My 7950 died, need new GPU... :/

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:33

So my GPU gave up on my totally... I'll try the oven trick after I comeback from holiday, I wanted to upgrade my GPU anyways but never had a need to... :rolleyes:

This is happening on BIOS screen too, so its not a software issue. This has happened before and raising the voltage has helped since the GPU was running fine on stock BIOS with automatic voltage, I've a custom BIOS but never had any issue with it till today.

My Spec

CPU: i5 [email protected] 1.32v
RAM: 2x4gb [email protected] (running at 1.525) Kingston HyperX
Mobo: Asus P8Z68-V
GPU: HIS IceQ 7950@1050/1400 (modded BIOS by khaboom)
PSU: BeQuiet E9 400W
SSD Intel 520 120GB (OS Drive)

Budget wise, I think around £200. I would prefer to go green team again, I've put back my GTS450 1GB card back in for the time being and its still running after 6-7 years? AMD failed after 3-4 years...

savagesam117 · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:38

For a little over £200 maybe there abouts, you'll be able to get a second hand 970. Possibly a new one, but the lowest i've seen is £230 new.

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:45

The GTX970 will be fine with a 400w 80+ gold PSU? I've the BeQuiet E9 400w

theaterix · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:45

I would probably recommend a 280/280x, There is 970's like Sam said, but hey, always good to offer something else

.
Also, cards die, its just the luck of the draw..

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:47

IC3 said:
Budget wise, I think around £200. I would prefer to go green team again, I've put back my GTS450 1GB card back in for the time being and its still running after 6-7 years? AMD failed after 3-4 years...

My 8800GTS 512MB died within two years,and my GTX960 2GB died within a week(!). I known friends who had issues with their GTX650TI and HD7850 cards after two years or so - sadly these things happen. Had a mate damage an HD6870 by getting a magnetic ball bearing lodged into it,LOL. Its nothing to do with whether its AMD or Nvidia,especially if you muck around with BIOSes.

I have old 6600GT and 9500 PRO cards which have lasted close to a decade and so on.

If you are willing to spend £200 to £250 the two options are the GTX970 and the R9 390.

At a hard maximum of £200,the R9 380X is the fastest card - the fastest Nvidia card will be the GTX960 4GB(which I have currently).

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:53

It might just be my luck, but all my AMD cards always had artifacts. The Nvidia gpu's got replaced mainly because they got outdated...

The BIOS was flashed onto this card after 3-4 months of ownership, if not less. I can't remember now... the PC Crashed when I changed the audio source from my TV to the Asus D1 soundcard and afterwards unplugged the TV. I doubt that this was the cause, as this has happened randomly before whilst I was just on the desktop not doing anything...

Edit

I might order this GPU - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/20-p...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-352-as.html
But will do a small research and look at benchmarks, I'm not upto date on the latest hardware...

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Dec 2015 at 18:57

IC3 said:
It might just be my luck, but all my AMD cards always had artifacts. The Nvidia gpu's got replaced mainly because they got outdated...

Well I had at least 20 different graphics cards since 2003 - those two cards,the 8800GTS 512MB and the GTX960 are the only ones which died. TBF,the last one was B-Grade so its probable OcUK who did not test it properly. I also had a fully unlocked and massively overclocked 6800LE with a custom BIOS which could be a tad flaky - but it was modded so much that was my doing.

So that makes 1 failure in since early 2003 and for most of that time I was running thermally constrained SFF rigs like Shuttles - it might be what killed the 8800GTS 512MB I suppose.

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:04

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Well I had at least 20 different graphics cards since 2003 - those two cards,the 8800GTS 512MB and the GTX960 are the only ones which died. TBF,the last one was B-Grade so its probable OcUK who did not test it properly. I also had a fully unlocked and massively overclocked 6800LE with a custom BIOS which could be a tad flaky - but it was modded so much that was my doing.

So that makes 1 failure in since early 2003 and for most of that time I was running thermally constrained SFF rigs like Shuttles - it might be what killed the 8800GTS 512MB I suppose.

I had a GTS250 1GB (Still have it

) with a custom BIOS that unlocks the voltage and its overclocked by 150mhz on the core and 180mhz on the mem, still running fine and the values are stuck in the BIOS just like my 7950, the only difference is that 7950 has dual bios, the GTS only has 1.

The only modded thing in the BIOS is one line of code that disables the BOOST function, this function had a massive effect on the performance and stutters so it was worth it.

Edit BTW You suggest me an AMD card, yet you had so many Nvidia cards lol

dholdi · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:12

I still have my 2 HIS 7950's in my spare pc, great cards.

AlamoX · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:14

the amazing part is that you had a 300watt card running on a 400watt PSU :d

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:20

AlamoX said:
the amazing part is that you had a 300watt card running on a 400watt PSU :d

lol

Edit The system draw output never went above 328 watts with the i5 2400 OC'ed to 4Ghz.

There's no need to get a new PSU for the 970, right? Newer cards should be more eco?

Edit2 Another example of 330watts OC'ed

Threepwood · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:27

Tried underclocking a little? core/mem

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:30

Threepwood said:
Tried underclocking a little? core/mem

I've tried running the backup stock BIOS which automatically regulates the volts. It's like a safemode in case the first BIOS goes kaput...

wazza300 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:35

did you remove the cooler and give it a good clean/blow out then repaste the core and some new thermal pads on the memory/vrms? it might be old now and overheating/artifacting

mx4 is decent for gpu thermal paste

I wouldn't put it in the oven,itll just bake everything

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:40

I changed the thermal paste around a year ago and cleaned the card. I'll clean it once I comeback from holiday, doubt it'll help tho...

Edit I'm just thinking whenever I need a new PSU, I bought my 400w as I desperately needed a PSU and OcUK didn't have much choice back then... most were out of stock.

Quartz · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:50

IC3 said:
The GTX970 will be fine with a 400w 80+ gold PSU?

Easily. The 970 is very low power - under 150W.

IC3 · 27 Dec 2015 at 19:57

Quartz said:
Easily. The 970 is very low power - under 150W.

70 quid saved on a PSU.

Come to think about it, I only had about 80watts of headroom on the PSU... lols

Edit So after cashback the Strix 970 will be £237.99, should I order it now before the deal ends? I'm 86.3% sure the GPU is dead, its not an overheating issue although I don't have VRAM sensors to see the temps of the VRAM. But I highly doubt its that, as like I said the GPU was cleaned around a year ago, I don't even think a year has passed. lol

nashathedog · 27 Dec 2015 at 20:19

IC3 said:
Budget wise, I think around £200. I would prefer to go green team again, I've put back my GTS450 1GB card back in for the time being and its still running after 6-7 years? AMD failed after 3-4 years...

You can't blame AMD for a card you messed with the bio's on only lasting 3 or 4 years. That's on you.

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Its nothing to do with whether its AMD or Nvidia,especially if you muck around with BIOSes.

+1

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Dec 2015 at 20:19

IC3 said:
I had a GTS250 1GB (Still have it ) with a custom BIOS that unlocks the voltage and its overclocked by 150mhz on the core and 180mhz on the mem, still running fine and the values are stuck in the BIOS just like my 7950, the only difference is that 7950 has dual bios, the GTS only has 1.

The only modded thing in the BIOS is one line of code that disables the BOOST function, this function had a massive effect on the performance and stutters so it was worth it.

Edit BTW You suggest me an AMD card, yet you had so many Nvidia cards lol

Had a 50/50 split - the gtx660 and gtx960 I had were cheaper than the AMD equivalents!

But regarding a PSU,a mate is running an FX6350 and a Powercolor R9 390 off an Antec 550W jobbie.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Dec 2015 at 20:24

IC3 said:
70 quid saved on a PSU.

Come to think about it, I only had about 80watts of headroom on the PSU... lols

Edit So after cashback the Strix 970 will be £237.99, should I order it now before the deal ends? I'm 86.3% sure the GPU is dead, its not an overheating issue although I don't have VRAM sensors to see the temps of the VRAM. But I highly doubt its that, as like I said the GPU was cleaned around a year ago, I don't even think a year has passed. lol

The GTX970 consumes over 150W card only according to TPU. Its about the same ballpark as a GTX770.

Edit!!

Here are the TPU card only figures:
https://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/reviews/ASUS/GTX_970_STRIX_OC/23.html

The Asus consumes between 161W to 179W alone which is more than what they have for the HD7950.