ASUS R7 260X DCII OC - Black Screen, graph. artifacts, overheating, no Power Saving

[Szaby59]

Hello!

So far every ASUS R7 260X DirectCU II OC 2GB owners are reporting the exact same issues what I tried to describe in the topic title.

• Only one PowerTune (Power Saving) DPM states are implemented in vBIOS
  
  - Because of this the GPU/VRAM always runs at full speed which causes uneccesary high temperature/power consumption in idle mode.
  - AMD ZeroCore power saving feature sometimes causes black screen when the screen wakes up
  - Sometimes the card does not wakes up from ZeroCore - the monitor displays"No signal".
  
  
  
• Texture glitches, graphical artifacts even when the temperatures are in the safe range.
  Simple:not every card is capable to run at the advertized speeds and voltages (1188 MHz GPU / 1750MHz@7 GHz video memory)
  

Many owners including myself already contacted not just our local ASUS support but even the international support, they said the following about the issues we reported:

- PowerPlay/PowerTune states are not working, because the card is OC version - so to preserve stability the card is designed to operate always at full speed, there is no point (according to them) to enable power saving features for an "OC" card :confused: 😄

- If I think the GPU temperature is too high I should increase the fan speed using ASUS GPU Tweak. 😄

Some examples and screenshots:

No power saving in idle state

IDLE Temperatures, clock

In-game artifacts


UPDATE 2014.08.11. - workarounds and fixes:

• ASUS released a BIOS update to fix BlackScreen issue - this BIOS is the same 015.042... version I had on my card out of the box so If you upgrade from 015.039 you should expect MUCH higher (approximately +15°C) GPU temperature when you watch movies, play Solitaire or just checking your mail - so basically always...
  
  
  
• Flashing the "old" 015.039 BIOS DC2-OC-2GD5 bios over 015.042 re-enables Power Saving features, but the screen wake up and black screen bugs are still there and some cards still get artifacts during 3D games or even on Windows desktop.
  
  
  
• Flashing the 015.039 BIOS DC2-2GD5 (non-OC) bios on a DC2-OC-2GD5 re-enables Power Saving features, but the screen wake up and black screen bugs are still there, eliminates graphical artifacts - if still happens it could be a driver/hardware issue.
  
  
  
• Sapphire support has a BIOS update which fixes EVERY issues with their R7 260X (BIOS version 015.042.000.003.000000):http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4891301&postcount=14
  

TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABOUT R7 260X BIOSes:


Some GPU register dumps using AIDA64

• ASUS R7 260X-DC2-OC-2GD5 v015.042 BIOS:
  
  

  BIOS PowerPlay State #0:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 875 MHz, MemClock = 1750 MHz, VID = 4.098 V (Boot)
  BIOS PowerPlay State #1:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 1188 MHz, MemClock = 1750 MHz, VID = 4.096 V
  - Level #1: GPUClock = 1188 MHz, MemClock = 1750 MHz, VID = 4.098 V
  
  ------[ GPU PStates List ]------
  
  DPM7: GPUClock = 1188 MHz, VID = 1.25770 V
  

  
  
  
  Here you can see the card is forced to run at the highest DPM state...
  
  
  
• ASUS R7 260X-DC2-OC-2GD5 v015.039 ("old") BIOS:
  
  

  BIOS PowerPlay State #0:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 1100 MHz, MemClock = 1625 MHz, VID = 4.098 V (Boot)
  BIOS PowerPlay State #1:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 300 MHz, MemClock = 150 MHz, VID = 4.096 V
  - Level #1: GPUClock = 1100 MHz, MemClock = 1625 MHz, VID = 4.098 V
  
  ------[ GPU PStates List ]------
  
  DPM0: GPUClock = 300 MHz, VID = 0.87269 V
  DPM1: GPUClock = 635 MHz, VID = 0.87885 V
  DPM2: GPUClock = 770 MHz, VID = 0.96201 V
  DPM3: GPUClock = 875 MHz, VID = 1.03285 V
  DPM4: GPUClock = 950 MHz, VID = 1.09651 V
  DPM5: GPUClock = 1015 MHz, VID = 1.15503 V
  DPM6: GPUClock = 1065 MHz, VID = 1.20637 V
  DPM7: GPUClock = 1100 MHz, VID = 1.25770 V
  

  
  
  
  And that's how was with the 1st BIOS, and that's how it should be!
  So this dump and many other VGAs (and logic...) are the PROOF that even an OC card supposed to have idle P-states...
  
  
  
• Sapphire R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 BIOS - with Black screen fix and still PowerSaving enabled:
  
  
  

  BIOS PowerPlay State #0:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 1150 MHz, MemClock = 1650 MHz, VID = 4.098 V (Boot)
  BIOS PowerPlay State #1:
  - Level #0: GPUClock = 300 MHz, MemClock = 150 MHz, VID = 4.096 V
  - Level #1: GPUClock = 1150 MHz, MemClock = 1650 MHz, VID = 4.098 V
  
  ------[ GPU PStates List ]------
  
  DPM0: GPUClock = 300 MHz, VID = 0.87269 V
  DPM1: GPUClock = 635 MHz, VID = 0.87885 V
  DPM2: GPUClock = 804 MHz, VID = 0.96201 V
  DPM3: GPUClock = 914 MHz, VID = 1.03285 V
  DPM4: GPUClock = 992 MHz, VID = 1.09651 V
  DPM5: GPUClock = 1060 MHz, VID = 1.15503 V
  DPM6: GPUClock = 1112 MHz, VID = 1.20637 V
  DPM7: GPUClock = 1150 MHz, VID = 1.25770 V

  
  
  So If Sapphire was able to fix their card without loosing Power Saving feature back in December 2013 I just hope that ASUS will be able to do that VERY SOON. The card is almost 1 year old...
  
  

[taquinvol]

I too can confirm that the ASUS R7 260X DirectCU II OC 2GB (R7260X-DC2OC-2GD5) with BIOS version 015.042.000.003.000000 is always at full speed and the idle temperature is always over 50C in a well ventilated case with 2 12cm chassis fans.

[Marsone]

I can confirm all of the above, technical support was inadequate in this problem. I can tell you how to get rid of the problem of energy conservation and a black screen. I downloaded from the site techpowerup for the graphics card BIOS 015.039.000.003.000000 and flashed it with a program ATI Winflash 2.6.7 that began as a frequency and should be changed from 300 to 1188 and from 600 to 7000. Black screen ceased to appear only after the transition to 14.6 beta driver


the only problem that remains is an artifact, and they often appear to roll if the game and then open it again. If the company does not release a new vbios reshscheniem with this problem will continue to talk about the fact that the frequencies in the OC version should not be changed instead of having to issue a new vbios it will be the last thing that I bought from this company

[compcj]

TLDR:
DC2OC 260X is broken because faulty graphic mem chip is not stable at 1750Mhz, and might crash when rapid changing mem freq.(e.g. 2D to 3D)
Set mem freq to a fixed one could solve the blackout, at the same time, downclock the mem to 1600Mhz could solve the artifacts(at least greatly reduces the possibility)

Long version:
Exactly the same issue. I've got a DC2OC 260X and there're blackouts and artifacts.
Set 2d mem freq to the same as 3D could solve the blackout issue, and seems that's what the updated BIOS(15.042) has done. The faulty graphic mem could not handle rapid freq change, e.g. switching from 2D to 3D.
Artifacts keep showing at fixed area on the screen, which prompts parts of GPU mem is not stable, downclock the mem to 1600Mhz or 1650Mhz could greatly reduce the possibility of artifacts, but it will still show. Ironically, mem freq is the biggest advantage that DC2OC has over the other 260X vendors.
Below is my personal guess:
The low quality hynix graphic mem is in great suspicious, but seems ASUS has decided not to recall those faulty chips, this will be definitely my last asus product.
IMO, ASUS's best option, for now, is to publish a new BIOS with locked mem frequency but a little lower than 1750Mhz, e.g. 1700Mhz or 1650Mhz, it will make the card much more stable.

[SuperLasers]

I recently purchased the card and after going through hell with what im assuming are driver issues? Ive got the card running properlly and im about to try and run a game for a bit see what happens will report back.

[Szaby59]

@compcj: I currently have the "standard" DC2 R7 260X BIOS on my DC2-OC card and I never experienced artifacts/blackscreens in 3D games, but I still think the 150 -> 1600 MHz jumps are not good for memory, especially since the DC2 cooling does not touches the RAM chips and that's (bad cooling) may cause the issue with the standard 1750 MHz clocks.

With this BIOS: http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/154727/asus-r7260x-2048-130925-1.html

I was able the fix most of the annoying issues I encountered, so:

- Now I have PowerPlay/PowerTune enabled and the GPU temperature is around ~10 C° lower during idle and 2D tasks (Browsing, movies, desktop).
- I also made some "adjustments" using AMD CCC: a PowerSaving profile with lower clocks and a Gaming profile with higher clocks (see attachments - especially the GPU register dump window after applying the profiles).
- The ZeroCore bug is still there: after the monitor goes to sleep the card does not wake up but I think it's a driver issue on AMD's side and mostly happens when there is a Window opened on the desktop or in Windows 8 Modern App.

[compcj]

@Szaby59: Thanks for your advice, it's indeed a viable solution. Seems work now, with acceptable performance loss(better than nothing:(). Will report back if artifacts continue.

[xplod]

Please give me Advice
ASUS R7 260X DirectCU II OC problems:mad:






http://www.youp.ir/dl/file2/guest/e4b5-r7260x.mp4

BIOS Info
Version: 015.039.000.003.000000
Build date: 2013-09-25 10:20:00
MD5 Hash: 1c916cc133af5f7651ce39c12f954c83

AMD Catalyst 14.4
and test AMD Catalyst 14.7 RC

[R1zlA]

I have same problem, artifacts continue pop up randomly.

[R1zlA]

I have same problem, artifacts pop up randomly.