new HD6870 leaves artifacts on screen :(

[mushu]

So I upgraded from a good-but-slow HD4650 to a Gigabyte 3-fan HD6870OC on my Win XPSP3/32bit Intel Core2 Duo CPU@2.2GHz (CPU is overclocked 5% to 2.31GHz) box with 4GB of RAM and Catalyst version 11.9 drivers. It is the only vid card inserted in the PCI-Ex16 slot and is running at x16. I downloaded the drivers from the official website and did not install the ones that came on the CD, assuming they would be older.

After a while, maybe ten to 15 minutes, I began seeing little graphic glitches around the cursor and in World of Warcraft (WoW) game when I turn to look at the sky or even just randomly, huge long triangles of color and texture stretch from certain objects in the scene. If I do something in the WoW Options to force the game to reset the graphics mode, such as enable or disable buffering in the Advanced tab, it will reset and look beautiful...until it starts up again after a little while.

CPU-Z version 0.5.5 shows everything at the correct temperature (GPU=34c) with fan speed at 40% since I assumed it was an overheating issue. VDDC=0.950v and I did not overclock it, it comes from the factory overclocked at 915MHz GPU and 1050MHz Memory. In fact, the driver's AMD Overdrive window is blank for me, I assume that only works on boxes with an AMD CPU/Chipset.

It will even randomly put glitches in my Windows background image that do not go away when I hit F5 to refresh the Desktop. Any comments from peeps smarter about this stuff than I am? I don't want to cry because then my tears will fry the computer and I'd really be sad...

 

[Solaris17]

is it tight? plugged in all the way? is it over heating or over clocked?

 

[AltecV1]

try different drivers like the 11.8 and 11.10 preview coz if they dont work its just that your OC card cant handle that OC and you should return it and they should give you a new one FOR FREE

 

[mushu]

is it tight? plugged in all the way? is it over heating or over clocked?

Yes it is plugged in all the way, there is a little tab on the end of the PCI-E slot that locks on the edge of the card and if you don't plug it in all the way you won't hear the little "click" as it seats. It is not overheating per GPU-Z (as I put in my original TLR post above). It is overclocked from the factory because I cannot use the AMD Overdrive program due to not having an AMD Chipset on the motherboard (as I put in my original TLR post above).

 

[mushu]

try different drivers like the 11.8 and 11.10 preview coz if they dont work its just that your OC card cant handle that OC and you should return it and they should give you a new one FOR FREE

Is it easy to downgrade drivers for Catalyst software? With Nvidia I had to use a special Nvidia Driver Cleaner iirc to make sure that everything was properly removed from the Registry and the driver directories etc before installing a lower driver version, else it wouldn't overwrite some files and caused all sorts of random problems.

 

[lyndonguitar]

Is it easy to downgrade drivers for Catalyst software? With Nvidia I had to use a special Nvidia Driver Cleaner iirc to make sure that everything was properly removed from the Registry and the driver directories etc before installing a lower driver version, else it wouldn't overwrite some files and caused all sorts of random problems.

you need to remove any traces of AMD drivers before installing a new one.

If you think youre doing it all right.(trieda couple of drivers, GPU not overheating, GPU connected properly) then ou should return it and get it checked so you can get a replacement. remember it is factory OC'ed so theres a big chance its the cards fault

Off Topic Advice: Try to upgrade the CPU to at least 3 GHz(quad core preferably) so you could max out the performance of the 6870

 

[mushu]

you need to remove any traces of AMD drivers before installing a new one.

If you think you're doing it all right.(tried a couple of drivers, GPU not overheating, GPU connected properly) then you should return it and get it checked so you can get a replacement. remember it is factory OC'ed so theres a big chance its the cards fault

Off Topic Advice: Try to upgrade the CPU to at least 3 GHz(quad core preferably) so you could max out the performance of the 6870

I pulled it out and put back in my old HIS HD5770 to see if it will work slightly overclocked. I uninstalled drivers/rebooted/reinstalled 11.9 drivers. Weirdly, now I actually *can* access the AMD Overdrive overclocker screen?! So I pushed the GPU to 900MHz up from the default 875MHz and left the Memory clock alone at its default of 1250MHz (which is way faster than the 6870's 1150??)

I have a new mobo/cpu on the way, a Fatal1ty mobo with intel i5 quad@3.3GHz and 8MB more RAM. Hope that removes the CPU bottleneck in my current system...and perhaps the 6870 will run better on that mobo as well. Will be installing Win7ult also.

Anyway we'll see if the 5770 gives me any graphic glitches in WoW or anywhere else. I'm beginning to think that the 6870 is a pile of crap. Perhaps it's only good on systems running DX11 under Win7. Dunno but if I can't get my framerate up I won't be allowed to raid by my guild and Lord knows that would be the end of the world!

 

[craigo]

hey mushu,
Cards can do funny things when they dont have a decent power source i hope you have an adequate power supply at present and for the upgrade in the future the symptoms you describe may well point to psu problems.

just put a dx11 card in my wow playing buddies rig...
judging from his epic appreciation email im going to say the 6870 is the card cataclysm needs.

 

[Jetster]

Use older drivers...Your running DX9

 

[Raijian]

Mushu, I had that exact same problem years ago when I put an 8800GT in a stock HP computer I bought from an electronics store.

The power supply was just barely hitting the limit for the GPU and I was an idiot and a kid so I left my PC on 24/7 with screensavers and stuff. I had overheated the card and I was getting massive stretching triangles when looking in different places around WoW.

I bought a new computer eventually, but it's probably a PSU/heating issue.

 

[lyndonguitar]

I have a new mobo/cpu on the way, a Fatal1ty mobo with intel i5 quad@3.3GHz and 8MB more RAM. Hope that removes the CPU bottleneck in my current system...and perhaps the 6870 will run better on that mobo as well. Will be installing Win7ult also.

It will run super fast I guarantee. just remember to install W7 64bit

Once upon a time I was using a HD 5850 with C2Q Q8200 @ 3.2 Ghz and 4 GBs of RAM.
then I upgraded to i7-2600k @ 4.5 Ghz and 8 Gigs of RAM, same Vcard and guess what

Lots of Performance Increase

thats a nice upgrade. just remember to have a good working PSU.
The PSU is the most important part of a system.

To really find the culprit of this problem you should do a trial and error.(which you are already doing)

If the GPU doesnt give you artifacts on other Drivers. Driver Problem.

If the 6870 gives you artifacts on other systems... GPU problem.

If your 5770 also gives you artifacts on the SAME system.. PSU problem.
but its hard to tell cause their different cards.

If after that upgrade, assuming your not changing the PSU, and the GPU doesnt show artifacts on other systems, and you still got artifacts. then its the PSU.

If after that upgrade, assuming your changing the PSU, and you still got artifacts. then its the GPU.


and would you mind if you put your system specs in your user details. in that way the next time you'll have a problem you don't have to post your specs.

 

[mushu]

It will run super fast I guarantee. just remember to install W7 64bit

Once upon a time I was using a HD 5850 with C2Q Q8200 @ 3.2 Ghz and 4 GBs of RAM.
then I upgraded to i7-2600k @ 4.5 Ghz and 8 Gigs of RAM, same Vcard and guess what

Lots of Performance Increase

thats a nice upgrade. just remember to have a good working PSU.
The PSU is the most important part of a system.

I grabbed an Antec 900W power supply that was listed on the vendor website as having been tested and conformed to their specs for the 6870. My previous 700W PSU actually fried the previous 3 vid cards and a mobo before I figured out it was the culprit...sheesh.

To really find the culprit of this problem you should do a trial and error.(which you are already doing)

If the GPU doesnt give you artifacts on other Drivers. Driver Problem.

If the 6870 gives you artifacts on other systems... GPU problem.

If your 5770 also gives you artifacts on the SAME system.. PSU problem.
but its hard to tell cause their different cards.

It (5770) is working fine so far just very slow. In fact right now it's a break from raiding tonight and unfortunately I'm still pulling under 10FPS in the intensive parts of the fight and that's with everything turned down in the effects and settings. Very disappointed... All I can think is that it is a CPU/RAM bottleneck in my system.

If after that upgrade, assuming your not changing the PSU, and the GPU doesnt show artifacts on other systems, and you still got artifacts. then its the PSU.

If after that upgrade, assuming your changing the PSU, and you still got artifacts. then its the GPU.

So after I get my new mobo/cpu/ram/win7ult64 tomorrow I'll try the 6870 again and see if it screws up...if it does I send it back.