R9 290 issues

batfastard13

So, I've been having a few issues with my PC and/or games crashing and artifacts popping up on my screen. This is usually accompanied by a message saying that the display driver has crashed and recovered (sometimes it just causes the screen to freeze, repeating the sounds playing in the background over and over again until the PC crashes or I hard reset it). This also happens when just browsing the web or sometimes just on the desktop itself with only background programs running e.g. afterburner (this happens much less than when gaming).

I'm pretty confident that its being caused by my GPU (r9 290) and I've had a look online and this kind of thing seems to happen to some r9 290s due to design flaws/driver issues (a quick google of r9 290 issues or reviews should list loads of examples of this happening). I've tried a number of things to fix it including uninstalling my current driver with DDU and reinstalling various different drivers (both beta and numerous past stable ones), updating the BIOS of the card, disabling hardware acceleration and even reinstalling my OS from scratch (which is a right pain in the ***). Sometimes the fix seemed to work for a couple of weeks/days/hours only for the issues to crop up again. I've also been monitoring the heat of the card using afterburner and CPUID but that doesn't seem to be the issue as it can be various different temps (a lot of the time nowhere near worrying about).

So, I guess that my question is where should I go from here? This is my first build so I have no backup GPU to use for a stopgap and I really need my PC atm as I'm doing a course online and exam times and project deadlines are looming. It seems like the best option is to buy a new GPU (probably not an r9 290 :P) and then RMA this one when it arrives (and I know it works :P). I got the card from hardwareversand and have no past experience with RMAs so any advice on the process would be appreciated.

I'd also appreciate any other suggestions or letting me know if I've missed something obvious which I should have done.

Here are my specs, just in case:
RAM: 8GB-Kit Crucial Ballistix Sport Series DDR3-1600, CL9
Case: Antec One, ATX
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Pro4, 1150 Socket, ATX
PSU: be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 600W
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 WindForce 3X, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790
Storage:
· Crucial M500 120GB SATA 6GB/s (OS and some games)
· WD Blue 1TB 6Gb's (everything else)


Cheers,
batfastard13

Digital Solitude

HWVS are pretty easy with RMAs according to what I've heard from others on boards. You could send away the GPU and just use your motherboards integrated graphics until a new card arrived. You wouldn't be able to game much but it'd get you by.

Sounds like its definitely a GPU error, who's the manufacturer?

batfastard13

The card is a Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 WindForce 3X. Presumably Harwareversand will test it when it arrives? The annoying thing is that the issue doesn't happen all the time. Today for example, I played for a couple of hours with no problems. When things are running smoothly like this, I'm reluctant to send it back and lose access to all my games :P. I'm also worried they'll test it and it'll be one of those days it works perfectly and they'll just send it back to me :P.

EoinHef

Have you overclocked the card at all? An unstable overclock can crash the driver or damage the card.
Artifacting doesnt sound good though and id agree with digital solitude that it may be time for an RMA

Intermitent problems are the worst,very hard to pin point and there is no guarantee that hardwareversand will be able to replicate the problem unfortunately but could still be your best option.

You may not have a second gpu but do you have another PC you can put your gpu into to test?

Also are your motherboard drivers/bios up to date?

..Brian..

Have you tried the other PCIe slot or tired resetting CMOS on the mobo? Or using different power connectors from your PSU?

It does sound like the card to tbh and the RMA likely the only option but worth exhausting all possibilities first.

SterlingArcher

Going from the parts you picked I'd guess you didn't overclock the card

What did it run like with the card disabled, using the igpu?

batfastard13

Nope, I haven't tried to overclock the card. It's still at the manufacturers settings. Unfortunately, I don't have a second PC to test the card in either. I was using a laptop before this but it's died since then.

I think I updated the drivers for the motherboard when I initially set up the machine but I haven't really looked at it since then. I've never touched the BIOS of the motherboard, I remember reading about it being a last resort and I didn't realize it might have an influence here. I'll have a look at updating them and see if it works

I haven't looked at any of the options you've mentioned Brian but like you've said it's worth trying them first rather than going for the RMA process straight away.

In terms of the igpu, is that what's used when the drivers for the card are uninstalled? I haven't actually tried using the system with the card removed but when I uninstall the drivers it boots up to desktop no problem, everything is poor resolution but it works. I haven't tried anything other than installing drivers or programs when it's like that though. Would it be alright for browsing the web and video lectures?

Digital Solitude

Its the integrated GPU in the processor. It'll do for regular browsing and stuff, gaming on it will be a disaster though. Just remove the card from your system and plug your HDMI or whatever into the motherboard

batfastard13

Sorry for the slight thread necro but I finally got around to trying all the solutions you guys mentioned and unfortunately none of them worked . I've also gotten around to removing my card, packaging it up and have printed the "label" (I just stuck a normal printed page with it on the box...is that okay?) that was generated when I made the complaint through their online complaint system.

This might be a stupid question but what do I do now to get it sent to them? Do I have to organize it with a delivery company i.e. UPS to send it to them? Does the "label" mean I don't have to pay the fee or what do I have to sort it out online/over the phone etc.

Appreciate the help!

MagTuired

batfastard13 wrote: »

Sorry for the slight thread necro but I finally got around to trying all the solutions you guys mentioned and unfortunately none of them worked . I've also gotten around to removing my card, packaging it up and have printed the "label" (I just stuck a normal printed page with it on the box...is that okay?) that was generated when I made the complaint through their online complaint system.

This might be a stupid question but what do I do now to get it sent to them? Do I have to organize it with a delivery company i.e. UPS to send it to them? Does the "label" mean I don't have to pay the fee or what do I have to sort it out online/over the phone etc.

Appreciate the help!

Edit: this thread might help too (specifically in reference to filling out some form and including a receipt) http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056262848

Found this on an old post from 2012 or so - not sure is it still valid:

"here is the update
i called them on 0049 1805 711 117 (by skipping zero after Germany code 0049, their local nr is 01805 711 117)
this nr wont connect via landline & always sound bz, can only connect via mobile
it costed me approx €0.50 per minute
after 2 long german automated msgs, someone picked up, i asked for an english speaking person & then told them order nr & defective article nr

they asked me to email them on service(at)hardwareversand.de asking them to collect & the date on which it is ready to be collected

so in reality for an RMA you dont have to call them, just email them on service(at)hardwareversand.de asking them to collect & the date on which it is ready to be collected, keep the package ready to be collected by UPS van"

Gumbi

You say you have monitored temps. Have you chrcked how hot the VRMs get? Run GPUz and scroll to the bottom for those. Ideally they shouldn't go above 90 under any circumstances, and preferentually they should stay around 80 or below.

Apart from that, it seems like you've done all theright things, except, perhaps, talking to Gigabyte? They might provide you with a mlre up to date BIOS?