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Why is AMD quiet about black screens on 290x?

Warsam71 said:
We are going to release a new driver tomorrow which will fix the black screen problem you've been experiencing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update, but that's thrown a spanner in the works!

Been looking at a 290, but with the black screen problem, there was no way I was going to risk it as my kid is a hardcore PC nut and I need stability first and foremost for him-the blackscreen issue I 100% will live without.

I was leaning towards a 780 for PhysX and my boy would put shadowplay to good use as he keeps badgering me to upload some vids to his youtube channel.

The downside to Nvidia though is whether the Nvidia 3D hack for my sammy actually works and is viable as I like my 3D and I'm not willing to junk my very good monitor for a higher changeover cost to then be tied to Nvidia.:(

And last but not least, from what Iv'e read on the forum, Nvidia isn't as stable in BF4 as AMD-as it's been flawless on my 7950's-and that is my main game for the foreseeable future I imagine.
 
tommybhoy said:
Thanks for the update, but that's thrown a spanner in the works!

Been looking at a 290, but with the black screen problem, there was no way I was going to risk it as my kid is a hardcore PC nut and I need stability first and foremost for him-the blackscreen issue I 100% will live without.

I was leaning towards a 780 for PhysX and my boy would put shadowplay to good use as he keeps badgering me to upload some vids to his youtube channel.

The downside to Nvidia though is whether the Nvidia 3D hack for my sammy actually works and is viable as I like my 3D and I'm not willing to junk my very good monitor for a higher changeover cost to then be tied to Nvidia.:(

And last but not least, from what Iv'e read on the forum, Nvidia isn't as stable in BF4 as AMD-as it's been flawless on my 7950's-and that is my main game for the foreseeable future I imagine.
Click to expand...

You're not buying a 290 because you're afraid your kid wont approve it or whatver? lol
 
Guys I have a VERY serious question (since amd said its a driver problem..?)

if it's a driver problem, how come:
1) some people who had black screens RMA'd their cards and the new card was rock solid?

2) How come I haven't experienced any black screens? (the only time I ever had one was when overclocking the memory through CCC and after restarting, it applied the oc on startup and blackscreened on desktop after any gpu/scrolling activity--that's when I knew that that type of lockup had to be something related to memory or GPU protection shutdown).. I've even gone to 1150/1500 (90% fan) with +100mv and it ran 3dmark/firestrike like a baws, and heaven is solid with 1125/1500 and +50mv. I didn't see any probs in BF4 either, and one test mentioned on ocuk, running "dark Souls" which caused this one guy to black screen almost instantly, seemed fine too (and MAME emulator was fine).

Sure I'll do more testing to try to trigger it, but why isn't it happening to me?
(and why does it seem the vast majority of cases are those with elpida memory rather than Hynix?).

Thank you.
 
Falkentyne said:
Guys I have a VERY serious question (since amd said its a driver problem..?)

if it's a driver problem, how come:
1) some people who had black screens RMA'd their cards and the new card was rock solid?

2) How come I haven't experienced any black screens? (the only time I ever had one was when overclocking the memory through CCC and after restarting, it applied the oc on startup and blackscreened on desktop after any gpu/scrolling activity--that's when I knew that that type of lockup had to be something related to memory or GPU protection shutdown).. I've even gone to 1150/1500 (90% fan) with +100mv and it ran 3dmark/firestrike like a baws, and heaven is solid with 1125/1500 and +50mv. I didn't see any probs in BF4 either, and one test mentioned on ocuk, running "dark Souls" which caused this one guy to black screen almost instantly, seemed fine too (and MAME emulator was fine).

Sure I'll do more testing to try to trigger it, but why isn't it happening to me?
(and why does it seem the vast majority of cases are those with elpida memory rather than Hynix?).

Thank you.
Click to expand...

1. Many think its related to ASIC or component combinations. Im one of them.
2. You're barely overvolting.
 
vUNREALv said:
On rage3d that cavemanJim put that's its something to do with the gddr5 memory training under different workloads.
Click to expand...
I can only think that this means memory timings are being set dynamically through the driver and based on performance during initial (possibly light) workloads. Cards with lower performing memory would then fall over under heavy workloads. This would then explain the differences people are seeing due to the different makes of memory and luck of the silicon draw.

If these drivers do in fact relax timings, it would be interesting to see if this shows up in benchmarks.
 
Falkentyne said:
Guys I have a VERY serious question (since amd said its a driver problem..?)

if it's a driver problem, how come:
1) some people who had black screens RMA'd their cards and the new card was rock solid?

2) How come I haven't experienced any black screens? (the only time I ever had one was when overclocking the memory through CCC and after restarting, it applied the oc on startup and blackscreened on desktop after any gpu/scrolling activity--that's when I knew that that type of lockup had to be something related to memory or GPU protection shutdown).. I've even gone to 1150/1500 (90% fan) with +100mv and it ran 3dmark/firestrike like a baws, and heaven is solid with 1125/1500 and +50mv. I didn't see any probs in BF4 either, and one test mentioned on ocuk, running "dark Souls" which caused this one guy to black screen almost instantly, seemed fine too (and MAME emulator was fine).

Sure I'll do more testing to try to trigger it, but why isn't it happening to me?
(and why does it seem the vast majority of cases are those with elpida memory rather than Hynix?).

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Good points, I do wonder how the driver is going to fix this. Perhaps it going to cover something up. The last drive update ramped up the fan speed to stop throttling. Wonder what theyre going to do now.
 
IT Troll said:
I can only think that this means memory timings are being set dynamically through the driver and based on performance during initial (possibly light) workloads. Cards with lower performing memory would then fall over under heavy workloads. This would then explain the differences people are seeing due to the different makes of memory and luck of the silicon draw.

If these drivers do in fact relax timings, it would be interesting to see if this shows up in benchmarks.
Click to expand...

Is there an SPD tool for GPU mem that shows timings etc? I saw this tool that shows you the manufacturer (Elpida, Hynix etc) so there should be.
 
Warsam71 said:
Hello everyone,

Our Customer Support and Driver Teams have been aware of this problem and been working on it; they collected lots of feedback from our Support Forums, which has been very helpful.

I'd also like to thank those of you who have reached out to me directly via PM (i.e. weldon855) to provide more details about the issue.

We are going to release a new driver tomorrow which will fix the black screen problem you've been experiencing.

Thank you very much for your patience
Click to expand...


Last night I wrapped up my Sapphire R9 290X ready to send back to OCUK.

Now I will wait to see if these Drivers stop the "Black Screen" crashing!

Can't wait to try them. Since buying this card it's been nothing but a headache.

Great when it works...but those "blackScreens" Grrrrr.

Eagerly awaiting these new Drivers......
 
nickrorschach said:
I simply don't understand how a driver update can fix this - also pretty ****ed off i RMA'ed my card now.
Click to expand...
Understanding is not a requirement in this situation, only that it works is.

Just like when years ago 2-4GB System ram was the norm for enthusiasts and a driver came out that would not install drivers for the other GPUs in a multi GPU setup besides the first GPU if you had 8GB of system ram, it was fixed in the next driver.
 
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