Video card issues

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Funkmasterr
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Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

So I bought a new XFX Radeon 5770 today, and after a bit I started to have issues.

At first, when I would close out of FF 14, I would get a message in the tray saying the video card drivers stopped responding and had been recovered. Now I can't even complete the character creation screen in the game without the screen going black and the computer locking up to the point that I have to hold down the power button and turn it back on.

At first I thought it had to be my usual bad luck and I got a new card, but I started googling and found out I was a long way from the only one with the issue. From what I read many people have this issue, some with Geoforce cards, some with ATI. It seems as though insufficient PSU was ruled out, as was basically any other hardware issue. Many of the people said they tried exchanging the card or getting a new card altogether and still had the issue. It appears to happen mostly with Vista/7 but I read people that were running XP saying they had the same issue.

I found many workarounds people said worked for them, and I tried a couple with no results (disabling Aero/using the basic themes for example). Anyone have any insight on this issue? I really want to play this damn game but it seems that some higher power doesn't fucking want me to.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Kluden »

I'm running win7 64bit, and a 260gtx nvidia, and have had that happen once or twice. I just reset the PC to reload the drivers properly.

First place I would have went is what version of catalyst are you running, and how long has it been out, and can you load up a newer or older catalyst driver?
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

I am running the newest version, 10.9 I believe. I would be willing to try an older version of the driver, but I'm not sure where to look.

Some more info after fucking around with it last night. It seems to only happen during the character creation process, which is odd, but from what I read people have it during a variety of things.. Some watching movies, some just browsing the internet.

What I started to do is go into the control panel, add/remove programs and then repair the driver before and after going into the game. This seems to give me success for the most part, there has only been one time I've had a issue when I've actually been playing the game, and the computer didn't actually lock up that time.

Really weird. And shitty.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Kluden »

Well, if I had to guess, its a windows issue, based on "windowed" mode video items...like movies, games, etc.

The character creation screen is windowed in FF14. The movies I was watching when I had the problem were windowed. I did NOT have the issue playing FF14 though, nor during the character creation of ff14. If there's a way to get the menu and character creation into full screen mode, I would say try that.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Yeah it seems that you're right. Like I said, I crashed once in game but I think it was a genuine crash caused by a issue with the game and not a Windows issue.

It was only when actually making characters I was having issues, and I got the three I'm going to make done so I'm good there!

Hopefully it doesn't get any worse. If it does I'll look into a older driver or at least trying to uninstall and reinstall the current ones, again.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Kluden »

Its not a driver issue, its how windows handles different layers of 2D with 3D mixed in. The only fix will be from Microsoft. So yeah, an older driver won't really help, but you could try it!
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Kluden wrote:Its not a driver issue, its how windows handles different layers of 2D with 3D mixed in. The only fix will be from Microsoft. So yeah, an older driver won't really help, but you could try it!
Yeah. And from the sounds of it, this issue has been going on for quite a while, and if it hasn't been fixed by now, it probably won't be fixed until the next version of Windows.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Zaelath »

I find 10.9 is a LOT better than 10.4 and before were, but 10.5 and on can't play older games, like Call of Duty and Quake (1, 2 or 3 I think).

Tempted to build myself a retro gaming computer, as much as I feel retarded calling Quake III retro, it is over 10 years old...
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

This fucking bullshit keeps happening.. It happened a few times when I was trying to play EQ and it keeps happening when I'm trying to log into FF 14. Most of the time, I will try to log into FF and I will almost be in game and the screen goes black and the shit starts buzzing, and I have to hold down the power button. Sometimes I have to go through this 4 or 5 times before I finally get into the fucking game.

I'm going to try exchanging the card tomorrow, I know it's not the problem but I'm so fucking frustrated I don't know what else to do.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Fairweather Pure »

Sounds like a heat or power issue Funk.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Fairweather Pure wrote:Sounds like a heat or power issue Funk.
I was curious about that... But I have read numerous accounts of people with the same setup as me (same processor/vid card/ram) and actually most of them have two hard drives (I have one) and they say that under load their system is drawing 250 watts. So that should leave me 200 watts to spare.

I'm not saying you're wrong, because I don't know for sure.. But I'm not sure. I guess I could just spend the 100 dollars on a psu sometime here and see if that resolves it..
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Boogahz »

hmm, that would be 450w. What I have seen lists that card requiring at least 500w.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Aardor »

Wattage is also not a great way of finding out if your power supply is giving you enough power. Amps on the 12v rail are much more important.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Winnow »

All power supplies are not created equal. There is a big difference in PSU quality. Early on I bought cheapo PSU's and they crapped out. Last two PSU's I've bought have been high quality. I've got a 480W Tagen That's been powering my system that really should have 500+W, 24/7 nonstop for going on 3-4 years now.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

So, looking at Corsair PSU's. For what I have, and keeping in mind I'll likely be adding another hard drive sometime in the near future, a 650W should be more than sufficient right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139005

With the promo it's only $81.00 w/ shipping, with a 20 dollar mail in. So not bad at all.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Fairweather Pure »

What temps does your PC run at? How far can you get into the game before you have issues? Is it the same amount of time every time, or does it vary? Can you run other games? If so, do older less graphic intensive games have any issues? If so, can they run a lot longer than FF before having issues? If you let your PC sit for an hour or 2 then play FF can you play longer befire having an issue?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just going through what I would test myself it it were my PC.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Fairweather Pure wrote:What temps does your PC run at? How far can you get into the game before you have issues? Is it the same amount of time every time, or does it vary? Can you run other games? If so, do older less graphic intensive games have any issues? If so, can they run a lot longer than FF before having issues? If you let your PC sit for an hour or 2 then play FF can you play longer befire having an issue?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just going through what I would test myself it it were my PC.
That's the thing. I haven't been able to see what temp the everything is at while FF is running, because if I run it in windowed mode it crashes much more, and if you try and tab out of it in full screen the game crashes.

I also haven't monitored the temps of much other than the video card, which when I've been able to monitor it has never gotten above 60 degrees C.

As far as when the game freezes - every time I've had the issue it has been as im logging into my character - so the loading screen, or immediately after my character pops in. If I get logged in and it doesn't happen immediately, it won't happen even if I play the game for 5 hours straight.

As far as older games, I had the issue playing Everquest this weekend. It happened twice before I didn't bother logging in again, and I'd say it happened after 10 minutes of being logged into the game.

I believe it's the video card driver failing to respond that's causing the issue. If I am watching a video in VLC or browsing the internet, the driver will stop responding once in a while, and the screen may go black for a couple of seconds, but it comes back after that and I get a notice in the tray that says something to the effect of "The video driver stopped responding but Windows has recovered it" and all goes back to normal.

I was assuming that this same thing is happening when FF crashes, but being as there is a heavier load on the video card/pc when it happens, it can't recover the driver and shit locks up, but I don't know for sure obviously..
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

I decided to pick up a new PSU in hopes that it's at least part of the issue. I ended up getting the modular 650W corsair.

I am just so frustrated, I can't imagine it's only me that has this issue and hasn't been able to find a work around. The only thing I haven't tried that I might give a shot is a older version of Catalyst.. I'll have to figure out a reliable place to get older versions from.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Aabidano »

I'm assuming you've tried the vendor supplied driver? When I first got my 5750 I couldn't run the ATI one, had to use the Asus version. Windows update really hosed me up right after I bought it.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Aabidano wrote:I'm assuming you've tried the vendor supplied driver? When I first got my 5750 I couldn't run the ATI one, had to use the Asus version. Windows update really hosed me up right after I bought it.
I honestly think the only software that came with it was Catalyst. It is a older version, but it asked me if I wanted to go online and get the newest version (which is what I did). I guess I'll just install the version off the disc and see how it goes.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Aabidano »

Also had to pull off the heatsink\fan and put thermal goo in, it metal to metal when I took it apart.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Aabidano »

Aabidano wrote:Also had to pull off the heatsink\fan and put thermal goo in, it was metal to metal when I took it apart.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Aabidano wrote:
Aabidano wrote:Also had to pull off the heatsink\fan and put thermal goo in, it was metal to metal when I took it apart.
Sonofabitch.. I've never messed with that, I briefly tried to figure out how to get the plastic case off the top of the card and gave up on that.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Aabidano »

Mine was easy, last card was impossible without breaking something.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

I'll have to take a look. I guess if I end up fucking it up, Best Buy doesn't ever look at shit when you return/exchange it so they won't know I took it apart. :lol:
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

So I've been thinking.. Being as I bought the new PSU, and I'm having these problems. Because I'm a Silver Reward Zone member with Best Buy I have another 3 weeks I think to return/exchange my video card, would I notice a big difference with a GTX460 or another fairly close to that price point over the 5770?

I'm thinking probably not, but I'm thinking about exchanging the video card for another one (same model) at the very least when the new power supply gets here just to rule out it being a bad card.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Winnow »

Image

^
|
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What the hell is this??
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

I made it just for you.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

I put in my new power supply last night. I had to re drill the holes in the back of the case cause they didn't line up, and the power supply doesn't cover the entire hole in the back like the old one did. There's maybe a 1/4" on the bottom of it that's open, the only issue I can see there is a little more dust getting in, but I blow my case out fairly often so that's fine.

Exchanged the video card too, and after both of those things the problem IS GONE :D Glad to have that crap behind me!
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Re: Video card issues

Post by miir »

cool
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Canelek »

Good deal! The RMA-shuffle gets old!
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Kluden »

you went from ati to nvidia, right? it was probably just a driver issue. Important thing: your shit works again.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Nah I still have ATI, I just exchanged the card for another of the same.. I should have done it a long time ago, I had a bad feeling about it when I took it out of the box and the bracket that screws onto the case was bent to the point i had to get a pliers and bend it back.

So I guess I'll never know if it was a bad card or a power supply issue, but I'm just happy to not be dealing with it anymore :D
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Psyloche »

Funkmasterr wrote:I put in my new power supply last night. I had to re drill the holes in the back of the case cause they didn't line up, and the power supply doesn't cover the entire hole in the back like the old one did. There's maybe a 1/4" on the bottom of it that's open, the only issue I can see there is a little more dust getting in, but I blow my case out fairly often so that's fine.

Exchanged the video card too, and after both of those things the problem IS GONE :D Glad to have that crap behind me!
Did you have a chance to try it with just replacing 1 piece of hardware at a time?
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Psyloche wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:I put in my new power supply last night. I had to re drill the holes in the back of the case cause they didn't line up, and the power supply doesn't cover the entire hole in the back like the old one did. There's maybe a 1/4" on the bottom of it that's open, the only issue I can see there is a little more dust getting in, but I blow my case out fairly often so that's fine.

Exchanged the video card too, and after both of those things the problem IS GONE :D Glad to have that crap behind me!
Did you have a chance to try it with just replacing 1 piece of hardware at a time?
Nope, I really wish I had, but by the time I thought about it, it was too late.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Kluden »

My money is on the card. Power supplies like to be a much bigger PITA when they are failing, giving all kinds of other issues too. How much larger is the new PSU? Not sure why I ask that, cause with one video card, the psu was big enough, and like I said, if it was failing, then you would have had all kinds of stupid going on, like losing USB power, hard drives, disk drives, etc.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

The old PSU was a 450 watt (not sure what model, whatever dell put in it). And the new one is a Corsair 650 watt.
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Boogahz »

PS was slightly lower than recommended for the card, 450 vs 500. Card starts drawing more power during gaming, rig goes poof.

I probably would have taken the damaged card back as soon as I opened the box though! That would have been a sign that bad things were going to happen with it :P
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Re: Video card issues

Post by Funkmasterr »

Boogahz wrote:PS was slightly lower than recommended for the card, 450 vs 500. Card starts drawing more power during gaming, rig goes poof.

I probably would have taken the damaged card back as soon as I opened the box though! That would have been a sign that bad things were going to happen with it :P
Yeah I was going to bring it back right away, but I was too excited to play the damn game and then I kind of forgot about it.
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