Diagnosing GPU issues

[blokewhoknowsnothingabouttech]

Hi, I have a GPU that I'd really like to fix but I'm unsure what exactly is wrong with it. I'm siding towards vram issues, in which case I don't think I can do very much. Anyway, as I have said I'm unsure about this & I was wondering if there was any utility software that could help me find out once and for all what the problem is. Can anybody help?

Cheers in advance,

Rob

 

[Rogue Leader]

How about you tell us what the hardware you are using is, what you are doing, and what the symptoms are.

There really isn't anything that will just tell you something is wrong. Its not that easy.

 

[blokewhoknowsnothingabouttech]

How about you tell us what the hardware you are using is, what you are doing, and what the symptoms are.

There really isn't anything that will just tell you something is wrong. Its not that easy.

Right then, sorry I was a while getting back to you, I've been quite busy recently and haven't had the time to reply sooner. Anyway, the GPU is an EVGA GTX 960 2GB SSC ACX 2.0+ model and it's in a system with 16GB of DDR3 Ram and an Intel i5 2400

The problem - currently when the GPU is installed and something even SLIGHTLY graphicly intensive (a cursor moving on the screen) is done, the GPU fans shoot up to warp speed, the PC freezes and the screen goes blank. After a few seconds the display comes back and briefly a message comes up saying something along the lines of "the GPU driver stopped responding and has recovered." Then as soon as the mouse is moved the whole thing happens again and keeps happening until a BSOD occurs or I switch the PC off using the power button.

I have tried running the PC in safe mode and have done a fresh install of the GPU drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller with no change. After weeks of talking on other forums and to Nvidia support about the issue someone suggested that it was a vram issue and after researching it that seemed a decent explanation. However if you have anything to add it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rogue Leader]

How about you tell us what the hardware you are using is, what you are doing, and what the symptoms are.

There really isn't anything that will just tell you something is wrong. Its not that easy.

Right then, sorry I was a while getting back to you, I've been quite busy recently and haven't had the time to reply sooner. Anyway, the GPU is an EVGA GTX 960 2GB SSC ACX 2.0+ model and it's in a system with 16GB of DDR3 Ram and an Intel i5 2400

The problem - currently when the GPU is installed and something even SLIGHTLY graphicly intensive (a cursor moving on the screen) is done, the GPU fans shoot up to warp speed, the PC freezes and the screen goes blank. After a few seconds the display comes back and briefly a message comes up saying something along the lines of "the GPU driver stopped responding and has recovered." Then as soon as the mouse is moved the whole thing happens again and keeps happening until a BSOD occurs or I switch the PC off using the power button.

I have tried running the PC in safe mode and have done a fresh install of the GPU drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller with no change. After weeks of talking on other forums and to Nvidia support about the issue someone suggested that it was a vram issue and after researching it that seemed a decent explanation. However if you have anything to add it would be greatly appreciated.

Ok thanks for that info. It sure sounds to me like you have either a memory or GPU failure. Probably VRAM only because if the GPU itself was having an issue it would show all the time. Instead it only shows when the GPU is trying to load up something it will need to process. Hence memory failure. Unfortunately there is no way to service a GPU as a home user.

 

[blokewhoknowsnothingabouttech]

How about you tell us what the hardware you are using is, what you are doing, and what the symptoms are.

There really isn't anything that will just tell you something is wrong. Its not that easy.

Right then, sorry I was a while getting back to you, I've been quite busy recently and haven't had the time to reply sooner. Anyway, the GPU is an EVGA GTX 960 2GB SSC ACX 2.0+ model and it's in a system with 16GB of DDR3 Ram and an Intel i5 2400

The problem - currently when the GPU is installed and something even SLIGHTLY graphicly intensive (a cursor moving on the screen) is done, the GPU fans shoot up to warp speed, the PC freezes and the screen goes blank. After a few seconds the display comes back and briefly a message comes up saying something along the lines of "the GPU driver stopped responding and has recovered." Then as soon as the mouse is moved the whole thing happens again and keeps happening until a BSOD occurs or I switch the PC off using the power button.

I have tried running the PC in safe mode and have done a fresh install of the GPU drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller with no change. After weeks of talking on other forums and to Nvidia support about the issue someone suggested that it was a vram issue and after researching it that seemed a decent explanation. However if you have anything to add it would be greatly appreciated.

Ok thanks for that info. It sure sounds to me like you have either a memory or GPU failure. Probably VRAM only because if the GPU itself was having an issue it would show all the time. Instead it only shows when the GPU is trying to load up something it will need to process. Hence memory failure. Unfortunately there is no way to service a GPU as a home user.

Ok, thanks for confirming that as a vram failure. Is there anything that could be done to fix it? Not by me as a home user but is it possible for it to be fixed by someone else?

 

[Rogue Leader]

Not that I know of. Honestly its a GTX 960 which can easily be replaced for $100 these days. You'd probably spend that much for someone to diagnose it, soldier in new chips, etc. In theory its possible, in practice, not so much.

 

[blokewhoknowsnothingabouttech]

Not that I know of. Honestly its a GTX 960 which can easily be replaced for $100 these days. You'd probably spend that much for someone to diagnose it, soldier in new chips, etc. In theory its possible, in practice, not so much.

Ok, that's fine. Thanks again