Finished building my first PC... Horrible blue lines on the screen from my GPU's HDMI output. Pics inside...

[Troutman]

Hi guys, hope someone can help me out (again!) with some issues i'm having. I'm not feeling too optimistic about them, maybe someone can help shed some light on what's going on.

I never did an open build, which was probably pretty dumb in hindsight, as i'm thinking i might need to take it all apart now...

Basically, after turning it on for the first time everything APPEARED to be normal. No warnings, or bad flashing LEDs... all the fans running fine, and the mobo (Asus z97-Pro, should have gotten the z97-Noob) giving me the code 'AE' which means Legacy State, and appears to be normal. I think. BUT i couldn't get any signal on my monitor using the I/O HDMI connection. Odd, i know the monitor works fine and that the cable is good. I tried the VGA and the DVI and yet again, no signal on any of the inputs. I tried the HDMI directly from the GPU and no signal either. edit SO it turns out that i'm just a dingbat for this part, as i didn't realise that the Mobos outputs would be rendered useless if a GPU is installed... So ignore my ignorance please!

But then, somewhat magically, after a few restarts and still no signal, i tried the HDMI direct from the GPU again and finally i have a picture! However... it's got it's issues. As you can see i have these 2 horrible blue lines on there, and i'm fearing the worst: a dying graphics card.

I've kind of given up on it for now. It'd be nice to hear peoples suggestions and i'll carry on tomorrow if i can sleep that is...

Could these blue lines be a driver issue or something? Or is it likely hardware failure and i'll have to get a new GPU.

I'll tinker some more tomorrow, i'll try plugging it into the TV, i'll try the DVI output from the GPU and if that all fails then i'll remove the GPU and see what happens...

but for now all input would be greatly appreciated! Has anyone experienced graphical issues like this before?

I tell you what, it's bloody typical!

 

[Intel Celeron]

try the other ports if you haven't maybe just a faulty hdmi port.

 

[Troutman]

try the other ports if you haven't maybe just a faulty hdmi port.

Hey, thanks for the reply!

Since posting this, i tried the DVI out the back of the GPU and got the same blue lines.

I removed the graphics card and tried using the integrated graphics on my mobo and the I/O HDMI out and it booted up to the BIOS screen with no weird glitches or blue lines.

So i guess that settles it, faulty graphics card. I'm not sure it's eligible to get RMA'd though... bought 'new' on eBay... but that was a while ago now. I'll contact Gigabyte though, can't hurt i suppose.

Couple of questions though, perhaps you'll know the answers:

1) Is this certainly a hardware fault with the GPU? Is it possible that it could be a driver issue instead? Or something to do with the power from the PCIe cables? I'd hate to get rid of this card if it's potentially solvable...

2) In the meantime, with the GPU removed, will i be able to set up the computer as normal? Install my OS, update drivers etc... Will i run into problems without a GPU and potentially cause problems by installing the video card after a few weeks? Or will it just run fine, like a rather underpowered computer that i can set up as normal for the time being?

Thanks!

 

[Ytyoussef]

You can run it just fine without a graphics card, it will just use the iGPU, and no it won't cause any problems later on.
But as to if this is definitely a faulty GPU, It sounds like it, but I can't be sure..

 

[Intel Celeron]

And BTW, I forgot to ask what graphics card it is. Knowing it would help me in researching a solution.

and for question no. 2: It will work just fine without the dedicated. And installing a dedicated is as simple as uninstalling the integrated drivers and installing the dedicated card & drivers.

 

[Troutman]

And BTW, I forgot to ask what graphics card it is. Knowing it would help me in researching a solution.

and for question no. 2: It will work just fine without the dedicated. And installing a dedicated is as simple as uninstalling the integrated drivers and installing the dedicated card & drivers.

Thanks! It's a Gigabyte 7970 Ghz Edition (GV-R797TO-3GD). I've emailed the original eBay retailer as well as the 'service centre' link on the Gigabyte website, although i'm not entirely sure what the service entails and whether i'd be eligible.

Thanks for the help. I actually just created another post about setting up without the GPU because i wasn't notified of these replies for some reason, but that's pretty cool that i'll be able to get it pretty much set up in the meantime while i wait for a reply from Gigabyte/eBay dude.

Also, Is uninstalling the integrated drivers a necessity for the new GPU to work? Would installing the dedicated card & drivers not be enough? Either way, doesn't sound too taxing. No optical drive though, so i'm going to have to install all the mobo drivers from a USB after installing Windows i think.

 

[Intel Celeron]

And BTW, I forgot to ask what graphics card it is. Knowing it would help me in researching a solution.

and for question no. 2: It will work just fine without the dedicated. And installing a dedicated is as simple as uninstalling the integrated drivers and installing the dedicated card & drivers.

Thanks! It's a Gigabyte 7970 Ghz Edition (GV-R797TO-3GD). I've emailed the original eBay retailer as well as the 'service centre' link on the Gigabyte website, although i'm not entirely sure what the service entails and whether i'd be eligible.

Thanks for the help. I actually just created another post about setting up without the GPU because i wasn't notified of these replies for some reason, but that's pretty cool that i'll be able to get it pretty much set up in the meantime while i wait for a reply from Gigabyte/eBay dude.

Also, Is uninstalling the integrated drivers a necessity for the new GPU to work? Would installing the dedicated card & drivers not be enough? Either way, doesn't sound too taxing. No optical drive though, so i'm going to have to install all the mobo drivers from a USB after installing Windows i think.

Uninstalling the integrated drivers is neceassary because once you install the dedicated card the integrated will be disabled and windows will wonder what happened to it. As for mobo drivers I suggest getting the latest from the asus website since they always provide the latest. I'll be researching other forums and sites if they too have this problem.

 

[Intel Celeron]

Let's rule things out.

So HDMI and DVI doesn't work. Are these blue lines flashing or moving? if so, in what direction.
Pretty sure DisplayPort won't work and pretty sure you don't have a mini dp or dp monitor around.
with the card & drivers installed, check temps, core clocks and core usage maybe it's a faulty overclock done in Gigabyte's side.

Those are the options I can think of right now. Most threads I found are related to the card being bad at mining but you won't be doing that.

 

[Troutman]

Thanks very much man, i really appreciate your help.

I guess while i have you here, you might know about this issue i'm having trying to install Windows 7 from a USB.

No worries if you don't have clue, i'm doing some research into it myself, but haven't found many answers yet.

Basically, i've been a Mac man since 1991, and i still use Mac for all my arty farty stuff. It's my only other computer and i used OSXs Bootcamp Assistant program to to create the Windows 7 USB.

Put it on a 4GB USB 2.0 flash drive and i plugged it into my new PC, changed the boot order (forgive the blurry pictures!) in my BIOS, rebooted and all i get is a black screen with a blinking white bar, that just hangs there indefinitely.

I'll try some other methods for making the bootable flash drive, instead of Bootcamp Assistant, failing that, i'll have to try a new flash drive... but if that doesn't work then i'm going to be a little bit screwed i think...

 

[Troutman]

Let's rule things out.

So HDMI and DVI doesn't work. Are these blue lines flashing or moving? if so, in what direction.
Pretty sure DisplayPort won't work and pretty sure you don't have a mini dp or dp monitor around.
with the card & drivers installed, check temps, core clocks and core usage maybe it's a faulty overclock done in Gigabyte's side.

Also, no i don't believe i have any mini DP or DP accessible monitors around unfortunately. But i'm inclined to believe they wouldn't work either as the blue bars are exactly the same regardless of HDMI or DVI.

Those are the options I can think of right now. Most threads I found are related to the card being bad at mining but you won't be doing that.

Oh and in regards to this, the blue bars are entirely stationary. Although if my monitor switches on in time for the BIOS splash screen, with the GPU inserted, it's all kinds of messed up. I haven't got a picture, but it's all light blue lines intercrossing and covering the whole screen, then when the BIOS appears, it's just those two long blue bars of horizontal lines. Definitely won't be doing any mining with it, it was sold as 'new' but it could very well have been tinkered with before, no way to know really. If Gigabyte did a faulty over clock then that might be good news for getting a replacement...

 

[Intel Celeron]

For installing windows 7 from usb windows has an official bootable usb maker here. I used this tool to install windows 7 and just recently installed windows 8.1 in dual-boot and it's the only tool that well... DID IT.

 

[Troutman]

For installing windows 7 from usb windows has an official bootable usb maker here. I used this tool to install windows 7 and just recently installed windows 8.1 in dual-boot and it's the only tool that well... DID IT.

Awesome thanks, didn't even of think of that! I'll restart into bootcamp and try create the bootable USB from there. Seems more likely to work than trying to do it from OS X.

 

[Intel Celeron]

hope to hear from you when it works.

 

[Intel Celeron]

finally found a possible answer. A difference in color in a part of the screen are usually related to RAM. in your case, some variation in color on one part of the screen is a bad VRAM chip. So check VRAM temps and see if it fluctuates. If so, it's a bad RAM chip responsible.

 

[Troutman]

finally found a possible answer. A difference in color in a part of the screen are usually related to RAM. in your case, some variation in color on one part of the screen is a bad VRAM chip. So check VRAM temps and see if it fluctuates. If so, it's a bad RAM chip responsible.

I love you man! Using Windows USB Tool worked a charm, currently installing Windows as we speak, hopefully with no more problems!

Ah okay that's very interesting... So this means i should put the GPU back in? Do i check through some function in the BIOS or would it best to install a program like GPU-Z or something similar to check the VRAM temps. Never had to check VRAM temps before...

 

[Intel Celeron]

I personally use GPU-Z and check PCB temps. and check the memory clocks too 'cause maybe they overclocked the memory too. Since you'll RMA it, underclocking won't be an option so we only need to figure out the problem from here.

 

[Troutman]

I personally use GPU-Z and check PCB temps. and check the memory clocks too 'cause maybe they overclocked the memory too. Since you'll RMA it, underclocking won't be an option so we only need to figure out the problem from here.

Okay, so i've just been spending the past hour installing Windows and setting up all the basic drivers (Audio, VGA, LAN, USB and Chipset). All is looking good!

I've just transferred GPU-Z over too and installed that. Before i plug my 7970 back in to check the clocks and temperatures, do i need to install the 7970 drivers? Seems like a stupid question, but i don't want to install unnecessary drivers, especially if they might interfere with the VGA drivers i just installed. Ta!

 

[Intel Celeron]

yes. 'cause it's gonna conflict with the hardware. It's ok not to uninstall the vga drivers. just disable them.