Asus 6670 issue

[oski]

Hi,

Im having a weird issue with an Asus HD 6670 1GB DDR5.

This is my rig:
Motherboard: Asus m5A97 EVO
CPU: Phenom II X4 955
VGA: Asus HD 6670
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
PSU: Generic 500W

I had a MSI 4670 before, and everything was fine, no problems whatsoever.

Recently, a friend gave me his 6670 because he upgraded to something better.
He never had an issue with this card either.

I installed it, downloaded the drivers from the ATI website, so I'm up to date with that.

Now the issue is that the screen sometimes flickers.
It is a quick thing, just a second, it doesn't really mess up your game or anything, but it bothers me, and it is not supposed to do that.
The screen kinda gets messed for just a second, I wouldn't know how to explain it better. I will try to get a screenshot, but it only last for a second or less, so it might be a little hard.

This only happens ingame, well, at least, I haven't seen it happening just watching a movie.
But it doesn't happen everytime either, it might happen a couple of times during a match of League of Legends, or it might just be fine the entire game.

This was not happening with the previous card I had.

I've been reading a little bit and I haven't seen anyone stumbling with the same issue I had, maybe similar.
I still tried some of the thing mentioned on other forums.
I underclocked the VGA.
Uninstalled and reinstalled drivers.
Disabled AMD Overdrive.

Nothing worked.

Also, someone mentioned that the issue might be the PSU, but I would assume that if that was the issue, the flicker should be present all the time, and that is not the case.

I'm going to try to get a screenshot so that you guys can see the issue a little better, but any recommendation or idea, I'm up for anything.

The card is out of warranty, it was just a present from a friend.

 

[clutchc]

If your old card doesn't display this problem, we can rule out the monitor being the issue. Is it possible your friend had this problem with the card before he gave it to you?

You might try cleaning your system of old driver files and registry entries for them using Driver Sweeper. First uninstall the existing gfx driver, then run DS from safe mode. Have it remove any remnants it finds of old Nvidia, AMD, and ATI graphics drivers. Then re-boot and install the latest driver for your card and O/S.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4266-driver-sweeper.html

You may also want to run CCleaner to rid your system of resource hogging crap and registry errors. Do the Clean and Registry both.
http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

Btw, do you have the latest AMD game Profiles loaded too?

 

[oski]

I asked my friend about the issue, he did not experience it.
I already tried running Drive Sweeper and installing the drivers from scratch.
Recently I've noticed that it actually happens as well outside games, it might happen just watching a flash video.
Although, it is not as noticeable as when I am ingame.
It might just be a couple of lines flickering in the monitor, for a second.
When I'm ingame and this happens, it shows a lot more, more lines, and the screen going a little crazy for a second or two.
I reinstalled Windows (Windows 7 Professional) from scratch as well, and I upgraded motherboard and CPU.
Actually, when I first got the VGA I was using a different setup, and the issue was there.
I upgraded to my current setup and the issue persisted.

I went back to my old 4670 and no issues at all.
So I am guessing there is something wrong with the VGA itself, I will try to see if I can sell it to someone that wants to fix it or something.

Just wondering, does this seem like something that might be fixed by baking the VGA?

Thanks for the answer and the suggestions, really appreciate it.

 

[MajinCry]

Actually, I have this problem (or, had) when I launched Ati Tray Tools.

Try changing the settings in the CC (I.E, You have AA at Application Default. Change it to 8X, apply, then back to Application Default, apply.). Worked for me.

 

[clutchc]

If MajinCry's trick doesn't work for you, run a graphic card stress test like Furmark and watch the temps if/when the issue occurs.

But, I'm thinking, like you, the card is failing. If you see temps skyrocket when the issue occurs, you might want to remove the card's cooler and re-apply new TIM.

 

[oski]

I'm going to give MajinCry idea a try.

On the stress test, I actually ran 3DMark in hope to see the issue again, and see if I could take a screenshot. But the test went flawless. (I only tried the standard test, might have to try the next one, or go with Furmark)

I've taken a look at the temps during the 3DMark test and everything seemed normal, and again, no errors there.

 

[oski]

Well, I tried MajinCry's idea, but it didn't work, still having the same problem.
I realized trying to take a screenshot would be a pain, so I just recorded a couple of seconds so that you guys can see what is actually going on.

Ignore the yellow pixel line in the monitor, it is an old screen that I had laying around and I was in the middle of testing if it was the screen or not.
The issue happens on my regular screen, as well as in that old one, so it is not the screen giving the issue.

I checked the temperatures, the VGA is on 29° on idle, and during games it can go up to 35°ish. The max temp I've seen was 40°.

I keep thinking that there must be something wrong with the card.
I was wondering, is there something (anything) that could be done at this stage?
Remember that it is out of warranty, and I might just sell it for spares.
But in a desperate attempt to get it to work, I was hoping to see if there is maybe something that could be done here.
I've seen a lot of VGA brought back to life by 'baking' them, I don't know if that would apply here as well.

Here's the video on the issue.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/xscZUQEK48I

 

[clutchc]

What other games does this occur in? Just the one?

I've never tried the baking trick, because I never had need to: http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven

The video you posted almost looks like a software glitch. But I'm at a loss to come up with what could be causing it if you are having this issue with a clean install of Windows. If you are up for another trial, do one more clean install of Win and load only what you need to play that game... nothing else.

 

[oski]

I've seen it on League of Legends as well.
Those are pretty much the only two games I'm playing now, and it has happened with both of them.
As for the clean install, the issue was happening before I even got this new rig, so it was the same before, and after the clean install.
I guess I can give it another try, but I don't have much faith in that.
I switched back to my old 4670 and everything is running smooth.
It is worth mentioning that with the 6670, the graphics are fine, I mean, I can play with everything in High quality, and get good FPS. But that flickering thing keeps popping up every now and then.
I might take a look at the baking thing, although it seems to be referring to artifacts, and I don't think that this is actually that.

Any ideas would do, I'm willing to give anything a try.

Thanks for the responses

 

[oski]

Well, did another fresh install. No changes, still the same thing.
Went back again to the 4670 and no issues at all.

=(

 

[clutchc]

I guess you're down to trying your baking trick... or a new card.