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290 flickering and weird issues

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2005
Posts
9,128
Hi chaps

I bought a HIS Radeon R9 290 Boost 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card on release back in November and have suffered from random issues with it since. I've tried changing drivers several times now to various and have stuck with the 13.9's as they seem most stable. I have also since rebuilt on a fresh install with SSD, new mobo, ram, cpu and have ample power supply for it too (Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze'). Never overclocked it and it's not overheating. I've changed the cables too.

I have uploaded a video for you to see. It will flicker during video playback and some game menu's, but not in game. Sometimes I will game without problem, open up youtube and get a weird artifact screen then BSOD. Or just a BSOD.

Video below is me watching youtube, you will see lines going across the screen horizontally like static interference.


photo_3_Custom.jpg


Not quite sure why I get this BSOD code either, fresh build and that error is ram after a google...but I have 16gb of DDR2..
photo_2_Custom.jpg


I've had a run of bad luck with parts for a year or so now, this is very annoying as I bought a 290 new, SSD, PSU, fresh 4970 i7 bundle and started from scratch with all these new bits and still getting issues!

What should I do? RMA?
 
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What temps are you getting on the 290 ?

This flickering seems to happen between the initial 30-60*C area, before it's under load and during video playback mostly. Then it settles down after about 30 minutes and when gaming the card will sit at 70*-85*C, but won't flicker...

I've uploaded a better quality video there for you guys
 
Either power or heat issues.

What is your PSU? Have you tried Catalyst 14.8? What are your temps? (idle and full load)
 
Either power or heat issues.

What is your PSU? Have you tried Catalyst 14.8? What are your temps? (idle and full load)

It was a 750w OCZ, but then I thought it might be power so upgraded in the last few months to a Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze'. So I don't think it's power?

I haven't tried the very latest 14.8's, but tried some of the 14's and went back to the 13.9's or 13.12's off the top of my head (at work currently)

Idle is around 40*c, Gaming maxes around 70-85*C area and won't flicker at these temps, will sit at them for hours when gaming fine. The 290 likes to run a bit hot anyway so I don't think this is excessive? Youtube in chrome or firefox will sometimes cause the problem or even in VLC playing back video.
 
It's the memory, they have a habbit of not supplying the memory with the right voltage at the right time which leads to errors.

Flash it to an ASUS BIOS and it should fix it, even though I have a Sapphire Tri-X it runs an ASUS BIOS as the card is much more stable!
 
It's the memory, they have a habbit of not supplying the memory with the right voltage at the right time which leads to errors.

Flash it to an ASUS BIOS and it should fix it, even though I have a Sapphire Tri-X it runs an ASUS BIOS as the card is much more stable!

If it's still under warranty (under one year currently), would flashing it be a risk which I could avoid by sending it back? or do I have to take the plunge and risk bricking it?
 
If it's still under warranty (under one year currently), would flashing it be a risk which I could avoid by sending it back? or do I have to take the plunge and risk bricking it?

It a dual BIOS matey so it's impossible to brick a 290 tbh.

The card has different memory clocks depending on what it's doing ( Idle, 2D load, 3D load ) when the card switches between these clock states it doesn't give the required voltage for that clock speed, which causes errors.

The ASUS BIOS on my 290 has dropped my VRM temps by 10-15c and made my overclock more stable.

I would give it ago, if it still doesn't fix it then go the RMA route.
 
Hi chaps

I bought a HIS Radeon R9 290 Boost 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card on release back in November and have suffered from random issues with it since. I've tried changing drivers several times now to various and have stuck with the 13.9's as they seem most stable. I have also since rebuilt on a fresh install with SSD, new mobo, ram, cpu and have ample power supply for it too (Be Quiet Power Zone 850W '80 Plus Bronze'). Never overclocked it and it's not overheating. I've changed the cables too.

I have uploaded a video for you to see. It will flicker during video playback and some game menu's, but not in game. Sometimes I will game without problem, open up youtube and get a weird artifact screen then BSOD. Or just a BSOD.

Video below is me watching youtube, you will see lines going across the screen horizontally like static interference.


photo_3_Custom.jpg


Not quite sure why I get this BSOD code either, fresh build and that error is ram after a google...but I have 16gb of DDR2..
photo_2_Custom.jpg

I've had a run of bad luck with parts for a year or so now, this is very annoying as I bought a 290 new, SSD, PSU, fresh 4970 i7 bundle and started from scratch with all these new bits and still getting issues!

What should I do? RMA?

Hello Booner,

Sorry to hear of this issue you're having.

Please can you list your full system specs and please can you upload your DXDIAG report to SendSpace and share the download link with me here. I will then investigate this further for you and come back to update the thread as soon as possible.

In the meantime if you could try using the latest beta driver from the AMD website, which is currently 14.7 then this might help matters.

It a dual BIOS matey so it's impossible to brick a 290 tbh.

The card has different memory clocks depending on what it's doing ( Idle, 2D load, 3D load ) when the card switches between these clock states it doesn't give the required voltage for that clock speed, which causes errors.

The ASUS BIOS on my 290 has dropped my VRM temps by 10-15c and made my overclock more stable.

I would give it ago, if it still doesn't fix it then go the RMA route.

Do you have a link to the bios you're using please almighty?
 
It a dual BIOS matey so it's impossible to brick a 290 tbh.

The card has different memory clocks depending on what it's doing ( Idle, 2D load, 3D load ) when the card switches between these clock states it doesn't give the required voltage for that clock speed, which causes errors.

The ASUS BIOS on my 290 has dropped my VRM temps by 10-15c and made my overclock more stable.

I would give it ago, if it still doesn't fix it then go the RMA route.

Thanks for the help, I'll try that tonight.

Hello Booner,

Sorry to hear of this issue you're having.

Please can you list your full system specs and please can you upload your DXDIAG report to SendSpace and share the download link with me here. I will then investigate this further for you and come back to update the thread as soon as possible.

In the meantime if you could try using the latest beta driver from the AMD website, which is currently 14.7 then this might help matters.



Do you have a link to the bios you're using please almighty?

Hi Matt - yes I'll get all this info over tonight as I'm in the office at the moment so not near the pc. Thanks for the prompt support.
 
Hello Booner,

Sorry to hear of this issue you're having.

Please can you list your full system specs and please can you upload your DXDIAG report to SendSpace and share the download link with me here. I will then investigate this further for you and come back to update the thread as soon as possible.

In the meantime if you could try using the latest beta driver from the AMD website, which is currently 14.7 then this might help matters.



Do you have a link to the bios you're using please almighty?

I'll try the 14.7's, just installing now Matt. Here are my DxDiag and system specs.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/353vcc

https://www.sendspace.com/file/ttrfl5
 
14.7's still flicker for me.

I'll try the flash

I had the exact same issue playing CSS, fixed it by doing the following:

1. Download RadeoPro - http://www.radeonpro.info/2013/11/ne...deon-r-series/

2. Create a profile using the game exe.

3. Click the profile tab, then the overdrive tab. Click the padlock to unlock overdrive, click enable graphics overdrive, then click 'always use highest performance clocks while gaming'. Don't forget to set +50% power tune in RP. Now right click the game profile shortcut on the left and select apply then launch the game from Steam.
 
I've had to take off the 14.7's as it would just go black screen after 5 minutes of using on desktop or chrome. Installing the 14.4's now and I'll try hardware acceleration too.

:( will report back!
 
I'm not sure if it helps but my 290 used to BSOD on netflix and nothing else. I believe it turned out to be a flash driver issue with Google Chrome, perhaps something to do with hardware acceleration settings.

Granted I never had any issues in game maybe it's worth looking into hardware acceleration?
 
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