PC Drivers & Software

[yallah]

I see a few cases here that look like mine but none of the reported fixes worked so posting a new thread. 

Issue: My 6900XT suddenly artifacted a bit last night. I restarted. At that point, I was presented with a black screen after the BIOS splash page. After managing to get into safe mode (via the bsdedit command), I removed all drivers via DDU. I then restarted, got out of the safe boot loop, and managed to get back to my desktop. I rolled Windows back a week, no change. I attempted an install of the the following driver versions. I only get 10 - 15 percent through, the computer makes the disconnect sound, and I'm left with a black screen again. So the GPU works with the Windows driver but not the AMD driver. I also attempted a full install of the radeon software but had the same result. During the following I made sure to unplug the ethernet cable so that Windows wouldn't mess up my install/overwrite my drivers. I am positive that I was one driver version behind and almost never had any trouble with it (22.3.1), so the fact that it isn't working now is quite alarming. 

* whql-amd-software-adrenalin-edition-22.3.1-win10-win11-march17  = tried this version via a full install + restart. @15% black screen.

* non-whql-radeon-software-adrenalin-2020-21.12.1-win10-win11-64bit-dec3 = tried to install manually by downloading the package and interrupting software install, then pointing device manager at unzip location. @15% black screen.

* radeon-software-adrenalin-2020-22.1.2-win10-win11-64bit-jan25 = ditto above. 

* non-whql-radeon-software-adrenalin-2020-21.12.1-win10-win11-64bit-dec3 = full install. @15% black screen.

Notes:

* I tried each 6900 XT bios setting via the physical slider on the card. I had not changed it from the default and it seemed to have no impact.

* I am forced to do a full DDU removal of the 20 percent installed AMD graphics drivers each time, otherwise I only get a black screen.

* SFC / CHKDSK return nothing to fix.

* I have auto-update drivers turned OFF in Windows (and my Ethernet cable unplugged for good measure). 

* Windows appears to be working on load....just black. I can login blindly and hear the welcome chime. 

Build:

CPU: 5900X

GPU: Sapphire Toxic 6900 XT (bought @ Microcenter 6 weeks ago, so guaranteed legit/new)

Bios version: latest version, running fine for 1 month. SAM enabled, running fine for 2 weeks.

Power: 750 watts platinum

I don't think anything else is immediately relevant because I was using these monitors and cables prior to the crash, and I also retained my Nvidia 2070S and when installed for testing purposes after the crash the system immediately booted. (I did remove all Nvdia drivers as well via DDU after this test.)

Theory: Well, I thought the problem started either when the driver crashed and windows tried to overwrite it with its own driver and bricked me out, OR Radeon decided to install the new driver without my permission (people claim it happens). However, even after resetting all graphics drivers, I'm not able to get the card to work using an AMD driver. 

Does anyone have any ideas or things I could try? This is my first AMD card and I'm 1 week past my return date to Microcenter.

[ThreeDee]

What 750 wtt 80+ Plat PSU? How old is it?.. have  you tried a different PSU? Are you running separate power cables to each power input on your 6900XT? 

something to check if you haven't already .. might be a thing .. might not. An interesting video from Gamer's Nexus that deals more with a system shutting down and possibly black screens though and not necessarily artifacting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnRyyCsuHFQ

How were your temps on your GPU before it started crashing?

[yallah]

Thanks for the reply!

Power Supply details: Corsair SF 750; July 2020 (some SF units at that time had to be returned for faulty power delivery that could shock you in humid climes; I RMA'd my original and received a new unit July 2020.)

Power cables: Cable Mod cables specifically for my power supply; yes, I was successfully running three separate cables to the GPU for the last 6 weeks (no split cables).

Temps: Really good. 30C on desktop, 50 - 55C while gaming. Played with Sapphire Trix on/off, honestly wasn't necessary since I was already maxing my 144hz 1440p monitor out without the extra boost. 

[vialli100]

On the Sapphire website for your card, it says 850w minimum PSU..

[yallah]

Re: power supply, I did a quick test to see what the draw was while I tried to install the drivers just one more time. Doesn't appear to be spiking at all prior to the crash (under 50 watts the whole time). 

So the card:

1. Ran for 6 weeks on this power supply.

2. Crashes upon driver installation, not usage. 

3. Doesn't appear to crash due to a power limitation, since it's pulling 50 watts.

When I stop by Microcenter later today I'll see about grabbing another test power supply to rule this out. In the meantime I've initiated the RMA process.

[yallah · Accepted solution]

Just following up here in case anyone ever finds this thread.

I tried:

- a new power supply (EVGA 850 gold) + new cables

- a new motherboard (tomahawk x570s)

- a brand new install of windows with no internet connected

- refreshed monitor drivers

Still having a completely black screen not even half way through AMD driver installation. I don't know if somehow the card's BIOS got corrupted (I have never messed with it) or if it's just typical AMD GPU driver issues, but I've ruled out everything. (And yes....an NVIDIA card worked in the new build flawlessly.)

Will continue the RMA process on Monday and put the new card I receive up for sale ASAP. I'll then buy the 3080 Ti and never waste my time like this again.

[vialli100]

Sapphire are normally very reliable..

Many years ago i got an ATI sapphire card which was faulty, they exchanged and I used it for a couple of years and still working..

Why don't you try the replacement one before getting a 3080?

If you get a faulty 3080, which is always a possibility! What will you do then, change for what?

It's just one of those things, made by humans and sometimes things can go wrong!!

[Skrybe]

A quality 750W PSU should be fine. I run one myself with no problems.

I'm more concerned about the fact the card started showing artifacts. Depending on the type of artifacts that would suggest there's literally a hardware fault rather than software. It's not surprising that you can get a basic display happening with just windows drivers because you're pretty much doing minimal stress to the card.

I'm guessing (might be wrong) that when AMD drivers install it's actually stressing the card more and that fails because of whatever component on the card has gone "pop". RMA seems like the best idea in this scenario.

Out of curiosity did you stress the card (eg: gaming or benchmark) while you were just running with the Windows driver? If so did it artifact again?

[yallah]

Thanks for the reply. Agreed that the PSU being 750 was not the issue, but I was able to 100 percent confirm it using a new PSU with new cables. 

Funnily enough, I actually did try opening a game with the card on the windows drivers. "The First Tree" running out of Steam got 2 - 3 FPS on the loading screen. I didn't try any farther after that, but I did leave it open for several minutes while I stepped away and the card seemed fine. I suspect you're right and it might have stopped output if I'd tried to stress it further.

The one other thing I wanted to try was to install a Linux distro and try drivers on that, but at that point I'd hit 48 hours of troubleshooting and wanted to get the card in the mail for RMA. I'd also just found this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/tnx592/my_son_bought_a_6900xt_from_marketplace_and_i/ which was a complete duplicate of my issue and never was resolved. (That guy had tried a Linux boot, too.)

Hopefully I have better luck with the replacement card. It was quite nice while it lasted.