Problems with XFX Radeon 7790 1GB

[Calyx]

Hi, i recently bought the XFX Radeon 7790 1GB Black Edition from scan and ever since i have got it, i have had persistent problems with the card, when installing the card and installing the drivers, after i had finished installing the drivers, they have been crashing often, also when playing games, browsing etc.. my screen flickers white or with lines. I don't know if this is a defect or a problem with the card. Also, my pc would freeze randomly at times.

PC Specs:

Intel Core i3 2120 3.4GHz
8GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
XFX Radeon 7790 1GB Black Edition
Asus P8H61 R2.0 Motherboard
550W Power Supply (Not sure what it is, came in a case/psu bundle)

[kalniel]

Case/PSU bundles fill me with dread, but the only way of telling for sure is to try another card, and then to try the same card in another computer.

[Calyx]

Case/PSU bundles fill me with dread, but the only way of telling for sure is to try another card, and then to try the same card in another computer.

Yeah the case is fine, psu scares me a bit, i'l give it a try but i've also heard that AMD cards make screen flickering because of the drivers? I'm not sure but how can i get a refund if i bought it from Scan? It's been 6 days already.

[kalniel]

If it's faulty then you've got 6 years to get a refund, though doing so in the first 6 months is easier.

Both AMD and nVidia cards will have problems if the drivers aren't working, so you could try cleaning them out and reinstalling or trying a different version. But you could also try underclocking the card to see if the problems are only at the factory speeds.

[Calyx]

If it's faulty then you've got 6 years to get a refund, though doing so in the first 6 months is easier.

Both AMD and nVidia cards will have problems if the drivers aren't working, so you could try cleaning them out and reinstalling or trying a different version. But you could also try underclocking the card to see if the problems are only at the factory speeds.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled all the different AMD Drivers, 13.9, 13.11 Beta (Which actually makes the card worse in FPS), 13.4 and a specific driver for the 7790 and all do exactly the same, flicker the screen and crash. I've underclocked to factory speeds and disabled OverDrive to see if it fixes it and still doesn't work, also, do you think that the pc crashes are the PSU and how do i send it back? or get a refund from scan?

[kompukare]

Yeah the case is fine, psu scares me a bit, i'l give it a try but i've also heard that AMD cards make screen flickering because of the drivers? I'm not sure but how can i get a refund if i bought it from Scan? It's been 6 days already.

Fire up some kind of hardware monitoring software and see if the flickering only happens when the GPU and its RAM is running very slow, or when it switches. In which case you can install some overclocking software which can change 2D settings (the Asus GPU Tweak can do that); the idea being to get it run at faster speed (say it defaults to 150/300, you'd try it at 500/800 or so).

If it were the PSU the opposite might work: underclock the card in 3D mode so it uses less power. But if it crashes during gaming you'd really want to find a game or program which can crash it consistently.

[badsyntax]

Get Speedfan or Speccy and check the temps. Also physically watch the GPU, fire up a title and check that the fan isn't stopping and starting. Remove and reseat the card. Try the card in a different slot (doesn't matter since it's just a test).

Start with obvious hardware stuff before drivers.

[Calyx]

Get Speedfan or Speccy and check the temps. Also physically watch the GPU, fire up a title and check that the fan isn't stopping and starting. Remove and reseat the card. Try the card in a different slot (doesn't matter since it's just a test).

Start with obvious hardware stuff before drivers.

I have constantly monitored the temps, around 25-40 idle and about 60-70 max on full load, nothing wrong there, fans are constantly spinning i have turned them up and down to see if they speed up and slow down. Card is in the slot correctly, not sure what's going on. I'm thinking it might be the PSU, it's not a good one, terrible most likely, says 550W and i don't think it even produces 300, i'm going to buy the Corsair 600W Builder Series PSU when i get some money, if it isn't the power or drivers, i'l send it back (Need a new PSU anyway, not like im losing out on anything)

[GoodZE]

@Calyx, i dont suppose you're a DJ are ya?

[Calyx]

@Calyx, i dont suppose you're a DJ are ya?

If you mean the Drum and Bass artists Calyx and Teebee, no i'm not

[GoodZE]

If you mean the Drum and Bass artists Calyx and Teebee, no i'm not

haha :-) worth asking calyx and teebee are amazing:-)

[badsyntax]

I've used one of the cheaper PSU testers from Amazon before. It gave reliable numbers despite the low cost when used side-by-side with a more expensive model. I doubt it's a daily workhorse but for about a tenner it proved a PSU was flaky.