Radeon R9 290X artifacts, etc even on boot

[ArnisLav]

This is where comes the long part. I bought a used card 3 days ago. Of course I checked it before buying. Ran Furmark for about 20 minutes, everything went perfect with no problems. Then I putted it in my rig and played World of Tanks for about 2 hours with no problems, just the temperatures seemed high to me so I decided to disassemble the card to change the thermal paste (I used Arctic Silver 5). Unfortunately after that the temperatures didn't change considerably but the problems started. It started showing artifacts and my system hanged with error "Thread Stuck In Device Driver" several times.
Core temp with furmark for 10 minutes reach 95 degrees celsius. and VRM if I remember correct - about 76 to 82 degrees.
I am using Windows 10 Pro X64. And the latest 15.12 AMD Crimson driver. (But could it be a driver or OS issue if I have artifacts even on BIOS?)

BTW: I changed back to my old Radeon HD5870 and it works fine with no errors.
PSU is Seasonic SS-850AM2 so the power shouldn't be a problem...

 

[Supertrucker]

Artic silver 5 is capacitive. If the problems started after you applied it I would take the heatsink off and clean the gpu core and surrounding area with 99% rubbing alcohol. It can cause shorts if you got any on any of the little gizmos surrounding the core. After cleaning it try something thats not metal based that's not capacitive or conductive like mx-4.

 

[ArnisLav]

Thank you! I will try this!

 

[Mandrake4565]

Agreed with Super, you can also use a soft toothbrush to clean with alcohol if you got any on the areas surrounding the die.

 

[ArnisLav]

Artic silver 5 is capacitive. If the problems started after you applied it I would take the heatsink off and clean the gpu core and surrounding area with 99% rubbing alcohol. It can cause shorts if you got any on any of the little gizmos surrounding the core. After cleaning it try something thats not metal based that's not capacitive or conductive like mx-4.

THANK YOU!!! I really did it and now everything seems to be fine! The die surrounding are seemed pretty clean but still it was the cause.

 

[Johan45]

Good for you. Lucky nothing shorted and pooched the card.

 

[ArnisLav]

Unfortunately the problem is back. Artifacts again. This time not in boot. Cleaned gpu die and radiator again, applied AC MX-4. Again. Everything was good. Ran Furmark for about 20 minutes - everything fine. Core temp 94*C. Is that normal? And JUST RIGHT AFTER I switched the Furmark off - ARTIFACTS!!! And computer freezed!
Any more ideas?
Btw: one end of the thermal pad for VRM's was a little dirty and degraded. Could that be a cause?

 

[ArnisLav]

Yes. I can confirm, that my problem only occurs when the gpu turns from high load to low load, for example, there is no problem at all when I run furmark, and the artifacts and/or black screen appears ONLY AFTER I switch the furmark (high load) off.
No voltage increase or Core clock decrease does not help.

 

[EarthDog]

1. Stop using Furmark.
2. Temps are at the limit already... see #1.
3. So forcing the voltage to stay at its 3D load voltage on idle (I think in MSI AB it is "Force Constant Voltage") does not help? When you increase volts, assuming power savings is still on, everything will jump back to its 2D and voltage... run MSI AB while you are doing this so you can see the voltage behavior.

 

[Seabee]

I had very similar results on the same mobo and a 280X nearly a year ago. Tired everything I could to 'fix' it but eventually the card just stopped displaying. I kept it just in case, so here's to hoping you find a fix!!

-Seabee

 

[ArnisLav]

I had very similar results on the same mobo and a 280X nearly a year ago. Tired everything I could to 'fix' it but eventually the card just stopped displaying. I kept it just in case, so here's to hoping you find a fix!!

-Seabee

How did your problem started? Did you changed thermal grease, pads or something like that? Or it just started by itself?

 

[Seabee]

It just started showing artifacts during start up, would go away once it loaded into the OS. It just progressed from there.

I did at one point take the fans and heatsink off to see if there was damage of any type that I could see. So I did put Artic Silver 5 on as well, but my problem started well before that.

-Seabee

 

[ArnisLav]

1. Stop using Furmark.
2. Temps are at the limit already... see #1.
3. So forcing the voltage to stay at its 3D load voltage on idle (I think in MSI AB it is "Force Constant Voltage") does not help? When you increase volts, assuming power savings is still on, everything will jump back to its 2D and voltage... run MSI AB while you are doing this so you can see the voltage behavior.

Thanks for reply. I tried MSI AB to Force Constant Voltage - no luck. Still the same.

 

[EarthDog]

So, can you confirm both your voltage and clocks are lowering?

 

[ArnisLav]

So, can you confirm both your voltage and clocks are lowering?

How do you mean that? Lowering when?

 

[EarthDog]

When idle... your card should lower its core speed and voltage when idle for a bit. Since this only happen on idle, I am wondering if that is where the problem is happening.

 

[Nebulous]

I'm gearing towards a faulty purchase. Send it back and get a refund.

 

[EarthDog]

I'd agree but...

He tested and it was just fine. Then, he replaced the TIM and now its borked.

I bought a used card 3 days ago. Of course I checked it before buying. Ran Furmark for about 20 minutes, everything went perfect with no problems.

just the temperatures seemed high to me so I decided to disassemble the card to change the thermal paste (I used Arctic Silver 5). Unfortunately after that the temperatures didn't change considerably but the problems started. It started showing artifacts and my system hanged with error "Thread Stuck In Device Driver" several times.

 

[Nebulous]

Ahhh I see. You think maybe he got AS5 under something near the core? Under those resistors/capacitors. I had that happen and man I had to scrub the living hell out of that area with toothbrushes and a bottle of alcohol to clear it. Blasting it with compressed air helped too.

 

[EarthDog]

He mentioned there wasn't much there. But its possible it could be too late if it borked something under there. I can't say I have had that happen with AS5 before and I have had some pretty sloppy applications. Though it is capacitive, it isn't very capacitive.