7970 Problems

Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Since my last thread seemed to have been getting very little attention and the problem has changed slightly I'm just going to start over. I bought this 7970 from a miner on Ebay in August. It was in use for 3 months and looked new out of the box. They sold dozens others of these cards at the same time so I was just one of many.

Basically as soon as I got the card I was having slight problems with artifacts as seen in the links from this thread. http://www.computerforum.com/230259-pixelated-square-game.html

I eliminated a decent amount of them by rolling my drivers back and only was getting the pixel issue seen in the WoW video. However today my entire screen went really blurry like the pixels go confused which line they should be on as seen here. Screenshot doesn't show it so had to use my phone.

1797330_4717811518654_3477114000016342531_n.jpg


I unplugged my monitor as I noticed my secondary monitor was fine. When I did that the problem showed up on the second monitor and upon plugging it back in it returned to the original monitor. Then after a couple minutes my main monitor went black then started flashing horizontal colored lines until I just reset the machine. Restarted the computer and it's gone now but I have no idea for how long.

Sapphire's warranty is for the original purchaser only so in that regards I'm pretty much screwed. I contacted the person that sold it to me on Ebay if they could do anything but I doubt that will take me anywhere. Is my card dying for sure or is there anything else I can try.

This will be my last time buying a used video card.
 
Darren

Darren

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Staff member
I've only had the problem pictured once just now. But I've been having those other problems for a while so I feel it's just dying. Well see how it acts over the coming days I guess.
 
goranpaa

goranpaa

Member
Hmm, It seems like the HD 7900 series of cards quite often have a memory overheating problem that will cause various grades of artifacts on the screen under load.

If your card have a memory clocked higher than the standard 1375 MHz? Download this and check it out if you don't know? :

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

If your cards memory have a higher clock than that? Wich are very likely if you have the Sapphire OC version? Then use the AMD Overdrive, ( over ) clocking utility in the Catalyst Control Centre, or download Sapphire Trixx from Sapphire home and clock the GDDR memory down to the default speed. This, seems to be the best way to solve this problem. But the driver version, can also be critical so I have read.

This seems to be the most reliable driver: http://www.ngohq.com/?page=Files&go=giveme&dwn_id=1746

Edit. I have found out that on some manufacturers versions of the 7900 series ( Can't tell if this applies to Sapphire too though ). 4 of the memory chips at the back of the card does'nt come with any RAM heatsinks :eek: The only cure for this, is to get such sinks from Zalman for example. But then you might need to bend the first 3 rows on the RAM sink fins with a plier before mounting them to get enough clearence from the videocard coolers heat pipes. And you will also have to replace the thermal paste on the GPU at the same time.
 
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Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Did a new clean install of latest drivers and downclocked it (which I've already done before) to the stock 7970 clocks. This is all a waiting game for it to just screw up again.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Got a response from the Ebayer and he said they would RMA the card for me for 30 dollars plus any shipping costs. If Sapphire can't find anything wrong with the card is it likely they'll refuse the RMA? I have a lot of trouble recreating the issue myself so if they can't do it I'm a bit concerned that the RMA won't get me anywhere.
 
goranpaa

goranpaa

Member
Sounds really problematic. :( No chanse of returning the card and get your money back instead?
One thing that bothers me with the whole affair is why this guy or whoever it whas selling these cards? Just did run it for 3 months, and then wanted to sell it? Sounds a bit fishy to me at least. And also the fact that they seemed to have several similar cards for sale.
You have'nt seen any other of their customers saying that they are having probems with their cards at E Bay btw?
 
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Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
He said he'd file an RMA request for me if I wanted and I'd ship it to Sapphire myself. Judging by his Ebay account he moves a lot of volume and even now is selling various AMD cards with the same description of being used for 3 months then selling them. I presume it's mining purposes. He's been pretty speedy and helpful so I feel fairly confident in trusting him. I'm just more concerned about Sapphire refusing the RMA.
 
goranpaa

goranpaa

Member
Ok. Then maybe you should contact Sapphire's customer service first hand and hear what they have to say before you do anything else.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
goranpaa said:
Ok. Then maybe you should contact Sapphire's customer service first hand and hear what they have to say before you do anything else.
Click to expand...

I already have but they haven't said anything yet. I'm not going to do anything until I hear from them.
 
goranpaa

goranpaa

Member
That's the best strategy I think. I feel sorry for your sake having all these problems. + the dissapointment over a bad product. I really hope this ends up in a good way for you.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah. I'm not too pleased either but live and learn I guess. The warranty runs out in December according to the seller so I don't have much longer to decide if I should keep it or RMA.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Okedokey said:
yeah, blasted vram
Click to expand...

Is that what it looks like to you? The pixelated square issue I found on youtube for someone else and he said he could never fix it and ended up RMA'ing.

Should I have any issues with an RMA considering the issue is hard to recreate, or do they even test the cards?
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Ebayer said the cards were puchased last December and of all the ones he sold he had 5 needing RMA, most with fan issues. So I still have a full year on the RMA but I don't want to wait around any longer. I'm going to RMA it this weekend and use my laptop for a week or so. Also the Ebayer was saying he had a personal Sapphire dealer that he would do the RMA through but I'd feel better going through the official Sapphire RMA process.
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Hah I forgot I had mentioned that. Yes I do, but I would go for somebody with a lot of good feedback. Actually I'd recommend fdcdeals. That's where mine came from and I'm amazed at how helpful he was considering he was under no real obligation to help me out at all. There is a chance you'll have to deal with something like this but it's still pretty low. I just had bad luck. Also other companies may do the same but Sapphires RMA without a receipt is there if you need to use it. I know the guy I bought mine from is selling Sapphire 280x's for 140 or so.

If you want a link I can help you later since I'm on my phone.
 
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