Sapphire 7950 OC Issues

[cizewsmn]

I have been having an issue with my graphics cards recently. They are only about 3 week old.

There is a small flicker in the upper left corner of my monitor sometimes. I have not been able to figure out the exact condition that causes it but it will happen when browsing the web, playing games, just staring at my monitor. It does not happen constantly and its hard to say how frequently it happens but enough to annoy me to death and post on here. The one thing that is odd is that the card ran fine on its own until I crossfired it with another Sapphire 7950 OC. The problems exsists with both cards installed or either one installed. I have tried many different driver versions 12.3, 12.4, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8 and the problem exsists with all of them. I completely clean out the old drivers/registries before trying a different driver version.

Also in crossfire these cards get really hot. Once the top card hits 80c the card shuts down and the VGA LED on mobo turns on and won't turn off until they cool. Should the card be shutting down at 80c? I also cannot understand why I am having heat problems in my 650D which is pretty roomy. It seems like there is a dead spot right where the cards are and there is no airflow near the cards, even though it is completely open.

One last thing I was thinking was a problem with the PSU. Could it not be providing enough power to the cards?

I have run tests on all other components and verified they are good. Only place I can think the problem lies is with the drivers, PSU or card itself.

If there is any more information that I should put let me know.

Any help is greatly apprciated as I have been at this for a week now trying to figure it out.


My Comp
Case: Corsair 650D
PSU: Corsair 850AX
CPU: i7 2600K OC'ed at 4.5ghz 1.25V
RAM: G Skill at 1600mhz 16GB (2x8)
Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V Pro
SSD: Samsung 830 120GB
Cooler: Corsair H100 (2x120fans)
Aditional Fans: 1x120 LED 1x200 LED
Graphics: Sapphire 7950 OC (I have two and have tried crossfire and no crossfire)
Monitor: Samsung S23A700D at 120hz
2x Bitfenix LED strips
DVD Drive: LG DVD RW/R Burner
Logitech $25 dollar speaker set
Windows 7 Ultimate

 

[AdioKIP]

In a crossfire configuration its normal for the top card to run about 10 degrees hotter than the bottom card. 80 isnt that bad for the top card in a CFire configuration and shouldnt cause a shut down (I've seen my Sapphire 7950 hit 80 when I overclocked it before setting up a custom fan profile). You say when it hits 80 the system shuts down, or just the game / app shuts down or crashes? If the system shuts completely down its most likely not due to the heat but your PSU. A corsair 850 should be more than enough to handle 2x 7950's though...

As far as your corner flickering issue, have you tried a different cable / monitor to make sure the issue isnt with either?

 

[cizewsmn]

In a crossfire configuration its normal for the top card to run about 10 degrees hotter than the bottom card. 80 isnt that bad for the top card in a CFire configuration and shouldnt cause a shut down (I've seen my Sapphire 7950 hit 80 when I overclocked it before setting up a custom fan profile). You say when it hits 80 the system shuts down, or just the game / app shuts down or crashes? If the system shuts completely down its most likely not due to the heat but your PSU. A corsair 850 should be more than enough to handle 2x 7950's though...

As far as your corner flickering issue, have you tried a different cable / monitor to make sure the issue isnt with either?

The monitor goes black, the fans on the cards ramp up to 100% speed, I have not waited to see if the display on the monitor will come back, I will turn the system off, when I boot back up the VGA LED is on and after I wait long enough (I am assuming the cards are cooling) the VGA LED turns off and the monitor will display normally. But like you said 80c shouldnt be causing a shut down.

I do not believe that the issue exsists when I am at 60hz. I will try another cable at 120hz. Right now I am using DL-DVI at 120hz. The monitor onyl has DL-DVI and a HDMI connection. Will HDMI support 1080p at 120hz?