 6 series / AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series

 

[xtreme5]

check in the CCC pixel format option try with different RGB ratio's.

 

[Jexter]

How do I do that?

 

[xtreme5]

go to CCC and find pixel format option.

 

[djscribbles]

It's pretty likely that the card is dieing, depending on when you got it and what brand it is though, it's very possible it's still under warranty. Usually the warranties range from 1 year to 3 years or more.

To rule out your monitor, you can take a screenshot (print-screen button on the keyboard), paste it into MS paint. If you see the confetti in the image captured by the screenshot, you know that the GPU is sending confetti to the monitor, if you don't see confetti in the screenshot, you know that the monitor is sprinkling it in by itself

It would be helpful to know more about the computer. Is it homebuilt, prebuilt (by a shop), or a high-end manufactured computer (like a dell)? What brand and wattage rating of power supply (this is pretty important for high powered cards)? Do you game on the computer?

 

[Jexter]

Hmm I can't seem to find that option anywhere in the however I'm in the AMD Vision Engine Control Center which opens if I right click on my desktop.. Am I looking in the wrong place?

 

[Jexter]

Sure more information:

I build it myself it's 3 years old now.. The specs are:

GFX: XFX Radeon HD6950 (Originally I had a 4890XXX that died a couple of weeks ago) So I borrowed this HD6950.. I have no idea how old it is tho
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 3.2GHz
RAM: Corsair 4 GB DDR3 Kit 1333 Mhz 9-9-9-24
PSU: Corsair TX Series 650 Watt Power Supply
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P AMD770 AM3 DDR3

Oh and I guess that I can already rule out my monitor since i plugged in my old LG 20" VGA screen earlier today and the same thing happened on that one..

 

[goodguy713]

6950 cant be more then a couple years old.. they were not released until november / december 2010 .. any way you probobly have your graphic cards overclocked to high .. a lot of times thats what happens when you push them to hard.. ccc might have high overclock ranges but that dosnt mean your card will be able to reach those ranges try setting your card to defult and see if the graphical errors still persist.

 

[Jexter]

Actually I haven't overclocked it at all. The GPU clock is set to max 800 Mhz and the memory clock is set to 1250 Mhz.. When in idle the card clocks it self down to around 250 Mhz on the GPU Clock

 

[xtreme5]

The card is not dieing, problem is in motherboard you have to check the card with other pc.

 

[Jexter]

But if it's the motherboard what else than the PCI-e slot would make this kind of problem?

 

[xtreme5]

just check the card in other pc. My experience says that card is still fine.

 

[Jexter]

I'll try that.. So in case it's a mobo problem. Is it fixable in any way? or do I need to replace the motherboard :/?

 

[djscribbles]

If it's a mobo problem you'd need to replace the mobo. Personally, I would be suprised if the mobo is the issue, but it certainly doesn't hurt to try the card in another PC to implicate/absolve it (make sure the PC has a sufficient PSU for the card).

You said you have been having GPU issues for a while, is this specific issue new with this card, or did you have it with your old card as well?

Also curious what happened with the old card, it's possible your PSU you is putting out high/low voltages and causing some damage to the cards.

 

[Jexter]

I do not exactly remember if I had the same issue with the old card but nevertheless the old card suddenly died one day after I had cleaned my whole PC with compressed air. It just simply wouldn't show any picture on the screen. I tried it in another PC and the same thing happened with that card (the 4890XXX)..

I've never tampered with the PSU settings..

 

[Jexter]

Also i've never overclocked the PC or anything.

 

[nao1120]

I had this problem with a older ATI card awhile back. Sent it in for RMA, and they shipped the same one back to me. Short version is... It was the power. I had too many power connections daisy chained together. Make sure there is no other devices linked into the same power cable. Ie: Hard Drives etc. Have one dedicated power cable going to it, if possible. Worth a check.

 

[djscribbles]

I've never tampered with the PSU settings..

It wouldn't be a setting, it's possible the PSU for any number of reasons is not providing the correct voltage levels, or enough power.
It's a good PSU, but it's 3 years old, and could be suffering from it's age. It maybe a good idea to check the 12V voltage levels with a multimeter (or use a monitoring tool to watch them).

 

[Jexter]

I had this problem with a older ATI card awhile back. Sent it in for RMA, and they shipped the same one back to me. Short version is... It was the power. I had too many power connections daisy chained together. Make sure there is no other devices linked into the same power cable. Ie: Hard Drives etc. Have one dedicated power cable going to it, if possible. Worth a check.

Just checked and it doesn't seem like the PSU cables are daisy chained with any other cables..

I do not own a multimeter is there any software that can monitor the 12v voltage level?

 

[Jexter]

I found HWMonitor.. If it works correctly the numbers looks ok to me

http://i.imgur.com/oR45z.png

 

[djscribbles]

The voltage is a little high, but within ATX specs (+-5% or 0.6V).

 

[Jexter]

Ok so today I went to a friends house to test my GFX Card..

First of I tested his 5770 in my PC.. Installed the driver, no problems what so ever. Afterwards I checked MY card in his PC (About ½-1 year old, with a 600W PSU). With my card in his PC the pixel errors occurred.. So is it possible to conclude that my GFX card is broken?

 

[nao1120]

If it happens in 2 motherboard/setups i think you hit the nail in the coffin....Yes that sounds about right. Hopefully its possible to RMA it if its within a year? I would try and contact the manufacturer if you can produce the receipt RMA it and call it a done deal. Its a pain when parts fail....But you gotta do what you gotta do to get to the bottom of it.

 

[Jexter]

I'm not exactly sure how old it is since it's a GFX card that i borrowed from my brother but I'll ask him.. Anyway I'll have to get myself a new GFX card..

I'm looking to buy a HD7770 Black Edition dual fan version.. I could also get the HD6870.. It's the only two cards in stock and the store is about 1 hours driving from where i live -_-.. What card would you recommend? the HD7770 is a bit cheaper and I think it will suit me well since the only games I play is games like L4D2/steam games and Heroes of Newerth..