Hi all,

I am running Win7 64, 4GB memory, Intel 6850 Quad core.

I just installed a new XFX HD7950, replacing my 5770. It seems to run OK on desktop, browsing the internet, etc.

Whenever I run a game, however, once you get past menus, etc. it hard locks and I have to reboot. In Skyrim, I could run the game, look around, but once I started moving, the screen went black and it hard-locked. I ran Left 4 Dead 2, thinking it was much less taxing and that let me get maybe 2 minutes in and hard-locked.

I have the 4/5/2012 drivers. I'm not sure where to start looking.

In Dxdiag, I notice in the display tab it says "746 MB total memory" and this is a 3GB card - not sure if that's relevant. EDIT: Catalyst Control shows it as 3GB. I have PCI Express 2, it's a PCI Express 3.0-do I need a new motherboard?

Could power be an issue? I have a 750W power supply. It specified to not use split power cables - I have two 6-pin connectors plugged into it, but only one says "PCI Express" - is it possible the other 6-pin connector is not a suitable connector? It's converted from a standard power connector.

I did not load drivers from the XFX disk because it went to a website that made me register and then told me it didn't like my information, so I just loaded the drivers I pre-downloaded from AMD.

Kinda grasping at straws-not sure where to begin!

Thanks in advance

POSSIBLE solution...I disabled the Overdrive (AMD overclocking utility) in CCC and was able to run around Skyrim with no crashes. Only tested for about 5 minutes though...we'll see if it holds.

EDIT: Now it has twice locked up while on the desktop - once after being idle for a couple of minutes and once while I was on a web browser...It chooses a color for the whole screen and requires a restart.

I have watched the CCC temperature meter and it isn't getting hot.

How old is that PSU and what is the Ratings in Amps for 12v Rails, and how many rails is it split into?

Black Screen and hard lock are usually when the GPU Crashes from not getting the power it needs.

My DXDIAG and CCC Both show 3 GB, My system is in My Sig Below.

(edit:04/26/12/1012 EST)(effing auto correct changes my words lol)

^^^ Agreed. Sounds like a PSU problem. Can you get a hold of another 750 to test? I'd look at the PSU as being the culprit first before RMA'ing the card.

A list of AMD recommended PSUs: http://ati.amd.com/certifiedPSU

Thanks guys-I was just thinking along the same lines...I think I need a PSU with two dedicated PCI-E connectors...I have one and the other is 4 pin-connector with a 6-pin adapter. The PCI-E has 6 actual wires in it, so I'm guessing that is not correct. I think that'll be the first thing I try.

My PSU is several years old-no idea of how many rails, etc. I'll have to look up specs for 7950 and make sure I get the correct PSU.

I found other posters online whose memory didn't read correctly in Dxdiag but reads OK in CCC.

The 12v Molex -> PCIe adapters should never be shipped with Graphics cards IMHO,

Your trying to draw 125w during Load from two HDD cables designed to power Two 10w PATA Harddisks,
PSU designers dont put those Connectors on a High AMP Rail if they use multiple 12v Rails. and that causes this problem.


When the GPU is in Desktop mode, the memory changes from 3GB to 128,256,512,768, etc etc
I check my DXDIAG on another screen while playing on the main screen.

Also check PCIe settings in BIOS to make sure its not limiting the BUS, I run on a PCIe2.0 Mobo and I am no where near saturating the PCIe2.0 16 Lane slots bandwidth, even running 3 screens, the max bandwidth i hit is 55%.

Ok, I apologize for being thick, but do you disagree that the first thing to do is get a power supply with two PCI-E 6-pin connectors and then check your other suggestions?

I have a technical background but I have not had to deal with PSU specs other than "Make sure it has a plug that fits your motherboard"

So I'm a little over my head.

yes, get a PSU with dedicated PCIe Power Cables.

OK, thanks for all your help!

I had the EXACT same connectors and got your issue. I am installing a new certified 750W PSU this weekend.

I bought a new PSU (MicroCenter educated me on the rail issue-my old PSU had several rails, new one does not...I have two separate PCI-E connectors). Issue still happens. Runs OK for a few minutes, is not heating up, then hardlocks displaying a solid color. I have a ticket in with XFX. Not sure where to go now.

Have you swapped back to your old card to see if that is the issue? I would suggest trolling the Ati forums for if it's a common problem it will show up on a quick search. If you swapped cards are by chance the old drivers still installed or did they update when you changed?

A quick google found this:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1196856/official-amd-radeon-hd-7950-7970-owners-thread/8670

Google is your friend when you get new electronics anymore. It seems at times the release date is more important than a good pruduct and is rushed for the consumer to become beta testers. This is even more so in the gaming industry for anymore some games have recently been released that the hackers could play before the actual buyer for it was not ready and the crackers had to fix it.

Hope the link help and looks like your not alone so good luck.

Have A Great Day

i had to RMA my brother's XFX 5830, defective out of the box. they replaced with a 6850 which actually performed a lot better.


its possible your card was defective out of the box. at least your PSU has been replaced with a more eco friendly PSU that can drive your system better.

Also worth investigating AMD/ATI Powerplay. This is a power saving technology they use to dynamically change clock speeds depending upon load. The last couple of ATI cards i tested (both 7xxx series) suffered regular lockups and blue screens every time this happened. By tweaking a few files and/or the use of utilities such as Afterburner/Trixx etc, it's possible to lock the speeds. This solved the issues instantly. If you are running XFire, it will also have ULPS enabled which dynamically enables/disables the cards and can cause similar problems.

I've also seen lockups when the fans change speed. Setting a manual profile can help.

I'm not saying any of this is the cause of your problems, but if a new PSU doesn't help it could be worth some investigation.

The 7xxx cards are a nice piece of hardware but they were seriously rushed to market. AMD didn't even release an official driver until 3 months after release(!?) Could still be some time before many issues are worked out.

Thanks-I'll try some of these suggestions tonight. The fan idea sounds interesting, because it runs fine for a few minutes - maybe my fans are changing.

I ran just fine on the desktop when overclocking was enabled, but locked during games (keep in mind, I was not using proper a PSU). When I turned the overclocking off, I started getting the random crashes in general. Maybe I should turn the o/c back on at least to stay stable (if that works).

have you tried running Heaven Benchmark and Furmark?

if the benches run and the games dont, then its the games.

Running on it right now, manual fan speed at 50, overclock turned back on. I'll see how long it goes.

After turning overclock off two days ago, the lockups weren't just happening in games, just on the desktop or in chrome, etc. Happened once after I had left the room and came back.

Edit-just after I hit "send", it pixeled out and blinked off but came back ok and I got a "driver stopped responding but recovered" message. This was 7 minutes after startup, temperature in the green at 27 degrees. Not good, but better than hardlock/reboot. I'll let it run a little longer with these settings.

Hung up after the last post (sort of a caramel-colored stripey pattern this time-stylish!)

I restarted in safe mode and it's been running ok for about 15 minutes-longer than the other lockup period. Maybe this will indicate some sort of driver/software cause.

I got off the phone with XFX. He suggested that I put the old 5770 back in and if I had no problem, I should return the card. I ran the 5770 for about 30 minutes with no issue, so it looks like I'll be sending it back.

Definitely sounds like a card issue. Good luck with the RMA process. Last I heard, XFX was excellent at customer support.

I RMA'd through NewEgg and they got me my new card today. Installed and running fine so far. Skyrim ran well and looked gooood and no crashing, freezing or weirdness - so far.

congrats, I hate RMA/Sending stuff back, it drives me bonkers knowing it takes a week to get to where its going, then another week back, plus processing time.