Can a failing hhd cause graphics issues?

[axlrose]

I don't mean to ask a dumb question as a failing hard drive can cause all kinds of problems obviously, but I have been getting lock-ups when doing graphics intensive activities and have green artifacting as a result now. I have had no fan failures, shouldn't have a heat issue and have run both of my cards (am running sli) separately with no changes in appearances. I can't find anything that seems wrong with my gpu's. Can this be an issue with one of my harddrives???

I'm hesitant to send the gpu's back as I'm not confident that's the problem.

Thanks.

 

[kenrivers]

Have you run any utilities to check the health of your hard drive? You can try running scandisk to check for problems. From Windows Explorer you can right click on the drive, click on properties, click on the Tools tab, and then click on the Check now button (under Error-checking). You can also try a drive checking utility from the hard drive manufacturer to check for disk errors. If the results show the drive is error free then it is more than likely a hardware issue. Does your power supply provide enough power to run both gpu's?

 

[hang-the-9]

It's very very unlikely that the issue is anything other than a video card issue, maybe drivers, could be power supply.

You can do a very easy test, get a known good hard-drive, install a clean version of Windows on it, install all the drivers, test the video cards. If all is good, it could be the drivers, Windows issue maybe, try a clean setup of Windows on your existing drive.

 

[axlrose]

I've been running the setup as is since BF3 was released (October 2011) as that's what I purchase the cards for. The issue had popped up in the last two weeks. I have a 1000W psu from Zalman that I think ought to be able to hand the two 2gb 560ti's.

HHD question. I did the properties technique and was able to ask the primary drive to scan when I next booted the computer. The secondary drive doesn't give me that option but asks me if I want to 'dismount this volume first' before proceeding??? 'All opened handles to this volume will become invalid' ???

 

[hang-the-9]

The windows checkdisk utility will not really give you anything useful about issues with the hard-drive, you need to do a low level scan using a BIOS utility or a drive check utility. Plus how would the secondary drive affect anything? Windows nor drivers should be installed there. If it's an issue with something on the drives, it's probably NOT a physical issue with the drive going back, but with the files on it. Which you could figure out by trying a new Windows setup. If that does not work, you have some hardware to check on, maybe RAM, maybe the power supply.

It does not matter when the issue came up or if you were using the system since man discovered farming, you have it now, and it's WAY more likely the issue is with 10 other things aside from a damaged hard-drive. Test what's probable first, even if you don't want that to be the issue, just because you don't want the cards to be bad, or the Windows setup to need to be redone, or something going on with the power supply, does not mean you should avoid testing those.

 

[axlrose]

The only reason I mention the setup hasn't changed for a while is I assume if the psu has had enough power for two years then that wouldn't be he issue now for example. Trying to narrow it down to not a build issue I guess. Also, I don't mind if it's an issue with the cards as they are probably the only parts I can send back without issue right now, it's just that I can't seem to find a problem with them, even though I guess I assume the green artifacting is most likely them. I was hoping maybe I would see a fan down, or a heat issue in gpu-z (but havent') or that running he cards separate instead of in sli might show one of them working and one not (but the problem doesn't change regardless of what card is installed) so I'm trying to find out what else might cause the green artifacting feeling like it might not actually be the card(s).

 

[axlrose]

Drives all set now I believe, but still massively unstable and still covered with green artifacting...

 

[axlrose]

Okay. So I straightened out the drives, downloaded futuremark and ran through it three times. I downloaded steam and started downloading my games over again. I just went down to check on the status of the downloads and I arrived to a bios screen. I pressed F1 to boot and was told there was a bootmgr problem. Press control alt delete to restart and my computer no longer sees my ssd boot drive at all!

 

[axlrose]

Alright, used the install cd and my computer is seeing the ssd drive again and the startup files are good again, I think. Still unstable, still green artifacts. What's going on?

 

[hang-the-9]

Alright, used the install cd and my computer is seeing the ssd drive again and the startup files are good again, I think. Still unstable, still green artifacts. What's going on?

Did you re-install Windows and the drivers? If yes, you should check the cards in another system to see if the issue follows.

 

[axlrose]

Just 'fixed the startup files'. I don't have anywhere to try the cards out, but I'll have to see if someone else can help me out. Would futuremark be able to run through great if there was a card issue? It ran through twice for sure and possibly a third time. Now I have to get my monitor working as it stopped working after I fixed the other problem. I seem to fix one problem and then a new one pops up immediately. I'm starting to wonder if there is any chance I'm not getting enough power even with a 1000w drive?

 

[axlrose]

I believe I may have solved the original problem with stability by getting help doing a firmware update from crucial with my ssd boot drive. Still going to rma the board as they have confirmed that two of the dimms for ram are dead.

Thanks for all of the help guys.