Second opinion needed before RMA.

[Cornholio]

Right guys, got my mates 4870 back from XFX, no faults found, in a way its good news..but it means theres still a problem. The PC spec is :

XFX 4870 (RMA'd, returned with no faults found), tested in my main machine with my corsair hx520 and this enermax modu psu.

Enermax modu psu

8gb corsair XMS ddr2 800

Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H

AMD X4 940

Now..when i use the onboard DVI the pc is perfect, ran prime for over 24hours with not so much as a sniffle so i know the cpu/ram is fine, ran numerous memtests on the ram no errors.

If i try to use the pc with the 4870 fitted the post bios tab (the one with the gigabyte logo) is garbled like mad, bios will sometimes post but othertimes just resets itself, this is a constant loop.

If i remove the 4870 and fit a less powerful card out of my media pc (ATI 4350) into the pci-e 16x slot on the mobo then the computer works fine, no sign of any glitching what so ever just boots first time no hassle.

Now..considering ive tested everything the only thing i can think of is that the PCI-e 16x on the mobo is failing, it will take a less powerful card with less bandwidth but as soon as the 4870 is fitted it just decides to sh1t its knickers, am i right in thinking this is the case ? Its not a driver issue as the screen is corrupt pre/post bios !

Help guys, the board is under warranty and if i can get confirmation that somebody thinks thats the problem then i can take it up to scan with me tomorrow (well, today saturday).

I really dont see what else it can be ? The card is fine as it works perfectly in my main rig (955/ddr3 based).

Cheers in advance.

[Cornholio]

Forgot to add :

I also fitted the 4870 and modu psu to my downstairs media pc, total spec for that when fitted would be :

A failing gigabyte motherboard, GA-M61PME S2 (one rear usb has failed, and the dimm slots are slowly on their way out, currently stuck with 1gb of ram hahaha)

am2 x2 5200+

enermax modu psu

xfx 4870

That configuration works perfectly so the gfx card/psu seem to be working fine, same result when i try the psu/gfx card in my main rig, had to make sure i tested everything i could.


Edit : All the pc's in my house (inc my mates, the one in question) are running the latest bios versions.

[kalniel]

Have you cleared CMOS?

You'll not get a successful RMA unless you have find a bulletproof way they can reproduce the fault - can you borrow another 4870 from someone? If you can prove it always fails with 4870s (while the cards are fine) you'll have a better chance.

[Cornholio]

Cmos cleared, check this post ive just done, will explain a few things.

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...ml#post1886715

[Zak33]

the fact is that some motherboards dont like some cards

Example 1: Sair's rig has an original ATI motherobard in it... and it will NOT run a Geforce 6800. Period. Won't even post. Fine with all the other cvards I've ever tried. No BIOS available to sort it

Example 2: saofg here on HEXUS has one of my old AMD A64 rigs.. an Asus A8NE nforce4 with a X4400 and a couple of gig of ram. Works fine with my old X1900, and with his newer GTX260. And IT WORKS with the 6800 GS that won't work in Sair's rig. But the 6800 died recently (an XFX )... no problem.. get a cheap card to replace it for a spare rig....... Trig folgged me a cheap X1300... won't post. BIOS beeps it's head off about having no video card. Check the BIOS... got the latest which claimed to solve that. Tried an X1600 XT... nope.. no post. Tried an HD2600. Fine.. no problems.

So.. sadly.. some mobo and vid combo's just don't work

[Cornholio]

Thing is though...it has worked, for just short of 9 months !

Its the fact that you put the card in another system, quite a few other systems and it still ferks up.

[Zak33]

oh.... now that IS weird.

Is it the PCI Express power lead in that PC and not the mobo or card at fault?

Can you try another psu or even just a diff connector on that PSU? Checvk the pins in the connector from the PSU to make sure they're not bent, pushed back or buggered in anyway.

[Cornholio]

oh.... now that IS weird.

Is it the PCI Express power lead in that PC and not the mobo or card at fault?

Can you try another psu or even just a diff connector on that PSU? Checvk the pins in the connector from the PSU to make sure they're not bent, pushed back or buggered in anyway.

Hi zak, the psu is an enermax modu jobby, powers my xfx 4890 fine, and the scan test ASUS 4890 card that we tried, the psu is perfectly fine as it runs numerous high power cards, was also tested with the psu tester at scan.

Would i buy XFX again ? Never. Building a budget pc for the mrs dad tomorrow and thats getting a NONE xfx card in it, its getting a gainward as it has good reviews everywhere .