Is my almost decade old ATI Radeon 4870 video card finally failing?

A

antdude

New member
Recently, I turned off my old full-tower PC off for a few hours last month (overnight) and earlier today due to the hot summer weather. My room temperature was like over 80F degrees.

After I powered on my PC, its updated 64-bit W7's boot up splash screen showed a partial white flash for a second and then corruptions. I think it got to its login screen and then with a corrupted blue screen which was unreadable with more white blocks. https://i.imgur.com/87PHHDL.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/V9kmhTo.jpg for my blurry iPhone 4S photographs of it. Also, it was able to make a memory dump as shown below when I was able to get back in after pressing the PC's reset button (not power off and on):

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.12.0002.633 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Loading Dump File [C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP]
Kernel Summary Dump File: Only kernel address space is available

Symbol search path is: srv*c:\symbols*https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (8 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 7601.24150.amd64fre.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.180528-1700
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`03013000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`03252c90
Debug session time: Sat Jul 7 10:08:48.150 2018 (UTC - 7:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:44.040
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
................
Loading User Symbols

Loading unloaded module list
....
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 116, {fffffa8009143010, fffff88004837efc, 0, 2}

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmpag.sys ( atikmpag+8efc )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

6: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa8009143010, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff88004837efc, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: 0000000000000000, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000002, Optional internal context dependent data.

Debugging Details:
------------------


FAULTING_IP:
atikmpag+8efc
fffff880`04837efc 4055 push rbp

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x116

PROCESS_NAME: System

CURRENT_IRQL: 0

STACK_TEXT:
fffff880`079fe9c8 fffff880`048eb388 : 00000000`00000116 fffffa80`09143010 fffff880`04837efc 00000000`00000000 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`079fe9d0 fffff880`048eb092 : fffff880`04837efc fffffa80`09143010 fffffa80`07c76d50 fffffa80`07c76010 : dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xec
fffff880`079fea10 fffff880`0560ffcb : fffffa80`09143010 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`07c76d50 fffffa80`07c76010 : dxgkrnl!TdrIsRecoveryRequired+0x1a2
fffff880`079fea40 fffff880`05639d45 : 00000000`ffffffff 00000000`0000083b 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000002 : dxgmms1!VidSchiReportHwHang+0x40b
fffff880`079feb20 fffff880`0563848b : 00000000`00000102 00000000`00000000 00000000`0000083b 00000000`00000000 : dxgmms1!VidSchiCheckHwProgress+0x71
fffff880`079feb50 fffff880`0560b2f2 : ffffffff`ff676980 fffffa80`07c76010 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWaitForSchedulerEvents+0x1fb
fffff880`079febf0 fffff880`0563804a : 00000000`00000000 00000000`0000000f 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`077fe748 : dxgmms1!VidSchiScheduleCommandToRun+0x1da
fffff880`079fed00 fffff800`0335bbe0 : 00000000`059c8b64 fffff800`031fd180 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`075d1060 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0xba
fffff880`079fed40 fffff800`030bd8c6 : fffff800`031fd180 fffffa80`075d1060 fffff800`0320d1c0 00000000`00000000 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x194
fffff880`079fed80 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`079ff000 fffff880`079f9000 fffff880`044a2c20 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND: .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:
atikmpag+8efc
fffff880`04837efc 4055 push rbp

SYMBOL_NAME: atikmpag+8efc

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: atikmpag

IMAGE_NAME: atikmpag.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 517f30ef

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x116_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x116_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

6: kd> lmvm atikmpag
start end module name
fffff880`0482f000 fffff880`0488e000 atikmpag (no symbols)
Loaded symbol image file: atikmpag.sys
Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys
Image name: atikmpag.sys
Timestamp: Mon Apr 29 19:48:15 2013 (517F30EF)
CheckSum: 000613E7
ImageSize: 0005F000
File version: 8.14.1.6264
Product version: 8.14.1.6264
File flags: 8 (Mask 3F) Private
File OS: 40004 NT Win32
File type: 3.4 Driver
File date: 00000000.00000000
Translations: 0409.04b0
CompanyName: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
ProductName: AMD driver
InternalName: atikmpag.sys
OriginalFilename: atikmpag.sys
ProductVersion: 8.14.01.6264
FileVersion: 8.14.01.6264
FileDescription: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
LegalCopyright: Copyright (C) 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
6: kd> lmvm atikmpag
start end module name
fffff880`0482f000 fffff880`0488e000 atikmpag (no symbols)
Loaded symbol image file: atikmpag.sys
Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys
Image name: atikmpag.sys
Timestamp: Mon Apr 29 19:48:15 2013 (517F30EF)
CheckSum: 000613E7
ImageSize: 0005F000
File version: 8.14.1.6264
Product version: 8.14.1.6264
File flags: 8 (Mask 3F) Private
File OS: 40004 NT Win32
File type: 3.4 Driver
File date: 00000000.00000000
Translations: 0409.04b0
CompanyName: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
ProductName: AMD driver
InternalName: atikmpag.sys
OriginalFilename: atikmpag.sys
ProductVersion: 8.14.01.6264
FileVersion: 8.14.01.6264
FileDescription: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
LegalCopyright: Copyright (C) 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.


It can't be its hardware's hot heat since I just turned it on after several (five and ten) hours power off. Maybe too hot in my room which was over 80F degees without AC. Maybe the video card is failing due to bad caps? Maybe it needs to be cleaned from its dusts? http://zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/MyComputerStuff.txt for the detailed specifications for primary computer.

I hope someone can answer soon. Thank you for reading my long post. ;)
 
My 290x looked like your first pic with the big fat line. It only happened on the Display port, unfortunately the other ports didn't work at all. DRAT!
Same thing on two different motherboards. Replaced with ASUS RX580 8GB and couldn't be happier.
 
Hardwood said:
My 290x looked like your first pic with the big fat line. It only happened on the Display port, unfortunately the other ports didn't work at all. DRAT!
Same thing on two different motherboards. Replaced with ASUS RX580 8GB and couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
Ah, so your video card failed. I guess I better replace this video card soon.
 
That is usually a sign of the memory being toast on the Card, however, I had a card that the fan quit working on, do the same thing from overheating, replaced the fan, and it was happy again.

As old as that card is, I wouldn't bother replacing the fan to try and find out, I would just op for a new card.
 
NWR_Midnight said:
That is usually a sign of the memory being toast on the Card, however, I had a card that the fan quit working on, do the same thing from overheating, replaced the fan, and it was happy again.

As old as that card is, I wouldn't bother replacing the fan to try and find out, I would just op for a new card.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I wonder if the video card doesn't turn on its fan right away when powering on the PC. I should check on that, but then the video card shouldn't be that hot already. I know my EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758) motherboard likes to take a while to boot up before doing a single beep and showing anything on screen like BIOS.

Yeah, I am planning to switch the video card because of this. It will probably get worse. It's time to finally dump it. Also, I might go to NVIDIA this time for better Linux support. :P
 
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antdude said:
Hmm, I wonder if the video card doesn't turn on its fan right away when powering on the PC. I should check on that, but then the video card shouldn't be that hot already. I know my EVGA X58 SLI (132-BL-E758) motherboard likes to take a while to boot up before doing a single beep and showing anything on screen like BIOS.

Yeah, I am planning to switch the video card because of this. It will probably get worse. It's time to finally dump it. Also, I might go to NVIDIA this time for better Linux support. :P
Click to expand...

Generally, when a computer boots, the cpu and gpu run at full speed (non boost) until you are done with the boot cycle and in some cases, not until you get fully loaded into your OS and software/drivers take over, because generally non of the power saving features are active yet. That is also one reason why a CPU usually runs warmer in the Bios than it does at idle when you are sitting at your desktop in your OS. Some GPU's also ramp up their fans at full speed on boot as well just as some CPU fans do the same on boot.

It is also entirely possible that your thermal paste between the chip and the GPU cooler is old, dry and failing. You could have a simple fix of just removing the GPU cooler and cleaning and re-applying a quality thermal past.

As for Nvidia having better Linux support than AMD, that may have been true in the past, but not so now days.
 
NWR_Midnight said:
Generally, when a computer boots, the cpu and gpu run at full speed (non boost) until you are done with the boot cycle and in some cases, not until you get fully loaded into your OS and software/drivers take over, because generally non of the power saving features are active yet. That is also one reason why a CPU usually runs warmer in the Bios than it does at idle when you are sitting at your desktop in your OS. Some GPU's also ramp up their fans at full speed on boot as well just as some CPU fans do the same on boot.

It is also entirely possible that your thermal paste between the chip and the GPU cooler is old, dry and failing. You could have a simple fix of just removing the GPU cooler and cleaning and re-applying a quality thermal past.

As for Nvidia having better Linux support than AMD, that may have been true in the past, but not so now days.
Click to expand...
Interesting. So, AMD is better and easier for its binary drivers like Debian (old)stable [currently Jessie v8]?

Someone else suggested my old OmniCube KVM, from Y2K, might be the problem too? Weird. Again, this problem only happens right at boot up after power on my PC after it was manually off for hours.

Oh, and I also had a few seconds power outage a couple days ago in the early morning that my PC went off and then on (no UPS). It had no problems! The issue only happened when the PC was manually turned off for hours and then manually powered on.
 
For the first time in 16 years i add a AMD card die on me, before i changed cards even before they died, for example my two HD 5770's are still working perfectly, my relatively new R9 270X died 2 or 3 weeks ago, tried to revive it by baking it, didn't worked. :(

Now lets see how long my RX 570 will last.
 
Argoon1981 said:
For the first time in 16 years i add a AMD card die on me, before i changed cards even before they died, for example my two HD 5770's are still working perfectly, my relatively new R9 270X died 2 or 3 weeks ago, tried to revive it by baking it, didn't worked. :(

Now lets see how long my RX 570 will last.
Click to expand...
Wow, 16 years. What video card was that? 9800 Pro? ;)

I wonder when mine will totally die since I got it installed new on 12/27/2008. I also have a refurbishied EVGA GeForce 8800 GT, from 1/10/2009, as well. I wonder which video card will win in lasting the longest. I'm going to assume NVIDIA since I don't game with it in the old Debian oldstable/Jessie v8 box that is mostly idled and acts as a server. :P
 
antdude said:
Wow, 16 years. What video card was that? 9800 Pro? ;)

I wonder when mine will totally die since I got it installed new on 12/27/2008. I also have a refurbishied EVGA GeForce 8800 GT, from 1/10/2009, as well. I wonder which video card will win in lasting the longest. I'm going to assume NVIDIA since I don't game with it in the old Debian oldstable/Jessie v8 box that is mostly idled and acts as a server. :P
Click to expand...

Yes 9800 pro was my first ATI card. :)

Before that i add a Nvidia Geforce 4 TI.
 
Finally, the web site is back. FYI. I was unable to reproduce this issue the last few days (as of 8/11/2018 morning PDT in USA) when I powered off the PC for hours overnight during the warm nights. The issue must be rare. I will do more later on with the summer's heat waves though. :/
 
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