4870 black screen high fan RPM problem - anyone else had this?

[websemantic]

Hi, I've built a new system and finally managed to get Vista Business 64 installed. However, the system seems very unstable. At any point between 20 minutes and three hours, the graphics card fan will suddenly increase it's RPM greatly and the screen will just go black. It's not a lost connection with the screen, (sorry this is hard to describe) it is as thought the screen is displaying a black square (i.e. it is still lighter than when off). It doesn't correct itself and I have to reboot. I don't know how best to approach this problem. The 4870 seems the most obvious cause but could it just be reacting to another part of the system? Has anyone else had problems with this card (without flashing the BIOS) and can anyone suggest a way forward please?

Spec:
Asus P5Q3 deluxe wifi
Quad 9450
Gigabyte HD 4870
2 x 2Gb Corsair XMS DDR3 1333Mhz
Enermax Modu82 +625
Velociraptor 300Gb
Samsung F1 750Gb

All temps are nice and low - I even have the 4870 running at 40C with the XML file fan fix (35% RPM). All the latest drivers for graphics and chipset are installed and the latest motherboard BIOS has been installed.

In order to get Vista to install I had to change some of the BIOS settings from Auto. The DRAM is set at 1333Mhz and the voltage is 1.7. The CPU voltage is at 1.2 and I haven't attempted to overclock anything and I left all the other BIOS settings alone.

Thanks for any help.
websemantic

[Jay]

this sounds like a serious crash. Make sure all your components are steated correctly.

[websemantic]

Hello Jay, been round the components twice and all seated solid and in the correct slots. Really want to avoid RMA on this and hoping it is some sort of driver issue...

[Jay]

I doubt it is a driver issue. Full RPM normally means a serious error, the problem is that the full RPM is a symptom of another problem and it normally mens that the actual board or CPU could be faulty. To be honest it could be a lot of things, have you ran a memtest? are you getting any odd beeps?

[TAKTAK]

try using an older version of the forceware for the GFX card...

do you have another system that you could try components in???

[websemantic]

Jay, is there 3rd party software for the memtest? Do you mean on the GFX card or the RAM?
Taktak, I'm not sure there is older version of the forceware (does this mean the Catalyst app that comes with the card?) - as it is so new. I'll do some reading so I have more of an idea what you mention. Thanks for getting back to me.

[TAKTAK]

i think Jay means, download memtest86+ - burn it to a disc - boot from it - and allow it to test the RAM

and i DO mean the catalyst software, and it's a good point that there might not be a older version as it is so new.

Have you got any other systems available to try the card in?

[websemantic]

Sorry Taktak, not paying attention there. Yes, I have my old system which I think will take the card so I will try it in that. Thanks for the clarification.

[jacktrap]

I signed up to this forum just to say that I am having the exact same problem. I also have a new system and I am also running 64 bit vista with the 4870 using the hotfix drivers. I get a black screen often right after start up and sometimes during games. I also struggle to play crysis on medium settings with no AA and other games as old as half life 2 have fps slow downs when wood is split and there are many enemies on the screen, which shouldnt be the case. I think it is a driver problem that is mainly with 64 bit vista. I just hope ATi pull their dirty little finger out and release an official driver on their website maxifast cause I just spent 4000$ on this rig and i want to freaken use it word up.

[websemantic]

jacktrap, out of interest, who is the maker of your 4870? Mine is from Gigabyte.

[captlemming]

I'm also having this problem, with my brand new system.

I have the same motherboard as you but an HIS 4870 card.

Also haveGot 4gb Ocz ddr3 1333mhz. Quad 9450. samsung f1 750gb. vista home premium X64.

I am going to try using some driver sweep software to totally cleanup my system and just install the disk that came with the machine (catalyst 8.6). maybe the hotfix messes things up? I have already tried flashing motherboard bios to the latest version on bios. Seems all my mates have no problems running crysis etc. Mine can sometimes get into the game , sometimes black screen crashes on startup of the game. I'll let you know if i figure it out. I hope it's not a dead grphx card


forgot to mention I have an Akasa vga cooler, temperature is cooler than stock. I've checked this using the ati tool and it seems to be running at a stable temp (around 60-70 at load). So that kindve rules out overheating....I think anyway.

[Agent]

There appears to be an issue with some 4870 cards at the moment and having them spontaneously die. I've seen quite a few issues across various forums, a lot of people seem to think its related to the RAM on the cards.

I don't know much more than that I'm afraid as I've held off buying one for the time being. Just so you know you're not alone with problems on the 4870 it seems

[jacktrap]

I'm also having this problem, with my brand new system.

I have the same motherboard as you but an HIS 4870 card.

Also haveGot 4gb Ocz ddr3 1333mhz. Quad 9450. samsung f1 750gb. vista home premium X64.

I have the quad 9450 and 4 gig ocz reaper ram and Im using 64 bit home premium. Seems like you and I have some hardware that is having problems with the 4870 or the 8.7 drivers, i hope its the latter.

[J3llyf1sh]

i got the same problem too. at random times the fan would go up to 100% and the screen would be blank requiring a reboot.

it also caused me a few bsods during use and before booting into windows

e8400
4gb ddr2 1066mhz
sapphire hd4870
msi p35 neo2-fr
vista home premium 64-bit

[NovaSphere]

Maybe it's just me, but you all seem to run a 64-bit OS... Maybe that got something to do with it? ^_-

[CrazyMonkey]

I've just bought a 4870 and was thinking of moving to 64-Bit Vista =/

Whats the status of this problem?

Cheers.