ASUS R9 290X OC2 Dead in 30 Minutes.

[XAKEP]

Hello guys today I have to start my very first post with huge problem I am having and I do not know a solution and all official channels are not helping at all, I can RMA damn thing but you guys my last hope. I will get all details and start from the beginning. I really hope someone can help me because I feel so stupid by doing what I did. So ... here we go.

Few days ago I finally finish building my dream computer this is an upgrade from my X58 system. An ASUS X99 Deluxe board with nice new i7 5930K, amazing 16GB of Corsair Dominator 2800 memory, pair of Samsung 850s Pro, 24' NEC monitors, HAF X case and ....ASUS R9290X-DC2OC-4GD5 GPU.

I installed Windows 8.1 all updated drivers and software , all usual and traditional boring stuff and then during my quest for new drivers after amd.com I decided to see what ASUS have for my shiny and very expensive (even now) card. Well I'll be damn brand new BIOS , at that time it was date that BIOS came out yesterday. And only in description I see 2 things. A bios version it said 1.2 Enhanced Stability. And right away my first thought was, "nah you never messed with GPU BIOS let it be" But looking at STABILITY word I kinda clicked on download link. I got nice zip file with exe file archived inside. Well right in the middle of my tasks I decided to check what is this BIOS all about and I expected to see ACTUAL version of BIOS so I can check forums and see of there is not more trouble than good doing this, however instead of usual table with "OLD/NEW" and "Are you Sure? three time" I got message "Updating ...." right away I cursed and said who the hell doing this sort of program without any confirmation or any kind of manual just decided to update. After about 30 seconds I got a window with Error. Right away I knew I am in the big trouble and started recording my every move. So here is first screenshot of actual Error I received.

Now from this Window I kinda can see that this utility Identified my device as 67B0 but never got Product name or Old Bios Version. Not sure if this is relevant but this is what I've gotten for being a curious duck. My next move was to go to catalyst and make screen shoot of Hardware page will all data on it, at that time I didn't know if it'll show me new data from updated BIOS or not.

Here is Sscreenshotfrom Catalyst after I tried to flash BIOS and FAILED but before restarting computer.

I strongly believe this is my original readout and nothing is changed at this moment.

I had absolutely no choice but to restart my system. Before I tried to do same process again and again it failed. On restart My brand new ASUS X99 Deluxe motherboard showed me a GPU Debug LED bright red Light and even gave me 1 Long + 3 Short Beeps. By knowing Q-Code and nice GPU_DEBUG LED Red solid light told me all I need to know I just bricked my very expensive GPU without doing absolutely nothing that I wasn't and shouldn't be doing. EXE is on official Support page and I pray to god they remove it or somehow make this thing work correctly. So after almost shooting myself in the head I decided to dive in to the problem and find out my card have DUAL Bios setup, a Performance and Quite BIOS (after testing my a lot of people they are 100% identical in terms of performance) So by switching switch to the left I managed to boot up again. Now I have no room for error. Countless forums and research I found everything there is to know about GPU Flashing. Including that even with 100% non bootable GPU if I have a place to put 2 GPUS at the same time I can restore BIOS by using atiflash.exe So here is what happened. Remember my X58 System ? Well I have nice HD6970 GPU on it and I put it in PCIx__1 and "Broken" R9290X in to PCIx_3 boot and indeed I managed to flash my R9290X with BIOS I found in database on this website. I thought My problems were over ..... I was mistaking.

Here is scscreenshotf my current BIOS that I flashed using atiflash.exe and using BIOS from here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/152284/asus-r9290x-4096-131206.html

As you can see BIOS part is different and date also different my original BIOS were 2014/04/07 and they have only 2013/12/06 and 103 vs 101. I am not sure how this work, like R9 290x are all the same and I can mix and match models and even companies but here is what's happening now.

Gaming performance is very poor iot almost looks like a wave, I can have 60 fps for about 10 seconds then it goes down to 20, them back up to 60 and so on. But worst part Every 5 minutes Catalyst freezing whole system and Windows telling me that Video Driver crashed and recovered. This is not acceptable I can't do anything. I even re installed Windows 8.1 from the scratch. Full format .... I didn't help at all. Exactly same story. Temp solution came suddenly I decided to Boot My R9 290X on PCIx_3 slot. In Manual of X99 Deluxe it's said that on single GPU setup I can use slot 1 or slot 3. No problem. And guess what everything works 100% no driver crash no nothing. Some may say well why you just wasted an hour writing post well because of 2 things. My card is not correct still, it should work on ANY port in ANY computer, also BIOS, my original 2014 BIOS, does anyone recently purchased R9 290X from ASUS and may be can upload both Performance and Quite BIOS ?

Also 2 words on GPU Tweak. After I flashed BIOS with rom from this site GPU Tweak, a utility made by ASUS told me the update is available. I was like great, Legit tool let's UPDATE.

Guess what ? Exactly SAME CRAP, Downloading .... FLASH ERROR ! same 0FL01 error .... I mean how come this is happening. atiflash does wonders so AGAIN I had to go tru this thing again to restore BIOS with secondary card .....so there we go this is my story, and btw when card failed for very first time I just installed Windows and were updating Drivers , 30 minutes in to usage .....

Later on I managed to use this GPU Tweak utility to download this AS11L Bios but instead of using it to update I used atiflash.exe to update, and indeed BIOS date were 2014/07/28 but nothing changed LOW FPS and Catalyst crashes. So I went back to BIOS from this web site but for some reason I feel while I am on PCIx_3 I can use ANY bios and I wont get slowdowns. I really wish I can just go back to before I saw this damn BIOS update page.

Please help and advice on what to do. I really hope to get good , stable BIOS on my card and use it on PCIx_1 slot where it was before all this started. One more thing card Worked 100% because before I started BIOS flashing I ran a game and some 3DMark benches , I had no catalyst errors and slowdowns. So it;'s not like my PCIx_1 port is messed up. I also used my HD6970 Card from old X58 system to double check ... ALL GOOD.

Please help I really lost here guys. I"ll provide anything you need.

Thank you so much.

 

[buildzoid]

Why don't you try the BIOS switch on the edge of the GPU it should get you onto backup BIOS. Also why on earth did you flash a GPU?! Seriously "more stability" is what's written on every BIOS revision I've ever seen and from my experience it is rarely true. If the current BIOS is stable the one you replace it with will most likely break something.

 

[Ja.KooLit]

Flip bios switch to other side, then boot, then once computer is booted and working, flip bios switch to the "broken" bios then flash back the original bios. and then reboot.


like buildzoid said, why did you flash bios? if the card is working fine, why on earth would you flash it? youre just inviting trouble when you flash things.

 

[Ruyki]

I read it all but I'm not sure I understand completely. Do you still have the second (quiet) bios as it came from the factory or did you flash over it too?

 

[lowrider_05]

from what i understand he flashed it with the asus flash program wich flashes both bioses at once and because the website promises an stability improvement.

 

[sjungermann]

Hello. I have the same card as you. The latest version 1.2 from ASUS WEBSITE is 11L. In my card it really improved stability. In my case I could use ASUS file without problem. Maybe you will have to extract bios.rom and do it by the way you are doing now. In ASUS site version - is 04L. Version 1.0 - 07L and Version 1.2 - 11L .
In techpowerup they didn´t update the database for this VGA. This is why you couldn´t find a new version there!!

 

[XAKEP]

Like I said before this is only time I ever even had an idea about GPU bios flash.

sjungermann can you please provide 2 things for me. One conditions you had when you flashed with exe 1.2 bios is . save or reg mode. I don't understand why 2 diffirent tools gave me error. GPU Tweak and that build in flashed with 1.2 Bios. Also is it possible you can save both performance and quite bios in dropbox or something so I can get em off you. And last thing you guys saying I can switch bios while in Windows ? Like hot switch ?

 

[eidairaman1]

Wheres your psu?

 

[XAKEP]

Wheres your psu?

You mean what is my PSU ? It's an Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 . Very good 1000W PSU that is working perfectly

 

[eidairaman1]

Honestly ive been hearing of x99 boards goin boom, id take everything out and start on a bench with psu, seat that card fully in top peg 16x slot, if it fails still, check warranty of board against where you bought it and have it exchanged, last is to go to board maker

 

[sjungermann]

Send your email inbox that I will send my performance bios.rom . The quiet mode I can send you after because I have to change the switch and I need to open my computer. I made my flash in normal mode downloading from ASUS website. My OS is W7 64 bits. Run with administrator rights.

 

[XAKEP]

I just checked ASUS Flashing utility (aka exe file) and indeed ASUS using atiwinflash to flash BIOS, I guess now I need to find out if anything I Am running AV or may be some firewall or something preventing me to update bios inside windows. Also This could be reason my card is not working properly. Also is this normal It totally don't see my current BIOS ..like at al all blanks look.

IF I can pinpoint exact .rom file I need for both performance and quite I guess I can try flashing it in DPS with atiflash if windows FAILS again.

Here are files

Also Asus just replied. They said disable TPU and EPU and try again ......

 

[Chetkigaming]

Удачи в решении.

 

[XAKEP]

Send your email inbox that I will send my performance bios.rom . The quiet mode I can send you after because I have to change the switch and I need to open my computer. I made my flash in normal mode downloading from ASUS website. My OS is W7 64 bits. Run with administrator rights.

Understood. See if you can pinpoint from list above both roms and I'll PM you my email. Thank you !

 

[sneekypeet]

Two things come to mind immediately! Learn to flash in DOS, and anyone who lives in the real world, an RMA is not in your future. The card shipped and worked, you broke it, and want Asus/the retailer to owe you something?

 

[cadaveca]

Two things come to mind immediately! Learn to flash in DOS, and anyone who lives in the real world, an RMA is not in your future. The card shipped and worked, you broke it, and want Asus/the retailer to owe you something?

Sure do, when it's their software that caused the problem. ASUS offers flash via Windows via GPUTweak, and if that was what was used, RMA is 1000% legit. He even got the update via ASUS website...:

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/R9290DC2OC4GD5/HelpDesk_Download/

If they don't provide proper guidelines for flashing, it's on them, not the end user, really.

 

[sneekypeet]

Sure do, when it's their software that caused the problem. ASUS offers flash via Windows via GPUTweak, and if that was what was used, RMA is 1000% legit. He even got the update via ASUS website...:

http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/R9290DC2OC4GD5/HelpDesk_Download/

If they don't provide proper guidelines for flashing, it's on them, not the end user, really.

Does any GPU manufacturer write a tutorial on how not to brick your card? Also as far as I am aware, all companies make their own BIOS for whatever card is in question. So the only part that may help him is that the software failed, but again it is common knowledge for what I said earlier and I still stand by what I said. The card worked, he screwed with it, and now it doesn't! Did the instructions on the card say to install and be sure to screw it all up with a BIOS update, nope pretty sure it doesn't, so as you can see there are two sides!

 

[cadaveca]

Does any GPU manufacturer write a tutorial on how not to brick your card?

Yep, they all do, and ASUS does as well, normally. Kind of shocked it's not linked there. There's usually a readme attached in the flashing package.

Also as far as I am aware, all companies make their own BIOS for whatever card is in question. So the only part that may help him is that the software failed, but again it is common knowledge for what I said earlier and I still stand by what I said. The card worked, he screwed with it, and now it doesn't! Did the instructions on the card say to install and be sure to screw it all up with a BIOS update, nope pretty sure it doesn't, so as you can see there are two sides!

I am pretty sure he tried to flash the BIOS in the image I showed above. I could have read it wrong, though. As far as I understood his post, he tried flashing the ASUS BIOS, had problems, and was then asking if another brand's BIOS would fix the problems that the ASUS BIOS caused.

I decided to see what ASUS have for my shiny and very expensive (even now) card. Well I'll be damn brand new BIOS , at that time it was date that BIOS came out yesterday. And only in description I see 2 things. A bios version it said 1.2 Enhanced Stability.

Otherwise, I'm with you, man. But I'm pretty sure this user used the ASUS-provided flashing tool, which has nothing inside the download except an self-executing .exe. This .exe just did it's stuff, without any prompts, and that is what resulted in his problems. Given his response, ASUS is suggesting that having either EPU or TPU software can cause problems.

 

[OneMoar]

this industry shift toward updating firmware from windows is BADDD mojo especially when said utilitys are more often then not complete fucking garbage
@sneekypeet op doesn't strike me as the typical nubs we get crying about how they bricked there card by monkeying around
he used a asus supplied utility for HIS card supplied BY Asus and he did nothing other then execute it its asus's
problem when there shit don't work and personally I think this whole de-facto industry attitude when it comes to bios flashes and warrantee is complete horse shit

/// so yea we will provide you with a update but we make no promises that it won't fkup your shit and if it does its your fault for trying up update it ///

 

[sneekypeet]

IDK if he knew what he was doing he would not have flashed a year old bios to the card either, at least that is the way I read his CCC screenshots. Again, Asus does not say anywhere that a flash is needed out of the gate, I mean he hadn't had the card an hour, likely didn't even game, so what stability issues were even there?

While I get the point you are all trying to make, when I do something wrong, I do not pass the cost off to the rest of us for my failure. If you all want to hang out in the morally grey area, that is your call!

 

[cadaveca]

Meh. He's posting here and sent a ticket into ASUS. So I think he's got your end covered here. I get what you are saying though, yet at the same time, I don't think anything is overpriced right now, so RMA is no big deal to me. He used ASUS-supplied update, which, if not needed, shouldn't be posted on the product page for the card if they weren't willing to have such happen in the first place. And since I know how RMA process works at most companies, the cost isn't as large as you'd think. They simply get a small number to do initial RMAs with, then send out parts that are sent in, many times not even testing before sending.

 

[OneMoar]

its 2014 you should be-able to update the firmware of ANY device without the slightest worrie That if shit happens your hardware is KIA
this crap with vendors and bios updates being a hit and miss (looking at you MSI/ASROCK) has got to stop along with the whole flashing=void warranty garbage thats been circling since 2000
flipping MSI doesn't even provide a dos/or even a MFLASH .rom or .bin for there boards anymore and ASrock is leaning the sameway wtf

 

[eidairaman1]

People should only do bios flashes at the discretion of the board makers support not on their own mobos are easier to do than vcs

 

[cadaveca]

If you all want to hang out in the morally grey area, that is your call!

Thing is, ASUS installs product registration program with motherboards (and maybe GPUs, too). So, the way I see it, this is solved simply, by having the installer have end user agree to assume all liability, have serial number of card inside BIOS, and when user wants to flash BIOS, they have to send in "signed" agreement before the flash "unlocks". Problem solved.

Warranty isn't valid with OC'ing, with many things, either, people RMA for THAT all the time. Someone using OEM-provided software, and having an issue, is a problem that deserves to be sent in for RMA, no matter WHAT caused the problem. I've got boards here that will automatically reboot into DOS to flash BIOS, and if a board can do that, a VGA can as well. This is a fault with how GPU BIOS updates are provided the way I see it.

 

[OneMoar]

we should be at the stageswhen both VGA's and main-boards should ship with a isolated SOC capable of restoring the ROM in pretty much any case short of a physical failure ASUS's does this with there flash back but the question still remains why are we still using EPROM's and serial interfaces in this day and age at minimum vendors should ship ALL boards with at isolated write protected-rom that contains a copy of the boot-block surely the cost of adding that would be close to negligible