HD6990 problem

[peterleo]

Hey guys,
I've been having the weirdest issue and I'm hoping that someone here might have a suggestion or two for me, or has even perhaps encountered this same problem.
First of all, my system:

i7 990x - stock settings with Noctua NH-D14 cooler
Asus Rampage 3 Extreme - everything stock in BIOS
Asus 6990 + Sapphire 6990 in Crossfire (both running in normal BIOS)
24 GB Mushkin 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
2x Kingston 96 GB SSD's in Raid 0
Corsair AX1200 PSU
2 Western Digital HDD's
Asus Xonar Xense sound card
Asus PCE-N13 Wireless adapter
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
HAF-X case

Until a few weeks ago, everything was fine, my system was running well. With no apparent reason, it started to become unstable (graphic issues+freezing).
After going through different Catalyst drivers, I started getting really bad artifacts, especially in 3dmark vantage.
I then went to everything from Catalyst 11.9 all the way to 12.10 - all looked horrible (see picture). However, the 3dMark scores were unchanged in benchmarks.
Now these artifacts also appear in games (ex. Shift Unleashed)
After completely installing/uninstalling different versions of Catalyst, I did a complete Windows reinstall from scratch - but the issue remained.
I then tried to see if maybe one of my 6990's is broken, so I tested them individually - and guess what - even alone in the system, I get the exact same artifacts - no change (so I'm assuming that the cards must be ok?).
After going through some other posts, I also tried to increase IOH voltage to 1.2v - still no luck.
So after going through threads, google, youtube, manuals and just about everything I could think of, I'm really hoping there's someone here with a fresh idea to get me going again
Thanks in advance for all your help!
Cheers!

 

[dragoonk]

You said you tried both cards individually. Have you tried them in another computer? Go to a friend and test each of the two cards. If everything seems ok, then you can rukle out the graphical side of your configuration and start looking at the RAM. Test them or replace them with a friends, or test each module to see if it's faulty. Do that and come back and share your results. If both the graphic hardware and the ram are ok, it might be your motherboard., but you shouldn't rule out any component untill you tested it individually with other hardware than your own.

 

[(SS)Stu]

Try updating the BIOS to the latest version. Test each card in all 3 PCI-E slots indervidually to rule out a fault with the PCI-E slot.

 

[alxcsb]

Those artefacts look to me like hardware failure, linked to the graphics cards. I do find it very hard to believe that both cards failed at the same time. If both of them, on their own, exhibit the same issue, I would check the PSU. There is no other component in your system that can cause that to happen.

 

[PingPangBV]

I'm with (SS)Stu, it could be a faulty PCIe-slot or even the motherboard itself. As dragoonk said, try the GPUs in another computer to rule out the possibility of the GPUs themselves of being faulty, it seems very odd for both of the 6990s to be faulty at the exact same time. My guess is that it's a faulty PCIe-slot.

 

[peterleo]

Hello again everyone! First off, thank you all for the input!

You said you tried both cards individually. Have you tried them in another computer? Go to a friend and test each of the two cards. If everything seems ok, then you can rukle out the graphical side of your configuration and start looking at the RAM. Test them or replace them with a friends, or test each module to see if it's faulty. Do that and come back and share your results. If both the graphic hardware and the ram are ok, it might be your motherboard., but you shouldn't rule out any component untill you tested it individually with other hardware than your own.

That might be a bit difficult for me since I don't know anyone with a computer in which the 6990 would fit. I'm looking to find ways in which I can diagnose the system and find the issue with my own hardware. Do you think the RAM could be an issue? I have 24 GB made out of two sets of 3 sticks each. Should I take one of the sets out and test them individually?

Try updating the BIOS to the latest version. Test each card in all 3 PCI-E slots indervidually to rule out a fault with the PCI-E slot.

I have the latest BIOS version on the R3E. Should I do something about the BIOS of the cards?

Those artefacts look to me like hardware failure, linked to the graphics cards. I do find it very hard to believe that both cards failed at the same time. If both of them, on their own, exhibit the same issue, I would check the PSU. There is no other component in your system that can cause that to happen.

That's exactly what I found so unbelievable - 2 cards failing at exactly the same time in exactly the same way. Is there a quick way to check the PSU?

I'm with (SS)Stu, it could be a faulty PCIe-slot or even the motherboard itself. As dragoonk said, try the GPUs in another computer to rule out the possibility of the GPUs themselves of being faulty, it seems very odd for both of the 6990s to be faulty at the exact same time. My guess is that it's a faulty PCIe-slot.

On the R3E I have 4 PCIE slots. 2 of them have the 6990's, one has an Asus Xonar Xense and another one an Asus wireless network card. The Xonar Xense and network card seem to be working just fine. Would it be a good idea to take the sound card (which I know is ok) and move it across all 4 PCIE slots? Is there any software to diagnose PCIE slots?

Finally, does anyone think this could be in any way software related, or just something that I could fix by tweaking the BIOS?
Also, I don't know if it matters, but when I recently opened the case, there was a bit of dust inside. Could that be an issue?

Looking forward to your replies! Cheers again for your help!

 

[dragoonk]

I think that at this point you should try everything you can and we sugested.. every component, every scenario possible, everything! 2 cards failing at the same time would be an.. unbelivable coincidence, so for now rule out the cards and begin testing everything you have in your system starting with your PSU or RAM, move the cards across different PCI-E slots, try everything.

 

[peterleo]

Hey everyone! Thanks to your input I managed to fix it!:notworthy:
I took everything apart, and found the issue with the PSU.
The dust filter sticking to the intake of the PSU was FULL of dust, so it was basically "choking" the PSU.
This seems to be the reason for system instability and all the other "gremlins" in my computer :lol:
After cleaning it, everything runs like brand new!
Thanks again for your help since I didn't even think about a potential problem with the PSU.
Have a great one!
Cheers!

You said you tried both cards individually. Have you tried them in another computer? Go to a friend and test each of the two cards. If everything seems ok, then you can rukle out the graphical side of your configuration and start looking at the RAM. Test them or replace them with a friends, or test each module to see if it's faulty. Do that and come back and share your results. If both the graphic hardware and the ram are ok, it might be your motherboard., but you shouldn't rule out any component untill you tested it individually with other hardware than your own.

Try updating the BIOS to the latest version. Test each card in all 3 PCI-E slots indervidually to rule out a fault with the PCI-E slot.

Those artefacts look to me like hardware failure, linked to the graphics cards. I do find it very hard to believe that both cards failed at the same time. If both of them, on their own, exhibit the same issue, I would check the PSU. There is no other component in your system that can cause that to happen.

I'm with (SS)Stu, it could be a faulty PCIe-slot or even the motherboard itself. As dragoonk said, try the GPUs in another computer to rule out the possibility of the GPUs themselves of being faulty, it seems very odd for both of the 6990s to be faulty at the exact same time. My guess is that it's a faulty PCIe-slot.

 

[dragoonk]

Hey man, you're welcome, I am glad you got it sorted. It's strange that a dirty dust filter can have such repercusions.

 

[alxcsb]

I suggest you save some money for a new one, the components that were heating up inside that PSU are about to go completely. Next time this happens it will not be such an easy cure. Glad to have helped mate.

 

[dragoonk]

I suggest you save some money for a new one, the components that were heating up inside that PSU are about to go completely. Next time this happens it will not be such an easy cure. Glad to have helped mate.

I still can't belive that he PSU was causing the problem, and it was causing it cause it was heating... Seems weird that a Corsair PSU didn't shut itself down when reaching dangerously high temperatures.

 

[(SS)Stu]

Glad to hear you fixed this problem. I have never come across a issue with PSU heat causing this kind of problem with a GFX Card. Like you say you would think the PSU would die first or the GFX Card would not post. I suppose heat causes electronic resistance therefore not delivering stable power to the GFX Card which was causing the artifacts.