Grey screen crash

[blurter]

Was just wondering why there are so many threads all over the internet regarding grey screen crashes and the 5xxx series of cards

I was under the impression that the grey screen crash was a feature set of the 5xxx series and was what set it apart from all the other graphics cards on the market

[@md_Guy]

Originally Posted by blurter

Was just wondering why there are so many threads all over the internet regarding grey screen crashes and the 5xxx series of cards

I was under the impression that the grey screen crash was a feature set of the 5xxx series and was what set it apart from all the other graphics cards on the market

Seems to centered around GPU voltage and differing clocks (seemingly around VPU2).. ATI pretty much has been silent (hoping that maybe if they ignore it, it will go away.. much like the overheating G80s did for nV :wink.. Manus/Vendors have issued updated BIOSes that seem to address the issue. If your vendor doesn't have an updated BIOS, you can either crossflash or in the meantime increase VGPU.

[narciso]

Well, I recently acquired a ASUS 5970, and having 2d crashes since day one, no matter what driver I use.
I've never had a crash wihile gaming, infact, if i run a 3d game as soon as my windows boot and get out of it, I don't have any crash.
But if I do a cold boot, and let windows settle for a few minutes, BAM, blue stripes crash.
I've narrowed down the problem to aero, because if i disable aero i never have a single crash and can use windows and games flawless.
I can use windows for hours without aero, but as soon as i activate it, after a few minutes i have a "stripes crash", forcing me to shutdown my computer.
Bottom line is, we don't now if the problem is hardware or software related, which is delaying my decision to RMA to card or not.

[SteadVéx]

hrmmm with my 4850 if overclock the card even by 1mhz (or underclock) and leave powerplay enabled I also get this 'greyscreen' issue

usually as powerplay switches from 2d/3d weather thats aero or something that triggers a clock change one monitor goes grey, the other gets the blue stripes, or sometimes goes blue, had no reply from ati when i submitted this problem since first having the card almost a year a go

sometimes its fine, usually its just as i'm getting past a tricky part in the game it will go grey and i slam my fist into the desk with Rage!

for me leaving the card at stock seems to stop it, although sometimes although very infrequently I still get this problem, maybe once every 2 months or so, run all sorts of hardware stability tests and all seems fine.

I thought mine was a one off, maybe its a different issue but a quick google on this grey screen thing and seems to be same issue I have with my 4xxx series card?

also this happens with vista not just windows 7 for me, unsure about xp

[narciso]

Most likely you have a different problem.
I see thousands of posts regarding 5xxx cards, all with the same simptons. Most people with these cards sooner or later have this crash.
I had a 4870x2 and it runned flawless.

[SteadVéx]

Originally Posted by narciso

Most likely you have a different problem.
I see thousands of posts regarding 5xxx cards, all with the same simptons. Most people with these cards sooner or later have this crash.
I had a 4870x2 and it runned flawless.

i know a few people with 4870's and one with a 4830 and none of them have experianced the same thing i have, and i've not read about anything like it till now, just thought perhaps its linked somehow

[Qualitier]

My 4890 doesn't even touch 3d clocks with Aero or anything 2d. Is Aero the Vista/Win7 look with semitransparent windows' "title bars" and borders, or something else? I've never touched any Vista option about this so it should be at stock. Title bars and borders become opaque when some apps are launched, like 3dMark or the TV card app. The first time this happened a Windows message about this was displayed (but I cannot remember its exact wording, if it told anything about "Aero" or not).

[EmpTe]

I've had a 5870 since around the launch date, played a variety of games at maximum settings and not suffered a single crash. I can't even say i've heard of this issue....

[@md_Guy]

Originally Posted by SteadVéx

hrmmm with my 4850 if overclock the card even by 1mhz (or underclock) and leave powerplay enabled I also get this 'greyscreen' issue

usually as powerplay switches from 2d/3d weather thats aero or something that triggers a clock change one monitor goes grey, the other gets the blue stripes, or sometimes goes blue, had no reply from ati when i submitted this problem since first having the card almost a year a go

sometimes its fine, usually its just as i'm getting past a tricky part in the game it will go grey and i slam my fist into the desk with Rage!

for me leaving the card at stock seems to stop it, although sometimes although very infrequently I still get this problem, maybe once every 2 months or so, run all sorts of hardware stability tests and all seems fine.

I thought mine was a one off, maybe its a different issue but a quick google on this grey screen thing and seems to be same issue I have with my 4xxx series card?

also this happens with vista not just windows 7 for me, unsure about xp

The grey screen (line) of death aka GSOD seems to primarily affect 5800 series GPUs. I'm not 100% sure of the reason but as I said above it seems to be related to the gpu voltage and/or the range set within the bios. Myself I have a 4890 (IMO one of ATI's finest accomplishments to date) and IIRC, ATI used driver profiles to limit applications and such (Furmark.. aka power virus) where as the HD5000s according to ATI have built in hardware. No idea of the two are related but again the issue seems to revolve around HD5000 series only (5900/5800/5700). Most all "fixes" include either an updated BIOS from the vendor or increasing VGPU. Many of the reports include where 2D clocks with their lower voltage or VPU2.. when using Aero/Avivo (VPU2). The GSOD doesn't seem that frequent when the GPU is using 3D clock rates. It's an underlying issue that ATI either missed during Q&A or somehow the scenario never managed to rear it ugly head during finalization of GPU clocks and voltages across different GPU "domains". For the most part ATI remains silent on the issue and completely ignores most all posts (other than pointing users to vendors for a possible BIOS update). The bigger question is if ATI has their own "G80" on their hands and are burying their heads in the sand or if they truly an inept in their development/QA finalization.

[@md_Guy]

Originally Posted by EmpTe

I've had a 5870 since around the launch date, played a variety of games at maximum settings and not suffered a single crash. I can't even say i've heard of this issue....

It's not all that widespread... yet... but to get an idea.. google this: ATI 5800 GSOD

[zebra 204]

Yeah I've heard of it a lot. I got lucky and had no problems so far.

[SteadVéx]

sorry for thread jacking! but since its been mentioned a bios update may fix it...

my 4850 is a non reference 1gb card from gigabyte.

just checked to see if there is a bios update

I have http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/v...ProductID=2900

do you think it would be safe to flash the bios from this card?

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/v...ProductID=2999

the latest bios for my card is the F2 bios but for the other card theres a newer version

from the images the pcb looks quite different to me, the newer card seems to have less on it,

[Qualitier]

Originally Posted by @md_Guy

It's not all that widespread... yet... but to get an idea.. google this: ATI 5800 GSOD

I did. The first hit has been... guess what... do I need to say it? Just in case, this Rage3D thread.

Another thread:

http://www.overclock.net/ati/650900-...updated-3.html

If anything, seems to be simply a BSOD but the system (more on this below) hasn't been able to display it and sometimes it doesn't reboot either. GSOD's can be caused by things unrelated to the vcard, like CPU or system memory overclocking.

There's a parallel issue with some samples that need RMA or a vcard BIOS flash (with likely fixed 2d clocks and/or voltages). These samples will trigger, when in 2d, what in normal conditions would be a BSOD, but due to the aforementioned system issue (more on this below) it ends up as a GSOD.

Imo, there're some that are catching wrong the situation described in the previous paragraph. They're applying the rule that, as 2d is easier to handle than 3d, if the card fails in 2d then it will necessarily fail in 3d as well, and of course will need RMA. But none of the two assumptions are necessarily true. The 2d failure (and remember we're talking about defective samples, not the model in general) is or can be quite independent from the 3d reliability because it happens at a different voltage and frequency. And it doesn't necessarily imply RMA if it can be fixed with a tweaked 2d voltage and/or frequency through a BIOS flash.

About what I was calling the system failure, the issue that prevents the BSOD mechanism (triggered by the card or not) to act as supposed. This is the most unknown point. Nobody seems to be able to sign even that it's hw, or that it's sw.

[Qualitier]

Well, I've just now realized that not all instability issues end up with a BSOD...

[caveman-jim]

I don't believe GSOD is at all prevalent. These threads are very light on configuration info (dual screen or not, overclocked cards or systems or not, changes made to windows features or services, additional software installed).

[Flyordie]

I am having the same issue.
1.113V-900= Good
1.137V-900= Good
1.113V-910= Bad
1.137V-910= Bad
1.137V-960= Good
Bad= Grey Screen
Good= OK
I have been watching these threads and doing these tests over the past 2 weeks. Just covering bases. I hope ATI gets cracking at fixing this issue but for now, just see whats stable for the driver.

It grey screens usually in the middle of the night when windows enters power saving mode (shuts the monitor off)...

So I think its a driver issue, not hardware.

[caveman-jim]

If it does it at stock, then you might be able to argue its a driver issue. Overclocked and overvolted there's really no way to validate it's just driver.

[narciso]

Ati finally admited that there is problems, with a mention of them in the unresolved issues of the drivers "Intermittent grey screen or vertical line corruption may randomly appear on the screen"

[@md_Guy]

Originally Posted by narciso

Ati finally admited that there is problems, with a mention of them in the unresolved issues of the drivers "Intermittent grey screen or vertical line corruption may randomly appear on the screen"

only took them what 4 months.. ? It is about damn time though

[caveman-jim]

Maybe it took that long for enough people to report the issue? I experienced the issue one time with all the 5 series cards I've seen (which is the whole launched range to date), when I had 5870 and was overclocking with two screens attached.

[stevvie]

there's a few suggegtions on www.ngohq.com @ http://www.ngohq.com/news/17176-work...pes-issue.html .
I guess you've tried most of them.

[Boogle]

I had a grey screen crash, and my card came with the latest BIOS out the box

[Reuter]

Originally Posted by Boogle

I had a grey screen crash, and my card came with the latest BIOS out the box

Had this too with my 5970 but disabling ULPS in windows ( a bit of a drastic measure) fixed it for me cause the card is now running on its nominal speed all off the time.

[narciso]

Originally Posted by Reuter

Had this too with my 5970 but disabling ULPS in windows ( a bit of a drastic measure) fixed it for me cause the card is now running on its nominal speed all off the time.

ULPS only prevents the second gpu from shutting down. It doesn't fix the problem. Sooner or later the stripes will attack again.
Best solution so far, for me, was to disable aero.
By the way, here's a good read regarding 2d performance problems in 5xxx cards, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...di,2539-9.html

[Reuter]

Another method for the 5970 is:

1. Open CCC

2. Unlock and Enable Overdrive if they aren’t already.

3. Go to Options/Profiles/Profiles Manager. Create a new profile. Under composition make sure “ATI Overdrive” is checked. Save and Close, DO NOT ACTIVATE.

4. In windows go to: C:\Users\{yourusername}\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Profiles (you will need to have “show hidden files” turned on for this)

5. Open the xml document with the name of the profile you just created (notepad is fine)

6. Change the values of the Clock and Memory speeds to look like this (these specific values are what worked for me and my card, use judgment) EDIT ONLY THE BOLD VALUES.




Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0"

Property name="Want_0" value="40000"

Property name="Want_1" value="60000"

Property name="Want_2" value="85000"

Feature

Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0"

Property name="Want_0" value="90000"

Property name="Want_1" value="90000"

Property name="Want_2" value="120000"



7. Save and close. Go back to CCC and activate the profile you just created.
This will make the card idle at 400core, 900memory. (2D clocks are the "Want_0" values)

[blurter]

Originally Posted by Reuter

Another method for the 5970 is:

1. Open CCC

2. Unlock and Enable Overdrive if they aren’t already.

3. Go to Options/Profiles/Profiles Manager. Create a new profile. Under composition make sure “ATI Overdrive” is checked. Save and Close, DO NOT ACTIVATE.

4. In windows go to: C:\Users\{yourusername}\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Profiles (you will need to have “show hidden files” turned on for this)

5. Open the xml document with the name of the profile you just created (notepad is fine)

6. Change the values of the Clock and Memory speeds to look like this (these specific values are what worked for me and my card, use judgment) EDIT ONLY THE BOLD VALUES.




Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0"

Property name="Want_0" value="40000"

Property name="Want_1" value="60000"

Property name="Want_2" value="85000"

Feature

Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0"

Property name="Want_0" value="90000"

Property name="Want_1" value="90000"

Property name="Want_2" value="120000"



7. Save and close. Go back to CCC and activate the profile you just created.
This will make the card idle at 400core, 900memory. (2D clocks are the "Want_0" values)

Yeah doing this is the only thing that worked with my 5970, I did the following;

</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="55000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="55000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="73500" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="101000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="101000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="101000" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreVoltageTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="1038" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="1038" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="1050" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryVoltageTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="0" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="0" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedProtocol_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedProtocolProperty" value="Percent" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="960" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="20" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreClockTarget_1">
<Property name="Want_0" value="55000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="55000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="73500" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_1">
<Property name="Want_0" value="101000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="101000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="101000" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="CoreVoltageTarget_1">
<Property name="Want_0" value="1038" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="1038" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="1050" />

[@md_Guy]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ATI...5870,9549.html

AMD has confirmed that a previously reported issue of grey lines or screens with certain Radeon HD 5000 GPUs affects both the 5700 and 5800 series.

[Boogle]

Originally Posted by narciso

ULPS only prevents the second gpu from shutting down. It doesn't fix the problem. Sooner or later the stripes will attack again.
Best solution so far, for me, was to disable aero.
By the way, here's a good read regarding 2d performance problems in 5xxx cards, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...di,2539-9.html

That's a very interesting article there!

I've since re-formatted, and the drivers are being remarkably well-behaved. Switching between eyefinity and normal is a simple profile change that now works - and I've had no grey screens!

[caveman-jim]

Hotfix coming today for those affected. Watch Terry 'Catalyst Maker' Makedon's Twitter feed to see it the instant it posts up!

download link

[Boogle]

Does this include the Mass Effect 2 AA hotfix as well?