My GPU dying? Constant shadow flicker in Valheim and a few other games.

[R-T-B]

clean install of drivers? i don't know. nightmare scenario, clean install of OS and everything. a chore for most, but I can have that done in no time thanks to fiber internet and well all I do is game. lol

It does it in Linux too in same game on OpenGL, which is far more than a clean install.

You know, I wonder if this was a mining card. I should check if the bios on it is in fact the one it should be...

EDIT: The plot thickens.

This card is identifying as an XC ultra. But the serial number and such are indicating it's an "XC2 Ultra." I think this card may have been crossflashed.

Hopefully this leads me to a solution, because that basically kills my warranty.

 

[INSTG8R]

It does it in Linux too in same game on OpenGL, which is far more than a clean install.

You know, I wonder if this was a mining card. I should check if the bios on it is in fact the one it should be...

EDIT: The plot thickens.

This card is identifying as an XC ultra. But the serial number and such are indicating it's an "XC2 Ultra." I think this card may have been crossflashed.

Hopefully this leads me to a solution, because that basically kills my warranty.

Well it would explain why the VRAM is funky. Good catch! Hopefully the right BIOS actually fixes it.

 

[R-T-B]

We have an unverified XC2 ultra bios too. I'll give it a try.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

While I”m a Time Spy guy. Firestrike used to be one that would show GFX corruption if something was off.

High setting in Superposition, for the GPU core, should make it much more obvious, despite it's still been difficult with my Radeon RX 5600XT. I once saw what looked like corruption briefly, then a video driver crash at the least. I was like, "How can I OC the GPU core further? Looks like I'm possibly at a hard wall!"

 

[INSTG8R]

High setting in Superposition, for the GPU core, should make it much more obvious, despite it's still been difficult with my Radeon RX 5600XT. I once saw what looked like corruption briefly, then a video driver crash at the least. I was like, "How can I OC the GPU core further? Looks like I'm possibly at a hard wall!"

Yeah Superposition has cracked what everything else said was “stable”

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Yeah Superposition has cracked what everything else said was “stable”

That's what I would have expected, especially its extreme version of 1080p! Yes, at only 1080p, when it's set to extreme, it will pull my OC'ed Radeon RX 5600XT to the FPS ballpark of only 27 to 40 FPS!

 

[R-T-B]

Unfortunately the first bios I tried did not improve things.

Fortunately based on the PCB used, I seem to have a plethora of options to try. I will probably go through the most similar EVGA boards one by one until I find one that works.

The board for those curious, is clearly PG181. How do I know this? It was the only RTX super 2080 board to feature that weird displaylink usb-c thing, that's how. Most supers dumped it.

 

[INSTG8R]

Unfortunately the first bios I tried did not improve things.

Fortunately based on the PCB used, I seem to have a plethora of options to try. I will probably go through the most similar EVGA boards one by one until I find one that works.

The board for those curious, is clearly PG181. How do I know this? It was the only RTX super 2080 board to feature that weird displaylink usb-c thing, that's how. Most supers dumped it.

Well that at least should narrow your search

 

[R-T-B]

I don't know what EVGA card this is, but I have found a gigabyte bios that uses the same board that seemingly works. I've been playing for about 30 minutes now and it's been holding, a new record. It also got through Port Royal ok, something my old bios could never do.

I'm optimistic, despite the brand mismatch. I wouldn't even be surprised if this IS a gigabyte card someone slapped a cooler from EVGA on, and sold on ebay for a price premium. Basically, I have an unknown GPU, but at least it's better than the true ebay fakes lol.

I'd file a complaint, but it was months ago and too late now.

Fun screenshot time:

Point Oslov Lightstation in our Valheim game (Oslov is my in game char). This thing normally causes triangle shaped shadows everywhere. Now it's nice and working like it should. Also temps are still up there but they aren't artifacting:

 

[INSTG8R]

I don't know what EVGA card this is, but I have found a gigabyte bios that uses the same board that seemingly works. I've been playing for about 30 minutes now and it's been holding, a new record. It also got through Port Royal ok, something my old bios could never do.

I'm optimistic, despite the brand mismatch. I wouldn't even be surprised if this IS a gigabyte card someone slapped a cooler from EVGA on, and sold on ebay for a price premium. Basically, I have an unknown GPU, but at least it's better than the true ebay fakes lol.

I'd file a complaint, but it was months ago and too late now.

The “Frankencard” Lives!

 

[R-T-B]

Pretty much. Ironically, I gained around 50W of power limit... Free PC upgrade?

 

[Deleted member 202104]

Pretty much. Ironically, I gained around 50W of power limit... Free PC upgrade?

Ooooo. You downloaded more watts! Try more RAM next.

 

[INSTG8R]

Pretty much. Ironically, I gained around 50W of power limit... Free PC upgrade?

From Trash to Treasure! I’m glad this wasn’t an RMA couldn’t be a worse time.. my 5700XT freaked out last week and was black screen/hard locking on me under any 3D load I was in full panic mode Full format, start from scratch, the “Quiet” BIOS seemed fine and after a crap ton of testing I switched the BIOS back and all is well again thankfully. Being a Beta tester does come with some risks but the thought of RMAing was terrifying...

 

[R-T-B]

I’m glad this wasn’t an RMA couldn’t be a worse time..

Yeah, tell me about it. My mother asked me why I was "in such a foul humor" and rather than try to explain it, I just spat out "My pc is doomed" and she totally went with it as if that made sense.

My mother is a treasure.

 

[INSTG8R]

Yeah, tell me about it. My mother asked me why I was "in such a foul humor" and rather than try to explain it, I just spat out "My pc is doomed" and she totally went with it as if that made sense.

My mother is a treasure.

Yeah I literally didn’t go into my PC room again for almost a week...

 

[Space Lynx]

congrats @R-T-B I'm glad it all worked out for you in the end

as I have reminded several people in last few months, be thankful we have anything at all that works and allows us to enjoy our hobbies.

 

[R-T-B]

If I lose my PC I lose my income. I'd be at the scalpers mercy honestly...

I'd be lucky if I got a 3070 for a grand at this point. So glad I'm not going there.

 

[delshay]

I can see strange square boxes in the screenshot, that's pointing towards memory problem. Could try external fan pointing at the GFX card, then we know if its hardware or a heat issue.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

Squares=more likely need to back off on the GPU core clock. (or increase the voltage, if possible, but I don't know if that will help)

 

[delshay]

Squares=more likely need to back off on the GPU core clock. (or increase the voltage, if possible, but I don't know if that will help)

Card was working fine before, so I would never have touch the BIOS. The very first thing to do is clean install & reduce the clock speed. Don't increase the voltage, just play around with the clock speed by turning it down.

He has tested the card on another PC, so it's looking like a hardware fault. OP also needs to check if the warranty seals has been tampered with. ..He needs to knows has anyone ever opened it up.

 

[ne6togadno]

I can see strange square boxes in the screenshot, ...

this is viking fortress
nothing to do with vga issues

@R-T-B
with memory at 74° may be you can try to lower mem clocks 200-300 mhz and undervolt it to get mem below 70°.
performance hit shouldnt be that big.
btw what does googling p/n of the card finds sc2 or gigbyte model. this may give you better answer to what actual card you have.

 

[delshay]

this is viking fortress
nothing to do with vga issues

@R-T-B
with memory at 74° may be you can try to lower mem clocks 200-300 mhz and undervolt it to get mem below 70°.
performance hit shouldnt be that big.
btw what does googling p/n of the card finds sc2 or gigbyte model. this may give you better answer to what actual card you have.

Look at the screenshot carefully, those tiny white boxes does not look like it's part of the game. Another way to check is to play games you know that had zero issues. That screenshot to me does not look right, that's clearly a fault..

& I disagree. Run the card at standard default voltage, but lower the clock speed, but put an external fan blowing at the card..

 

[INSTG8R]

Look at the screenshot carefully, those tiny white boxes does not look like it's part of the game. Another way to check is to play games you know that had zero issues. That screenshot to me does not look right, that's clearly a fault..

& I disagree. Run the card at standard default voltage, but lower the clock speed, but put an external fan blowing at the card..

Well spotted! Definitely still some VRAM artifacts Problem is Valheim isn’t a great game to test with in it’s current state.

 

[ne6togadno]

r-t-b didnt mention anything about those artefacts so it could be something that came from screenshot tool he used.
or he was so focused on shadows that he missed the artefacts.
but those artefacts could be related to cross vendor bios that he used rather then problem with memory itself.
until we are sure about gpu model and that correct bios is flashed we cant make conclusions for the memory status.

 

[Mussels]

I can see strange square boxes in the screenshot, that's pointing towards memory problem. Could try external fan pointing at the GFX card, then we know if its hardware or a heat issue.

valheims textures can be like that, its early access
player textures make minecraft look detailed (while other aspects that are complete, look amazing)

the white lines are wind, the white boxes are rainddrops bouncing. Thats regular valheim graphics (again, early access)