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Dead 4890 - Suggestions?

Velexis

Velexis

Velexis

Associate
Joined
25 Jun 2009
Posts
126
Well this morning I decided to boot up and play some EVE: Dominion. Couple of hours into playing my system shuts down (I could see the Mobo lights still on), but my screen stopped recieveing a signal. Turned the computer off and re-booted a couple of minutes later to smell what smelt like a burning smell, so I turned it off again. I have tried booting up since without any success - graphics card sounds extremly loud with the fan.

Now I have had the card for about 5 months so I am well within my warranty. I didn't overclock the card, except fiddle with overdrive when I first got the card (Never used it for gaming or anything. Fiddled for 20 minutes and reset back to normal).

How do I go about RMA'ing the card? I presume I will get a replacement, but do I have the option for cash? The reason I ask is that the new 5xxx series cards are quite appealing. While I am removing my current GPU I may as well replace it with something newer.

Also, would there have been a reason for this? Could I have overpowered the card somehow or had something faulty with my PSU? Extremely curious as to why this would happen after 5 months. I don't play very demanding games (Past month has been DA:O and C&C:3 and a day of EVE's free trial), but I do like to max everything out.

All help will be appreciated and suggestions on a new GPU would be too.
 
theforce said:
Well first check for the problem. It can be anything from your PSU/GPU or mobo.
Click to expand...

How exactly do I got about checking each? This was my first build, so I am rather new to all of this.

I presume my Mobo is okay as it is booting and displaying the lights it normally does when the computer is on. The fans are all on too, so I guess the PSU is providing good power. The GPU boots, but the fan sounds like it's in overdrive and preparing to take off - the sound doesn't stop. It normally does this for a second on boot-up until I get a display on the screen and it goes quiet again.

From looking at my point of view there is something wrong with the GPU/ PCI slot on the Mobo. I have the MSI 790FX Mobo and I get the display "2 E" on the Mobo's display. Anyone have any idea what this is exactly? Manual doesn't say what 2 E is.

I have just been reminded; for the past week when playing DA:O the game started to run slower after playing for a couple of hours. It's not exactly the most demanding game ever, but the slow loading times while travelling and what not could have been the sign of a decline in the GPU?

I haven't ruled out overheating, although I am using the ATCS 840 which has been noted in reviews to not provide the best GPU cooling. I have an additional two 120mm Fractal Design fans on the HDD rack to aid this. GPU is using the stock cooler and I have no idea of idle temps or loads temps as I was never really interested in benchmarks and tempreatures.
 
philip j fry said:
have a read through this lokks like 2E is a memory issue
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/page-269707_13_0.html
Click to expand...

I tried removing different sticks of RAM and booting up - no hope. I am now convinced it's the GPU as the third time I booted with a different stick I could smell burning (Electrical burning, if that makes sense). Smelt like it was from the GPU, which was extremely loud on each stick test. Wish I had an extra GPU to check my concerns.

So how do I go about RMA'ing my GPU? Do I do it via Overclockers or ATi? Is it possible to get cash back (Exact or around current market price of card)?

I may buy a 5970 since it's the latest card out and Overclockers are getting stock tomorrow (Today, Monday. Have not slept yet)
 
RMA you need to contact OcUK via phone or webnote. You will need your order no. From there you will be given an RMA no. Send the card back to OcUK with the RMA no on the outside of the packet. Then wait, will get a new card ASAP.

Hope that helps.
 
The fan spins 100% when the GPU is at bootup clocks...if the PC is not POSTing then the GPU will remain in this state. Take the GPU out and try to see if it is indeed smelly
 
*I have removed the GPU and booted the system up. No smell and LED display showing 2 E.

*Replaced the GPU in my second PCI slot instead of the first. Sounded like it was about to work; done the 100% spin and stopped - like a successful startup. It then continued to go into the 100% spin again until I got the smell as before. Turned the system off and removed the GPU and it's safe to say it's from there.

Note on this bootup I got the posting message 2A, which is listed in the manual as; Initialize onboard devices. Load option ROM (VGA and RAID option ROM) form to BIOS memory.

I guess it's safe to say it is the GPU that is the problem.
 
you sure its not just burning dust or something from the fan being stuck at 100%? have you got another GPU to try in the system?
 
I have no other machine or GPU to test, which is the annoying thing. Would be so much easier to discover the issue then. Same with the memory. I have nothing else to test it in or swap it for.

My graphics card isn't very dusty at all, a few fans have a tiny amount on them. The card is only 5 months old and I cleaned the case 2 months ago. I guess it's possible the burning was dust inside the GPU.

The phase lights on my Mobo are all light up like usual - which I guess means Memory and CPU are fine, as I presume if they are all in the second phase they must be working. I have my Xonar D2 in another PCI slot which is turned on... Then again I wouldn't know if it was working or not.

From one of the links posted above 2E is either a memory or GPU issue. I've switched between 1 and 2 RAM sticks in alternating slots with no changes. I think I will just RMA the card to OcUk and let them do their thing. If it works and costs me money to recieve it back, so be it.
 
I was about to send it off for RMA today, but before doing so I thought I'd try once more. I took all my cables out of everything (HDD, CPU power, etc.) and reconnected. Plugged in the GPU and booted - it's on and I'm typing from it now. Quite strange.

While reading some other sites with similar issues I came across a couple of threads with a poster that uses the same Mobo, GPU and PSU (Same watts) as well. He had the same issue with 2E, but it was to do with the GPU. His 4870X2 worked, but the 4890 didn't. It worked with another PSU when fitted in his system, but a fiddle with his previous PSU cables and a boot up later led it to work. Quite odd. It seems Modxtreme 700W PSU may have some sort of loose connection issue in the cables, as there were two seperate threads with this issue on the forum. I'll be leaving my PSU as it is until it happens again, which it hopefully should not.

Thought I'd post an update on the issue in case someone in the future decides to do a search of their problem and comes across this thread.

Thank you everyone for your input.
 
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