Display crashing on Gigabyte 6970, however 6950 works perfectly

[Meevinman]

Sup guys,

Been having this issue for a while now. Ran through all the possible fixes for the issue.

The Gigabyte 6970 is in slot 1, and so is my 6950 when i use it.

(1)Uninstalled+Reinstalled Drivers using ATIuninstallman, Driver sweeper and driver cleaner about 20 times.
(2)Setting idle clocks though CCC.
(3) reverted back to older drivers (11.10)

AND

I just fully uninstalled windows with my 6970 as my main, yet waddya know, the crashing still happens.
Now i have plotted down, so far, when the crashing occurs.

*When using browsers (Mozilla, IE etc)
*when opening up CCC
*Clicking start

There are probably more but that is just some examples.

Now, as far as i know, crashing did not occur when i was playing games, but since i have reinstalled windows today, i have not had a chance to test it out, but i assume that i will still be able to.

I sent the card away for RMA, they SAID they tested the card on Furmark, 3dmark without any errors. Whether they did this or not, i have no way of knowing. All i know is that this particular card is not functioning the way it should. I do not believe there is any problems with any other components in my system, cause as i have already said, when using my 6950, i do not have any problems WHATSOEVER.

Sys specs:

Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Intel i7 950 3.06ghz
RAM: Kingston DDR3 1066Mhz 6GB
PSU: Corsair TX850W
Mobo: Asus P6X58D-E

[Dark Mantis]

Hi,

Well as both cards use exactly the same catalyst drivers there shouldn't be any difference from thjat point of view, in fact I couldn't see why you kept uninstalling them only to reinstall them again to be honest. 

The main difference is the power draw but even that shouldn't be much different. I would start by checking the voltages on the 6970 against the 6950. You don't say whether the two cards are the same make and model.

Make sure that you have the latest BIOS installed on the motherboard and the latest firmware on the graphics cards. Also ATI has had a few problems recently with some of the drivers which I believe they have now sorted out so make sure that you have the very latest ones.

[Meevinman]

Hi,

Well as both cards use exactly the same catalyst drivers there shouldn't be any difference from thjat point of view, in fact I couldn't see why you kept uninstalling them only to reinstall them again to be honest.  

The main difference is the power draw but even that shouldn't be much different. I would start by checking the voltages on the 6970 against the 6950. You don't say whether the two cards are the same make and model.

Make sure that you have the latest BIOS installed on the motherboard and the latest firmware on the graphics cards. Also ATI has had a few problems recently with some of the drivers which I believe they have now sorted out so make sure that you have the very latest ones.

Yes, i've gone through that as well, updated to the very latest Asus BIOS for my mobo, which was like 6.8 or something close to that, but it was the most recent one. As for power draw, i have an 850w PSU, and that did previously run both my 6950 and 6970 during CFX without a hitch.

the 6970 model is: GV-R697OC-2GD and the 6950 is GV-R695D5-2GD-B

As far as i remember, however, the crashes started to happen more frequently after a driver update. But i understand that it could be a number of different things, such as incompatibility with the mobo, RAM with the VGA

Also, are you the person who is responding to me in support? Sorry if im coming across as a dick, lol, it's just im VERY annoyed with what is happening. I haven't been able to play battlefield 3 for about 2 months cause the new updates have made the FPS drop on my 6950, even though it is flashed! Skyrim plays fine though.

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

No I am not the person  dealing with you from support I am afraid. I don't work for Gigabyte along with everyone else on the forum here. I take it thjat you are talking to someone at GGTS.

I agree that your PSU should be fine. It should run the two cards together ok let alone one at a time.

Have you updated the firmware on the card to the latest version ?

[Meevinman]

Hi

No I am not the person  dealing with you from support I am afraid. I don't work for Gigabyte along with everyone else on the forum here. I take it thjat you are talking to someone at GGTS.

I agree that your PSU should be fine. It should run the two cards together ok let alone one at a time.

Have you updated the firmware on the card to the latest version ?

Hi

I am guessing the "firmware" is different from "driver" (As far as i know, it is) If that is the case, where could i get the latest "firmware" for my 6970? cause the latest "driver" would of been installed when i downloaded and installed CCC 11.11.

Also, when i check the Gigabyte website and choose my card, it says that the latest AMD Driver version is 8.801, which is not the latest at all.

[Dark Mantis]

Correct. The firmware is the BIOS of the card. If there is a more modern one then it should be available via the support section of your card's webpage. If you use @BIOS for it though it should just check automatically without yiou having to find it.

[Meevinman]

Correct. The firmware is the BIOS of the card. If there is a more modern one then it should be available via the support section of your card's webpage. If you use @BIOS for it though it should just check automatically without yiou having to find it.

Hmm,

Looks like the BIOS on the Gigabyte site, for the "GV-R697OC2-2GD" 6970 is the exact same version as when i received the card. Nonetheless, i downloaded and installed the BIOS using the tool provided in the download. Restarted my PC, yet the crashing still occurs. Back on my 6950 now,  but to be honest, i didn't really think it was a bios problem, because as far as i am aware, i using the same version the whole entire time when i was CFX equipped.

Also downloaded @BIOS, and it also said i had the latest version "F3".

[Gloup_Gloup]

Hi Meevinman,

...
Also downloaded @BIOS, and it also said i had the latest version "F3".

Please use QFlash because you have more posibility to have a problem with @BIOS.

More help about How Do I Update My BIOS?
http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html

But Before AND after Flash a BIOS...

I do not know if you've done that ... but I invite you to do so.

I suggest you apply the following instructions (quote from Dark Mantis) ...
===================================================

Hi
...

Try clearing the CMOS before installing the GPU. follow these instructions exactly.

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least one hour before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Optimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

And during a Flashing BIOS...

Hi
...
Try using QFlash to update the BIOS to the latest version and make sure that youi disable the "Keep DMI Data" on the QFlash homepage.

Come again here for comments, after tried...

Gloup_Gloup

[Dark Mantis]

Yes Gloup_Gloup makes a very valid point there and @BIOS is fine for flashing graphics cards but not recommended for use when updating the motherboard's BIOS files. Because it runs on top of the OS it is far more likely to introduce an error or if the OS crashes you have big problems. QFlash is the preferred method and is much safer.

[Meevinman]

Yes Gloup_Gloup makes a very valid point there and @BIOS is fine for flashing graphics cards but not recommended for use when updating the motherboard's BIOS files. Because it runs on top of the OS it is far more likely to introduce an error or if the OS crashes you have big problems. QFlash is the preferred method and is much safer.

I have an Asus mobo, no QFlash, but it does have it's own flashing tool.

And aren't i wanting to update my VGA Bios, not mobo Bios?

though, i already updated my mobo Bios previous to me reinstalling windows, yet the card was still crashing...The mobo bios is the very latest.

[Dark Mantis]

That's fine then. I was talking generally not specifically aimed at your situation. Using @BIOS to flash your graphic card is fine.