Gigabyte Windforce 7970 problems

[Ephraim]

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?

 

[Ephraim]

No one? Help? please?

 

[Ephraim]

The card is overclocked out of the box. Should I try removing the gigabyte overclock, and if so, how?

 

[Ephraim]

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!

 

[Ephraim]

Right - GPU is running at 1000MHz and RAM at 1375MHz

 

[Ephraim]

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.