What else can I do to diagnose an artifacting card?

[boppingXQWB]

Greetings! First time posting although I've been a longtime reader of TPU.

tl;dr: I had sold my XTX but the buyer had issues with it so I've refunded them. I can't seem to replicate the issue in order to RMA the card.

I had recently sold my 7900 XTX in anticipation of 9070 XT for better raytracing perf, but the buyer had issues with the card running COD Black Ops 6 multiplayer so I refunded them and got the card back.

Buyer's videos showing the artifacting are attached below:

We had many back-and-forths trying to diagnose/fix the issue, but in the end we were not able to get BO6 from running properly. The followings were what we've tried:

• Reinstalling the driver
• Reinstalling the game
• Trying different versions of the game: Xbox Game Pass & Battle.net
• Installing the card in different machines (buyer tried installing the card in a friend's* machine)

*this same friend also owns an XTX, so the buyer tried that in his machine and had no issue, while the XTX I had sold was artifacting in this 2nd machine as well. The buyer said the card would start artifacting in around 30 mintutes in his PC. Card initially seemed fine in his friend's PC but apparently it had issues around 2 hours in.

Well, OK, seems like a VRAM problem. Simple right? Well, after getting the card back, I ran a number of tests on my own, but I just can't seem to get it to misbehave. Which would be fine if I wanted to keep the card, but I want to sell it, and knowing the card was artifacting in someone else's computer (well two computers, buyer + the friend's), I can't sell the card again in good conscience. Instead, I'm hoping to find out exactly when and how the card artifacts so I can RMA it.

Tests I've done so far:

• Memtest Vulkan (4+ hrs)
• OCCT VRAM stability test (1hr)
• OCCT GPU stability tests (1hr each: 3D standard, 3D adaptive steady, 3D adaptive variable, 3D adaptive switch)
• Memtest Vulkan + various OCCT GPU stability tests (1hr each)
• COD Black Ops 6 multiplayer (3 hrs)
• COD Black Ops 6 single player (3 hrs)

Thought I wasn't having any issues because I was running the card in an open setup, but even putting a cardboard box over the setup to cook the card to 95 hotspot and ~99 VRAM didn't cause any issues in Memtest Vulkan + OCCT GPU stability test (~40 minutes)

I don't want to send the card in for RMA and have Sapphire send it back without doing anything about it. What am I missing here?

Additional info/thoughts, will add more later if I think of anything:

• Tried both BIOSes on the card
• Buyer only had issues with BO6 and no other games

 

[Epaminombas]

If it is under warranty, send it to the manufacturer.

But before that...

Did you change the Vcore? Did you use MSI Afterburner or any similar software that changes the card's settings?

What motherboard do you have? Does it have an updated BIOS?

What Windows? Did you download the original version from Microsoft?

Is the CPU overclocked?

Is there a missing driver in the device manager?

Does the GPU firmware have timing for other types of memory?

Does Windows Event Viewer show anything?

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

Vram has its fingers in everything - so bad Vram would screw with everything, yes?

What i see are clear as day 2D Names and a clear map with clear details that are not affected at all.

Combined with a steady framrate ... except in the second video the fps goes up quiet a bit before the 3D Part gets screwy and the fps drops and stays low.

Without the added info i would have bet that the issue is software related. Like 2 packs of Oreos kinda heavy bet.

So if it´s not you it´s the setup?

Turn off your case intake fans and try again?

 

[boppingXQWB]

If it is under warranty, send it to the manufacturer.

But before that...

Did you change the Vcore? Did you use MSI Afterburner or any similar software that changes the card's settings?

What motherboard do you have? Does it have an updated BIOS?

What Windows? Did you download the original version from Microsoft?

Is the CPU overclocked?

Is there a missing driver in the device manager?

Does the GPU firmware have timing for other types of memory?

Does Windows Event Viewer show anything?

IDK, I don't have access to the buyer's computer. GPU was ran stock. Buyer also had no issues with another XTX as stated above.

So if it´s not you it´s the setup?

Turn of your case intake fans and try again?

It cooould be, but both the buyer and his friend had issues with the card and neither of them had issues with the friend's XTX, so it's not the setup. I'm guessing the intake fan suggestion is for me. I've already cooked the system with a cardboard box over it.

 

[Epaminombas]

then it's his problem.

He needs to update the BIOS

Install Windows 11 24H2 from 0. Format completely to clear cache and drivers of old GPUs.