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Sappire HD7870 artifacts

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C

Chuy

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Dec 3, 2011
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Las Vegas
I'm getting artifacts (pink squares) while gaming. I've run FurMark for 15 mins with no artifacts also ran 3DMark with no artifacts but if I start playing a game I'll get artifacts. I'll also get a black screen with audio loop for a couple seconds sometimes. AMD catalyst is up to date. Is my graphics card dying or could I get lucky and have a driver issue? Thanks in advance.

System: mobo MSI990FXA, cpu FX6300, gpu Sappire HD 7870, ram Viper Xtreme 2x4GB, psu Corsair TX650M, Windows 10
 
The card is not overclocked actually I've never overclocked this card. I uninstalled drivers ran sweep reinstalled drivers twice but I'm still getting artifacts in Heaven. Card was purchased back in 12/2012 so it's out of warranty. I'm going to try a different monitor and report back.
 
Different monitor didn't make a difference. Is there anything else I can try or am I just beating on a dead horse?
 
Chuy said:
The card is not overclocked actually I've never overclocked this card. I uninstalled drivers ran sweep reinstalled drivers twice but I'm still getting artifacts in Heaven. Card was purchased back in 12/2012 so it's out of warranty. I'm going to try a different monitor and report back.
Click to expand...

I've got 2 of these cards but GHz editions instead. Personally, I would never use any 3rd party utility to clean out drivers. just use the catalyst uninstall software, its always worked well on my system (Win 7 OS) never ever had issues and this is a daily gaming rig..
When you say "I uninstalled drivers ran sweep reinstalled drivers twice". I would do a thorough registry clean of windows before going any further...
Apart from this, it could be an issue with Win 10 and its early days of being out in the wild...
 
Thanks for the all help guys.
I did use the same driver, the newest one from AMD Catalyst. I'm going to try an older version tomorrow.
My card is also the GHz version been an awesome card for gaming until know. I uninstalled Catalyst with its uninstall software then I ran the drive sweeper reinstalled tested with Heaven got artifacts so did the process over to see if it made a difference. Before I call the card a brick I'm going to try putting it in a older computer with Win7. I'll see if I have time tomorrow and report back.
 
Always good to be safe. It could be a windows ten issue although I have only heard of texture pop, not artifacts.

ATMINSIDE's idea is good as well. Drop the clocks and see if it goes away.

Drop 25 mghtz at a time and test after each drop. It might be enough to make the card stable again.
 
I put the card in another computer with win7 ran Heaven and still got artifacts, the card is on its way out. I'm going to try underclocking it but I'm looking at a new card. I looking for either something equivalent or stronger than 7870. Newegg has the MSI GeForce GTX 960 OC 4GB for $185 I did see some gtx 950 for less and Gigabyte 270x for $170. What do you guys think is the best choice? My max budget is $200ish and I game at 1080p
 
If you're looking new, a GTX 960 would be your best bet at $200.
Assuming you don't mind used, you could get lucky and snag something like a 780.
 
In my experience with the 7990, I found that removing the heat sink/fan assembly and cleaning everything with 97% rubbing alcohol then installing new thermal paste fixed the problem. I think that the old thermal paste got hard, dry and was cracking thus the card was overheating perhaps but whatever, replacing the thermal paste helped me with a similar situation.
 
I put new thermal paste on the card (Arctic MX-4) ran Heaven, don't know if it was the paste but I think there was less artifacts. I don't know if this is also considered artifacts but for example on the dragon statue in Heaven it'll have patches of purple skin on it, there was also less of that. Tried a game for a few minutes didn't get any artifacts just patches of purple texture, but not as much as before. My temps weren't bad before replacing the thermal paste but it seemed to help. Maybe if I would have done that in the beginning before using Furmark I might have saved the card? I'm going to try to underclock it to see if I can get it stable. I did already order a MSI GXT 960 for $185 it has a $20 mail in rebate. I now think was an impulsive purchase because after reading more reviews I think the r9 380 might have been a better purchase at just a few more bucks. Also I bet if I would have waited two weeks I might have caught a good Thanksgiving sale.
 
That's still artifacts, yes.

If there's any warranty left, definitely send it in.
 
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