GTX 470 Driver Issue (black screen)

[willpwns]

Hey guys,

I just recently started having an issue with my graphic card ( I think). It happened yesterday while running some applications in the background (League of Legends, FIreFox). I tried googling driver issues, black screen issues, etc. I have no idea what the problem is other than it is coming from my GPU. I've cleaned (duster thingy) the GPU and computer, and swapped the GPU to the other slot.


Symptoms:
On regular boot: I get a black screen before the login screen, after the windows logo appears. I have to hard reset it at this point.
On Safe mode: everything works. I'm able to log in, but it doesn't have access to internet and etc.
On uninstalling the GPU Driver: I'm able to log in, but the screen flashes white after logging in, before going to my desktop. My "Theme" (personalization) comes out with High Contrast instead of the usual aero theme. The Driver automatically updates to the latest (9.18.13.4411) after logging in.
Sometimes there are colored marks on my screen
On Repair startup: Sometimes the repair works, and after rebooting I can log in normally, but it freezes not long after that. Other times, the Repair fails.
BSOD - 0x000000000116, 0xFFFFFFA8005E3F010 and 0xFFFFF8800F1B55C8

Windows 7
GTX 470 (Not overclocked)
Driver Version: 9.18.13.4411

Please let me know if this is in the wrong section. I just really could use advise on how to solve this issue. Thanks in advance.

 

[Supernova1138]

I think your card may be dying, and this isn't a driver issue. Artifacts appearing on screen like you've described, and BSODs are not a good sign. If this started happening shortly after you updated your graphics driver, then maybe it is a driver issue, in which case, simply download an older driver revision for your card from the Nvidia website and install that, and see if the problems persist. If you can't get your PC to work in regular mode, select Safe Mode with Networking to get internet connectivity in Safe Mode if you need it.

 

[willpwns]

I downloaded the newest driver and i"m still getting the same symptoms. I also downloaded an older driver version from the nvidia website and I still got the same problems. I've swapped out my GPU for an old EVGA GTS 8800 GPU and I haven't gotten any problems yet. It may be that my GPU is dying, but its only been about 4 years since I've had it, so it doesn't seem likely. Any idea what i should do now to make sure its my GPU and rule out other possibilites(such as Driver issue)?

 

[Supernova1138]

Yeah, it sounds like your card is dying. The only other thing you can really do to test it would be to try it on another computer to rule out any sort of issue between your card and the motherboard, or issue with your power supply. The 400 series Nvidia GPUs did run quite hot, which could affect their lifespan, so it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that your card is on its way out.