PowerColor RX 480 Red Dragon 4gb BIOS Issue

3LLE · Jun 28, 2022

Bought it as defective card for a cheap price. Posted as "no display".
This is a dual BIOS card.
When I check the 1st BIOS, it only display my motherboard splash screen then no display when loading WIndows.
And on the 2nd BIOS, system will post (1 beep) then display error (3 beeps).

I open the card to check, saw the thermal paste dried up so I reapply a new one.
Assembled and installed back in my system.

Using 1st BIOS, it can now boot in Windows then freeze for like a minute or two.

I put another card (Nvidia) as my main so I can check the BIOS of the 480 without crashing my system.

I noticed that there are missing information when I check the card with GPU-Z.
Photo here

So I've searched for BIOS for my card.
Found and flashed this.
Here's what it looks like in GPU-Z after flashing.

The condition was improved.
I can play games, system will not freeze, pass some benchmarks.

But it's not that stable specially then I put more load in the system while benchmarking.
I didn't encounter this in my other cards so I think there is still wrong with the 480.

Then just last night, I decided to benchmark again with a freshly installed Windows so I can eliminate the driver conflicts.

When I power up, I got the issue when I firstly obtain the card.
Black screen after splash screen of my motherboard on the 1st BIOS, display error (3beeps) on the 2nd.

Does anyone had this issue before?
Is this a HW or a SW failure?

Another weird thing is that, clock and memory are always zero value in GPU-Z sensor tab.
Though I can see the values in MSI AB and Adrenaline SW.

pavle · Jun 28, 2022

Did you check the card before flashing BIOS that it really has that Samsung RAM (K4G41325FE written on the chips)?
Hynix has much more relaxed timings/would heat up too much with the other ones and probably stop functioning.
It could also be that the card was used for mining and the RAM has degraded...

3LLE · Jun 28, 2022

Yes, I have checked the modules when I open it to replace the thermal paste. They are Samsung.

eidairaman1 · Jun 28, 2022

Stop buying used gpus

DeathtoGnomes · Jun 28, 2022

3LLE said:
But it's not that stable specially then I put more load in the system while benchmarking.
I didn't encounter this in my other cards so I think there is still wrong with the 480.

Then just last night, I decided to benchmark again with a freshly installed Windows so I can eliminate the driver conflicts.

When I power up, I got the issue when I firstly obtain the card.
Black screen after splash screen of my motherboard on the 1st BIOS, display error (3beeps) on the 2nd.

When I check again the BIOS with Nvidia card together so I can boot up, the BIOS got corrupted again with the missing informations in GPU-Z.

Does anyone had this issue before?
Is this a HW or a SW failure?

Is the PSU large enought to handle both cards? some system info would be nice. And Welcome to TPU

3LLE · Jun 28, 2022

I think so.
I only encounter freeze or crash when benchmarking the 480 installed alone. Not with other cards.

eidairaman1 · Jun 28, 2022

Get a pic of the white sticker labels and a closeup of a samsung ram chip please

3LLE · Jun 28, 2022

Will this work? Or should I take picture individually each module?
And which white sticker you are referring to?

eidairaman1 · Jun 28, 2022

3LLE said:
Will this work? Or should I take picture individually each module?
And which white sticker you are referring to?

View attachment 252840

The 1 on the back of the card or on the side of the gpu heatsink near the pcie blade

3LLE · Jun 29, 2022

These?

eazen · Jun 29, 2022

Most likely the GPU is half dead, what was left of its life is now over.

3LLE · Jun 29, 2022

I will try to do the suggestion of other firstly, like checking the memory using dmgg or tserver.
If it's really not repairable anymore, then I will just keep the card as backup in case my main card encountered an issue.

eidairaman1 · Jun 29, 2022

3LLE said:
These?
View attachment 252871

Thats better

eazen said:
Most likely the GPU is half dead, what was left of its life is now over.

Lets not jump to conclusions

3LLE said:
I will try to do the suggestion of other firstly, like checking the memory using dmgg or tserver.
If it's really not repairable anymore, then I will just keep the card as backup in case my main card encountered an issue.

Let me do some research i will have an answer

3LLE · Jun 29, 2022

eidairaman1 said:
Let me do some research i will have an answer

Thank you for helping.

I just want to add up some strange things that I have obsered, not sure is this information is helping.

I also noticed that the card working better in 8lanes PCIE slot than a 16lanes.

BIOS switch 1 seems better than switch 2 since I can boot while the other one, if the card is not working, I can't even boot.

And in BIOS 2, most of the time I can't boot from it.
Booting in BIOS 1 then switching to BIOS 2 to flash a new BIOS will have an "error reading from rom" by just opening atiflash.
I can't also flash BIOS 2 using CMD.

eidairaman1 · Jun 29, 2022

Ok will have an answer today

Latest bios

Powercolor RX 480 VBIOS

4 GB GDDR5, 1266 MHz GPU, 1750 MHz Memory

www.techpowerup.com

All the rest, you must ensure Samsung FE Ram is in the details.

TechPowerUp

Extensive repository of graphics card BIOS image files. Our database covers submissions categorized by GPU vendor, type, and board partner variant.

www.techpowerup.com

TechPowerUp

Extensive repository of graphics card BIOS image files. Our database covers submissions categorized by GPU vendor, type, and board partner variant.

www.techpowerup.com

Follow this guide

AMD/ATi Flash Command Line (CMD) Syntax Mini Guide (WINDOWS)

This is a Guide Thread Only, not an asking for help thread. If you need help, start a new thread, do not post in here as it will be reported and possibly deleted. This is a Mini Guide to using AMDVBFLASH/ATi Flash. DO NOT USE WINFLASH it has been discontinued and rearely ever worked Make...

www.techpowerup.com

3LLE · Jun 30, 2022

Will try those after work.
I will share the results.

eidairaman1 · Jun 30, 2022

3LLE said:
Will try those after work.
I will share the results.

And?

3LLE · Jun 30, 2022

I'm still at work.
6hrs more

eidairaman1 · Jun 30, 2022

3LLE said:
I'm still at work.
6hrs more

Hello?

3LLE · Jul 1, 2022

Sorry. Been busy trying to fix.
Unfortunately it doesn't work.

What happened is, in my first boot, the card is behaving. Like I can boot in Windows without freezing.
So I flashed the BIOS from the link that you have provided. Flashing goes well, I also managed to flash BIOS on the 2nd switch.

After flashing, I rebooted.
Then I decided to benchmark to see if the card is already ok.

Crashed and the PC reboots.

Then I attempted to flash the BIOS again to switch 2, I got "error reading from ROM".
Flashing switch 1 doesn't have problem though. But it's freezing in Windows and crashing on benchmarks.

And I got this error in CMD amdvbflash -i command

eidairaman1 · Jul 1, 2022

The card is damaged from mining

3LLE · Jul 1, 2022

So is it the end of the road for this card already?

eidairaman1 · Jul 1, 2022

Yup, that's what mining does.

Unless if you have a pcb repair station, schematics, good understanding, and smd stock, used gpus really arent worth it especially 1s that came out 3-6 years ago

3LLE · Jul 1, 2022

Ok. My last workaround will be the 8+1 pin with the BIOS chip this weekend.
If it doesn't work, I will just keep the card as backup even just for display since my CPU doesn't have intergrated graphics.

Thanks all for the help.

eidairaman1 · Jul 1, 2022

3LLE said:
Ok. My last workaround will be the 8+1 pin with the BIOS chip this weekend.
If it doesn't work, I will just keep the card as backup even just for display since my CPU doesn't have intergrated graphics.

Thanks all for the help.

Id pick up a RX 5500, 6400, 6500.

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Dumbass
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF gaming B650
Cooling	Artic Liquid Freezer 2 - 420mm
Memory	G.Skill Sniper 32gb DDR5 6000
Video Card(s)	GreenTeam 4070 ti super 16gb
Storage	Samsung EVO 500gb & 1Tb, 2tb HDD, 500gb WD Black
Display(s)	1x Nixeus NX_EDG27, 2x Dell S2440L (16:9)
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Primo w/8 140mm SP Fans
Audio Device(s)	onboard (realtek?) - SPKRS:Logitech Z623 200w 2.1
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000i
Mouse	Steeseries Esports Wireless
Keyboard	Corsair K100
Software	windows 10 H
Benchmark Scores	https://i.imgur.com/aoz3vWY.jpg?2

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	EA-ZEN
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with -50mW UV
Motherboard	Asus X570
Cooling	Big Air
Memory	2x16 GB DDR4 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 2080 Ti Strix highly OC’ed
Storage	1 TB NVME, 500 GB SSD etc
Display(s)	2x 27”, main: curved 144Hz SVA with BLS and HDR
Case	Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	Z906 5.1 and Audeze Headphones, Shure SM7B mic
Power Supply	Enough
Mouse	Old but gold
Keyboard	Mechanical Cherry Brown
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	A lot

PowerColor RX 480 Red Dragon 4gb BIOS Issue

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