Sapphire HD 7870 OC crash with black screen and sound loop

Zahlokhnir

Hi folks, I have read through some other threads relating to similar issues like my own, but they were never clearly answered or just dead threads.

I recently bought a Sapphire 7870 OC GHz card, upgrading from my HD 5770. About a week after installing the card, I began to get rare crashes while gaming. These crashes consisted of my monitor going black and losing signal and an annoying sound loop. It has now come to a point where my PC can really crash at any time while running games. I have crashed on higher end games such as Battlefield 3/Skyrim to lower end games such as League of Legends.

I noticed that I would sometimes be able to go over 24 hours without a crash with heavy gaming and sometimes it would just crash within 15 min of running a game.

I have tried reinstalling Catalyst 12.4 drivers, reverting to 12.3 drivers and even tried the 12.6 beta drivers. I have also tried changing to stock 7870 speeds (1000Mhz/1200Mhz) which gave me about a day without crashes until now. I think those crash-free grace periods were sheer luck and I want to be able to enjoy the card without the frustration poor stability.

Any help would be appreciated

Zahlokhnir · 06-16-2012, 17:23 | posts: 14

bump.

rievhardt · 06-16-2012, 17:28 | posts: 92

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8erB...&feature=g-upl

you mean like this? I'm also having the same problem as you...and mines not OC'ed... only occurs in BF3 Multiplayer

Zahlokhnir · 06-16-2012, 17:42 | posts: 14

Yep, exact same problem as that video shows. Only thing is, I don't play battlefield at all and only used to it test to see if crashes occur, they did. It happens to me with Skyrim and League of Legends too. I'm doubting its only a Battefield 3 issue.

voile · 06-16-2012, 20:47 | posts: 1

I am having the exact same issue on a Sapphire Radeon 7870, GHz edition card, on the exact same games. I have literally got no idea what is causing it, and it's incredibly frustrating.

I ran memtest - wasn't the RAM, replaced the RAM anyway, no change.

I've extensively stress test the card on furmark, never failed, always makes it right through the benchmark.

Yet it will always crash after a complete random amount of time in League of Legends or Diablo 3.

I've ran speedfan to measure the temperatures, and it never goes beyond 67, so it isn't overheating.

I'm beginning to think it's a problem with the card itself, as it seems many people with the 7870 have this issue.

Zahlokhnir · 06-16-2012, 22:12 | posts: 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by voile

I am having the exact same issue on a Sapphire Radeon 7870, GHz edition card, on the exact same games. I have literally got no idea what is causing it, and it's incredibly frustrating.

I ran memtest - wasn't the RAM, replaced the RAM anyway, no change.

I've extensively stress test the card on furmark, never failed, always makes it right through the benchmark.

Yet it will always crash after a complete random amount of time in League of Legends or Diablo 3.

I've ran speedfan to measure the temperatures, and it never goes beyond 67, so it isn't overheating.

I'm beginning to think it's a problem with the card itself, as it seems many people with the 7870 have this issue.

My same thoughts, so what then is our option? Return the 7870 and go for the NVIDIA equivalent? Because I am almost certain if I get another 7870 card the same issue will occur. I think a driver fix is needed, but then again, I don't know too much on the tech matter.

Splind · 06-19-2012, 04:24 | posts: 1

I'm having the exact same problem with the 7870, Normally i only play League or Diablo3 nothing seems to work. bought the card just over a month ago. i guess my only option is to return it.. I wont be going for another AMD that's for sure.

Tested Temp and it never went over 45degrees. Seems to be the card

Cendrier · 06-22-2012, 09:45 | posts: 6 | Location: Ottawa, ON

Same issue here with Sapphire 7870 oc edition. Another thread on here covering the subject. Going theory is a driver issue as everything else has been tried. Hoping for fix soon.

rievhardt · 06-22-2012, 14:53 | posts: 92

I returned my PC to the shop for them to test it themselves.
technician told me that he stress tested it and the Black Screen didn't appear at all.
it was tested on BF3 but not for a long period of time though...(as my battlelog says so...)

I understand that he can't possibly play it for a long time at work...

My 7870 is now at the distributor (but I doubt they'll test it with BF3 Multiplayer)
--------

Can you guys try Stress Testing/Benchmarking your 7870's too?
so I can see if they all passed too but happens to have the same black screen issues as we all do...

Richkill · *Last edited by Richkill; 06-22-2012 at 15:13.*

Hi i have the exact same card which i bought for my younger brother and am experiencing the same issues, but different situations in both our comps.
In my computer i believe Firefox/Flash player is causing my crashes (i only crashed once in BF3 but i had other tabs running in Firefox eg youtube). All my crahses have been related to browsing firefox!!!!!! but never once in game or other tasks.

My little brother crashes the same as you eg, crash in bf3 and other games (not sure if it is his PSU which is 650w(6years old) v my 750w or firefox/flash related)
His rig
Gigabyte 970a-D3
AMD FX 6100
8Gb ram
PSU: Antec neopower 650w.

ToBbErT · 06-29-2012, 08:53 | posts: 85

Im having the same problem with my new 7870. Mostly a black screen with a few artifacts and the sound loop and a reboot. My pc crashes when im watching streams with firefox and playing bf3. Yesterday i also crashed when playing starcraft 2 but i also had my firefox browser open in the background. Im also starting to think its related to firefox or flashplayer. Ive been running unigine and 3dmark11 for long periods and there have been no crashes. My cpu is OC'ed so i stressed it with prime95 to see if there was a problem with it but it has been stable for many hours. I think im gonna uninstall firefox and use google chrome for a while and see what happens.

Pill Monster · 06-29-2012, 10:43 | posts: 20,501 | Location: NZ

Try the latest 12.7 drivers, they resolve a lot of issues with 7xxx series crashing.

That said, it's also possible those cards can't handle the overclock, reduce clock speeds to stock and if the problem goes away RMA for a non-overclocked version.

ToBbErT · 06-29-2012, 11:18 | posts: 85

Its not related to the driver afaik. I switched back from 12.7 to 12.4 becouse i thought the driver was the problem but the problem still occurs. I got the sapphire 7870 OC edition so its OC'ed a little bit but i cant imagine thats cousing the problem. The problem started recently and before that period i had OC'ed my videocard @ 1200mhz core and 1450mhz memory and didnt have any problems. Atm im running at clock speeds becouse i first wanna figure out whats cousing the problem.

rumpltumpskin · 06-30-2012, 14:37 | posts: 36

hey Zahlokhnir, i posted this same response to the thread you made on tom's but i'll put it here too since the other responses are more recent:

i am in almost the exact situation and so are a lot of other people using the 7870. i don't have the sound loop but that may be just because i'm using a usb headset. it has to be a driver issue which means there are only 2 options: return the card and go with a different model or just deal with it until amd releases drivers that fix this. the problem with going the former route is that there aren't many options that match the price and performance of the 7870 (on paper) especially if you don't want to run 2 cards. good luck with that.

i bought a SAPPHIRE 7870 GHz edition to replace my SAPPHIRE 5770. i started getting the same crash you are almost immediately while gaming. it seems to happen more often while playing newer stuff like max payne, bf3, diablo, ect. i have had the same problem occasionally with older games too though. the problem disappears when i put the 5770 back in and that isn't the only reason i say it is a driver issue. i also bought a new PSU, Mobo, and Ram just to end up with the exact same problem.

ToBbErT · 07-02-2012, 00:40 | posts: 85

So far my system hasnt crashed since ive stopped using firefox. It could be just luck idk.

rievhardt · 07-05-2012, 14:16 | posts: 92

to all those experiencing the black screen + buzzing sound and black screen no buzzing sound...

how's it going now?

btw I have a question...
what drivers are you using?
my card has returned from the distributor and they can't find anything wrong (they said)...

they told me to update my drivers.

btw what BIOS are you guys using?
I'm using the one included in the CD...they told me to update it but I'm worried that I might brick my mobo...(should I risk an just update my BIOS?) is it just download and install?

and how did you connect the 7870 to the PSU? I'm using a 6pin that has a pair...they are connected on a single atx... another 7870 user I've talked with told me to use a separate 6pin instead of the split. (My PSU doesn't have one tough) Does that have any difference?

also pls. share your specs so we can see if there are any similarities? maybe it only occurs with window 7 64bit?

i5-2400
ASUS H61 M-LE-USB3
FSP Aurum 600W 80+Gold
2X4GB Corsair Vengeance LP
Sapphire 7870 (Non-Oc)
500GB WD Blue
Samsung 22X

all on stock...
running on Win 7 Home Premium.

Zahlokhnir · 07-05-2012, 18:08 | posts: 14

This issue is just retarded to me at this point. I went a week without crashes and now they appear to be back. I think unticking the "enable graphics overdrive" in the CCC could have stopped the crashes but regardless, they now continue. The only difference is the sound loop isn't as loud now and sometimes there is no sound loop. The monitor just loses signal and goes black.

slickric21 · 07-05-2012, 22:23 | posts: 1,699 | Location: U.K

I bought a GTX 680 because of this issue with my 7970.

You know i didnt consider it could be firefox/flash player as i just COULDNT get to the bottom of this issue and i spent literally days and several clean installs on it, even once goid drivers 12.4 started to crash.
I thought it was my bios, but hmmmmm firefox/flash.... Yup could of been that.

Hope you guys figure it out i really do, i know how frustrating it can be.

sykozis · 07-07-2012, 16:25 | posts: 13,498 | Location: US East Coast

Quote:

Originally Posted by voile

I am having the exact same issue on a Sapphire Radeon 7870, GHz edition card, on the exact same games. I have literally got no idea what is causing it, and it's incredibly frustrating.

I ran memtest - wasn't the RAM, replaced the RAM anyway, no change.

I've extensively stress test the card on furmark, never failed, always makes it right through the benchmark.

Yet it will always crash after a complete random amount of time in League of Legends or Diablo 3.

I've ran speedfan to measure the temperatures, and it never goes beyond 67, so it isn't overheating.

I'm beginning to think it's a problem with the card itself, as it seems many people with the 7870 have this issue.

Furmark is an OpenGL based "stress testing app".... It won't work to determine the cause of crashes in DirectX based games.

Richkill · 07-08-2012, 07:13 | posts: 16 | Location: Australia

Still getting the issue. Sometime my little brothers computer goes a whole day without crashing and then like crashes every hour

Zahlokhnir · 07-09-2012, 07:04 | posts: 14

I just crashed now, I did have Firefox open. I'm going to put it to the test, I wonder if Chrome will work fine.

rumpltumpskin · 07-09-2012, 17:43 | posts: 36

are the profile reports about your CPUs up to date? that is basically the only thing i haven't replaced without fixing the problem. i have an athlon II x3 445 that is unlocked to a phenom II x4. i have kept the same HDD i had when the problem started also but i don't see how that could be the issue.

which drivers have you all tried? i had the same problem with 12.6 as i had with 12.4 but installing 12.7 doesn't seem to work. CCC still shows that i have 12.6.

biohazardz181

Hi Guys,

I am a first time poster here in 3d Guru, long time stalker

.... love the reviews and have read on so many issues which were solved on the forums... I thought it would be a good time to give back to the community which helped me for so many years...

I recently planned on building a new rig cause I moved into a new apartment and only had a laptop which could not fulfill my gaming needs. I am a student so my PC was not the best of the best but preety good for a student. So I faced some troubles in my build, the first being a defective mobo and then the infamous 7870 problem. I searched the internet for the last two days , trying to find a solution to the problem , at the same time I did not want to RMA (didnt have the original package). However I cam across a forum which tried to fix the problem but the explanation was not so good and did not relate to the 12.7 beta driver which I think every 7870 user has installed. So let me give you the steps for this fix and I hope it works, so far I havent had any crashes playing Diablo 3, BF3, Killing floor 2 , all on maximum settings.

Okay so two things are causing the crashes:
1. 2d clocks ( I guess this is the clocks of your gfx card wen ur in the desktop and not running any games)
2. ULPS ( don' know if helped me but just in case)

Steps to increase 2D clocks:

1. Go to CCC and enable over drive.
2. Put your fan speed up to 100% (just to be careful

) and the Power slider to +5% (just in case )
3. Now close CCC. Open up task manager.
4. Go to the Process Tab and delete CCC.exe and MOM.exe and any other process related to CCC or ATI
5. Make sure you can see hidden files and go to the following directory, C:\Users\(Username)\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\profiles .xml and open it using notepad
6. Look for :
name="CoreClockTarget....."
<Property name="Want_0" value="x0000" /> (x0000 is your idle-state core clock. Change the value to the one's in "Want_1")

name="MemoryClockTarget....."
<Property name="Want_0" value="y0000" /> (y0000 is your idle-state memory clock. Change the value to the one's in "Want_1")

I don't exactly remember but there should be a property related to the voltage make sure that is also the same value as "Want_1" corresponding to the property.

7. Click save in note pad.

8. Open CCC.

9. Using GPU_Z or similar software see the current clocks of your memory and core, it should be at the maximum level.

Now try playing a game or running a program which causes the black screen it should not take place....
If it is try disabling ULPS by downloading this exe from this website...

http://ulps.achromaticcomputing.com/

Restart your computer and see if everything is working alright...

So from mhy understanding, your 7870 when playing games sometimes downclocks to the 2D clocks (which u just changed) this results in the game freezing due the sudden loss of processing power. I am not so tech related so I might be wrong but this fixed worked for me so far, I will post if anything comes up later on. And if it works please post a reply so we can give this fix to other users who face similar problems.

biohazardz181 · 07-10-2012, 15:29 | posts: 11 | Location: Albany, NY

Oh and then experiment it with abit so that you can reduce the fan speed and idle clocks...

rumpltumpskin · 07-10-2012, 20:28 | posts: 36

Quote:

Originally Posted by biohazardz181

Oh and then experiment it with abit so that you can reduce the fan speed and idle clocks...

thanks for the detailed rundown. i will give it a try the next time i get the crash. i will also talk to the guys at sapphire tech support about it if it turns out to work. how long have you gone now without the crash?

P.S. this is the number for US sapphire tech support: 909-594-2830

it was very tricky for me to find, i got the impression that it is a very small department. the first time i called i could only speak to a secretary who said that all of the support staff were in a meeting.