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Powercolor R9 290 PCS+ - Help Please

Chewie

Chewie

Chewie

Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2009
Posts
679
Location
London
Hello Everyone,

A few weeks after having my Powercolor R9 290 PCS+, which I really love, I started to encounter black screens and graphical artifacts problems. I spent a week testing pretty much everything I could and was not successful to identify what could be the problem.

As a final test I've swapped the card with a Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce and since then I haven't had a single problem. Pretty sure that the PCS+ must be faulty I sent it back for RMA and today I've received news that OC UK has tested the card and found no fault. The card has therefore been sent back to me..which is not helping as clearly it is causing problems on my system.

I'm really clueless as what could be the fault then and really don't know what to do with the card if OC UK doesn't want to take it back. Any ideas or suggestions? Anyone went through similar problems and managed to fix it?
I would really not mind keeping the PCS+...if it was working!

Cheers
 
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Had similar issue. Tell me, had you used msi afterburner?

Be easier for me to answer in detail tomorrow from PC rather than tablet...
 
Yes I used MSI Afterburner, but only to have custom fan curve. And I've tried without it, letting the card use its default fan profile but it didn't change anything :(
 
When I first got my two PCS+ cards, when troubleshooting other issues, I inadvertently ended up doing something in Afterburner which cause me issue - the dreaded black screen.

Now, this may not apply to your case, but I will explain anyway.

First, may I ask if you had voltage control unlocked? If not, my issue may not be relevant.

Also, was your issue on desktop/2D, or under load?
 
If you have Afterburner, trixx or any other prog in the background. Make sure core voltage mV is +50.

The powercolor cards run +50 for the OC out of box, I found if I do a reset in AB it returns in to 0. However after a boot if I open AB it detects the right voltage of +50.
 
abjectblitz said:
If you have Afterburner, trixx or any other prog in the background. Make sure core voltage mV is +50.

The powercolor cards run +50 for the OC out of box, I found if I do a reset in AB it returns in to 0. However after a boot if I open AB it detects the right voltage of +50.
Click to expand...

That was the advice I was going to offer, but wanted to establish he even had voltage unlocked.

Took me a while to figure out this was the problem.
 
Hello Guys,

Ok so let me try to answer your questions in the correct order:

- I tried with both the MSI Voltage control unlocked or locked, didn't seem to make any difference

- Issue is only happening in 3D, whether it's a game or a benchmark doesn't matter

- My monitori alwyas runs at 60hz and I've never tried to change the voltage setting in MSI Afterburner

I have received the card back from OC UK, will try again and let you know. As I said earlier my only interest in MSI AB is to define a custom fan profile, not interested by overclocking and/or voltage tweaking. If MSI AB turns out to be the problem for whatever reasons shall I then try Trixx? Does it allow you to have your own fan curve?

Thanks again for the help!
 
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I'm having the exact same issues, also with Afterburner. But I didn't do a fresh windows install, maybe that will do the trick. It should also show if Afterburner is the problem.
 
Ok guys I'm still doing some tests and checks but I think I found the cause of the problem, MSI Afterburner 3.0.0 beta 18!

I've been using the newest beta 19 tonight and so far so good, all the issues are gone. Will keep you posted ;)
 
Final update I guess, I can confirm that my problem is resolved since switching to the beta 19 of Afterburner.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys.
 
Was you getting driver crashes and full screen artifacts? like not little ones full screen ones?

Did you have periods where you could play a game then you would get the crashes? Then at other times all that would happen is black screens?

This is what im having and OCUK have said the same ****.
 
Hello Guys,

Sorry for calling out for your help again but it seems like my card is playing up again :(

I now get red dots artifacts after playing for while, leading ultimately to a game crash. My setup is the same as before, haven't changed anything and still not overclocking the card one bit. Any ideas?

Thanks
 
Hey bro,

I have had the same issue and OCUk have said the same thing to me.

I am at my wits end I have 2 faulty 290s and me and the OCUK community PLUS bailey have gone through any and all possible fixes.

This included changing all other hardware yet the problem still persists.

IT IS funny that when i remove the 290s from the system and replace them with other cards the fault dissapears!

Despite this OCUK says there is nothing wrong with them

I am very upset as my build has been on hold for nearly 2months now. :mad:
 
I own an asus r9 290x dc2 which also showed artifacts on bf3-4, heaven, valley etc.
I thought it was a faulty card in the first place but the problem with it it was the crappy
oil spilling thermal pad that asus puts under the VRM aluminum cooler.
I replaced that with some old phobya "real" thermal pads and the artifacts are gone and no crashes either.
(Try it if you don't mind loosing warranty).
 
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