Is My Graphics Card Dying?

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

Hey, everyone.

I think my graphics card is dying. A few days ago it started acting up.

Whenever I try to do something GPU-intensive, such as play a video game, my screen will go black and read "DVI No Signal." The fans on the card will then rev up to their maximum RPM and cause me to have to reboot the computer by turning off the power supply and then restarting it.

I'm thinking that this is a sign my graphics card is failing. But, I wanted to post here and see if maybe it's something else.

System Specs:

Motherboard: MSI Gaming Z87-G45
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K
Graphics Card: Sapphire Tech Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 600W
Storage: Samsung 840-Series 250GB SSD
Storage: Seagate 2TB 7200 RPM HDD
Monitor: ASUS 24" 1080p
Operating System: Windows 7

If there's any other information you need, let me know.

Otherwise, let me know what you think the problem is; if it's my card, or something else.

Thank you.

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

Potential problems.... PSU, cable loose, GPU temps

1. Run Furmark and monitor card temps
2. Run Furmark and monitor voltage on 3.3, 5 and 12v rails

mp5mafia · May 28, 2015

DrumsXO :

Hey, everyone.

I think my graphics card is dying. A few days ago it started acting up.

Whenever I try to do something GPU-intensive, such as play a video game, my screen will go black and read "DVI No Signal." The fans on the card will then rev up to their maximum RPM and cause me to have to reboot the computer by turning off the power supply and then restarting it.

I'm thinking that this is a sign my graphics card is failing. But, I wanted to post here and see if maybe it's something else.

System Specs:

Motherboard: MSI Gaming Z87-G45
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K
Graphics Card: Sapphire Tech Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 600W
Storage: Samsung 840-Series 250GB SSD
Storage: Seagate 2TB 7200 RPM HDD
Monitor: ASUS 24" 1080p
Operating System: Windows 7

If there's any other information you need, let me know.

Otherwise, let me know what you think the problem is; if it's my card, or something else.

Thank you.

Sounds like it might simply overheat. Maybe just needs new thermo paste and pads

Saberus · May 28, 2015

Or the heat sink might need cleaning.

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

I use GPU-Z to monitor my card temperatures, and they haven't been going any higher than they did when I first got it, which is around 60 - 65 Celsius.

I'll check the program out to monitor voltage though.

mp5mafia :

Possibly, but I'm not sure if opening the card that way will void the warranty. It's still covered, so I'd rather not void the warranty in case it truly does need to be sent back for an RMA, as I can't afford a new card right now.

Saberus :

I actually just cleaned my machine out last week, including the heat sink on the card (as well as the CPU).

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

If your not breaking 65C, it's not heat related. But that's really low Furmark temp for 7970 Ghz

Use HWiNFO fo measuring rail voltages

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

Well, that's what the temperatures have been while using GPU-Z. I haven't run FurMark yet; I just downloaded it though.

Wait, so do I use FurMark for measuring rail voltages, or this "HWiNFO" program? :??:

EDIT: I just the FurMark GPU Benckmark Preset: 1080p and my highest GPU temperature was 72 Celsius.

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

Furmark puts the load on your GFX card ... it will give basic GPU data including power load I typically max out at 112%

HWiNFO (run sensors only) as the name implies tells you what every sensor on your PC is reading .... think of it as every monitoring utility you have ever seen rolled into one.

That 72 sounds more in line w/ what I expected ... no worries there

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

Okay. Did you see the edit to my post about what my GPU temp was in FurMark?

I just downloaded HWiNFO, so I'll run it now. Is there a log I should post for you or something?

EDIT: I just saw that you edited your post to say that my GPU temp is okay.

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

DrumsXO :

Yes, i saw the edit which is why I wrote

"That 72 sounds more in line w/ what I expected ... no worries there "

Start HWiNFO and it will display min, avg and max voltages. Run Furmark for 30 minutes and look at min / max Anything beyond +/- 5% is scary .... 3% is disappointing

12 volts x 95% = 11.4 volts
12 volts x 105% = 12.6 volts

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

However, if you are passing 30 - 60 minutes of Furmark.... your card is fine

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

Are these the readings you're talking about; the ones highlighted in red?

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

They look fine..... if they can handle furmark, your card and PSU are fine.....

Saberus · May 28, 2015

Wow, those are solid rail voltages. 2-3%.

That AUXTIN3, if that's an actual temp sensor, it's not good.

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

2-3% is good for moderate overclocking.... you'll want 1% to get into top 15% category

There's a warning when opening up HWiNFO .... asks you to disable certain sensors as they can cause erroneous readings .... if you have one and it is not disabled, you can get weird readings

DrumsXO · May 28, 2015

I don't see any warning that comes up when I start the program. I'll close Core Temp and GPU-Z though while I run it.

So, I just start HWiNFO, set it to "Sensors Only," enable logging, and then run FurMark for 30 minutes or so?

DrumsXO · May 29, 2015

Here are the results.

FurMark Score Page:

HWiNFO Log:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/d5ilcxa0gdw4tal/HWiNFO_Log_-_30_Minutes_of_FurMark_-_Dynamic_Background,_Burn-In,_Extreme_Burn-In,_Post_FX_and_8x_MSAA.xlsx

What's weird is that I didn't crash... Perhaps it's some issue with Battlefield 4? That seems to be when it happens the most, although it's happened at other points in time too. I'm not sure if it's my GPU now.

RaidHobbit · May 29, 2015

DrumsXO :

Hey, everyone.

I think my graphics card is dying. A few days ago it started acting up.

Whenever I try to do something GPU-intensive, such as play a video game, my screen will go black and read "DVI No Signal." The fans on the card will then rev up to their maximum RPM and cause me to have to reboot the computer by turning off the power supply and then restarting it.

I'm thinking that this is a sign my graphics card is failing. But, I wanted to post here and see if maybe it's something else.

System Specs:

Motherboard: MSI Gaming Z87-G45
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K
Graphics Card: Sapphire Tech Vapor-X Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB
RAM: 8GB DDR3
Power Supply: Corsair CX600 600W
Storage: Samsung 840-Series 250GB SSD
Storage: Seagate 2TB 7200 RPM HDD
Monitor: ASUS 24" 1080p
Operating System: Windows 7

If there's any other information you need, let me know.

Otherwise, let me know what you think the problem is; if it's my card, or something else.

Thank you.

It might be time to put the vacuum cleaner on your fans. Suck all the grime off them.

DrumsXO · May 29, 2015

RaidHobbit :

You go right ahead and do that to your machine.

Vacuums generate static electricity, which, as you should know, can fry the sensitive electronics of your computer.

Plus, as I stated in an earlier post, I cleaned my PC last week, and my temperatures aren't reaching concerning levels.

JackNaylorPE · Jun 14, 2015

DrumsXO :

The score is meaningless, what we wanted to know is if the heavy load from Furmark was causing voltage instabilities.

Some issue ? BF4 has numerous issues

We have a special set of BIOS and Afterburner settings (very low) that we use just for BF4.

Is My Graphics Card Dying?

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