[AlexanderRoz]

I'm rather embarrassed that I need help with this, given my IT Background (and CS), but I've run out of ideas on how to fix it (if it's even possible..)

 

One of my mates recently shot me a text explaining that his 270X is acting up. The screen would intermittently go black, and then go back to being functional again. He didn't think much of it, maybe a loose connection and left it at that. Couple days later, and graphics isn't being put out past the BIOS screen, and the first few seconds of Windows 7's start up animation, at which point it also hangs. I popped over to have a look, uninstalled his drivers using DDU, then reinstalled them, latest from Radeon (18.12.02 -- YY.MM.DD). No luck and I had a far few other things to do that week (his system works fine without the GPU in it.). Left the system with him. I picked everything up today to have another look, and brought it back to my place. Started the system, just to make sure it still wasn't working, and well, it wasn't. Additionally, I did try moving the card around in his system (between PCIe slots), which gave no results.

Given I know my system is functional, I put his GPU in mine, and mine in his system (GTX 760 was my card.) Again, I DDU'd both computers and tried without drivers, and with their respective (new) drivers. My system (with his card) initially didn't even get to the BIOS screen, then later decided to work to that point. His system (with my 760) worked fine.

I tried both of my OSes (KALI Linux and W10), both of which either stopped displaying output after the first second or two using his GPU. Ran some onboard diagnostics on my system. GPU passed the initial check (which for me was seeing if it could display a white screen -_-), then then abruptly failed "thorough" mode. Audio subsystem went nuts on my computer, warning me that it failed the test. I pulled this from the diagnostic log given to me.

VIDEO ADAPTER MEMORY TEST FAILED: "WMatsP-Test" AT LOCATION 0xe000fbfc
EXPECTED VALUE: 0x40404040   ACTUAL VALUE: 0x00404040
Error Code: 2000-0332
Validation Code: 121367
Msg: Video Memory - Video Memory integrity test discrepancy

Source: (https://www.dell.com...SlVmQmRnOUE9PQ2)

I'm guessing that something has happened to his VRAM, but what those numbers mean is beyond me. (I thought maybe they were HEX -- as indicated by the 0x -- values, but his GPU has 2GB of RAM, and even converting that to decimal is only 1.038GB, half of what I would expect them to be.) Of course, assuming they are indeed hex values, that means the GPU reported 4MB of VRAM. My (somewhat now dated) understanding was that the BIOS will initialize and use the basic functionality of a discrete card, but won't support the more advanced functionality (advanced 2D or 3D functionality for example.)

I haven't tried flashing the card (mostly because I've never done it before). The card doesn't seem to have any physical damage to it. A little bit of cat hair, but I've cleaned that out. All parts are from a manufacturer (ASUS -- 760 and Sapphire -- 270X), not some 3rd party site that sells knockoffs.

At this point, I'm reasonably sure that his GPU is dead, and ought to be replaced. However, I'm looking for a sanity check (making sure I haven't overlooked/forgotten anything here.)

Do you guys have any suggestions on possible solutions?

Side Note: One fan will spin on startup, and then stops. It (might?) be related, but it isn't running into heat problems.

Sorry for the wall of text!

Sincerely,
Alex



My (Normal) Specs -- Modded Dell XPS8500:
Intel Core i7 3770
16GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHZ
2TB HDD @ 7200RPM
Kingston A400 (500GB SSD)
GTX 760
500W PSU (By Dell)

His (Normal) Specs -- Custom Built:
Intel Core i5 3450
ASUS P8H61 LGA1155 (PCIe 2.0)
8GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHZ
1TB HDD @ 7200RPM
128GB SSD (Unknown brand)
Sapphire R9 270X

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   AlexanderRoz,

 

Thorough testing done already 

 

His (Normal) Specs -- Custom Built:

Intel Core i5 3450

ASUS P8H61 LGA1155 (PCIe 2.0)

8GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHZ

1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

128GB SSD (Unknown brand)

Sapphire R9 270X

 

 

It does sound like his GPU has issues, can you post the brand and model name or number of his PSU for us.

[phillpower2]

   AlexanderRoz,

 

Thorough testing done already 

 

His (Normal) Specs -- Custom Built:

Intel Core i5 3450

ASUS P8H61 LGA1155 (PCIe 2.0)

8GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600MHZ

1TB HDD @ 7200RPM

128GB SSD (Unknown brand)

Sapphire R9 270X

 

 

It does sound like his GPU has issues, can you post the brand and model name or number of his PSU for us.

[AlexanderRoz]

Hi Phill,

Thank-you for the expedient response. His power supply is a Corsair CX500W 80+ Bronze PSU. I thought I had included that in my original post; (sorry!)

Sincerely,
Alex

[phillpower2]

Best Answer

Hello Alex,

 

Apologies for the tardy response, work sometimes gets in the way 

 

With the testing that you have done I suspect that you have pretty much nailed the fact that the R9 has expired, could be down to nothing more than wear and tear but can I just mention that the CX 500W PSU may not have helped, the R9 is a pretty power hungry card and the CX range of Corsairs are not best suited for powering a high end GPU, Corsair do in fact only advise that they are for entry level school/office type computers, please see Corsair info here

 

New GPU and quality brand Gold efficiency rated PSU look to be in order I`m afraid.

[AlexanderRoz]

Hi Phill,

No worries about the tardy response! (I wouldn't even consider it late! Can't complain about help that is being offered free of charge! I also understand that probably most people here have full time jobs as well.) I'm currently finishing up my final exams myself (in CS), so I feel the pain. (I needed a distraction, so I've been working on and off on the GPU.)

I'll pass on the note about getting a new PSU of higher quality, and replacing the GPU with something more current potentially. Thank-you for the link! I'm thinking about recommending a GTX 1050ti, as his gaming is more or less limited to Path of Exile and Factorio, and his monitor is 1080p. I've never seen him play any other game short of those two. Ironically, minus the GPU in his system, the description given by Corsair almost perfectly matches his system. He only usually gets time a couple hours every weekend to play a game. After that, it's report writing in Office .

As an aside (more or less), the community you guys have around here seems to be pretty solid, at least given the few forums threads I've read here in HW & Peripherals. Is there any limitations on what I can (or cannot) help with in this section (and the Dev Section, as I've got a couple years experience in C, Java, and SQL)? Any form of exam that is needed to pass before hand?

Thank-you for the sanity check!

Cheers,
Alex

[paws]

I hope Phill will forgive me for jumping in here.

 

You are welcome to post responses in any of our forums here on G2G with the exception of the Virus and Spyware Removal forum (where special accreditation is required).

 

The forums are moderated and good quality responses with accurate, and helpful information presented in a readable and understandable way are highly valued by us here.

 

So please feel free to post where appropriate, but it's always a good idea to check the posting date of the question you are intending to respond to... some folks have a tendancy to respond to dormant topics that haven't been active for years!

Having a read of our site's Terms of Use is a good idea as it will provide a guide on how to avoid some pitfalls

 

Any problems, just let us know and one of us will get back to you.

Regards

paws

[AlexanderRoz]

Hi Paws,

I have actually given your Terms of Service a read through already. I didn't want to step on any toes by going directly to people tagged "Admin". However, there are a few formatting errors in the bottom of the Terms of Service. (Section 14, and 15, specifically. Text that should have hyper-linked (that isn't), and 1 spacing error. Anything that I've bolded below was something that wasn't right.

 

 

• If you believe that any Content shown or transmitted through the Site violates these Terms or your intellectual property rights have been violated, you can report such violation via our [url="""]href="http://www.geekstogo.com/contact/">contact form.
  In the case of an intellectual property violation, please provide the following information:[/url]
• [url="""]A description of the intellectual property you claim has been infringed.[/url]

[url="""]Identify the material on the Site that you claim is infringing with enough detail so we may locate it on the Site;.A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the intellectual property owner, its agent, or the law.A statement by you declaring under penalty of perjury that 1) the above information in your notice is accurate and 2) that you are the owner of the intellectual property interest involved or that you are authorized to act on behalf of that owner.Your address, telephone number, and email address where we can contact you; and your physical or electronic signature.It is often difficult to determine if your intellectual property rights have been violated. We may request additional information before we remove allegedly infringing material. If a dispute arises as to the correct owner of the rights in question, we reserve the right to remove both parties' Content.[/url]General InformationThe Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Geeks to Go and govern your use of the Site, superseding any prior agreements between you and Geeks to Go. The Terms and the relationship between you and Geeks to Go shall be governed by the laws of the State of North Dakota without regard to any conflict of law provisions. You and Geeks to Go agree to exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the County of Cass, North Dakota for the purpose of adjudicating any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement. The failure of Geeks to Go to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court shall endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Site or the Terms must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

Again, I I don't want to step on any toes with that!

Thanks for the answer, paws!

Sincerely,
Alex

Edit: Sorry, might be helpful if I include browsers, just in case. I see the code in
Google Chrome - Build 70.0.3538.110 - Addons: Adblocker.
Microsoft Edge - Build 42.17134.1.0 - EdgeHTML: 17.17134

Edited by AlexanderRoz, 18 December 2018 - 10:40 AM.

[paws]

Good stuff Alex,

If Blair (who owns the site) sees this topic and has a few moments to spare then he may make the alterations...

 

However he is a very busy chap so I wouldn't hold your breath whilst waiting!

Regards

paws

[phillpower2]

Hello folks,

 

All seems in order here so just a courtesy hello from me 

[AlexanderRoz]

Update:

Pre-emptive warning here: Do NOT attempt this at home. If you try to, you're doing so at your own risk. I will not be held liable if you further damage hardware, software or files if you attempt this. If you do attempt this (and it works), it may work for 5 minutes, or it may work for 5 years. There is no way of knowing (until it breaks again).

Alright, with that out of the way. I tinkered with it a little bit. I ran a (very) hot gun evenly across the PCB of the card. The goal was to reflow the tracing. It worked! The card is fully functional again (2GB of 2GB). Drivers loaded just fine. Haven't tested the performance of the card (and I won't) because I haven't re-applied thermal paste yet. (I didn't have any on hand, unfortunately.) The procedure is very similar to "baking" your card in the oven (as seen on a channel like Linus Tech Tips). I've attached a screenie of Speccy!

He still knows he ought to replace his PSU though. I've also informed him that this fix may help for 5 minutes, or 5 years, and that it can (and will) break again, in the future.

Attached Thumbnails

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[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update