Gigabyte R9 280x Artifacts.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:42

Hello all,

I have had this Gigabyte R9 280x Rev.2 for about 6 months now and have always noticed something wrong with it. I just kept on brushing it under the carpet and it is really getting to me now.
I have noticed a few problems, first one being that artifacts in some games, Especially in GTA 4, in Arma 3 (when viewing the map) and in WOW.
Here is what I am seeing.

Another issue is that the fan rattles when running near 100% and it seems to have a hard time keeping itself cool. I always seem to have to set the manual fan speed in MSI afterburner.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
JCX50

wazza300 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:44

overheating gpu ram is usually the cause of artifacts like those

look in gpu-z to see what the vrm temps are like

might not be enough memory voltage also,could try either downclocking the ram slightly or use msi afterburner to add a touch more ram voltage to the card

snips86x · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:44

RMA!

If it was just happening in Watchdogs, I'd suggest the game was crap (well, it still it) but since it's happening in more than one game, I'd recommend you RMA it!

wazza300 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:46

maybe raising the gpu power control slider in catalyst control centre/amd overdrive

snips86x · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:48

wazza300 said:
maybe raising the gpu power control slider in catalyst control centre/amd overdrive

There is only so much you can do to "help" it before it becomes a more prominent issue!

I gave up with my 290 and had to send it back!

You never know though, it may fix it.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:48

snips86x said:
RMA!

If it was just happening in Watchdogs, I'd suggest the game was crap (well, it still it) but since it's happening in more than one game, I'd recommend you RMA it!

I'm scared that they might not see the error in their testing.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:49

snips86x said:
There is only so much you can do to "help" it before it becomes a more prominent issue!

I gave up with my 290 and had to send it back!

You never know though, it may fix it.

Yeah, I think i'm done with AMD cards for a long time. I have had 2 GTX 670's for coming up to 2 years and no problems what so ever!

jh30uk · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:50

Fan issue will not get any better and you say you struggle to keep it cool.

Wonder if same Fans as MSI used, an oil leaking?

wazza300 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:52

snips86x said:
There is only so much you can do to "help" it before it becomes a more prominent issue!

I gave up with my 290 and had to send it back!

You never know though, it may fix it.

true but I have one 7850 that will crash everytime unless I set atleast 10% or more power control slider,then its 100% stable

gigabyte are a bit flaky with gpu's though,just see what you can do to try and improve it then rma if no joy

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 20:57

jh30uk said:
Fan issue will not get any better and you say you struggle to keep it cool.

Wonder if same Fans as MSI used, an oil leaking?

Yeah, I have noticed something wired on the PCB where the bridge is. Its a lot darker and dust never seems to settle.

jh30uk · 19 Aug 2014 at 21:02

Best to get a good look at it shut down with a good torch, the fan will fail eventually.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 21:07

wazza300 said:
overheating gpu ram is usually the cause of artifacts like those

look in gpu-z to see what the vrm temps are like

might not be enough memory voltage also,could try either downclocking the ram slightly or use msi afterburner to add a touch more ram voltage to the card

Temps are at 80*c max.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 21:28

wazza300 said:
maybe raising the gpu power control slider in catalyst control centre/amd overdrive

I upped the Power Limit to +5% and it still seems at artifact.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 22:10

jh30uk said:
Best to get a good look at it shut down with a good torch, the fan will fail eventually.

It doesn't show up very well but to the left and right sides of the bridge its darker and no dust seems to land there. I can't seem to feel any oil or liquid on the top PCB.

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 22:37

More Findings:

JCX50 · 19 Aug 2014 at 23:11

wazza300 said:
overheating gpu ram is usually the cause of artifacts like those

look in gpu-z to see what the vrm temps are like

might not be enough memory voltage also,could try either downclocking the ram slightly or use msi afterburner to add a touch more ram voltage to the card

I have upped the power limit to 10%, under clocked by 100Mhz on the core and memory and no luck.

thefogo · 19 Aug 2014 at 23:17

I think it's cream crackered mate, RMA it.

wazza300 · 19 Aug 2014 at 23:21

yh I think you've done all you can,just fill in an rma form

JCX50 · 20 Aug 2014 at 11:10

I'm going to down the power limit by 10%. Then RMA.

Its a shame because this card is the second broken 280x.

JCX50 · 20 Aug 2014 at 11:11

wazza300 said:
yh I think you've done all you can,just fill in an rma form

Where can I find a RMA form?