Graphics Card
- SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (100314-3L )

- No overclocking

AMD Catalyst Driver Version, and Driver History
- 8.98-120611a-141402C-ATI and one previous version I cannot remember

Operating System
- Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1

Issue Details
- Every time I cold boot my system I need to hit the reset button between 1-5 times before I get a 'clean' startup.

What I mean by this is that as I start the Machine I can see graphical issues in the opening BIOS text, just parts of the text missing. If I let the computer continue to boot I will see 3 veritical thick blue lines accross my screen and it will BSOD before getting to Windows.

I can reset my machine between 1-5 times and eventually I will get a boot where the BIOS text looks clean and it will get all the way into Windows and once I'm there I have no issues whatsoever - I can leave the machine running for several days and experience no problem until i need to cold boot again.

Motherboard or System Make & Model

- ASUS P5K AiLifestyle Series iP35 Socket 775 eSATA 8channel Audio ATX Motherboard

Power Supply
- Antec earthwatts EA500 500W

Display Device(s) and Connection(s) Used

- Acer S231HL - DVI

Applications and Games
n/a

CPU Details
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
- No Overlocking

Motherboard BIOS Version
- American Megatrends Inc. 1201

System Memory Type & Amount
- Corsair 4gb

Additional Hardware
- 1x DVD Writer, 3xSATA HDDs, 2x 80mm case fans

Additional Details
- alternative gfx card  (Nvidia 8600GT) works fine

- reinstalling card and drivers didnt help

- updated BIOS to latest version

- reinstalled Windows (not as troubleshoting this but I had the problem before)

-tore down and rebuilt machine, complete cleaning

Bump; any help greatly appreciated.

Hi

I had a similar problem with a HD7950, and am in the process of replacing it under warranty.

The same problems that you have started for me when I used more than one screen, are you using more than one monitor? How old is the card?

I would just try returning it and getting a replacement if you can.

AJ