Problems with Radeon HD 7970 GPU

Some specs:
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OS: Windows 7 Professional
RAM: 16 GB
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7970 HD
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth z87
PSU: 850W Gold OCZ modular PSU
CPU: Intel i5-4670k
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I recently upgraded from a Gigabyte motherboard to the one listed above. I don't recall having the following problems before the switch, to my knowledge:

-The GPU emits coil whine periodically, even when no games or GPU intensive applications are being run.
-Games cause the GPU driver to crash periodically. The screen will freeze (audio continues, though), go black, and then recover. Game plays as normal afterward. (Sonic Generations is the main culprit)




Any ideas as to what could be going on? I just updated to the latest Catalyst software/drivers yesterday, the problem is still lingering around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Declaimed

Some specs:
---
OS: Windows 7 Professional
RAM: 16 GB
GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7970 HD
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth z87
PSU: 850W Gold OCZ modular PSU
CPU: Intel i5-4670k
---


I recently upgraded from a Gigabyte motherboard to the one listed above. I don't recall having the following problems before the switch, to my knowledge:

-The GPU emits coil whine periodically, even when no games or GPU intensive applications are being run.
-Games cause the GPU driver to crash periodically. The screen will freeze (audio continues, though), go black, and then recover. Game plays as normal afterward. (Sonic Generations is the main culprit)




Any ideas as to what could be going on? I just updated to the latest Catalyst software/drivers yesterday, the problem is still lingering around.

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Most likely a bad mobo.

i'd check the fans manually to see if they didnt go bad when moving the gpu over. as for drivers, any driver is not safe for everyone. if one doesnt work, clean the drivers and try a different one.

Tried messing with the fans, even unplugging them. Whine still happens.

Quote:

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Most likely a bad mobo.

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Thats the thing, though. I can't determine whether its the mobo or the card. I've had the drivers crashing on me (again, Sonic Generations) and the whine getting much worse in certain games (Like Starcraft II, but this is not due to the graphical intensity of the game, as even FurMark and much more demanding games don't cause this).

UPDATE: Tried my friend's 7850. Still crashing all my games.