Sapphire RMA Question

MrMarvelous · 12 Aug 2013 at 14:03

Hi guys. My 7970 is starting to die I think, on occasions the screen will flickers and sometimes get really messed up where the top half will have coloured lines going down it while the bottom half will just be a static grey colour. I bought this card off the Members Market here and i'm trying to sort an RMA out for it now but i'm worried that when Sapphire get it they might not be able to re-create the problem as it seems really random when it happens.

Some days it'll be constant, other days it'll be in long intervals and days like today it seems fine. I've never done or dealt with an RMA so I have no idea what to expect and how Sapphire will deal with it too.

Would like advice is possible please, thanks.

Lartyconshayo · 12 Aug 2013 at 16:04

I had a similair prob although it crashed fairly constantly. 6870. The best advice I can give is to test it in another rig. Ask a mate . If you don't have one yourself. And take pics, video of the issue. Then RMA. I dealt with it through OCUK as I bought the card from them as part of pre assembled rig. But I've not dealt with Sapphire direct. Took about a month once sent card to OCUK. Got a 7870 2GB as replacement

MrMarvelous · 12 Aug 2013 at 18:48

I've been turning my computer on and off, trying different games and it's not happening now. The problem is the that the RMA is getting arranged now and for some random and bizarre reason I can't replicate the issue.

What the hell is going on. :confused:

ToxicTBag · 12 Aug 2013 at 20:01

The force is not with you today P

Just try running a few tests maybe even a pic or a short video as the last thing you want is to send it off to rma and it be returned with "no fault found" as you would be billed for that outcome

MrMarvelous · 12 Aug 2013 at 20:41

Trying everything haha! Just downloaded Heaven and i've ran about 6 full runs, absolutely nothing! I've got my phone handy and i'll get pictures/video if anything happens. Like I said, I have no idea why it's not doing it now, i've not changed anything at all.

ToxicTBag · 13 Aug 2013 at 21:18

No joy replicating the problem yet? just keep your phone handy and keep us uptodate fingers crossed it does not happen again

MrMarvelous · 14 Aug 2013 at 02:05

Hi apologies for not keeping you updated mate it's been hectic today. I've had no luck so far, even when the bloody thing is overclocked!

I've ran a good 2 hour session on BF3 today which is all maxed out and not a single hitch, both overclocked and stock. I honestly have no idea what the hell is happening with this card. It started flickering about a month back and gradually got worse, I sent you a PM regarding the issue and as soon as I did it started to behave!

Don't arrange for the RMA please, hopefully it won't go **** up anymore but i'm still concerned as to why it did it and all of a sudden it's not doing it anymore. I physically haven't touched the card what so ever, I only changed from the 13.8 Beta driver back to the stock 13.4 one and the back again (it flickered/artifacted on both drivers) and it seems to be O.K for now.

Absolutely bizarre, in all my years using PC's i've never had this issue before because with me it's usually a case of it either works or it doesn't.

Again thanks for all your help T and apologies for the inconvenience, hopefully it won't happen again.

ToxicTBag · 14 Aug 2013 at 04:59

No problem at all , darn it is the most annoying situation to be in when you cant reproduce something like that.
Its no inconvenience the only casuality is your curiosity sounds like its driven you a wee bit batty :eek:

Don't hesitate to contact me if you should need too.

LtMatt · 14 Aug 2013 at 07:04

What kind of flickering was it? Was it whilst you were using a browser or playing a game? What third part tool, if any, were you using to overclock the gpu?

85256638 · 14 Aug 2013 at 09:07

RMA for Sapphire is a bit problem. I`ve heard that you have to sent the card to Hongkong to get a repalcement. Usually it takes 1 month

Neutronstar1989 · 14 Aug 2013 at 12:33

I had the same problem on my new Sapphire Dual-x OC 7950 last night, it would happen when opening VLC player or when watching a video in Google Chrome. I've lowered my overclocks a bit and havent seen it occur so far today.

Going to keep a close eye on it though, will be gutting if I have to deal with a RMA to china, this is my first high-end GPU

MrMarvelous · 14 Aug 2013 at 12:58

Basically whenever I started any game pretty much instantly (while in-game) the screen would flicker on and off from the game to a black screen. Other times it wouldn't do it for a while, then it would start and eventually just crap out. It would look something like this:

But the bottom half of the screen would be a static grey bar. I only overclocked it when I ran Heaven when I 1st got it and after that I ran it at stock because it plays everything maxed out with ease anyway at stock clocks.

I'm on a knife edge at the moment because I really hope it was something to do with the 3d clocks (potentially?), really don't want to have to RMA it and inconvenience people who are busy. The bizarre thing is that now it works fine (so far) and even when overclocked to 1050/1600.

Crossing my fingers here as I really don't want to have to ship it to China and wait a month, only for them to send it back and say 'we couldn't replicate the problem'.

LtMatt · 14 Aug 2013 at 13:03

What did you use to overclock, CCC or something else?

MrMarvelous · 14 Aug 2013 at 13:10

MSi Afterburner 2.3.1 Beta.

LtMatt · 14 Aug 2013 at 13:16

MrMarvelous said:
MSi Afterburner 2.3.1 Beta.

You're using a really old version. Things have changed a bit since then. Use the latest version and copy and use these same settings as me. Its possible that the flickering could have been caused by your old afterburner applying clock changes. Download the latest beta below. Beta 12. version 3.

http://forums.videocardz.com/topic/548-msi-afterburner-300-beta-12-rtss-520/

You might want to tick extend official overclocking limits as well if you find yourself too restricted on the core and memory. You'll need to restart your pc after you run it and install it first time as well as when you disable ULPS and extend clock limits before the changes take place.

MrMarvelous · 14 Aug 2013 at 13:27

Wow that's weird, I just clicked the little 'Check now' thing and it says it's all up to date? :confused:

hence me using this one for ages, WTF!

Will download and install now, thanks Matt!

LtMatt · 14 Aug 2013 at 13:43

Nay bother. I think the version you're using is so old the that updater doesn't work any more.

Neutronstar1989 · 14 Aug 2013 at 15:44

i'm using the AB 2.3.1 as well, maybe that could be the issue...

MrMarvelous · 26 Aug 2013 at 00:50

Sorry to be bumping this but after nearly 2 weeks of hassle free gaming it's bloody started again but this time i've managed to take screenshots and a video (which is uploading now), it's 150Mb though as I didn't realise that I had my phone on 1080p. :rolleyes:

Screen went weird earlier today so I had to shut it off holding the power button. Behaved for a few hours up until now (around 0:30am) when all of a sudden it started artifacting on WoW. Tried CoD4 and exactly the same thing but didn't record it. Note that this is the card running at stock clocks/volts without any overclocking software running in the background. tried to show this in the video when I tabbed out. Could anyone advise me on what to do here as it seems really temperamental when the card does this and i'm getting concerned that it'll die on me.

Posting pictures now, will update with vide once it's uploaded.

wazza300 · 26 Aug 2013 at 00:53

tried setting power control slider to 20% in catalyst control centre/performance/amd overdrive?

my card needs 10% or it will do the same as above in certain games,once I do that its fine for hours on end

the other card I have is fine on 0%