AMD GPU broken or not?

[TomWelsh]

Hi folks,

 

  I have an issue with an AMD R9 270x (sapphire) that I was hoping someone could shed some light on. It's from a colleagues sons PC I built for him, apparently the screen has been going funny and then the PC is endlessly restarting with a blue screen. Sadly I've not seen this happen to fully know what's going on, someone else said it was the Motherboard which has been sent back but I'm trying to test the GPU to eliminate that as the fault (which I suspect it is). 

 

  I've plugged it into one PC with drivers for an RX570 and windows 7. I get to signing in, and when I do, the screen goes black and the PC has to be manually shut down. It will only run in safe mode where it won't allow me to change the drivers (and my internet doesn't work to download them anyway!)

 

  So I scrapped that plan and connected it to a different computer, it all turns on fine, but the screen cuts out and flickers lots. With the case open I can very carefully wobble the GPU and this is the cause (when left alone it does it too), I had the hold the GPU in one place for the display to stay on. 

 

  Basically I want to know if that means the GPU connection to the motherboard is buggered and the card has to be scrapped, or if this could be fixed if anyone has seen a similar problem. Apologies for the lengthy essay, trying to give all the info I have. I took a video of the screen/card wobbling which I could upload to an AMD forum, I'll post the link below. Will try with a third PC in the office (where the internet works) later today. 

 

https://community.amd.com/thread/238206

 

Cheers
Tom

[Sychic]

Maybe try using some 270x drivers instead?

[Kaicer]

13 minutes ago, TomWelsh said:

Basically I want to know if that means the GPU connection to the motherboard is buggered and the card has to be scrapped, or if this could be fixed if anyone has seen a similar problem. Apologies for the lengthy essay, trying to give all the info I have. I took a video of the screen/card wobbling which I could upload to an AMD forum, I'll post the link below. Will try with a third PC in the office (where the internet works) later today. 

I've had problems like this before and it turned out to be corrosion. (1.) Take the GPU out and see if there is any corrosion on the gold pins on the GPU and the PCIe slot it was in. (2.) If there is corrosion, get some alcohol and rub it onto the gold pins on the GPU with a small and soft rag. Don't press too hard or you will damage the GPU!!!  (3.) Now get a small flathead screwdriver and run it along the inside of the corroded PCIe slot gently. (4.) Then let the GPU dry. (5.) After 1-2 hours plug the GPU back into the motherboard in the repaired slot and turn it on.

 

(Edit) I didn't realize that you were talking about the driver computer. I thought it was the motherboard with the flicker that you wanted to be fixed.

 

[TomWelsh]

12 minutes ago, Kaicer said:

I've had problems like this before and it turned out to be corrosion. (1.) Take the GPU out and see if there is any corrosion on the gold pins on the GPU and the PCIe slot it was in. (2.) If there is corrosion, get some alcohol and rub it onto the gold pins on the GPU with a small and soft rag. Don't press too hard or you will damage the GPU!!!  (3.) Now get a small flathead screwdriver and run it along the inside of the corroded PCIe slot gently. (4.) Then let the GPU dry. (5.) After 1-2 hours plug the GPU back into the motherboard in the repaired slot and turn it on.

 

(Edit) I didn't realize that you were talking about the driver computer. I thought it was the motherboard with the flicker that you wanted to be fixed.

 

Thanks for the reply. It is the GPU/Motherboard that I am wondering about. The motherboard I was testing that in is fine, works flawlessly with my 1080 Ti in, I've been testing someone else's GPU in my PC to check if it is the issue or something else. 

 

 Also, not relevant but just remembered its a R9 280x, not 270. I'll try again in an hour with drivers. But the screen flashing sounds like something else to me (if that video link works?). 

 

  I've just taken some snaps of the card/connectors, do they look damaged? I noticed on each side one of the contacts seems to be shorter? I assume they should all be the same...

[Kaicer]

The thick red arrow shows the only spot that I think shows corrosion. The left arrow on this picture I believe shows a damaged pin.< Incorrect! It's fine!! That ^^^^ not so much. Follow the steps I made before on the GPU only.

_12C6052.jpg.82ccc136c2d8c2acf96ccb322a9804c4.pdf

 

(Edit) 

[Kaicer]

26 minutes ago, TomWelsh said:

  I've just taken some snaps of the card/connectors, do they look damaged? I noticed on each side one of the contacts seems to be shorter? I assume they should all be the same...

Also the pins look like there is a thin layer of thermal paste! 

[TomWelsh]

33 minutes ago, Kaicer said:

The thick red arrow shows the only spot that I think shows corrosion. The left arrow on this picture I believe shows a damaged pin.< Incorrect! It's fine!! That ^^^^ not so much. Follow the steps I made before on the GPU only.

_12C6052.jpg.82ccc136c2d8c2acf96ccb322a9804c4.pdf

 

(Edit) 

Ah, so those two shorter pins are normal? Thanks for the info, I'll have a go at cleaning it first. I've no idea how he'd have managed to get thermal paste on it! Hope nothing will have got into my PCI-E slot...

[Kaicer]

Just now, TomWelsh said:

Ah, so those two shorter pins are normal? Thanks for the info, I'll have a go at cleaning it first. I've no idea how he'd have managed to get thermal paste on it! Hope nothing will have got into my PCI-E slot...

It's possible if you repaste your card often or at all.

[Kaicer]

@TomWelsh Did It work?

[trevb0t]

The good news is if a replacement is needed, a r9 270x or comparable HD 7870 is only about $35-40 on ebay.

 

For a fun project, I got an r9 280x (a small step up with a little more VRAM) for $42 as well. The $50< GPU market is kind of an interesting place to mess around. You can still pull good performance out of a lot of the offerings.

[TomWelsh]

@Kaicer

Sadly not. After a clean and being left to dry. One computer went straight to a black screen, and although it loaded in safe mode, I couldn't update the driver from a a file I'd downloaded earlier to make sure it wasn't just a driver issue. On a second computer I got into windows for a couple of minutes, had some pin-strips flash up and a couple more odd issues before the screen also went off (different monitors). From then on each time it booted I'd get a black screen instead of windows. 

 

Finally, just to check it wasn't a driver issue, I had the idea to try and install the driver while using my GPU. So I loaded the computer as normal with my 1080 Ti in the main slot and the R9 280X in the second PCI-E (I got it wrong in my initial post- built it months ago) as the AMD driver wouldn't load without some AMD hardware detected in the system. This began installing the driver but at 43% the PC froze. I then had to go to work. But apparently flashing monitor cut outs followed by the system freezing it was the whole issue was with the correct drivers so I guess it's just buggered. and since (as trevb0t pointed out above) you can get a second hand one so cheap its not much of an issue. Think he's going to replace it with an R9 290x. 

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm still curious about what has actually happened to the card but it doesn't really matter anymore if nobody can think of anything- possible heat damage over time? Or being knocked/moved?

 

The PC was VERY budget, my goal was to build a 'gaming PC' for £250.... He's now got a bigger/better case for rebuilding it so hopefully nothing will break again. 

[Kaicer]

@TomWelsh Sorry to hear that man. At least the screen stopped flickering  

[miagisan]

i have the same issue issue with my R9 290x. It's driving me nuts! 

 

I have upped the voltage on it and power limit, just in case it wasnt getting enough power, but that doesnt seem to work either. 

 

I have re-seat, cleaned, etc a dozen times. Even took it apart and put a water cooler on it. Still does it.

 

Might take like 3 or 4 reboots before the video card actually "catches" and i can use it properly.

[miagisan]

i seem to have spoken too soon. It went to a black screen while watching a video and now it constantly crashes at window login.

 

Think i am just going to buy a new one today. Most likely a RX 580 or GTX 1660. Depends on pricing.

[Kaicer]

12 minutes ago, miagisan said:

Think i am just going to buy a new one today. Most likely a RX 580 or GTX 1660. Depends on pricing

Buy an XFX GTR-S RX580 http://xfxforce.com/products/amd-radeon-rx-500-series/rx-580-gtr-8gb-dd-led-rx-580a8dbr6

[TomWelsh]

@miagisan That's unfortunate. I put an RX 570 (8GB MSI) in my old PC that I recently rebuilt for my girlfriend to use which was cheap and surprisingly good. I've not used it much but Total War Warhammer and the Resident Evil 2 run well on a 1080p screen. So the 580 should be a good option, good luck. 

[miagisan]

On 4/2/2019 at 1:44 PM, Kaicer said:

Buy an XFX GTR-S RX580 http://xfxforce.com/products/amd-radeon-rx-500-series/rx-580-gtr-8gb-dd-led-rx-580a8dbr6

i got an open box GTX 1660ti from microcenter for $210. Cha-Ching!