PSU causing GPU driver crashes

Dazzo · 6 May 2014 at 08:16

Looks like you were right welshrat. I downloaded afterburner and dropped it to 1049 instead of 1100 and not one driver crash :S

Not sure if this is a problem or not though!

Threepwood · 6 May 2014 at 08:38

If the card is voltage unlocked then upping the volts on the card might also have the same result.

(i'm surprised at you being told it was definitely the PSU, btw. Could be would be more like it)

Dazzo · 6 May 2014 at 11:22

Threepwood said:
If the card is voltage unlocked then upping the volts on the card might also have the same result.

(i'm surprised at you being told it was definitely the PSU, btw. Could be would be more like it)

I may have worded it wrong above, the term used was 'may well be' so I just wanted it ruled out and I needed a new psu anyway.

Not sure I particularly want to be messing around with the voltage though tbh. I've asked OC what they recommend the next step to be now I know what the issue is.

welshrat · 6 May 2014 at 14:51

Dazzo said:
I may have worded it wrong above, the term used was 'may well be' so I just wanted it ruled out and I needed a new psu anyway.

Not sure I particularly want to be messing around with the voltage though tbh. I've asked OC what they recommend the next step to be now I know what the issue is.

Great well at least you know what the issue is, these cards are voltage locked as far as I am aware, I have a program to alter the bios and tried initially to up the voltage to 1.25 as its set to 1.2 in bios but no cigar, so I changed the max clock in the bios to 1050 and all is well. (give me a shout if you want links and instructions)

I have a feeling that my card was returned due to this issue and having read online it seems a common issue with these gigabyte cards (they just have not done enough testing with the factory overclock) I would either return the card for another brand or be happy with the slight downclock. I only paid £200 for mine a month ago and its only for my other PC so was happy with my fix, Your mileage may vary :-)

Defo not an AMD issue though and my asus 290 DCII is rock steady :-)

I wont be buying gigabyte again though due to the voltage locking and the issues with this card and also my old gtx670 which would not run correctly with pcie 3.0

Dave1240 · 6 May 2014 at 14:59

I also have the Gigabyte 280x windforce and have to run at 1025/1500. If I run at standard 1100/1500 I get a blank screen and display driver has stopped responding in the bottom right. This happens on youtube and games once every hour. I have a 1050w XFX psu.

Dazzo · 6 May 2014 at 16:55

Dave1240 said:
I also have the Gigabyte 280x windforce and have to run at 1025/1500. If I run at standard 1100/1500 I get a blank screen and display driver has stopped responding in the bottom right. This happens on youtube and games once every hour. I have a 1050w XFX psu.

Thanks Dave.

Don't know whether to send it back then or just run it at 1050 and save on the hassle

Dazzo · 6 May 2014 at 16:58

welshrat said:
Great well at least you know what the issue is, these cards are voltage locked as far as I am aware, I have a program to alter the bios and tried initially to up the voltage to 1.25 as its set to 1.2 in bios but no cigar, so I changed the max clock in the bios to 1050 and all is well. (give me a shout if you want links and instructions)

I have a feeling that my card was returned due to this issue and having read online it seems a common issue with these gigabyte cards (they just have not done enough testing with the factory overclock) I would either return the card for another brand or be happy with the slight downclock. I only paid £200 for mine a month ago and its only for my other PC so was happy with my fix, Your mileage may vary

Defo not an AMD issue though and my asus 290 DCII is rock steady I wont be buying gigabyte again though due to the voltage locking and the issues with this card and also my old gtx670 which would not run correctly with pcie 3.0

Yeah I'm thinking just sticking to the 1050 at the moment but I'm with you on the never buying Gigabyte again. First and last product from them for me unless some seriously good reviews come out on a future release. Shame really it runs BF4 great. If I RMA it for another prob end up with the same problem.

Could you send the links anyway? Just incase I decide to do it though the Bios instead of an MSI afterburner profile!

Thanks for all the help.

welshrat · 6 May 2014 at 18:42

Dazzo said:
Yeah I'm thinking just sticking to the 1050 at the moment but I'm with you on the never buying Gigabyte again. First and last product from them for me unless some seriously good reviews come out on a future release. Shame really it runs BF4 great. If I RMA it for another prob end up with the same problem.

Could you send the links anyway? Just incase I decide to do it though the Bios instead of an MSI afterburner profile!

Thanks for all the help.

No Worries Dazzo, I used the following product as sometimes afterburner doesnt startup so this guarantees the clocks stay as they should.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/

I then used ati winflash which can be downloaded from the gigabyte website.

Good luck if you decide to use this method, I had no issues and flashed it 3 times trying different voltage.

Yes agree on gigabyte. I picked them due to good reports on RMA however cant say their quality has been great and voltage locking the cards means you can't even increase the voltage to solve the issue

Also if you look at their forums you will see it littered with complaints. Not saying this isn't typical of all manufacturers however I have nothing but great experiences so far with Asus.

Cheers Sam

Edit:- despite all this though 1050 is a healthy overclock and still performs very well in all games so far.

Also found this page which links to the original software for editing which mentions the ability to alter voltage on these cards so might be worth another shot. For me however I am happy to leave as is for now.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1450456/gigabyte-r9-280x-v2-voltage-lock-bypass-through-bios-mod

Dazzo · 8 May 2014 at 11:03

welshrat said:
No Worries Dazzo, I used the following product as sometimes afterburner doesnt startup so this guarantees the clocks stay as they should.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/

I then used ati winflash which can be downloaded from the gigabyte website.

Good luck if you decide to use this method, I had no issues and flashed it 3 times trying different voltage.

Yes agree on gigabyte. I picked them due to good reports on RMA however cant say their quality has been great and voltage locking the cards means you can't even increase the voltage to solve the issue Also if you look at their forums you will see it littered with complaints. Not saying this isn't typical of all manufacturers however I have nothing but great experiences so far with Asus.

Cheers Sam

Edit:- despite all this though 1050 is a healthy overclock and still performs very well in all games so far.

Also found this page which links to the original software for editing which mentions the ability to alter voltage on these cards so might be worth another shot. For me however I am happy to leave as is for now.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1450456/gigabyte-r9-280x-v2-voltage-lock-bypass-through-bios-mod

Awesome, going to stick to msi afterburner for now see how it goes and playing games at the 1050 clock it's still pretty epic! Sorting out my additional HDD tonight and firing up Rome 2 total war to see how it runs on there.

It is a bit of a shame really, I chose gigabyte because the RMA issue sounded good in case I ever needed it, didn't think I actually would!

Bookmarked your post and will report back if anything major happens.