4890 crossfire problems

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Just got 2 4890's a few days ago, and yesterday I installed windows 7. Install went fine, and everything seemed normal until Windows installed some updates, and everything began to artifact. The screen turned orange and there were lines running everywhere. So I booted into safemode, and uninstalled the update, and everything seemed fine. This morning I tried a few games, but after exiting the game, the artifacting returned. So, I tried a different monitor. Same issue. Took the bottom card out, same issues. Took the top card out and replaced the bottom card in the case, and it seems OK so far. So, before I go through the painful process of RMAing my first card, are there any other things I could try to get this working?

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Ok, I tried both cards again, this time with the working one as the master card, and it still had problems. So I took out both crossfire bridges, and replaced them with an old one I had....and so far I'm not having any problems. This fix doesn't really make sense to me, as even alone the problematic card is still...problematic, but until it artifacts again, I guess it's fixed.

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Nevermind, it continued to artifact after a few minutes of working fine. Guess I'm RMAing the card, unless someone else has any ideas?

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

have you checked the temps on the cards? open up gpuz and run a game and when it starts artifacting check the temps it sounds like your cards are over heating...

you can always run both fans at 100% with the side panel off just to rule out over heating..

and what drivers are you running?

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Catalyst 9.7. Cards idle at 60c and 58c with the side off. With the side on its about 55c and 53c because I have fans blowing on them. I would try to test a game, but when they artifact, the system freezes up, and it doesn't happen during gaming. It happens randomly after booting into Windows. Also, my system has pretty much just stopped working as a whole, even with only the working card in it. It just hangs after it loads up all my programs. I don't know why either.

EDIT: I tried playing a few games and even the good card by itself is now artifacting a ton too. After it artifacts for a few seconds the audio stutters and the entire system hangs. Could this perhaps be a driver problem now? I don't think I got 2 DOA cards.

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

i havnt tried the 9.7 drivers but i dont think anyone else has had any problems with them... you can always uninstall ccc then boot into safe mode and run driver sweeper then boot back into windows and install the 9.6 drivers just to make sure it isnt a driver problem before you go rma'ing your cards...

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

I want to think it's catalyst, because before I installed drivers or anything, the cards were working just fine, and that was when the bad card was the master card. I'm gonna try it, but first I'm going to install vista just to be sure. Then install Cat 9.6. I'll report back in an hour or so I guess. Thanks for the help thus far.

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

if its a software issue a fresh windows install should fix it..

i dont think win7 is the problem though i think its just 9.7... why dont you try installing win7 again

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

I actually dont really even like Windows 7 all that much, so I figure why not go back to Vista, which isn't still in it's RC. Chances are it isn't Win7, but just to be sure, I'm installing Vista

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

how can you not like win7!?!? i fell in love with it in the first 5min lol!

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Oh well I love the fact that I can pin things and wave over them to select a window and the file system is great too, but I just think the way they made the taskbar look is sorta clunky and ugly. That's one thing Vista totally nailed: Appearance.

Rattle · Jul 24, 2009

4890 CF works flawlessly in w7

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Installed Vista and Cat 9.6. Looks good so far. Gonna try some games and see what happens. Also installing updates to see what that might do.

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

sounds good man maybe it was just the 9.7's that were ****ed up... ill try 9.7 on win7 when i get back home on sunday

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Tried to play some CSS, and got the same artifacting problem. The computer locked up again too. Now what shall I try?

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

well the first thing i would do to try to isolate the problem would be to run the whole computer at stock and test one gpu at a time with 3dmark 06 or vantage...i would run it in a loop for about 30min-1hr just to make sure...then the 2nd video card

if they both make it then it could be a problem with your cpu overclock...

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

Haven't clocked the CPU at all yet. The build is totally stock. On the other hand though, with Vista, I can do everything except run games and there are no artifacts. When gaming I just get thick black horizontal lines. Im gonna try a few 3DMark runs now though.

EDIT: Nevermind, the screen just turned totally grey without me really doing anything. It's not frozen or artifacting, but it's the wrong color.

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

when you run 3dmark make sure to run gpuz in the background to monitor the temps..

jamesman32 · Jul 24, 2009

My good card lasted about 2 minutes in 3DMark. Temps were around 70c the whole time I was monitoring them, and then it just changed color, hanged, and I even got a blue screen this time. When I booted back up, Windows said it was a driver problem, which I guess would make sense, because both cards have this problem now, and I think that rules out DOA, especially because I can get into windows with them, and it isn't until I put stress on the cards that they actually have problems.

xtkxhom3r · Jul 24, 2009

wow this is a very very weird problem... have you tried different pci slots?

4890 crossfire problems

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