New GPU (7900XT) system keeps crashing.

[ElT]

I bought a Sapphire 7900XT (non-pulse version) and for the first week it was great. Rest of system specs are:

CPU: Threadripper 1920 (not OC'd)​

M/board: MSI Meg x399 Creation​

PSU: Seasonic 850w Platinum​

GPU: Sapphire 7900XT (non-pulse, no factory or driver settings changed - just downloaded Radeon software from AMD site and let it do its thing)​

RAM: 64GB 2400 (8x 8GB sticks, iirc)​

Mechanical Harddrives: 4​

SSDs: 2 SATA ones, 3x NVMe ones​

Monitor: 5120x2160 Dell 5K2K, (supports up to 60Hz only)​

So far have played Alien: Isolation which ran without incident and Marvel's Midnight Suns which WAS running fine using Fidelity Super Resolution and I originally had it set to 5120x2160 which made no sense(!) but after problems started I later tried with 3840x1620 and 2560x1080 and 5120x2160 without FSR. I couldn't see that any of this made a difference but the problem is sporadic so hard to say. The problems began after over a week of everything being great. Last Friday was the first incident though I didn't notice any driver update so probably irrelevant. Seemingly at random the screen will go black, sound (if any is playing) continues and keyboard typically appears locked (numlock and Capslock status wont change though on occasion they have continued to work for a bit). This is now happening almost every time I play Midnight Suns, anywhere from around 5mins in to 30mins. It has happened twice in just general usage with just normal web browsing.

After over a week of it all working fine I gave my old card (Radeon 480) to a friend and I don't have another card to plug in and try. The GPU has two 8-pin connectors and I had a cable from the PSU with two on the end of one cable so I have just used those, though I do have another double-headed cable and could plug in one from each if for some reason it were a power issue.

I don't really know where to start with this and any suggestions would be really welcome. I had no similar crashes with the old 480. I'm worried about the effect on my system with the number of hard re-sets I've done in the past few days.

 

[ElT]

Can you ping your system when the screen goes blank? Would at least confirm if the OS is still running / network is up. Might even be worth trying to RDP to it - can't recall if it needs a graphics driver loaded to be able to do this though.

Good question. It had been working fine for several hours until I span up a Linux VM and RDP'd into it (from host to VM) when it blew up after about five minutes. I hadn't seen your post at the time so I just span up Midnight Suns which I figured would make it crash again and it did after six minutes or so. I can still ping it and it's playing the games music through the headphones. Keyboard is locked though and monitor says no video input.

RDP had an interesting effect. It took a little longer to connect than usual but the moment it did the game music stopped through my headphones. At first I only got a blank, black screen via RDP and the connection broke. But I tried again and came through to my normal desktop and a "Midnight Suns has crashed" dialogue box and a request to send error logs to the company.

I think there was an update to the game last week I think, so I could think that maybe they broke something in the game. But it fails outside of the game as well, just more rarely. On clearing that out of the way I also just found this:



So I sent them a bug report as well.

So a lot more information, now. RDP was a really good suggestion. I had assumed with the keyboard lock up that the whole system had crashed, though the music was puzzling.

 

[ElT]

CPU temps okay?

I think so. It's not overclocked at all and thanks to @Semple 's suggestion I now know it is still running.

The only odd thing I've had recently is that my headphone jack stopped working last week. It kept cutting out and then stopped altogether so I've had to run my headphones through my USB mic (which has a headphone jack). But other than that it's the same hardware I've had for years 'cept for the new GPU.

I had similar black screen issues with AMD GPU's, Vega64 and Radeon VII. Check if you have "dump" files in C:\Windows\Minidump\Minidump. You may be able to send these to AMD to get the crash reason analysed and potentially fixed.

@LtMatt was able to expedite this for me in the past.

That said, I'd want to test this GPU with a more common CPU/motherboard combo, to see if it's just an incompatibility issue. Any local PC shops you could take it to?

Hmmm. No dump files in there though now I've RDP'd in I was able to submit a report with some files.

There's only one PC shop around here that I know of and I'm not on good terms with the owner and honestly, they're not that good anyway. I wouldn't trust them with it. There might be another one around so I can look online. Might be better asking around some mates to see if anyone has a compatible system I could put it in. But the thing is, it's working for my normal usage and was working fine even with this game up until the end of last week. So if it still worked in someone else's machine I'm not sure that would definitely help.

Is it that common for M/board CPU combos to be incompatible with a GPU? I figured bar the fact this is a PCI-Ev3 board, everything was standard and matched up.

 

[ElT]

It happened again just now and literally the only program I had open was the Radeon Adrenalin software or whatever it's called.

I'm just thinking the amount of people who've coupled a 7900XT with a X399 threadripper system is very low. Incompatibilities do exist - some graphics cards have needed vBios updates to solve issues on some setups.

On latest BIOS for both motherboard and for your GPU?

Okay. Thanks. Well that'll be depressing if it's incompatible. Would the same apply with an Nvidia card? I wanted to stick with AMD but I use this machine for my day to day stuff. It's not primarily a gaming rig. If the card has to go back I'll likely just get a much more basic GPU and call it a day for gaming on this. The 7900XT was a pretty expensive purchase for me. I bought the Radeon 480 about a year after that came out and have used it ever since.

EDIT: And this time it wont let me RDP in, either. Keyboard responsive, answers Ping, I can browse files on the machine over a network share... But RDP connection just runs and runs without response.

 

[ElT]

You lose picture but computer is actually running?

With AMD cards in the past I used to have issues where you would lose the display as the cards were really picky about the display and cables you were using. Switch from HDMI -> Displayport, or the other way round and see if it still happens.

Thanks. I really appreciate more things to try. The monitor I have is the one I use for work - 5120x2160. It'll run at 60Hz via the Display Port but only 30Hz via HDMI. (this one, fwiw). So that might be useful to diagnose but if it is the case that it only works with HDMI, then the card isn't good enough for my needs.

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the replies. Greatly appreciated.

 

[ElT]

It's definitely sounding GPU related. I would just get a support ticket raised with AMD or Sapphire.

For peace of mind, I'd ask your friend if you can borrow back the 480 just to confirm the system can run stable.

It'd be a big hassle for him and I don't want to ask for it back and leave him without it. The system was fine for years with it in.

So you think it might be bad hardware, then? A return and get a replacement situation? From what Dave2150 was saying, it sounded like it might be a fundamental incompatibility with that model. And originally I'd been thinking maybe a driver issue.

edit: Just seen you can't RDP in, so unlikely to work.

I could earlier, but the last time it crashed I couldn't. Seems to vary.

 

[ElT]

I would also make sure you are on the latest bios and chipset drivers. Check your startup sequence and remove any software you don’t need.

So this morning before work I ran Windows Update and there are a few optional updates I never normally bother with - they were to do with USB, Display, etc. I ran and installed all of those. I also went to the MSI motherboard after this and downloaded the chipset drivers and ran the install on them (they were from April last year so I don't recall if I have them or not). I then crossed my fingers. Unfortunately after twenty minutes of entirely regular use (not even a browser open), my system locked up. It took four attempts with RDP before it would show a screen for my login - first three attempts it logged in, showed nothing but darkness (like my soul) and then disconnected me. Fortunately on the fourth I was able to save my work. I also noticed that it mentioned a "driver timeout" which rang a bell from the post below.

Have you tried disabling MPO?

I've posted about this before for similiar issues like you're experiencing, worked for myself and others.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Worth a shot. It's a simple registry change.

Link to recent thread

Post in thread '4080 vs 7900XT stability' https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/4080-vs-7900xt-stability.18966285/post-36166199

This is all kinds of concerning that I would need to do this. My system is currently black screened again but once it's rebooted and I have yet again run the AMD driver installation due to it having been nuked by the crash (complains about mismatched versions on trying to start it - I think Windows is doing a rollback after the hard power offs), I will try this. Thank you.

 

[ElT]

This is all kinds of concerning that I would need to do this. My system is currently black screened again but once it's rebooted and I have yet again run the AMD driver installation due to it having been nuked by the crash (complains about mismatched versions on trying to start it - I think Windows is doing a rollback after the hard power offs), I will try this. Thank you.

I don't know if you need to restart after changing the registry value (which I did with RegEdit rather than the Nvidia tool) but I didn't get a chance to. Within literally two minutes of making the change the crash happened.

So I'm pretty much out of options to try other than trying with a HDMI cable instead of DP. Which is a good suggestion but even if it works isn't a tenable solution as my display is capped at 30Hz with HDMI. I'll try rebooting after having done the registry change in case that's necessary.

So - I feel like I have a choice if the last ditch effort doesn't work. It sounds like this might not just be a case of a bad card, but bad software or hardware incompatibility that wouldn't be fixed by getting a replacement. If it's any of the latter though I don't get why it would be fine for the first ten days - even under load. I can't have this situation last - I need this machine for much more than gaming. That was just a side-line I figured I could do on it.

So what do people think? Chance it and send this card back for a replacement? Or just give up on the idea and buy some cheaper card (not that there are any) to make do? Keep in mind, I cannot just have this situation go on and on trying out different things! If I got a 6600 or something could I be reasonably confident there wouldn't be driver or compatibility issues with it?

 

[ElT]

Well, we know your system was 100% stable with the 480 GPU.

For years! And I am led to believe that the 850W PSU is sufficient. Especially as it will fail even when not under load.

It's very unlikely that other hardware has failed during this time, so it's likely either just a faulty card, or a incompatibility.

I've done a search for X399 and 7900XT, this thread is the top result. I'm confident it's not a popular combo, though usually if there's an incompatibility it would manifest when trying to POST, not causing black screens, though it's not impossible.

Have you tried using other display connectors/cables?

I haven't tried the HDMI suggestion. I'll go and grab one and try now. It's not a long-term solution for reasons above but maybe it will be good to know.

Wrote my last post while you were replying, btw. Thanks for the suggestions.

EDIT: After rebooting it lasted about 60 seconds past login before going into a hard crash. Can't even RDP in this time, though as before I can still browse files on its network share.

 

[ElT]

I rebooted when I applied the change - at least you know the system is coming back reloading detecting system hardware and capabilities "from fresh". Good luck.

Thanks. I checked that the registry setting was still there when it rebooted after the crash and it was. And then it crashed again.

I'm inclined to return this card. The question is whether to get a replacement 7900XT and risk two more days of not being able to use the PC if it still doesn't work (not a luxury, this is genuinely inconvenient) or get something like a 6600. I might even go down to Curry's and get ripped off with whatever the literally cheapest card they have is. I guess I will try the HDMI cable first. Going to go and find one.

 

[ElT]

I can't even get a signal from HDMI. I admittedly have only tried with the one cable and could go and start disconnecting my TV set-up, but it was good last I recall. Says "High Speed" on the side for whichever version of HDMI that is.

Okay, I think I'm giving up on this. I'm not poverty-stricken but equally it wasn't a casual purchase. This was supposed to be a special purchase and some rare evenings free I had coming up to just do some gaming. I'm soured on the whole thing now and don't know when I'll next have that sort of time. Plus I'm now letting someone down on something I said I'd do for them because I can't run the VMs I was doing it on on my laptop.

Thank you for everybody's help. If someone still has anything left to try I'll give it a go. Otherwise taking advice from people as to whether this is likely to be one bad card or otherwise suggestions for a bottom of the range card that will support a 5K2K display for ordinary, non-gaming use.

 

[ElT]

Have swapped back to Display Port cable same as before and now I get no signal from that, either. I can still RDP in however so it's running. When I did I found that the Adrenalin software wouldn't start - said that maybe my drivers had been overridden by Windows. It's given me that before so I ran the installer again through RDP and got the above.

I guess I try to get a few minutes out of work in the morning if I can and contact OC customer support and arrange sending this back. Recommendations on either trying again with the same model or for a basic card that will support a 5K2K display and is more likely to be compatible?

EDIT: Display came up via DP after the second restart. I'm just going to send this back.
EDIT EDIT: And then died almost immediately on trying to reinstall the Radeon software.

 

[ElT]

RMA time for sure mate.

What is the recommendation - request a replacement 7900XT the same, or get a bottom of the line replacement card and if so recommendation? Ideal scenario is that I have a working 7900XT but more important is that I have a working system in the next day or two.

 

[ElT]

But in saying that, the 6700XT I had before this card, did give great bang for buck. Performance while I had it was good, just some driver issues.

I understand where you're coming from with bang for buck, but I'm going the other direction. If this doesn't work out then I'm just using my machine for work which is its primary purpose. So if the 7900XT seems a risky prospect to people I want the minimum and reliable card that will support a 10-bit 5K2K display, forget about gaming.

EDIT: I would like a working 7900XT. I need my computer up and running. I don't know much about GPUs, tbc.

 

[ElT]

no problem mate, thats fair enough, someone will be along soon to give better advice on AMD!

I've been with AMD since the 290, no I think it was the original HD 3000 series whatever they were? But honestly at this point I'll take Nvidia recommendations, too. I need to be ready to order a replacement first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[ElT]

Have you tried it on a different monitor/tv? I've only skimmed the post so may have missed it, but don't thi k I've seen it suggested yet.

Bizarrely that never occurred to me. I have a 1440p 144Hz monitor in the garage. It was out there through the winter (a stupid oversight) and hasn't been used in nearly two years - Lord knows if it's still alright. I can dig it out and give it a go. It'll be a test of the monitor as much as the card, mind. That said, the monitor is a really good monitor and has been rock solid for years. So... if it works with a different monitor but not the good one, it doesn't really change anything other than information purposes.

Recommendations for a baseline card that will reliably support a 5K2K 10-bit monitor?

@Zeebedy Thanks, but a 3070ti seems excessive for someone who isn't looking for a gaming GPU? I'd put the Radeon 480 back in the system if I still had it.

 

[ElT]

The fact that you couldn't get a signal with the HDMI cable means you are probably using cables that are not good enough for the high bandwidth required for your chosen resolution which is 5K resolution. Even the DP cable needs to be one that is capable of at least 8K to be of sufficient quality. A standard 4K/60 DP cable won't be good enough hence why you are getting black screens or no signal.

It's not a 5K monitor, it's 5120x2160 and has a 60Hz max. I'm not sure how that fits in with the HDMI specs. As I mentioned the cable has "High Speed" on the side so I think that's the 4K version so you're probably right. However, I think that's the highest spec one I have to hand and the monitor only accepts 30Hz on HDMI so even if it works it's not an acceptable solution. It would get me through a few days though so you're right - if I knew it would work and had such a cable I could get one.

I'll dig out the old monitor and maybe try HDMI with that. That was 1440p.

A good way to test this theory is to connect your pc to a normal 1080P or 4K display such as a tv and use that for a while.

I do have a TV but it's rather large for me to move into the office.

Also you mentioned you are using 2x8pin split from a single psu cable which is not the correct way to power a high end gpu at a 5K resolution. Use a seperate 8pin cable from the psu for each 8pin socket.

Thank you!!!! I did mention that in the very first post in case it was an issue. I'll try swapping that over now. I don't know why it would have run fine (including under load) for over a week if that's the issue but I'm grateful for something else to try. I'll post back in a bit once I've done that.

 

[ElT]

@fs123 My day is saved and my happiness is immeasurable.

That was it. Simple as. Well, either it was the cables or the GPU really likes lying on its side 'cause I haven't put the case back together again yet. But I'm pretty sure it was the cables. I thought when I put it together it might be wrong but I figured "what's the point of having two 8-pin headers on the end of the cable if you could only use one?" and used the single cable for the sake of tidy management.

I still do not know why it worked for over a week on a single cable, including heavy load. So maybe it is that the computer only works when lying on its side. But anyway, it's been merrily working away for the last two hours and I've been able to complete the coding project my friend needed. I haven't tried gaming on it yet so I probably shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched. But I am feeling much more optimistic now.

Thank you - you actually saved me a whole lot of hassle.

 

[ElT]

Good to know it wasn't 'bad AMD drivers' which is the usual accusation from many people. I've had AMD cards for over a decade and never had any problems directly related to the gpu.
Let's hope the issue is resolved. Please report back once you are sure it's was the 8pin cable issue since it can help others who may have similar problems.

Well I've just spent about 2 1/2 hrs gaming on it and it performed like a champ.

All this talk about incompatible hardware had me starting to panic. But it's good in a way - now if you get any other muppets on the forum like me, people will know to start with the basics!