Radeon HD 6870 black lines followed by black screen.

[Vodslip]

Hello, Tech PowerUp.

I need your help, my GPU is possibly dead, but I have something a friend of mine told me stuck in my head.
So, just to clear my conscience.

After installing lots of mods (150~) on my TESV:Skyrim, and playing for a few seconds (The problem happened in character creation), a few (counted 5 afterwards) horizontal black lines appeared on my screen, followed by a full black screen and total crash. I could still hear the sound of the game, but even the led's on the keyboard stopped responding.
Since then, the problem persists at "Welcome to Windows" screen. Five horizontal black lines, then full black screen after a few seconds.

A friend of mine told me that some Scripts (Skyrim MODS) could actually bug a GPU, and recommended me to reset its BIOS.
I've searched a little bit and discovered that reseting the BIOS is only used as last resort, and not quite recommended.

I have tried already:
- Unninstalling and installing AMD Catalyst Drivers (Also tried installing the latest, beta one).
- Changing PCI-E Slots on the MOBA.
- Formatting the Computer.

And also confirmed that the problem is the GPU. I've switched cards with my brother. (He has the exact same card).

I'm using my onboard GPU at the moment, tho the monitor won't show any image if not connected to my offboard GPU. (The GPU is disabled on my Device Manager). This is really getting me confused, so i'm not sure if my GPU is really dead.

What do you guys think?

I'll be more than happy to have any extra help on this.
Thanks.

And this is my PC Build:

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 6870
MOBA: M4A89GTD PRO/USB3
CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T Black Ed.
Power Supply: Corsair VX550W

PS: Sorry if there are any misspelled words. English is my second language.
Also, if anything isn't nicely explained, just tell me and i'll cover it as soon as possible.

 

[eidairaman1]

Clean the machine of dust

 

[Chetkigaming]

Yeah, install fresh bios on the gpu, or its over.

 

[Vodslip]

Yeah, i'll be resetting the BIOS, if that doesnt work, i'll just buy a new Video Card, Thanks.

 

[Aquinus]

Yeah, install fresh bios on the gpu, or its over.

Bad idea. If you didn't flash the BIOS in the first place, don't do it unless you're very confident that it will fix it.

Flashing the GPU alone could end everything in a single keystroke if it isn't already borked.

You said that it happens when you boot into Windows. Have you ruled Windows out by starting with a linux live cd or starting in safe mode? If it still happens, then I would test the GPU in another rig to make sure it is dead but if you're getting any image on your display that isn't garbled when it boots up, I would be inclined to think that GPU is not dead.

It's worth noting when I got my reference 6870 back when I had a Phenom II 940, I needed to upgrade my PSU because the machine wouldn't even boot with my 550-watt PSU. I got a Corsair GS800 to replace a BFG 550-watt (which still works and is driving my friend's computer,) and my issues instantly went away. Not to say that this is your issue, but it's worth keeping in mind.

 

[FX-GMC]

Yeah, i'll be resetting the BIOS, if that doesnt work, i'll just buy a new Video Card, Thanks.

Have you confirmed that the fan is spinning on the card?

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Bad idea. If you didn't flash the BIOS in the first place, don't do it unless you're very confident that it will fix it.

Flashing the GPU alone could end everything in a single keystroke if it isn't already borked.

You said that it happens when you boot into Windows. Have you ruled Windows out by starting with a linux live cd or starting in safe mode? If it still happens, then I would test the GPU in another rig to make sure it is dead but if you're getting any image on your display that isn't garbled when it boots up, I would be inclined to think that GPU is not dead.

It's worth noting when I got my reference 6870 back when I had a Phenom II 940, I needed to upgrade my PSU because the machine wouldn't even boot with my 550-watt PSU. I got a Corsair GS800 to replace a BFG 550-watt (which still works and is driving my friend's computer,) and my issues instantly went away. Not to say that this is your issue, but it's worth keeping in mind.

Yeah, I was about to say, flashing the BIOS of the card, without troubleshooting other things first, is an awful idea/recommendation.

 

[Vodslip]

@Aquinus, I have formatted my HD, tried my GPU on my brother's computer and the crash ocurred. Tried my brother's GPU (Exactly the same one) on my computer and it worked just fine. I have used Safe Mode to disable the Video Card so I could stop the crash and start Windows.

@FX-GMC, Yes, the fan was spinning when the Video Card was enabled, not sure if it spins with it disabled.

@MxPhenom 216, I'm about to buy another Video Card, so the last thing I could try is to reset the bios. I can't think of anything else to try to save this GPU.

Thanks for the Reply guys.

 

[Aquinus]

Yeah, that sounds like the card to me. I don't think flashing the BIOS will fix it though. It sounds to me that a new video card is in your future.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Im surprised you people even waste time replying to Chetkigaming. Everybody here knows he's just here to troll and spread misinformation.

Sooner you ignore him, the sooner he will leave like Blue-Knight

 

[Vario]

Might be possible to bake the card. You should read up on it as much as possible. http://www.overclockers.com/the-oven-trick-repairing-your-broken-video-card-with-an-oven/
http://www.overclock.net/t/529271/bake-your-graphics-card-in-the-oven-fix-it-worked
http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

Many threads on this subject...

You don't have much to lose anyway.

 

[FX-GMC]

Might be possible to bake the card. You should read up on it as much as possible. http://www.overclockers.com/the-oven-trick-repairing-your-broken-video-card-with-an-oven/
http://www.overclock.net/t/529271/bake-your-graphics-card-in-the-oven-fix-it-worked
http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven

You don't have much to lose anyway.

Using a heat gun and avoiding heat sensitive parts is a better option. If no heat gun, I agree it's worth a shot. May buy another week to a few months of life.

 

[Aquinus]

Might be possible to bake the card. You should read up on it as much as possible. http://www.overclockers.com/the-oven-trick-repairing-your-broken-video-card-with-an-oven/
http://www.overclock.net/t/529271/bake-your-graphics-card-in-the-oven-fix-it-worked
http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

Many threads on this subject...

You don't have much to lose anyway.

Solder melting isn't usually an issue in 6000-series cards. I don't think it's a broken connection. I suspect it wouldn't work at all if that were the case, but I could be wrong.

 

[MKRaiden]

Hi

Have you found a solution to your Problem?

I just got exactly the same problem with the same graphics card. Seems like I downloaded a few Skyrim Mods to many, resumed my savegame, walked a few steps, got a black screen, music kept playing and after nothing happend for a few minutes I restarted my System. Since then I also get the already described blank screen instead of my usual logon screen.

I did some troubleshooting of my own and also narrowed the Problem down to my specific graphic Card. I also discovered that at least in my case I can boot into safe mode, remove the Drivers and succesfuly boot the System using the Default VGA Drivers. But as soon as I install the Catalyst Drivers (regardles of Version) or use the update Drivers function of Windows the blank screen occurs again. Ironically it doesn't occur right away but only after restarting the system.

After reading this thread I also tried flashing the bios with a new one but it didn't have any effect. So if you have an solution for our mutual Problem I would be very thankful.

 

[Vario]

MKR, did your card overheat from the graphical intensity of Skyrim+mods? Any burn marks on the circuit board? Have you tested the power supply unit to see if maybe it is the failure point?

 

[Bansaku]

MKR, did your card overheat from the graphical intensity of Skyrim+mods? Any burn marks on the circuit board? Have you tested the power supply unit to see if maybe it is the failure point?

+1 on this. This was my first thought. Either the card fried itself because of the graphics intensity of the mods, or the PSU got messed up due to the excess power draw from the card, or both. When in doubt, check the PSU first, then the card.

 

[Aquinus]

I must say that the thermal paste dries out on my 6870s strangely quickly, even more so on the TwinFrozr as opposed to the reference design. When you're overclocking these GPUs and start cranking the voltage they can get pretty power hungry and can get pretty hot.

Were both of you overclocking when this happened? Also how old are the cards since you bought them (I'm assuming you both got them new?) and have you replaced the thermal compound since then? It might be worth while to remove the cooler and re-seat it while also giving the card a thorough visual inspection as well.

 

[MKRaiden]

Hello and thanks for all your input.

I opened up my Radeon today and there are no visible marks on the circuit board. As far as the thermal paste goes it's not dried out and there was enough of it on the chip, even though it was never replaced.

I also changed my PSU as well as tried another card on the existing PSU and the new PSU with no effect. The Radeon card still goes into black screen as soon as the logon screen appears. The other card (Radeon R7) boots without a hitch on both PSUs.

As far as overclocking goes I never overclocked the card or tried to do so since I bought it (new) about 3,5 years ago.

 

[Vario]

If there are burns on the board you shouldn't use it anymore or it could damage other components such as the power supply or the motherboard.

Sorry to hear that happened.

 

[Aquinus]

If there are burns on the board you shouldn't use it anymore or it could damage other components such as the power supply or the motherboard.

Sorry to hear that happened.

I think he misspelled "no". I think he mean't to say that there are no visible marks on the board. Now would indicate that there weren't any before, but he had never removed the cooler so he wouldn't have known what it looked like before, so that wouldn't make sense.

 

[MKRaiden]

Sorry for the missunderstanding, english isn't my first language so somehow the intended "no marks" turnt to "now marks"

 

[Chetkigaming]

good that i have nvidia and can install all mods at the same time without destroyed gpu

 

[Aquinus]

good that i have nvidia and can install all mods at the same time without destroyed gpu

I don't think the mods killed the GPU, it's more likely just a coincidence that it died when he was using Skyrim.

 

[Vodslip]

Both of us was using Skyrim, but I also think it was just a coincidence. Also, most of my mods was just adding new things, just a few messed with textures and graphics to fry the GPU.
I confirmed that my problem is not the PSU when the GPU crashed on my brother's setup.

@MKRaiden, I haven't found a solution. And about this: " Ironically it doesn't occur right away but only after restarting the system. "
I think the driver won't make any changes until you restart your system, thats why you only get the crash after restarting the system.

I'm already thinking about getting a new GPU.

 

[Evans07]

i also have excactly the same problem on my saphirre 6870 toxic (OC) ..after some changes on CS:GO gpu made strange vertical and horizontal stripes or there was a line in the middle of the monitor and the right side had moved to the left and the left to the right and after all that when i closed the game it returned to the normal that kept on for like 10days or more (sometimes it didn't shows anything wrong and i was playing without that errors with normal fps etc etc) but one day it was like the fatality c0z the problems continued and after closing the application and after that point the only thing i can see is a black screen with blue stripes.
I put the same VGA in another pc and it works perfectly!
its rly strange this situation ! I reinstalled drivers and new catalyst but i got the same prob.Also Nvidia works fine on the same pc!
can someone help ?