Is my ASRock 7900 XTX Aqua broken, or is this normal?

[Heavybell]

This is my second ASRock 7900 XTX Aqua. The first I returned within a week because even in relatively light games like Deep Rock Galactic it would quickly start showing random lines of corrupted pixels. It's an odd effect to try and describe, and I seem to have lost the video I caught of it happening. It's was like every 3rd pixel would show a random colour instead of what it was meant to, arranged in thin lines, which would flicker on then disappear.

 

Since getting the replacement, I thought I saw more of this but after upgrading to the latest driver it stopped happening. I thought everything was good for a few weeks/months.

 

However, lately I've started to have concerns again. When the new Ratchet & Clank game came to Steam I had a lot of crash issues with that game, of the type where the GPU driver crashes and the game dies after it. This is something I've experienced with other games with my previous graphics card, in a completely different PC. I've also had crashes in DRG when in DX12 mode, and War Thunder likewise. Turning both those games back to DX11 made them more or less stable, but R&C I wasn't able to complete until they released a patch for 7900 series cards. I've heard other people complaining about DX12 games on these cards so I figure perhaps it's just the drivers and will get fixed eventually.

 

Then again, I've also noticed another issue where a THICK band (say 2cm / about an inch tall) of ALL random pixels will flicker onto the screen for a split second. This usually happens when tabbing out of games. I run everything borderless window rather than true fullscreen, but this still happens occasionally. And, worryingly, I've started to notice it occasionally happen while watching youtube, or out of the corner of my eye on a different monitor when either gaming or doing nothing at all. Interestingly, this also happens on the side monitor that is connected to my 7950x CPU's onboard graphics, so... maybe a driver issue again? Edit: I was wrong, both monitors I've seen this issue on are on the 7900 XTX.

 

Lastly, last night while playing War Thunder with a friend, the game just... died on me 3 separate times. No crash handler, no freezing beforehand. Just disappeared as if I'd hit Alt+F4.

 

I had been watching the GPU temp and saw that while the GPU was showing 65 C, the hotspot was hitting 110 C, which is worrying to say the least. I had considered taking the thing apart to repaste it, but that'll definitely void my warranty, and that got me thinking about all these odd symptoms. Which is why I'm now asking:

 

Is all this normal for a 7900 XTX? Or should I try and get it replaced under warranty again? The issues are basically impossible to intentionally reproduce so I am wary of wasting my time trying to send it off.

[TrigrH]

Try a new DisplayPort cable?

[sabgog]

17 minutes ago, Heavybell said:

This is my second ASRock 7900 XTX Aqua. The first I returned within a week because even in relatively light games like Deep Rock Galactic it would quickly start showing random lines of corrupted pixels. It's an odd effect to try and describe, and I seem to have lost the video I caught of it happening. It's was like every 3rd pixel would show a random colour instead of what it was meant to, arranged in thin lines, which would flicker on then disappear.

 

Since getting the replacement, I thought I saw more of this but after upgrading to the latest driver it stopped happening. I thought everything was good for a few weeks/months.

 

However, lately I've started to have concerns again. When the new Ratchet & Clank game came to Steam I had a lot of crash issues with that game, of the type where the GPU driver crashes and the game dies after it. This is something I've experienced with other games with my previous graphics card, in a completely different PC. I've also had crashes in DRG when in DX12 mode, and War Thunder likewise. Turning both those games back to DX11 made them more or less stable, but R&C I wasn't able to complete until they released a patch for 7900 series cards. I've heard other people complaining about DX12 games on these cards so I figure perhaps it's just the drivers and will get fixed eventually.

 

Then again, I've also noticed another issue where a THICK band of ALL random pixels will flicker onto the screen for a split second. This usually happens when tabbing out of games. I run everything borderless window rather than true fullscreen, but this still happens occasionally. And, worryingly, I've started to notice it occasionally happen while watching youtube, or out of the corner of my eye on a different monitor when either gaming or doing nothing at all. Interestingly, this also happens on the side monitor that is connected to my 7950x CPU's onboard graphics, so... maybe a driver issue again?

 

Lastly, last night while playing War Thunder with a friend, the game just... died on me 3 separate times. No crash handler, no freezing beforehand. Just disappeared as if I'd hit Alt+F4.

 

I had been watching the GPU temp and saw that while the GPU was showing 65 C, the hotspot was hitting 110 C, which is worrying to say the least. I had considered taking the thing apart to repaste it, but that'll definitely void my warranty, and that got me thinking about all these odd symptoms. Which is why I'm now asking:

 

Is all this normal for a 7900 XTX? Or should I try and get it replaced under warranty again? The issues are basically impossible to intentionally reproduce so I am wary of wasting my time trying to send it off.

When you have significant and random problems and want people to help out, you should really list your full system specs. Also 110C hotspot temp is definitely not normal for a 7900xtx, let alone a water cooled one. After playing starfield for a few hours with HWinfo running, my GPU hotspot temp is only like 80 or 85 on my air cooled MSI 7900xtx. 

You should confirm that the water pump is operating and that you dont have it mounted in a way that allows air to be trapped in it. Next thing you should check on is your case fan configuration. Some pics would be helpful.

[sabgog]

18 minutes ago, Heavybell said:

This is my second ASRock 7900 XTX Aqua. The first I returned within a week because even in relatively light games like Deep Rock Galactic it would quickly start showing random lines of corrupted pixels. It's an odd effect to try and describe, and I seem to have lost the video I caught of it happening. It's was like every 3rd pixel would show a random colour instead of what it was meant to, arranged in thin lines, which would flicker on then disappear.

 

Since getting the replacement, I thought I saw more of this but after upgrading to the latest driver it stopped happening. I thought everything was good for a few weeks/months.

 

However, lately I've started to have concerns again. When the new Ratchet & Clank game came to Steam I had a lot of crash issues with that game, of the type where the GPU driver crashes and the game dies after it. This is something I've experienced with other games with my previous graphics card, in a completely different PC. I've also had crashes in DRG when in DX12 mode, and War Thunder likewise. Turning both those games back to DX11 made them more or less stable, but R&C I wasn't able to complete until they released a patch for 7900 series cards. I've heard other people complaining about DX12 games on these cards so I figure perhaps it's just the drivers and will get fixed eventually.

 

Then again, I've also noticed another issue where a THICK band of ALL random pixels will flicker onto the screen for a split second. This usually happens when tabbing out of games. I run everything borderless window rather than true fullscreen, but this still happens occasionally. And, worryingly, I've started to notice it occasionally happen while watching youtube, or out of the corner of my eye on a different monitor when either gaming or doing nothing at all. Interestingly, this also happens on the side monitor that is connected to my 7950x CPU's onboard graphics, so... maybe a driver issue again?

 

Lastly, last night while playing War Thunder with a friend, the game just... died on me 3 separate times. No crash handler, no freezing beforehand. Just disappeared as if I'd hit Alt+F4.

 

I had been watching the GPU temp and saw that while the GPU was showing 65 C, the hotspot was hitting 110 C, which is worrying to say the least. I had considered taking the thing apart to repaste it, but that'll definitely void my warranty, and that got me thinking about all these odd symptoms. Which is why I'm now asking:

 

Is all this normal for a 7900 XTX? Or should I try and get it replaced under warranty again? The issues are basically impossible to intentionally reproduce so I am wary of wasting my time trying to send it off.

Follow up question and it may be a silly one but.. you do realize that a 7900XTX Aqua is not passively cooled and requires a custom water loop/pump/reservoir right?

[Heavybell]

4 minutes ago, sabgog said:

When you have significant and random problems and want people to help out, you should really list your full system specs. Also 110C hotspot temp is definitely not normal for a 7900xtx, let alone a water cooled one. After playing starfield for a few hours with HWinfo running, my GPU hotspot temp is only like 80 or 85 on my air cooled MSI 7900xtx. 

You should confirm that the water pump is operating and that you dont have it mounted in a way that allows air to be trapped in it. Next thing you should check on is your case fan configuration. Some pics would be helpful.

All fair points.

 

CPU: 7950x

Mobo: ASUS ROG Strix x670E-E Gaming Wifi

RAM: GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 32x2gb DDR5 6000 CL32-38-38-96 1.4v (F5-6000J3238G32GX2-TZ5N)

 

SSDs:

C: Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB (ZP1000GM30002)

D: Seagate FireCuda 530 4TB (ZP4000GM30013)

E: Seagate FireCuda 530 4TB (ZP4000GM30013)

Installed so as not to steal bandwidth from the GPU slot

 

Water pump is a Aquacomputer D5 NXT with an attached leakshield, I use the associated monitoring software so I know it's running. Water temperature is usually around 38C when under heavy load. Right now at idle it's at 29.5C, the GPU is at 33C with a 36C hotspot, and the CPU (same loop) is at around 45C.

 

I'm attaching some photos of my system.

[Heavybell]

35 minutes ago, sabgog said:

Follow up question and it may be a silly one but.. you do realize that a 7900XTX Aqua is not passively cooled and requires a custom water loop/pump/reservoir right?

Hah, I appreciate the question.

[sabgog]

According to the liquid cooling quick start guide for that card the inlet is the port closest to the cable ports so I think you may have the flow reversed?

[Heavybell]

12 minutes ago, sabgog said:

According to the liquid cooling quick start guide for that card the inlet is the port closest to the cable ports so I think you may have the flow reversed?

I just looked that up, and yes the inlet is on the left in my photos. Unless I have the pump backwards the flow is res/pump -> front rad -> CPU -> top rad -> GPU -> res/pump.

[sabgog]

12 minutes ago, Heavybell said:

I just looked that up, and yes the inlet is on the left in my photos. Unless I have the pump backwards the flow is res/pump -> front rad -> CPU -> top rad -> GPU -> res/pump.

Ah I see, I assumed it was going the other way with cool water returning to the reservoir and then starting out through the gpu.

[Heavybell]

3 minutes ago, sabgog said:

Ah I see, I assumed it was going the other way with cool water returning to the reservoir and then starting out through the gpu.

In hindsight, that might've been a good idea. I get a lot of pressure fluctuation because of the water heating up in the res. Though I'm under the impression it shouldn't *really* matter what order things are in, provided the flow is in the correct direction.

 

Regarding the temperature delta, I've seen other people complain about it, and I think on this very forum someone repasted their Red Devil and dropped the hotspot like 30 degrees (I'm unsure which measurement system they were talking about). So I am really tempted to take the thing apart and put some cryonaut in there. But... yeah, I don't know. If my card is behaving abnormally I should probably consider trying to get it fixed before I void the warranty. Assuming I haven't already by updating the vBIOS.

[sabgog]

Just now, Heavybell said:

In hindsight, that might've been a good idea. I get a lot of pressure fluctuation because of the water heating up in the res. Though I'm under the impression it shouldn't *really* matter what order things are in, provided the flow is in the correct direction.

 

Regarding the temperature delta, I've seen other people complain about it, and I think on this very forum someone repasted their Red Devil and dropped the hotspot like 30 degrees (I'm unsure which measurement system they were talking about). So I am really tempted to take the thing apart and put some cryonaut in there. But... yeah, I don't know. If my card is behaving abnormally I should probably consider trying to get it fixed before I void the warranty. Assuming I haven't already by updating the vBIOS.

The only thing is that getting a defective card out of the box is pretty unlikely.. to get two out of the box seems extremely unlikely. I would still double check which port on your pump base is inlet and outlet

[Heavybell]

4 minutes ago, sabgog said:

The only thing is that getting a defective card out of the box is pretty unlikely.. to get two out of the box seems extremely unlikely. I would still double check which port on your pump base is inlet and outlet

Yeah, I can't see the markings on my setup because of the fittings, but this guy's photo from reddit suggests the inlet is closest to the camera in my photo.

 

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Femwah5sd73t51.jpg%3Fwidth%3D2160%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D68815098ca18f9df884e6834eebf5a805e6f6205

[sabgog]

Last ideas I have

1. If you haven't already, the simple stuff like ensuring BIOS is up to date. Ddr5 is very finicky and there have been big updates the last few months to RAM compatibility.

2. Running a monitor from your igpu is very odd given that you have a 7900xtx, I would remove that. performance hit is insignificant for running a second monitor from everything I've seen and using it probably introduces unnecessary load on the cpu.

3. Right now in your loop the gpu is getting all its water on the downward direction which is the most likely way to get air bubbles through it. A good design for a loop would be wherever possible to have the water flowing up through the loads. if you push water up through a pipe there can't be any air in it because the pipe is full, water falling down is inherently more likely to bubble, like a waterfall would. 

https://youtu.be/r_lrR_Y4_UM?si=CIC5s7INypsZlxNG

If you decide to change the loop up, definitely confirm the ports.

[Heavybell]

13 minutes ago, sabgog said:

Last ideas I have

1. If you haven't already, the simple stuff like ensuring BIOS is up to date. Ddr5 is very finicky and there have been big updates the last few months to RAM compatibility.

2. Running a monitor from your igpu is very odd given that you have a 7900xtx, I would remove that. performance hit is insignificant for running a second monitor from everything I've seen and using it probably introduces unnecessary load on the cpu.

3. Right now in your loop the gpu is getting all its water on the downward direction which is the most likely way to get air bubbles through it. A good design for a loop would be wherever possible to have the water flowing up through the loads. if you push water up through a pipe there can't be any air in it because the pipe is full, water falling down is inherently more likely to bubble, like a waterfall would. 

https://youtu.be/r_lrR_Y4_UM?si=CIC5s7INypsZlxNG

If you decide to change the loop up, definitely confirm the ports.

BIOS is at the very latest, yeah. I've had issues with RAM since I made this build but things have settled down since the last couple revisions.

 

I have 4 monitors if that makes a difference, though the 4th (a Wacom Cintiq) is usually off. Also I just realised the side monitor I've seen the flicker on is attached to the GPU, not the onboard, so that changes things somewhat. Going to update my original post.

 

Damn, that's a good idea. I'm fairly certain there are no air bubbles, I've run the leakshield's deaerate enough times and I can't see any air pockets in the waterblock, but I'll definitely change things around next time I rebuild the loop.

[Heavybell]

3 hours ago, TrigrH said:

Try a new DisplayPort cable?

I've tried a variety of cables, sadly. And it happens on two monitors.