Question GTX 970 not working after PC Rebuild and Win10 Update (Code 43 & Black Screens)

[cxrnbread]

Hello all,

I recently bought a new PC case and took the opportunity to clean all the components before installing them, replacing the CMOS battery and updating from Win7 to Win10.

Specs:

• GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 GAMING
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K
• Motherboard: AsRock Z97 Extreme4
• RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury
• PSU: SeaSonic S12G 750W

The components are relatively old but worked well before. After installing everything in the new case I now have the problem that the graphics card doesn't work anymore. In the device manager it indicates "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" and the resolution is capped at 1024x768 on my 2K monitor (connected to the graphics card with HDMI cable).

I then tried to update the graphics driver, which took several attempts due to black screens lasting several minutes during the installation of the NVIDIA driver. I then reinstalled Win10, cleaned all the connectors and plugged the graphics card into another PCIe slot, which didn't help either,

The graphics card itself looks good, i.e. the connectors are intact, the fans are spinning and the LED lighting is working too. I'm now afraid that it's a hardware problem after all - not the best time to replace the graphics card. Unfortunately I don't have a way to test the graphics card in another PC, so I'm really thankful for any advice or hint that might help.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What was the make and model of your prior chassis? Make and model of your new chassis? That being said, what BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? As for your OS, did you upgrade from Windows 7 or did you perform a clean install? Source of the installer for Windows 10? What version of Windows 10 are you working with?

At this point, how old is the PSU in the above build? Did you manually install all relevant drivers for your platform in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator? Might want to also parse a link or images to the ram kit you're using.

Breadboard and then inspect CPU socket for any bent or broken pins. Also, what are you using to cool that processor?

 

[cxrnbread]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

What was the make and model of your prior chassis? Make and model of your new chassis? That being said, what BIOS version are you on for your motherboard? As for your OS, did you upgrade from Windows 7 or did you perform a clean install? Source of the installer for Windows 10? What version of Windows 10 are you working with?

At this point, how old is the PSU in the above build? Did you manually install all relevant drivers for your platform in an elevated command, i.e, Right click installer>Run as Administrator? Might want to also parse a link or images to the ram kit you're using.

Breadboard and then inspect CPU socket for any bent or broken pins. Also, what are you using to cool that processor?

Thanks for the welcome!

The previous PC case was a Bitfenix Shinobi, which I replaced with a Corsair Carbide 175R. The PSU is the one I bought together with the other components about 6 years ago.

Currently the AsRock Mainboard is on BIOS Vers. P1.30 and Windows 10 Pro on Vers. 21H2, which I clean installed using a bootable USB flash drive. I tried to install the graphics driver both through the device manager (right click > update driver) and manually by downloading and installing it (as administrator).

I didn't remove the CPU itself, so there shouldn't be a bent or broken pin. The CPU cooler is a Cooler Master Hyper 412S. I've checked the CPU temperature before and it's constantly between 50 and 60°C with low usage.

 

[cxrnbread]

In the meantime I've also tried another PCIe power cable from the same PSU and uninstalled the NVIDIA driver with DDU in safe mode and reinstalled it manually as administrator, but unfortunately that didn't help either.