Weird issue with Radeon 5870

By nytiger73
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nytiger73

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I bought an XFX Radeon 5870 XXX Edition a couple of weeks back and am running into a VERY weird issue with it. Here is what is happening. If I don't turn on my PC at the just the right moment with the monitor on the fan on the video card will spin up to 100% and the PC will not display video. The computer is booting in the background as you can see the HDD lights going and if I do a hard power off you get the standard Windows didn't start / shutdown properly messages.

Here's what I have done to attempt to address it all with no luck. I've tried to use the different DVI ports on the video card, used a VGA to DVI converter and also went so far as to switch out my monitor with one that has a native HDMI connection, so I've pretty much ruled out an issue with the monitor. It seems like if the card doesn't detect a signal, this is when it happens. What I have to do is turn the monitor on, wait for the monitor to display types of inputs etc and then power on the PC. If I miss on when I fire up the PC, the issue occurs. Now, if I power off, and then back on to attempt it again and hit it at just the right time, it still won't work. I have to kill all power to the PC, whether that is powering off my UPS, or turning off the switch on the power supply and turning it back on, the only way I can attempt it again and be successful is to that.

I already have an RMA setup with NewEgg, but I wanted to see if anyone else with a 5870 had a similar issue. I've seen posts on a few different forums about a POST / No Video issue, but I wanted to see if anyone else had any other ideas, as the fixes that some have tried did work for me. It doesn't seem like there is one iron clad fix that will resolve this issue once and for all.

Another kink in this is once I get a successful power up, I can shut the computer down completely several times and let the video card cool down and boot again and it will be fine. I also updated the BIOS and change a couple of power management settings on my PC to no avail.

I also have a GTX 280 that boots up perfectly fine, so I am pretty sure it's nothing in my PC. Just thought I would throw that in there.

It sounds like I've got a REALLY quirky card, but I thought I'd let you all toss it around a bit and see if anyone can come up with anything else before I exchange the card.

Thanks!

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nytiger73

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I did forget to mention that I have an 850W Antec PSU. I could replace it if need be, but would prefer to rule out everything else. My 12V Rails (this PSU has 4 12 V rails) is reporting that I am right around 12V on the nose, I've seen it fluctuate between 11.96V and 12.03V, so the power output seems pretty steady.

Grand Master

ObiWanToby

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That does sound PSU related. It is hard to say really. Unless you had another PC to try out the 5870 in. I assume it works alright when the computer actually boots?

I wouldn't say the RMA is completely unwarranted, but power can cause strange issues such as this.

FYI a single powerful 12V rail seems to be better.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

I would not say that is the reason you are having this issue though. Many people use multiple 12V rails. PC Power and Cooling I think is the only manufacture that exclusively uses single 12V rails.

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nytiger73

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Ok. Thanks. I do have another PC, but it doesn't have a strong enough PSU I don't think to support the card. I think its only 550W. I'd have to check. I am going to RMA the card and look into a different PSU as well. I can always use this PSU in another machine. But yes, the card is perfectly fine once I get the computer to boot. No issues at all. No BSOD's or crashing.

Grand Master

ObiWanToby

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Ok. Thanks. I do have another PC, but it doesn't have a strong enough PSU I don't think to support the card. I think its only 550W. I'd have to check. I am going to RMA the card and look into a different PSU as well. I can always use this PSU in another machine. But yes, the card is perfectly fine once I get the computer to boot. No issues at all. No BSOD's or crashing.

The fact that it works fine sometimes to me just seems like it is a PSU. It can't hurt to RMA it I guess. Just let us know what the solution ends up being.

Grand Master

+shift. MVC

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FYI a single powerful 12V rail seems to be better.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990

I would not say that is the reason you are having this issue though. Many people use multiple 12V rails. PC Power and Cooling I think is the only manufacture that exclusively uses single 12V rails.

They're also saying that single rail versus multi-rail is a non-issue unless your rail distribution is funky. Not ruling out power supply here, but I don't think it's because he has a multi-rail PSU.

Grand Master

ObiWanToby

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They're also saying that single rail versus multi-rail is a non-issue unless your rail distribution is funky. Not ruling out power supply here, but I don't think it's because he has a multi-rail PSU.

Yeah I do not think so either. I really do not think it matters too much anymore, processors have gotten much more power efficient, draw less amps. GPUs really haven't changed much though.

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rawr_boy81

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Yeah I do not think so either. I really do not think it matters too much anymore, processors have gotten much more power efficient, draw less amps. GPUs really haven't changed much though.

I would be very surprised if 850watts isn't enough but then again, it does come down to the efficiency of your power supply and now just the acclaimed output.

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nytiger73

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Is it the Antec True Power Quattro 850W? I have that PSU and a HIS HD 5870 and I am not experiencing what you are. To me it sounds like a motherboard problem. It's not booting up correctly.

Yes, that is the PSU I have. I just can't seem to put a finger on it as I have another card (GTX 280) that powers up perfectly fine. I know that they are 2 different cards, but I think they have somewhat similar power requirements. If it were the motherboard I would think I would be seeing similar issues or at least I would be having other issues that would clue me in that there was an issue. Although I could be wrong. It's just I've never seen an issue quite like this. I am thinking it's a quirky card only because if the issue was with the PSU or motherboard, I would think I'd be having issues with the other card as well as with this one, but perhaps not. Once I actually get powered up, the system is bedrock solid.

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RageOfFury

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Yes, that is the PSU I have. I just can't seem to put a finger on it as I have another card (GTX 280) that powers up perfectly fine. I know that they are 2 different cards, but I think they have somewhat similar power requirements. If it were the motherboard I would think I would be seeing similar issues or at least I would be having other issues that would clue me in that there was an issue. Although I could be wrong. It's just I've never seen an issue quite like this. I am thinking it's a quirky card only because if the issue was with the PSU or motherboard, I would think I'd be having issues with the other card as well as with this one, but perhaps not. Once I actually get powered up, the system is bedrock solid.

Well I have a pretty stacked system and I'm using that PSU without issue. Your probably right about the quirky card. RMA it and try another 5870. My HIS HD 5870 works like a charm.

Grand Master

+shift. MVC

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I would be very surprised if 850watts isn't enough but then again, it does come down to the efficiency of your power supply and now just the acclaimed output.

I would estimate and say that even if his 850W is absolute crap that only runs at 400W (less than half the rated output of the PSU - remember this is an Antec so this is unlikely) he should still be able to boot up his computer with a 5870 installed.

So it might just be a bad PSU, and not an issue with not having enough wattage.

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RageOfFury

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I would estimate and say that even if his 850W is absolute crap that only runs at 400W (less than half the rated output of the PSU - remember this is an Antec so this is unlikely) he should still be able to boot up his computer with a 5870 installed.

So it might just be a bad PSU, and not an issue with not having enough wattage.

Well I have the exact same setup as the OP. Antec TPQ-850/HD 5870. No issues.

He tested another GPU and it works fine, so it comes down to a faulty 5870. RMA time! :pinch:

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nytiger73

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Well I have the exact same setup as the OP. Antec TPQ-850/HD 5870. No issues.

He tested another GPU and it works fine, so it comes down to a faulty 5870. RMA time! :pinch:

On it's way back to NewEgg as we speak! I'll keep you all posted on how that turns out. I should have it back hopefully late next week. I had heard that these cards have some issues with NForce chipset motherboards. I haven't found anything to back that up other than one post on another forum from someone who had the exact same issue and has the exact same motherboard as me. Hopefully thats not the case, but we'll see once I get the replacement card back. I should have posted my system specs. I have an Asus M3N72D motherboard with the latest available BIOS (I think it's Nforce 590) and a PhenomX4 940 with 4GB of OCZ RAM (I can't remember the exact model of it off of the top of my head), and of course the aforementioned Antec PSU.

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

  • 2 weeks later...
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nytiger73

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Well the issue is still occuring so its not the card. I did some more digging and found that there seems to be some sort of incompatibility with certain ASUS motherboards with ASUS chipsets. I ordered an ASUS Crosshair III motherboard today which is based on the AMD 790GX chipset which should solve the issue.

Thanks to those who replied and for their assistance.

  • 1 month later...
Neowinian

NuggetGTR

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Sorry to bump this oldish thread but did a new MB fix your issue?

I have the exact same problem even have the same psu :) I was going to update my entire PC but my 8800GTX crapped itself after 3 years so I thought my core 2 duo e8650 was still going stong so thought i would just get a new video card so i picked up a saphire 5870 but right from the word go it failed to boot... removed reseated cleared bios still no love then I put in an old x1300 card that was in my box of bits and it booted firt go, then put the 5870 back in and it boot.... WTF and now i just leave it on because if it turns off half the time it wont boot again. but a reset it fine only a full power off risks not booting.

I was thinking psu but if it was a psu issue it would show issues while running but while running it would not miss a beat.

so i was thinking my pcie slot may be screwed as my 8800gtx may have done some damage when it went but if its just MB incompatiblity than least i know whats wrong. i have an msi p35 platnium ( i know old but hey it "was" running well)

Cheers

Grand Master

LaP

Posted
Posted

Well the issue is still occuring so its not the card. I did some more digging and found that there seems to be some sort of incompatibility with certain ASUS motherboards with ASUS chipsets. I ordered an ASUS Crosshair III motherboard today which is based on the AMD 790GX chipset which should solve the issue.

Thanks to those who replied and for their assistance.

Why not use the gtx 280 ?

Sure the 5870 is more powerful but it's not like you actually need this extra power. I have a 5850 (about same power as 280) and it runs all games just fine.

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nytiger73

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Sorry to bump this oldish thread but did a new MB fix your issue?

I have the exact same problem even have the same psu :) I was going to update my entire PC but my 8800GTX crapped itself after 3 years so I thought my core 2 duo e8650 was still going stong so thought i would just get a new video card so i picked up a saphire 5870 but right from the word go it failed to boot... removed reseated cleared bios still no love then I put in an old x1300 card that was in my box of bits and it booted firt go, then put the 5870 back in and it boot.... WTF and now i just leave it on because if it turns off half the time it wont boot again. but a reset it fine only a full power off risks not booting.

I was thinking psu but if it was a psu issue it would show issues while running but while running it would not miss a beat.

so i was thinking my pcie slot may be screwed as my 8800gtx may have done some damage when it went but if its just MB incompatiblity than least i know whats wrong. i have an msi p35 platnium ( i know old but hey it "was" running well)

Cheers

The issue is an incompatibility with certain motherboards with NVidia chipsets. My motherboard was an Asus. I've heard of people with Gigabyte motherboards having the same issue. I'd checking with the manufacturer to see if a BIOS update is planned. I checked with ASUS and all I got was essentially "we might be working on a fix".

Hope this helps.

  • 2 weeks later...
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
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The issue is an incompatibility with certain motherboards with NVidia chipsets. My motherboard was an Asus. I've heard of people with Gigabyte motherboards having the same issue. I'd checking with the manufacturer to see if a BIOS update is planned. I checked with ASUS and all I got was essentially "we might be working on a fix".

Hope this helps.

Notice, however, that it was the 5xx series nForce chipsets with the issue.

I have an ASUS P5N-EM HDMI (nForce 7100/630i chipset), and except for using onboard graphics for a month, the GPUs have been exclusively AMD (first HD3450, and now HD5450). Further, the 5xx series are arguably among the *worst* nForce chipsets as far as issues go (though those with early 680i/650i nForce chipsets would likely argue the point due to issues with early Intel quad-core CPUs).

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