I did some tests:
Used latest dx9 updates set catalyst 9.5 to defaults, set fan to 90% to prevent overheating set gpu and mem to 750 /900 default clocks(temps never got above 60 degrees in any tests performed ).
Used Furmark(OpenGL) : renamed it to something else ,set rez 1920 X1200 set full screen and ran benchmarking and stability test and ran without a problem no artifacts no crashes no vpu restarts and vddc curent max was 80 A using gpu-z 0.3.3
So i failed at making it go above 83 A but let's see if it matters because no games ever make it reach that limit.
Next i used ATT (DX9): this lil app has a very small 3d-render test and in less than 3 min it made my card crash(computer restarted) !!! i was watching gpu-z and vddc curent never got above 57 A so that seemed weird?
I then used OCCT(DX9): gpu test in window mode on low rez 1024 x758 shader complexity default 0 and it crashed(computer restarted) even faster then ATT and there is no way it got to 83 A using those settings.
Why does it matter that att and occt never reached 83A and still crashed ?
Because my card Gainward 4870 512 reference design is unstable in games like crysis unreal 3 mass effect dx 9 (winxp 32) even on stock clocks and games never reach that high vddc .
After reading http://www.geeks3d.com/?p=3246 it made me think that maybe the catalyst drivers are buggy or the last dx9 update isn't getting along with the catalyst drivers(ati have been focusing on dx10 optimizations) or contains some shader bug that afects ati cards in some way ,that would explain why some reference cards don't crash (they don't have the latest dx9 update).
Any other explanation as to why only directx stuff crashes?
ps: i am not a 3dguru so don't get mad if i did something wrong