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HD Radeon 5970 help needed


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I need to update the VGA BIOS on my card (HD 5970 2GB). Does anyone know of a good tutorial for this that you could link me to?

 

I'm not sure if it's my problem, but my system crashes after logging into windows after everything turns on (afterburner, etc).

I know these were notorious for having problems with the original VGA BIOS and I've never updated. First due to lack of DOS USB drive(And not understanding how to make one) and then surgery/joblessness/etc.

 

Just installed a new processor so I know THAT's not it. FX-8320 Black edition

 

Any help is appreciated.

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Can you get into safemode?

If you can go into safemode with networking, download the most recent drivers and the amd driver cleaning utility. Run the AMD driver cleaner, reboot back into safemode and run drivercleaner or driversweeper, to get anything that the AMD utility missed. See if you can boot into Windows to install the most recent driver. 

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First things first, disable any additional software you have set to startup with Windows. Next, upgrade to the newest driver that supports your card.

 

Reboot, see if it fixes things. I never had to mess with the BIOS on my 5970 and given the potential problems if things go wrong I'd do the "easy" fixes first.

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I had a stable system with a Phenom II X2 3.2 GHz OC'd to 4.09GHz. I OC'd the card, and it ran great at full load, but when it scaled back it would drop voltage too low and cause graphic artifacts all over the place. So I ran at stock frequencies and I was seeing how far I could take my CPU by pushing voltage instead of setting it on auto and letting it ride. Then I recall (this was in 2012) I put all my setting back to where it was stable and then it kept seemingly crashing even at stock frequencies. I got a new processor (needed a new one anyway) but I have the same problem. I'll take a video later and post it here so you guys can see exactly what I'm talking about. I figured it was CPU related but when I dropped in a new brain today it did the exact same thing.

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Alright an update:

 

Today I booted up, killed afterburner with the task manager on startup, and it didn't crash!

 

I ran prime95 for 3.5 hours with no issues.

I then opened up Furmark and as soon as it started it siezed up. I havent' done anything else yet. I'll hook it up to the router and install any driver updates.

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Hey Enrgizer, there are lots of good vga BIOS flashing tutorials out there on the web already.  Google ATi video bios flashing

 

While I hate redirecting, a valuable resource for all things related to vga BIOS files and flashing guides is Techpowerup.

 

You'll need to do a little preparatory work before you take the plunge though.

 

Things you'll need;

 

1. A bootable USB thumb drive

2. GPUz 

3. ATi Flash (or alternatively check the website of your video card manufacturer and use their preferred tool if different)

4. The new BIOS file that you want to flash

5. Printed or written copy of command lines for using ATi Flash

 

Always make a copy of  your current card BIOS.  You can use GPUz for this or even do it via command prompt using ATi Flash.

 

After flashing, I always do a complete uninstall of the existing gpu driver package and then re-install the drivers.

 

Like others, I'm not convinced that you need to flash your video card BIOS so that should be the last option.

 

What power supply are you running?  Brand, model and age?

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Power supply is a ThermalTake toughpower 1050W. It was new in summer 2012, but I haven't turned my system on in about a year.

 

I can't get a temp reading under load because the picture goes black, but before I was under 60 or 70C with a full load (Don't remember which). I had to replace all of the thermal grease when I purchased the card and it was nice and cool after that.

 

Before this started happening I could run two instances of FurMark and Kombustor without issue.

 

It's a cheap diamond multimedia card, figured it'd be alright though.

Edited by enrgizerbunny

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Did you replace the thermal pads when you did that?

 

The 5970 doesn't throttle under FurMark load if I remember right and even water cooled mine was hitting damn near 100 C on the VRMs...no way I'd run FurMark on an air cooled card without the fans maxed out and a VERY careful eye.

 

This smells like a temperature problem more than anything else.

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I can't get a temp reading under load because the picture goes black, but before I was under 60 or 70C with a full load (Don't remember which). I had to replace all of the thermal grease when I purchased the card and it was nice and cool after that.

 

 

What are your idle temps of the card? (just being in windows)

 

 

This smells like a temperature problem more than anything else.

 

You sound like you sniff out of experience  :teehee:

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