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Gigabyte Windforce 7970 problems

Ephraim

Ephraim

Ephraim

Associate
Joined
18 Jan 2006
Posts
209
I upgraded my machine over the weekend with a new mobo (gigabyte z87), CPU (4670k) and graphics card. I went with the Gigabyte Radeon 7970 Windforce OC. I installed win8 pro fresh, and it worked fine (including a several hour GW2 session on Monday night) until last night.

Since last night, I have found that any time I try to play GW2, I get 10 minutes gaming and then the screen freezes with a single colour/stripes and goes unresponsive. My second screen, which is running off the integrated gfx seems to continue to work, and I still hear the game sound, but the 7970 output is dead and can only be fixed with a reboot.

I've tried the 12.1 drivers, the 13.2 drivers and the 13.6 beta drivers and they all seem to have the same issue. It's very frustrating.

Any thoughts on what to try next?
 
Have you overclocked the vram on the video card? Sounds like a vram stripey screen crash. If you're at stock you might have a faulty card.
 
Try standard stuff first really:

Clean driver install (I know you did a fresh Win 8 but worth trying again)
Check your GPU is not overheating
Run some GPU stress tests to rule out the game
Limit any overclocking the card might be doing
Perform BIOS update
Re-seat GPU
 
Ephraim said:
The card is overclocked out of the box. Should I try removing the gigabyte overclock, and if so, how?
Click to expand...

What is the gpu memory clocked at ? 1500mhz should be stock, unless you have an early addition card which might be at 1375mhz.
 
I can't check right now, at work and card at home, but will pop home at lunch time and take a look, then report back.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
Try uninstall your old drivers, restarting then reinstall new one ones. Try the stuff that sin suggested. If it keeps happening its likely faulty vram imo.
 
So, I had a bit of a test at lunchtime. I threw GW2 up and played for 5 minutes, and then this happened:


IMG_1258 by Ephra1m, on Flickr

It's not overly clear, but the left hand screen, which is the one running off the 7970 is blue vertical lines. The right hand screen is run off the integrated gfx, and works for a few seconds and then locks up.

When I restarted the machine, I got this:


IMG_1261 by Ephra1m, on Flickr

which was new.

Switching the primary display in the bios to the integrated gfx meant that everything worked fine, as did replacing the 7970 with my old 6850. I guess it's RMA time, unless anyone has any better ideas.
 
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