5870 going insane. And taking me with it!

Firenze · 6 Mar 2011 at 17:50

ok so both mates forgot to bring their towers for me to test the card in a different PC... Joy.

I'm very wary of playing with volts tbh, could do with a little advice?

Any other suggestions at this point?

Thanks

Jakus · 6 Mar 2011 at 21:04

Firenze said:
ok so both mates forgot to bring their towers for me to test the card in a different PC... Joy.

I'm very wary of playing with volts tbh, could do with a little advice?

Any other suggestions at this point?

Thanks

So where You at ? what worked , what didn't ?

Firenze · 6 Mar 2011 at 21:23

I've been had some friends over for a bit of a celebration this weekend, so haven't done any thing since underclocking the CPU and GPU in turn...

Like I say I'm wary, mainly because I've no real experience in playing with the volts. What are the areas I should test? and by how much?

Currently I'm running a Memtest suggested by OCUK, on its 3rd pass atm, still no errors. Quite confident its not a memory issue myself...

Jakus · 6 Mar 2011 at 22:56

Firenze said:
I've been had some friends over for a bit of a celebration this weekend, so haven't done any thing since underclocking the CPU and GPU in turn...

Like I say I'm wary, mainly because I've no real experience in playing with the volts. What are the areas I should test? and by how much?

Currently I'm running a Memtest suggested by OCUK, on its 3rd pass atm, still no errors. Quite confident its not a memory issue myself...

Forget that, tell Me where we got to exactly ?

Firenze · 6 Mar 2011 at 23:37

well we underclocked the CPU to like 1.2 GHz, and the problem went away, and the volts and temps were normal, then set it back to stock and underclocked the GPU by 250MHz and the results were the same. I set both back to stock, and the problem came back...

Doing a memtest as although I'm sure it'll be fine, I want to run 10 passes just to be 100%.

Jakus · 7 Mar 2011 at 00:54

Firenze said:
well we underclocked the CPU to like 1.2 GHz, and the problem went away, and the volts and temps were normal, then set it back to stock and underclocked the GPU by 250MHz and the results were the same. I set both back to stock, and the problem came back...

Doing a memtest as although I'm sure it'll be fine, I want to run 10 passes just to be 100%.

What a plonker !, see Your post re results..then My reply, You edited Your post to NOW say the problem "remains"

Waste of time if it passes 1 pass, you have to test at a higher freq/timings than You actually run at + if it's a temp issue it's not going to load the system.

Download CPUZ, realtemp and prime95
Check cpuz for clock's and settings that they match your cpu and memory
go into bios and increase fsb 50mhz, then check cpuz agrees

Leave open cpuz, open real temp, run prime on default settings, It will take 20-30 mins and watch cpu temps and prime for errors, Use Your head and don't cook the CPU.
then report back

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 01:13

ok Memtest is nearly done, what run do you want me to do on Prime95? (there's like 3 isn't there?) will make sure its priority 1 in the morning.

Jakus · 7 Mar 2011 at 02:04

Firenze said:
ok Memtest is nearly done, what run do you want me to do on Prime95? (there's like 3 isn't there?) will make sure its priority 1 in the morning.

I said "DEFAULT" which is blend

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 09:50

I set the CPU to 3.6GHz, (400 from 333), and set it going, monitoring temps as it went, core 3 has just stopped, an error during 10k testing... I'm a little worried.

The temps got to at a maximum 64 on the first two cores and a maximum of 56 on the second two..

The other 3 cores are still testing.

Jakus · 7 Mar 2011 at 12:43

Temps are good, what's the load voltages cpu? (in cpuz)

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 13:03

the VCore is at 1.408v but there's little jumps to 1.424v...

Jakus · 7 Mar 2011 at 14:05

Firenze said:
the VCore is at 1.408v but there's little jumps to 1.424v...

What ?? why ? that is way high...I suggest You load bios setup defaults and do some googling on overclocking and stability testing for Your motherboard setup.

I said up the Front side bus 50mhz , I don't know what the Multiplier is on that cpu of the top of My head, 8.5-9.5 ? well the FSB x the multi gives the CPU frequency, problem is most motherboards automatically ramp the voltage when you increase speeds ( makes it hard to test stability if the goal posts move)

I'm assuming You are still at school ? do You have any smart mates to help you ?
It sounds like a simple problem but without the familiarity with high end PC's and their settings it's gonna be tough for You to nail down and Me to help.

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 14:35

JAKUS said:
What ?? why ? that is way high...I suggest You load bios setup defaults and do some googling on overclocking and stability testing for Your motherboard setup.

I said up the Front side bus 50mhz , I don't know what the Multiplier is on that cpu of the top of My head, 8.5-9.5 ? well the FSB x the multi gives the CPU frequency, problem is most motherboards automatically ramp the voltage when you increase speeds ( makes it hard to test stability if the goal posts move)

I'm assuming You are still at school ? do You have any smart mates to help you ?
It sounds like a simple problem but without the familiarity with high end PC's and their settings it's gonna be tough for You to nail down and Me to help.

OK, I appreciate the help you've provided, but the condescending tone is definitely not appreciated.

I've never played with the voltage specifically as I've pointed out before, I did up the FSB as you suggested, and provided the results. Reading on a review site (the first after googling) they put the volts up to 1.45v to maintain an OC past 3.55Ghz, so doesn't seem like its that mental. Also, why would it be the issue under load, we've already looked at the volts under the issue, and they were fine? I've never played with the volts at all, so why would it suddenly become the problem when I've replaced the graphics card? especially when its with the same card?

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 14:39

Oh, and I'm a University graduate actually.

Garonazz · 7 Mar 2011 at 14:53

JAKUS seriously dude, everyone appreciates your help, but the guy obviously needs help and not you to call him a kid, if you cant handle his questions, would you kindly stfu.

Firenze, good luck. Feel sorry you got this issue.

Treznor · 7 Mar 2011 at 14:58

Firenze said:
Hmm an interesting result.

while my CPU is underclocked, the issue appears to have disappeared. Only one level change tried so far. takes a while for people to finish the game lol. second change was fine too..

voltages seem to stay within .02V of min and max on the Mobo, GPU fluctuation is a min of 0.95V to 1.16V, though I'm assuming thats just going from being in the game to not... Does this point to anything in particular then?

I've had the exact same thing with a XFX card that I recently had back after an RMA, it wont run at stock clocks, all my research has suggested that it needs more volts, prolly a bad batch of cards. I'm quite fed up of of the 5870 too, had problems with XFX, never going to buy that brand again

Currently the only way I can keep the GPU stable is to underclock to 825mhz on the core...I should just RMA it again, as it wont run at its default clock and advertised speed

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 15:13

Treznor said:
I've had the exact same thing with a XFX card that I recently had back after an RMA, it wont run at stock clocks, all my research has suggested that it needs more volts, prolly a bad batch of cards. I'm quite fed up of of the 5870 too, had problems with XFX, never going to buy that brand again

Currently the only way I can keep the GPU stable is to underclock to 825mhz on the core...I should just RMA it again, as it wont run at its default clock and advertised speed

Yeah I'd do that. Its my first XFX card, and the reason I got it was because of the premium warranty that OCUK offered on it. They've been a bit cheeky with it, but a small nudge in their direction has always set them straight.

I have to say I'm glad someone else feels that JAKUS was being a little bit out of line. I may have found the solution however, even if he was wrong at the end, we missed it half way through, when monitoring temps and volts. Mainly because I was unsure what figures I should have been looking at, but my CPU on stock clocks, was being run at 1.5v, instead of 1.3v.... I've set my mobo straight and it seems to have solved the issue, and brought my CPU down a few degrees! currently idling on 10C. not too shabby on air!!

So thank you JAKUS, however, in future a little bit more of a bedside manner and a little less hypocrisy would go a loooong way.

cobhc · 7 Mar 2011 at 16:03

JAKUS said:
I said "DEFAULT" which is blend

Way to go grilling someone you're attempting to help out...

Firenze · 7 Mar 2011 at 16:14

OK, although the game no longer crashes at the map change, there is still a flash of artifacting. I'm worried about this, and wonder, is there any suggestion as to where the problem might lie?

Jakus · 7 Mar 2011 at 16:17

Firenze said:
OK, I appreciate the help you've provided, but the condescending tone is definitely not appreciated.

I've never played with the voltage specifically as I've pointed out before, I did up the FSB as you suggested, and provided the results. Reading on a review site (the first after googling) they put the volts up to 1.45v to maintain an OC past 3.55Ghz, so doesn't seem like its that mental. Also, why would it be the issue under load, we've already looked at the volts under the issue, and they were fine? I've never played with the volts at all, so why would it suddenly become the problem when I've replaced the graphics card? especially when its with the same card?

Hey, Your the one asking for help, anything I say can be construed as condescending and be buggered if I'm going to use 10 words to be PC when 1 does it. You will know when I intend to be condescending !

Like I say ask a fellow Black,White,Yellow male or female school attendee with advance computer skills that is prepared to risk discussing modifications which may/may not lead to component failure or personal injury/degradation if advice is effective insomuch as to allow prolonged use of Battlefield computer game

I say in jest but do worry about the future

Your Pc fails with the new GFX card because all of a sudden it's fitment has increased Loads on the PSU , Loads on the Cpu and motherboard and thermal loads on everything.
Lot's of people fall into the same trap...It was fine before, card is "bricked" RMA
In Your case the chances of all 3 cards being "bricked" is next to impossible !

You just have to take a logical approach to testing the components individually ( the process can be speeded up by setting them higher than stock speeds while retaining the stock voltages)

Heat decreases stability of electronics, if something works loaded for a short while then fails heat is generally a good call (as i said it reduces stability)

If your (useless) mates had remembered their PC's it would have made life easier !, What we know thus far is it's the motherboard/settings or PSU not coping with full load, we have to assume the GFX card is OK