R9 280x DirectCU II Top Artifacts!!

[d1versify]

HEllo i just upgraded from an 7870 to the R9280X-DC2T-3GD5

I followed these steps for drivers

1. Ran Catalyst control center from C:/ AMD and did a custom uninstall. Removed all
2. Restarted computer
3. Ran Driver Fusion and deleted everything from AMD
4. Restarted computer
5. Installed latest 13.12 R9 drivers from AMD site

I get artifacts (shapes, lines , squares) flashing everywhere in screen , when in Chrome, in Dota 2 and Planetside 2. Haven't tested in more games , but I guess it will be the same.
The card will need a replacement? I have a Corsair CX600 , AMD FX 8350, Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb 1600 mhz
I read somewhere about GPU bios update. I ran the GPU ASUS TWEAK software that came in with the CD, and i tried to update something but i got a message ROM programming fail. But then it seemed to installed the update and forced me to restart the computer.
But still i get artifacts.
What do you suggest?

[Ookami999]

karakartal3 wrote:
Nope, like this : https://www.dropbox.com/s/lr2sffv3wb8cxdr/20140313_234745.mp4

And I take back everything I said up there. After 1 hours of game, 1 benchmark with 3DMark11 and another one with Heaven, artifacts reappeared again with my second Asus R9-280X-DC2T card...

I... I don't know what to say... or to do...

It's fan related. The only way to find out is to remove the metal cover and see what is getting in its way when spinning or something is loose but then you will lose the warranty so I don't recommend it. Just go with the easy way, return the card, get a refund and buy the Gigabyte version or even go for Nvidia. There is no salvation here.

I am not soo pissed off of the entire line being faulty (even big manufacturers make mistakes) rather than the stance ASUS holds not to admit it officially and provide a god damn solution, we payed premium bucks ASUS! The issue is mentioning everywhere on the net that I assume the fail rate is over 50%. Nice move ASUS, you lose customers and you will lose many from my side cause I build rigs for living. Keep up the good work!

[karakartal3]

Ookami999 wrote:
It's fan related. The only way to find out is to remove the metal cover and see what is getting in its way when spinning or something is loose but then you will lose the warranty so I don't recommend it. Just go with the easy way, return the card, get a refund and buy the Gigabyte version or even go for Nvidia. There is no salvation here.

Yep, the fan touches the heatsink when rotating... https://www.dropbox.com/s/o71dn75mnss2tcz/20140314_220017.mp4
I'm returning the card to get a refund... again. Thanks Asus!

[dcinbe]

I have bought a Gigabyte GV-N780OC-3GD and I hope I can sell my Asus R9-280X-DC2T to some miner (it's still good for that).
No more AMD for me, and especially no more ASUS for me - EVER. I'm too disgusted by this scam.

[LosT]

I've had some problems with this card.

The first one had artifacts while browsing using chrome, graphic glitches and squares in games.

After RMA I had a replacement. Better asic, lower voltages, but i still have some artifacts in game.
If it's really a vmem problem, i can't change mvddc voltages with gpu tweak.

So I tried to flash DC2 bios (non top) and it appeared stable (latest beta drivers, DC2 lower clocks).

Then I noticed in AI suite 3 (it's the asus z87-pro motherboard managing software), that my bclk frequency (which should be the base clock for pcie) was 100.2. I set it to 99.9, back to original bios, and artifacts are almost gone. I still have some after half an hour running benchmarks loops, but it is promising. Will see tomorrow in game.

I'm just trying to buy some time before the second RMA, maybe the next batch will be better.... But maybe next mobo or vga bios update will fix it.

Anyway, I really don't know what i'm doing. So I'm not sure it's related, maybe it is a coincidence, but you can give a shot.

[Ookami999]

LosT wrote:
I've had some problems with this card.

The first one had artifacts while browsing using chrome, graphic glitches and squares in games.

After RMA I had a replacement. Better asic, lower voltages, but i still have some artifacts in game.
If it's really a vmem problem, i can't change mvddc voltages with gpu tweak.

So I tried to flash DC2 bios (non top) and it appeared stable (latest beta drivers, DC2 lower clocks).

Then I noticed in AI suite 3 (it's the asus z87-pro motherboard managing software), that my bclk frequency (which should be the base clock for pcie) was 100.2. I set it to 99.9, back to original bios, and artifacts are almost gone. I still have some after half an hour running benchmarks loops, but it is promising. Will see tomorrow in game.

I'm just trying to buy some time before the second RMA, maybe the next batch will be better.... But maybe next mobo or vga bios update will fix it.

Anyway, I really don't know what i'm doing. So I'm not sure it's related, maybe it is a coincidence, but you can give a shot.

It's certainly vRAM related. I also flashed the non-TOP version but the voltage is the same for the vRAM with lower clock speed. You can't change it either with any tool cause is locked in vBIOS. Don't know if you flash the vBIOS of the Matrix edition but I won't try it because in case of brick there is no switch for second vBIOS to revert back to stock. I'm waiting for a vBIOS update from ASUS to fix it lowering the voltage of the vRAM. Time will tell. Also BCLK frequency is the Base clock of the CPU, it is not related to GPU. Assuming you have an Intel i5 4670K the base clock is set to 100Mhz with 38x multiplier. For example 38x100=3.8Ghz which is the max stock frequency of this CPU.

[Georgios]

Thank God I run into this thread !!
I was thinking of upgrading to an Asus r9-280x card but with all the problems I am reading, NOOOOOOOO..
I also read that the r9-270x is having similar problems !!!!!
Strange thing is that both 270x and 280x cards are based on an "old" (Pitcairn and tahiti) amd chip (thus knowing its limitations or at least they ought to..).
Another strange thing is the lack of official response by anyone and not a valid solution 4-5 months (don't remember exactly) after the release..

[LosT]

Ookami999 wrote:
It's certainly vRAM related. I also flashed the non-TOP version but the voltage is the same for the vRAM with lower clock speed. You can't change it either with any tool cause is locked in vBIOS. Don't know if you flash the vBIOS of the Matrix edition but I won't try it because in case of brick there is no switch for second vBIOS to revert back to stock. I'm waiting for a vBIOS update from ASUS to fix it lowering the voltage of the vRAM. Time will tell. Also BCLK frequency is the Base clock of the CPU, it is not related to GPU. Assuming you have an Intel i5 4670K the base clock is set to 100Mhz with 38x multiplier. For example 38x100=3.8Ghz which is the max stock frequency of this CPU.

If I understand correctly, the base clock is related to the GPU as it is also base of pci-e 16x frequency. But I'm really not in my field.

I flashed all the ASUS bios I could find. Matrix and 7970 bioses don't work for me. Even if it hasn't a bios switch, every time the video card didn't start because of a bad bios, I recovered it forcing the system to start using intel 4670k integrated graphics and reflashing a good one.

I also wanted to modify the original bios to change the vram voltage. I found locations for vcore tables, frequency tables, vrm signals, ecc., they all depends on asic quality. If the vram voltage is really 1.6v, I think I also found it, but it's just a guess. I have no gut to try to modify it...

[Ookami999]

LosT wrote:
If I understand correctly, the base clock is related to the GPU as it is also base of pci-e 16x frequency. But I'm really not in my field.

I flashed all the ASUS bios I could find. Matrix and 7970 bioses don't work for me. Even if it hasn't a bios switch, every time the video card didn't start because of a bad bios, I recovered it forcing the system to start using intel 4670k integrated graphics and reflashing a good one.

I also wanted to modify the original bios to change the vram voltage. I found locations for vcore tables, frequency tables, vrm signals, ecc., they all depends on asic quality. If the vram voltage is really 1.6v, I think I also found it, but it's just a guess. I have no gut to try to modify it...

The BLCK frequency you see in AI Suite is the CPU's one not the GPU. It has nothing to do at all with the GPU. The voltage of the vRAM is 1.6V and I believe if we could reduce it to ~1.5V it will fix the problem, also 4 of the vRAM chips don't get enough cooling so the artifacts might come from these. High voltage leads to high temperature. How do you want to modify the original vBIOS?

[XarupS]

Guys, got same problem, and tried everything in all foruns, included this here...

Since i have some experience from old beginnins of Battlefield and hardware related, i remembered about something equal happening on my computer when playing BF1942. Was temperature. Believe me.

Was solved by drivers later, that made the VGA works the cooler, but...

Testing it here on mine, worked so far so good.

Temperatures cannot rise higher then 65°c, or will get flickering. I just manually put the cooler at 70% and got the issue solved....

Also, i'm running now:

*VBios Updated
*Catalyst Beta 14.3
*Asus Motherboard Bios updated.
*Software decide about rendering such as AA and AF.

Please, do that proceedure and test by yourselves...

PS: I still got some tilt bellow 1 second duration sometimes, but is nearly a perfect condition. Nothing that bothers at all.

[Ookami999]

XarupS wrote:
Guys, got same problem, and tried everything in all foruns, included this here...

Since i have some experience from old beginnins of Battlefield and hardware related, i remembered about something equal happening on my computer when playing BF1942. Was temperature. Believe me.

Was solved by drivers later, that made the VGA works the cooler, but...

Testing it here on mine, worked so far so good.

Temperatures cannot rise higher then 65°c, or will get flickering. I just manually put the cooler at 70% and got the issue solved....

Also, i'm running now:

*VBios Updated
*Catalyst Beta 14.3
*Asus Motherboard Bios updated.
*Software decide about rendering such as AA and AF.

Please, do that proceedure and test by yourselves...

PS: I still got some tilt bellow 1 second duration sometimes, but is nearly a perfect condition. Nothing that bothers at all.

As I state above it might be temperature problem of the 4 vRAM chips that are not getting enough cooling. I might try placing a fan towards those 4 chips and what I will get.