PC Graphics

[dj2018]

hi all.

I have a issue where my video card is not giving any display output.. fans are running and all lights are working just not giving any display... I'm a bit gutted as I am like many others a gamer and I want to go to the boundaries of high frame rates.. I know that my card is achievable of this, so I hope that someone can help me?

ideas that I think it might be?

1: bios

2: ami I suppose to have both power cables connected to the card or one?

3: I have one 6 pin connector and one 8 pin connector, does it matter in what order they are connected in?

please I do hope that someone can help me, I will be very appreciated for any help whats so ever.

thank you and will await for any response

[goodplay]

Sapphire product page specs show 2 x 8 pins, suggested 750W PSU, the card has dual bios (uefi/legacy) switch.

[dj2018]

hi,

thanks for getting back to me... surely even with a 700w psu would suitable?

okay I can relate to the  two 8 pin connectors, as where I have 1 8 -in connector and 1 6 pin connector.  Could that be my problem? as not having  two 8 pin connectors connected to the card i'm not getting enough juice to give a display, even tho all my fans and lights are working?

[goodplay]

A 700W should be ok, depending on make/model (750 is only sapphire suggestion, but the system will pull 400+W under heavy load/bench on basic components).

Don't know about 8+6 v 8+8 on that card(you may need to query sapphire).

Maybe post your specs, INFORMATION REQUIRED WHEN POSTING A QUESTION​, someone may be able to offer further suggestion.

Guess you tried the card bios switch to match your mobo bios setting(uefi or legacy, also 'initial display first'(or similar wording) settings(pcie/peg/auto(not igpu).

[dj2018]

hi

thanks for getting back to me....

I honestly hadn't thought about posting my system specs. and yes I did try the card under my mainboard settings but problem is once I fire up my pc on I get no screen so I cannot do further tests...

my system specs are?

Motherboard - MSI  970a sli krait edition

Cpu - AMD fx 4300 black edition " 3.8 ghz quadcore turbo to 4.0 ghz ( Factory Unlocked CPU)

Memory - corsair ddr3 1333mhz  4 gig " 2 x 2 gig modules

hard drives - Samsung spinpoint 1TB 7200 rpm 64 mb cache and  crucial 120 gig SSD drive ( primary boot drive)

power supply - OCZ xtreme 700 w

I think I have given everything about my system

I will await to hear back

thank you

[dj2018]

just out of curiosity??

I'm not getting any display signal.... fans are spinning, etc.etc.

Could the bios on the vcard be messed up? and if so how can I re-flash the stock bios..

would I have to use a pc with onboard graphis as well as my video card fitted so I can flash?

I will await for a reply

thank you

[elstaci]

According to Sapphire Specs on the R9 280x Vapor-X, the GPU card has 2 - 8 pin connectors not 1 - 6 pin and 1- 8 pin connector: I am unable to post the link to Sapphire. I get " Request Rejected " But here is copy from that link:

GPU	2048 Stream Processors 28 nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) 950 MHz  Engine Clock 1070 MHz Boost Engine Clock
Interface	PCI-Express 3.0
Memory	384 bit Memory Bus GDDR5 Memory Type 6200 MHz, 6200 MHz Effective 3 GB Size
BIOS Support	Legacy BIOS UEFI BIOS
Displays	Maximum 3 Outputs
Output	1 x DVI-I 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI 1 x DisplayPort
Resolution	4096x2160 Pixel DisplayPort Resolution 2560x1600 Pixel Dual Link DVI Resolution 4096x3112 HDMI Resolution
API	OpenGL® 4.2 OpenCL 1.2 DirectX® 12 Shader Model 5.0
Feature	AMD CrossFire AMD PowerTune AMD ZeroCore Power Technology AMD Eyefinity Quad HD Display (4K*2K Support) AMD HD3D Technology Dual BIOS AMD Tress FX Technology Universal Video Decoder (UVD)
Cooling	Dual-X fans
Form Factor	2.5 Part Slot Occupied 276(L)X121(W)X45(H) Dimension /mm
Power Consumption	<300W
THE	Windows 10　Windows 8/8.1　Windows 7　Windows Vista
System Requirement	750 Watt Power Supply (Suggestion) 2 x 8-pin AUX Power Connector CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive for installing software PCI Express® 2.0 or higher version based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard in order for the card to be compatible with.

• Specifications provided here are for guidance only. Please check with your regional distributor or dealer for latest specifications.
• Colors of PCB or other components may differ from those illustrated.
• SAPPHIRE reserves the right to update or revise specifications without prior notice.
• All trademarks and logos are acknowledged as the property of their respective holders.

How are your Monitor (S) connected and at what resolution?  Are you using an Adapter (DP-HDMI, etc)? Is the Card installed on a PCIe x 16 slot?

Try using different Video Ports (Dp, HDMI, DVI-D, etc ) and see if you get any video from any of those ports.

[dj2018]

hi,

ive tried  every port and still the same result.. all fans and lights are operational but no display... I have heard and seen on the internet other people with the same issue they they have the same issue as me, but they had their card re-flowed and re-balled and after that was achieved, they got everything functioning again. so could that actually be my problem? that my chip might need a re-flow/re-ball?

I will await to hear back

thanks

[colesdav]

Yes.

[dj2018]

hi all,

I've been speaking to a few people and they wanted me to run some tests involving  placing my video card that's not giving  a display output.. in my second PCI-E slot and connect it up... I've done that, also removed all amd drivers so I can run GPU-Z to get information the card as they suspect that the bios is corrupted and therefore am unable to get any display signal.

here is the GPU-Z results from my non display out video card

I hope someone here can now verify my issues... is it a bios fail and needs to be re-flashed as there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the card itself if windows and my pc has detected it?

I will await for any help possible?

thank you

[elstaci]

What GPU-Z is showing is the Windows Basic Display Adapter and not your GPU card. Otherwise in the box called "Name" it would have displayed your GPU card and not the MS Basic Display Adapter.

If your GPU card doesn't show up in Device Manager at all, GPU-Z won't show it either.

For some reason R9 series cards are going bad in the last couple of months or so. Yours is like the second or third Sapphire R9 card to show no display or even being indicated by Windows according to some Users at AMD Forums.

Some of the other Users R9 series GPU Cards occurred after the display had some video problems and the computer was restarted. After restarting the card had no video outputs and basically failed.

Sapphire has a poor Warranty. I believe you need to take the card back from where you purchased it to get a Pro-rata money refund if they can't fix it under Warranty. At least that is the way the Warranty works in Europe. In the US I not sure if it is the same.

[dj2018]

ok I see , but surely there must be a bios mess up for it not to work. I mean if the card was defective  would it even display at all?

[elstaci]

If your talking about vBIOS, Am not sure if you can modify it if the GPU Card doesn't show up in Windows. Also it seems from another thread that the software to modify vBIOS on AMD cards is not working under the latest Windows version 1803. I am talking about ATI/AMD Flash.

GPU-Z Website has a large Database of various GPU Card vBIOSes that you can download.

If Windows can't detect your GPU card, there is not much you can do until you are able to get the R9 detected in Windows.

[dj2018]

it showed up in windows as r9 200 series

[dj2018]

do you have the URL to GPU-Z website please

[elstaci]

When you run GPU-Z look at the upper right corner of the image above the AMD Logo. You will see a box called" LOOKUP". Click on that and it will automatically open GPU-Z website.

Here is the GPU-Z Website with the GPU Database of vBIOSes.: VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp

[dj2018]

hi.

I think I may have found my problem?

I have the r9 280 x vaporx OC version (UEFI) bios...

and to the bios I have received and downloaded fro TPU I may have accidently flashed with a totally different bios? I know I had no display before the flash but after looking at the white sticker on the back and saw that. it made me think that I may have flashed incorrectly. is there the bios  that meets the needs to what Ihave mentioned above please?

I will await for any reply

thank you

[elstaci]

You have to be really careful when flashing vBIOS on a GPU card. If you downloaded from VGA Bios Collection | TechPowerUp  the proper vBIOS - R9 280x, there are quite a few of them. Then it should be okay.

Try installing a older previous version of AMD Graphic driver and see if your GPU card starts to work. The card has DUAL BIOS so you should be able to switch from the BIOS you installed to one of the original BIOS on the GPU card.

[dj2018]

hi,

I would if I could get it to post and give a display....

I have tried every bios version from TPU and none of them have worked, but as I mentioned.. after looking at the back of the card on the white sticker . what I have mentioned is what it says on the sticker...

[elstaci]

Those are the correct vBIOS for your card. The vBIOS at GPU-Z is for a Sapphire Vapor-x R9 280x - 3 gbyte GPU Card.

This seems to be the last vBIOS for your card from GPU-Z Database:

Sapphire

R9 280X 3 GB Dual-X OC

2014-07-27 23:28:00

015.046.000.016.000000

PCI-E

1020 / 1500

GDDR5

Download | Details

Make sure all the GPU power cables are connected from the PSU to the GPU card, otherwise it won't work.  You need to have two - 8 pin  GPU Power connectors. It doesn't matter in what order you connect the GPU power cables as long as both are connected. Make sure you have the computer power cord disconnected when working on the GPU card. You mentioned in a previous post that you have a 6 pin GPU Power instead of a 8 Pin GPU power connector?  You need to have both 8 Pin GPU Power connectors connected. That could be causing the problems you are having.

Also make sure your Motherboard BIOS is on UEFI mode or enable both Legacy or UEFI if possible.

Here is the latest AMD Graphics driver for your GPU card: Desktop .

If you still are having problems try downloading a previous older driver from here: Previous . Another User also had no video output from his AMD GPU Card with the latest Driver installed. But when he installed an older version, the Card started to have Video Output.

If no drivers work, the best way to check your GPU card is by installing in another computer and see if it works. If you have the same problem it is possible you have a bad GPU card.

[goodplay]

Did you contact Sapphire support about using 8 & 6 pin, and if your card model is the two fan vaporx you should only use one of the corresponding 1070/1550 vbios that has the same memory chips (e.g. elpida or hynix).

Best way to get correct vbios is to contact Sapphire.

[colesdav]

Hi
Contact Sapphire Support and see if they can send you the Vbios download for your card.
Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi,

Please confirm this is your card:

I think that card is the rebranded  HD7970 OC 3GB card with a backplate added and called R9 280x.

In other words it might be the lower memory version of this, but called R9 280x.

Please confirm there are two 8pin connectors on your card.

Does your BIOS you dumped out say TahitiXT or TahitiXTL?

On my card I have the original box and packaging and I see  a large yellow sticker with a warning triangle that specifically states I will damage the card if I connect it to the PCi slot and try to drive video output without connecting the required two PCIex8 connectors.

I need to read the remainder of your post. but I will ask this now.
Since you see no display on your GPU output, do you see any VGA_ERROR light on your motherboard?
If you do it is likely possible card has failed in the same manner that mine did.

I will point you to how I repaired mine.

Bye.

[dj2018]

hi,

I just had this icon in a yellow triangle saying no drivers. which is correct as using amd drivers pc would not post or boot, However I have my original card in PCI-E1 and the vaporX car in PCI-E 2. Unistalling the amd drivers using the AMD driver uninstall utility tool ,I was therefor able to my pc to boot up screen connetec to video card PCI-E 1.

Question....

if I re-flash my card with bios on here from usb...

do I need the have the S logo lit up blue? and my bios on my motherboard set from LEAGACY-UEFI to UEFI only?

I won't do anything until I know more?

one more thing... I have no lights on my motherboard so for any errors that arise I cannot say. motherboard bios has been flashed to the newest version and of course been cmos cleared as that has been mentioned.

I will await for an answer..

thanks

[colesdav]

Hi,

In my case if I used another video card or the video out from the motherboard (drive by Intel iGPU on i74790  series and I had the failed HD7970 in the system and I check Device Manager Display adapter I would see Microsoft Basic Display Adapter with yellow warning triangle, device disabled, and properties would report the device is not working properly. If I tried to clean install install AMD Drivers I loose video out on everything. Black screen and PC reset. If I removed the faulty HD7970 then the clean AMD Driver installation work fine.

Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi,

How did you flash the BIOS.
Did you keep the original bios?
Please tell me you created a USB with the flash software on it, booted into the USB and then flashed the Correct BIOS.
If you tried to flash the BIOS on the card by running flash software within Windows you may be hosed the card completely.

Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi,

You said MicroSoft Basic Display Adapter showed up in Windows.
So...
What did it tell you if you right click on MicroSoft Display Adapter.

I am guessing it didn't say this:

I would guess it had a red triangle and gave you an error code?
Thanks.

[dj2018]

hi

it did but with a yellow ! in a triangle. bearing in mind I had to uninstall all amd drivers in order to get my pc to post and boot. Using my original card in PCI-E 1, and the R9 in the 2nd PCI-E.

then my pc fired up fine..

[goodplay]

There seems to be a lack of/misunderstanding of info required, first you say 'have 6 & 8 pin' (now it's 8 & 8), typo ?

You did not mention previously about 'other card', what is it, were you trying to get both cards running together ?

Might be better to contact your local pc repair store, pay them to check it(or rent-a-geek).Ask them if they can recover the vbios.

If you bought the card used, it may have already been trashed (used for mining/bios mod'd).

[colesdav]

Hi,

If I were you I would reflash the original BIOS back on the card by booting into a USB with the flash software on it and use the technique and parts I describe here to revive your card:
https://community.amd.com/message/2847422#comment-2847422

My repaired HD7970 OC 6GB card has been constantly  running GPU rendering jobs with Blender 2.78c jobs and Gaming Tests for months now.

Bye.

[elstaci]

Thanks for helping.

The card has dual BIOS, can't he just flip a switch to run on the original vBIOS?

I have been noticing a large of amount of r9 cards going bad lately. At least in the last 6 months. Usually after the computer reboots after having video issues the R9's suddenly stop outputting video. 

[colesdav]

No problem.

I need to stay off this forum ... I am supposed to be coding today ... but I saw this one and it is so close to what happened to my card that I just could not ignore it.

RE: The card has dual BIOS, can't he just flip a switch to run on the original vBIOS?

Yes I saw that. The card has Legacy BIOS and UEFI BIOS.
As long as the flashing was only done with the BIOS position in one state it should be o.k. but don't know the history of what has gone on.

With those cards there is an easy to access springy button that lights up on the side of the card and it is very tempting and too easy to power down the PC, press that BIOS switch and reboot and see if you get output. Whatever damaged the first BIOS could quickly corrupt the second one as well. On the R9 Nanos and Fury X there is a tiny little black slider on the side of the GPU that is difficult and fiddly  to swap over. Initially I hated it, but on reflection that's good because it makes you think... ;-).

If dj2018 swapped the BIOS over from UEFI to Legacy BIOS on the GPU  there may be some compatibility mode settings that need changed in the motherboard bios to get the card to work.

Not sure I mentioned it but I did dump the BIOS'es from my HD7970 and reflashed one of them.
It didn't help at all.
Still no output.

In the HD7970 OC 6GB card they are both Legacy BIOS just one is Boost mode.

RE: I have been noticing a large of amount of r9 cards going bad lately. At least in the last 6 months. Usually after the computer reboots after having video issues the R9's suddenly stop outputting video.

Well they are getting old I guess. If you do not tear them down to clean dust out and re-apply thermal paste every couple of years then they are likely to degrade.
The GPU thermal paste turns to dust. The heatsink efficiency reduces due to dust/insects etc. If the cooling efficiency drops then the GPU die runs hotter and starts to stress the PCB and the connections to it. Similar story for CPU and Heatsinks/Watercoolers.

I will have to tear down my R9 Nanos soon to clean them and reapply thermal paste. Not looking forward to it at all.

My HD7970 OC 6GB was run in a very clean environment but even then I was surprised by the amount of dust on the PCB and yes there were a couple of dead gnats in it. Right now it is summer in Europe / North America so ambient temps are pretty high. Likely see as spike in failures.  I have had to stop running my blender jobs during the day because it is so hot here. You can imagine how much heat 6 R9 Fury X / R9 Nanos pump out when running at 100% on 1 PC for 6hours in a small office.

Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi.

If you do decide to dissemble the card for inspection I have lots of photos of how I did the tear down of my card and repaired it.
There are a few things to be careful about when removing the backplate and heatsink.
You may want to get new thermal pads for the RAM and if you want I will point you where to get them.

Good luck with the repair.
It will be a good feeling if you do manage to bring your card back to life.

However ... it might not be something you feel confident to do and it may be better to just sell your card for parts on Ebay.
You will find that the advances that AMD have made since the HD7970/TahitXT version of the R9 280x 3GB are significant.
You might be better to go for a new RX500 series card.
I will check to see what I think is equivalent to that R9 280x 3GB in the Rx500 series so you will get some idea of cost.
Bye.

[dj2018]

hi

thanks for all the feedback.

a: I have two 8 pin power cables

b: I have in my motherboards bios a setting.... legacy+UEFI - UEFI only?

c: I have also the button on my card that once is pressed the "S" logo lights up blue.

if you are saying that my card is a re-branded HD7970 3G OC , would that also indicate why they renamed it the vaporX and added the button with the S logo or was also added on the HD7970.

the model of my GPU chip is:

GPU Variant

Tahiti XTL

(215-0821065)

I will await for you reply

thank you

[colesdav]

Hi.

RE: if you are saying that my card is a re-branded HD7970 3G OC , would that also indicate why they renamed it the vaporX and added the button with the S logo or was also added on the HD7970.

Here was the original HD7970 VaporX 3GB card. It has Tahiti XT HD7970 Chip. It has 8 phase VRM. It does not need two 8pin power connectors. It has no backplate. You will see no mention of AMD TrueAudio on the overview or the spec. There was no Boost Button or Dual BIOS Button that lit up. 
 

Review here: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Vapor-X 3GB Overclocked Video Card Review

The Sapphire HD7970  6GB VaporX GHz Edition uses Tahiti XT chip. No mention of AMD True audio. Dual 8 pin connectors. Much better VRM.  Has a back plate.
Review here: http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd7970_6gb_vaporx_ghz/

For your card they took the basic design of the Sapphire HD7970 OC 6GB GHz Edition cooler and backplate.  I believe the VRM is improved versus the HD7970 VaporX 3GB version and based on the VRM from the Sapphire HD7970 GHz 6GB, but there are some differences.  They also used the newer Tahiti XTL chip. In overview of your card  you will see mention of AMD TrueAudio which a hardware implementation audio feature on the Tahiti XTL that was not available on TahitiXT.

I remember there was lots of confusion when the R9 280x was launched because some R9 280x had TahitiXT (HD7970) chips whilst others had the improved Tahiti XTL chips.

Review of your card is here:https://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-amd-radeon-r9-280x-vapor-x-oc-3gb-graphics-card-review/

Interesting it looks like the Power Consumption on that card is pretty high. Maybe first batch of TahitiXTL chips were at a bad process corner.
Perhaps the card was clocked too high on GPU and MEM clocks and power was sacrificed to beat the Nvidia Competition performance at the time.

So you may see, your card cooling system is is very similar to my Sapphire HD 7970 OC 6GB Vapor-X card.
My card has the TahitiXT chip.
Your card has the Tahiti XTL chip that supports TrueAudio.

The method to perform solder reflow should be very similar to what has worked for me.

I  also have an R9 280x OC 3GB VaporX Tri-X card - it has the same Tahiti XTL chip as your card but very different Cooler etc.

I was able to run TrueAudio on the handful of games and demos that supported it on the R9 280x but not on the HD7970OC 6GB card.

Bye.

[elstaci]

Could dj2018​  just Bake the card in the oven if he can't find someone to do a professional Solder Reflow?

[colesdav]

Hi,

No, absolutely not.
Baking a GPU in you oven is really not something you should do at all.
I know there are videos on Youtube of people doing it.
It is bad for the GPU and PCB, you are likely to melt/damage/have components on areas of the card drop off.

More importantly, if you care for your own health you would replace the Oven after you do it.
There are some pretty dangerous chemicals on PCB, inside IC and on/in the components.

Use focused solder re-flow heating with proper reflow paste around the GPU only.

The reflow paste itself is toxic.
I made sure fume extraction and used a mask.
Even using this metod  there is no guarantee that repair will last for longer than a month.

I consider myself lucky my HD7970 OC 6GB Vapor-X card is still running today, especially since I have been running blender jobs on it.
I am actually surprised it is still working.

Bye.

[colesdav]

This is interesting:
Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Vapor-X Review - YouTube
Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi,

Looking at it you would need at least an  RX570 4GB if you stay with AMD for a new card to have similar to better performance on DX11 games.
I do not think an  RX 560 4GB would be as good experience as an R9 280x Vapor-X.  I could not find data.
I leave it to you to look for costs and what you might be able to get for your card if you sell it for parts on Ebay.

Bye.

[colesdav]

Hi,
Here is a comparison of RX560 versus  R9 280x's.
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-560-vs-AMD-R9-280X/3926vs2192
Here is comparison of RX570 versus R9 280x
http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-570-vs-AMD-R9-280X/3924vs2192
Looking at the costs here I would pick the RX570.
Bye.