graphics card MSI R9 280x help?

[TheGingaBreadMan]

So I traded this guy a guitar for a graphics card he wanted to get rid of, okay. And he SAYS it works perfectly fine before he gives it to me. Lo, and behold, it's not perfectly fine. I know, I know, I got it. I got screwed over. But alas, all hope is not lost. Here's the deal. The damn thing works, just not the way I want, or with stability. When in my rig, it powers up, the fans spin, and it shows video. This indicates that the card does in fact work. However, these freeeekin lines are on the screen. Not to mention when it just decides it doesn't want to work and either display a huge one, or nothing at all. So, im thinking it's a connector issue. I've taken the card apart multiple times already, gave it an alcohol bath after discovering what looked like some minor water damage on the actual connector solder on the board. I wiggle it around a little, and it looks better. Basically, I want to know if there's anything I can do to get rid of these lines. The only post I could find about this was on some knock off ltt site, and he just rma'd his. Which I obviously cannot do. So if anyone knows any solutions, please feel free to tell me.

 

UPDATE: Upon further inspection of the card, I noticed part of two gold contacts are missing from the card. I don't know if that's at all normal, but I just figured it might help diagnose it. I attached pictures below. 

 

ANOTHER UPDATE: Got the system to boot, found some pinched contacts and separated them. However, the card is being recognized but cannot get drivers or be controlled. Any thoughts?

Edited November 13, 2016 by TheGingaBreadMan
More pictures, things happened.

[alexhelvetica]

You are fucked. You might be able to negotiate with the seller, but that is all, 

[Guest]

Uhm, that's not how you attach a video. Try local shop for a fix?

[Just Monika]

It looks like the graphics card is on its last legs and is close to death. My old, old GTS 8800 showed very similar symptoms for a few hours/days before it finally ended itself.

[TheGingaBreadMan]

11 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Uhm, that's not how you attach a video. Try local shop for a fix?

It was a screen shot lol. And yeah, I worked for most of them and know that they wouldn't be able to help. 

[TheGingaBreadMan]

5 minutes ago, Weird Face said:

It looks like the graphics card is on its last legs and is close to death. My old, old GTS 8800 showed very similar symptoms for a few hours/days before it finally ended itself.

Damn. I'm sorry for your loss haha

[-rascal-]

Looks like a few possible issues:

1. VRAM is faulty
2. The output port is damaged

 

If part or some of the VRAM chips are faulty / damaged, then there is not much you can do.

 

If the output is damaged, try using one of the other ones on the back of the card (e.g. DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, etc) -- use an adapter if you need to.

Double check BOTH ends of your cable(s) as well. One or two bent, or damaged pins, and you'll have a very odd looking picture.

 

The VRAM on the R9-280X are clocked higher than what the card can handle -- this is especially true for the early model R9-280X and R9-280's.

The R9-280(X) are all based on the 'Tahiti XT(2)' GPU core; those had the VRAM running at 1375 MHz (5.5 GHz effective) at stock, and they just cranked it up to 1500 MHz ( 6 GHz effective) on these cards. Try and see if dropping the VRAM frequency down just a tiny bit (e.g. 1450 or 1400 MHz) and see if it fixes your issue -- doesn't hurt to try, and it's free and easy to do.

[TheGingaBreadMan]

15 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

You are fucked. You might be able to negotiate with the seller, but that is all, 

How lovely. 

[TheGingaBreadMan]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

Looks like a few possible issues:

1. VRAM is faulty
2. The output port is damaged

 

If part or some of the VRAM chips are faulty / damaged, then there is not much you can do.

 

If the output is damaged, try using one of the other ones on the back of the card (e.g. DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, etc) -- use an adapter if you need to.

 

The VRAM on the R9-280X are clocked higher than what the card can handle -- this is especially true for the early model R9-280X and R9-280's.

The R9-280(X) are all based on the 'Tahiti XT(2)' GPU core; those had the VRAM running at 1375 MHz (5.5 GHz effective) at stock, and they just cranked it up to 1500 MHz ( 6 GHz effective) on these cards.

Try and see if dropping the VRAM frequency down just a tiny bit (e.g. 1450 or 1400 MHz) and see if it fixes your issue -- doesn't hurt to try, and it's free and easy to do.

Oh wow, that's horrifying. And okay, I will try that. Thank you so much for your help.