Graphics Distortion

sir-les-mp · 11 Aug 2015 at 13:15

I have recently upgraded my video cards to a set of MSI R9 280x Gaming to run a crossfire set up.

Like various other members here i have also gotten the free upgrade to Windows 10.

Since then i have been seeing a few Graphic anomolies whilst playing games and running my cards in Crossfire. I did have the odd anomolie whilst i was running windows 8.1 but since the upgrade it appears to have gotten worse. I have included a few screenshots below.

firstly i would like to know what im seeing is it artifacting, screen tearing what ?
Then i would also like to know what could be causing it, is it just simply a driver issue which will sort itself out with better drivers, is it a card issue, lack of power to the second card or hopefully a simpler issue like a replacing the DVI cable for a mini dp to dvi cable.

Settings wise i would say i have the middle of the road settings trying to get a balance between performance and looks.
The 2 cards being used are at the factory Oc of 1020Mhz for GPU and 1500Mhz for memory
Cpu is a i5 3570k running at a modest 4Ghz and 16Gb Ram
Monitor is an iiyama Prolite E2773HDS for reference

I have found that by running in V-Sync i can get rid of most of the anomolies but they do still appear. If i turn off Crossfire the anomolies seem to disappear but then i lose a lot of performance.
i am trying to get a Balance between performance and quality for the few games i do play. Whilst spending as little money as possible (aka preferably none

)

Scougar · 11 Aug 2015 at 13:22

Firstly... since you upgraded to W10, I would check that it isn't automatically installing 15.2 graphics drivers? If it is, you need to go to advanced settings (See the Windows 10 FAQ thread on exactly where) and turn off automatic updates.

Then uninstall and reinstall 15.7.1 (if that is still the latest driver). If you don't stop the auto updates, then it will overwrite 15.7.1 with 15.2 again and mess things up.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but it's worth checking first.

sir-les-mp · 11 Aug 2015 at 13:29

Scougar said:
Firstly... since you upgraded to W10, I would check that it isn't automatically installing 15.2 graphics drivers? If it is, you need to go to advanced settings (See the Windows 10 FAQ thread on exactly where) and turn off automatic updates.

Then uninstall and reinstall 15.7.1 (if that is still the latest driver). If you don't stop the auto updates, then it will overwrite 15.7.1 with 15.2 again and mess things up.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but it's worth checking first.

Im way ahead of you there i have already done that, it was one of the first things i did.

sir-les-mp · 11 Aug 2015 at 23:50

Well i think i can rull out the DVI cable as i bought a semi decent HDMI cable locally today and am using that and still seeing the anomolies when running in Crossfire.
Like before they also seemed to be worse when i was allowing the cards to run thier full potential rather than limiting them with V-Sync.

Scougar · 12 Aug 2015 at 01:12

Could you draw on your images so we can see exactly what issues you mean? (there is a lot going on in those scenes, and I don't play that game). (I see the squares in the snowy image?)

Scurburg · 12 Aug 2015 at 15:16

Just want to make sure, but you are not using 2 xfire bridges for 2 cards are you? If not, please ignore, however if you are, then only use 1 on the rear of the case connection (I had odd glitches after taking some bad/poor advice to use 2)

sir-les-mp · 13 Aug 2015 at 12:06

Ok i have done some more testing this time each card individually
one of the cards would appear to have a fault as it is not running at settings of 1020Mhz for Gpu core and 1500Mhz for memory

As you can see from the above image both GPU-z and Rivatuner show the core clock as running @ 500Mhz and the mem seems to be running @150Mhz

I am going to assume this is the cause of my graphical issue whilst trying to run the 2 cards in a crossfire setup.

I have not Changed the card settings in anyway either by software or via the cards Bios. Being an MSI card i have also tested it on both bios settings availeable via the dip switch on the card same result in both.

So am i looking at a faulty bios which can be reprogrammed or am i looking at a faulty card ?

As comparison see the screen from the other card below

VincentHanna · 13 Aug 2015 at 12:16

You sure that's not using the CPUs onboard GPU or something?

sir-les-mp · 13 Aug 2015 at 12:20

VincentHanna said:
You sure that's not using the CPUs onboard GPU or something?

Yep as i have disabled the onboard cpu gpu via the bios

Woodsta888 · 13 Aug 2015 at 12:27

Disable ULPS with afterburner?

Re checked Xfire in AMD catalyst when rolling back drivers (catalyst usually reminds you)

To eliminate the cards can you run one at a time to see if they reach their full advertised speeds?

sir-les-mp · 13 Aug 2015 at 12:35

Woodsta888 said:
Disable ULPS with afterburner?

Re checked Xfire in AMD catalyst when rolling back drivers (catalyst usually reminds you)

To eliminate the cards can you run one at a time to see if they reach their full advertised speeds?

I have done everything you have mentioned there.
the last post i did with 2 new screen shots was testing each card seperatly and 1 of the cards is not performing to advertised speeds.
I have assumed this will be the cause of my Xfire issues and am now looking to find out if it is just a corrupt Bios which can be reprogrammed, or the card is faulty.

Woodsta888 · 13 Aug 2015 at 13:56

If you bought them at the same time and they are identical cards then they should have the same BIOS. Could reflash it. Those cards come with dual BIOS dont they? a tiny switch near the rear mounting plate, above the Xfire bridge normally. Switch it as trhere should be a BIOS in both positions. YEah, next to teh Xfire bridge

VincentHanna · 13 Aug 2015 at 14:05

He already said he's moved the switch.

People don't read threads do they?

sir-les-mp · 14 Aug 2015 at 15:31

Any theories as to why the 2nd card is not running at full speed and possible soloutions i can try which i have not already tried yet.

Scurburg · 14 Aug 2015 at 16:20

Could try the "without powerplay" setting in afterburner if you havent already, this should stop the downclocking power saving function I think (It fixed some issues I was having, but they are not the same as yours). It not likely to work, but its easy enough to try with no risk so may as well give it a whirl. GL

sir-les-mp · 5 Sep 2015 at 00:52

Well i seemed to have sorted out the low clock speeds on the 2nd card. as i had suspected it did turn out to be a dodgy Bios and a quick reflash of the bios to the newest one availeable seems to have rectified that.

As for the distortion Graphically it is still early days but so far there appears to be none, but time will tell.

This never ends well · 5 Sep 2015 at 09:39

If it happens again try adding the game to CCC and put it in AFR friendly to see if it go's away.

alex_123_fra · 5 Sep 2015 at 09:50

Sorry did not read the whole thing, but have you tried doing a fresh install of wow or repair the game? I would do the former with a fresh reinstall of all addons. Should help.

On a separate note, I was recently cured of my 8 year addiction of this game. Am certainly a lot happier for it.

sir-les-mp · 7 Sep 2015 at 11:36

fx63007850 said:
If it happens again try adding the game to CCC and put it in AFR friendly to see if it go's away.

Trying that now, it does seem to remove some of the flashing images in the background that i have noticed recently.
now i just need to work out why i can just about see the sync rate of my monitor when not setting the game to sync.

I havent noticed this when playing my other games when Sync is not enabled and they are over 60FPS.

Once ive rejigged my WC setup in the nice new Phanteks Primo Enthoo i have sitting here i might have to save up for a new monitor with DP and higher refresh rate etc.