Is my graphics card failing?

[mgx42]

So when booting my computer today (windows 7 64bit), during the screen where the orbs form together into a Windows logo, I noticed a few little colored speckles in the black area of the screen. Once it booted into Windows, the screen flashed black and then back to normal. I started a youtube video, after the video ran for a bit, the volume became distorted and made an almost robotic sound. At this point the computer froze completely and the only thing i could do is shut down by holding down the power button. Almost every other time I boot, the screen flashes black once windows loads. It also flashes black randomly as well. I checked event viewer and saw nothing concerning. The only thing done to the computer recently was the new Nvidia driver that released yesterday. Is my video card failing?

Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 970
Gigabyte Z77xd3h
Intel i5 3570k (not overclocked)
Samsung 850D SSD
WD Black Drive
Corsair RM750
Intel Patriot 8GB DDR3

 

[PandaButtonFTW]

yeah, your card is probably fubar, I had issues like this with a dying 8800 ultra back in the day.

 

[nitrium]

Start by rolling back your video driver to the last version that worked.

 

[mgx42]

Start by rolling back your video driver to the last version that worked.

I just rolled back to the last driver. Still having the same issue. This is my second 970 in a month. Very disappointed so far. So is the verdict that it's dying?

 

[PandaButtonFTW]

Start by rolling back your video driver to the last version that worked.

I just rolled back to the last driver. Still having the same issue. This is my second 970 in a month. Very disappointed so far. So is the verdict that it's dying?

unfortunately, yes see if you can return it for store credit, and get a different model card?

 

[mgx42]

I can make the screen go black by opening Geforce experience. I uninstalled and still see the weird colored specs on windows startup load screen. Does anyone have any more options? Or should I just RMA it and be done with it? Would also like to add that it's benchmarking with zero hiccups.

 

[mgx42]

So i re-installed GeForce Experience. As soon as I open it the screen blanks out, which would explain why Windows was going black on startup because GE is set to start on startup. I still can't explain the weird color dots. I'm just not convinced the card is dying...I mean its benchmarking completely fine. If it was dying wouldn't heavy use make it go haywire?

 

[nitrium]

I would try plugging your monitor into the onboard (motherboard) graphics before RMAing, just to make certain the issue is indeed originating from your GPU (it probably is). If you have a buddy (or a spare PC), sticking your GPU into his/her machine is also always useful to test these things.

 

[mgx42]

I would try plugging your monitor into the onboard (motherboard) graphics before RMAing, just to make certain the issue is indeed originating from your GPU (it probably is). If you have a buddy (or a spare PC), sticking your GPU into his/her machine is also always useful to test these things.

I'm going to wipe the driver off of my computer completely and re install from scratch to see if that makes a difference. If that fails then I'll borrow a gpu this weekend and see if that fixes the issue, if so then I'll RMA. I'll update the thread on Saturday.

 

[mgx42]

So I borrowed a friends GPU and put it in my system to test this. The problem disappeared. However, when I put my 970 back in the system, the issue is no longer there for my GPU either... Maybe re-seating fixed the issue? I just played Far Cry 4 for 2 hours with zero issues and card stayed cool. I also kept going into Geforce Experience and I'm not getting those flashing black screens anymore. Any input? Do you think re-seating the card fixed my issues?

 

[PandaButtonFTW]

So I borrowed a friends GPU and put it in my system to test this. The problem disappeared. However, when I put my 970 back in the system, the issue is no longer there for my GPU either... Maybe re-seating fixed the issue? I just played Far Cry 4 for 2 hours with zero issues and card stayed cool. I also kept going into Geforce Experience and I'm not getting those flashing black screens anymore. Any input? Do you think re-seating the card fixed my issues?

you tell us xD it could have even been that the power connectors weren't in properly... but as long as the issue is gone its all good!

 

[mgx42]

So I borrowed a friends GPU and put it in my system to test this. The problem disappeared. However, when I put my 970 back in the system, the issue is no longer there for my GPU either... Maybe re-seating fixed the issue? I just played Far Cry 4 for 2 hours with zero issues and card stayed cool. I also kept going into Geforce Experience and I'm not getting those flashing black screens anymore. Any input? Do you think re-seating the card fixed my issues?

you tell us xD it could have even been that the power connectors weren't in properly... but as long as the issue is gone its all good!

Your guess is as good as mine lol. I didn't change anything with the connectors the second time around, however maybe one connector was not fully inserted or something. Who knows, problem is gone, that's all I care about. Thanks everyone.

 

[mgx42]

Bump....The issue is back. Green dots at Windows 7 startup when the orbs form into the Windows logo. I'm so against the idea that my card is failing. It literally shows no signs of failure during heavy gaming or even video editing. I'm completely stumped. What could this be besides the GPU? The card runs everything great with no hiccups or temp spikes. I still don't understand why there are "artifacts" at startup only.

 

[PandaButtonFTW]

Well, the only other times ive seen an issue like this was when I had a faulty DVI cable to my monitor, that could possible be the issue. also, just in case, try cleaning the contacts of your graphics card where it goes into the PCIE slot, make sure there is nothing like fluff in the slot also.

 

[mgx42]

Well, the only other times ive seen an issue like this was when I had a faulty DVI cable to my monitor, that could possible be the issue. also, just in case, try cleaning the contacts of your graphics card where it goes into the PCIE slot, make sure there is nothing like fluff in the slot also.

Thanks, I'm gonna order a new DVI cable to start. I did get a new one within the last year so I wonder if it is the issue. I can't remember if this issue started before or after the new cable.

 

[mgx42]

Well, the only other times ive seen an issue like this was when I had a faulty DVI cable to my monitor, that could possible be the issue. also, just in case, try cleaning the contacts of your graphics card where it goes into the PCIE slot, make sure there is nothing like fluff in the slot also.

So I just realized something. The cable I am using is a DVI-D (Single Link) to HDMI. The HDMI end plugged into my monitor, the DVI-D (Single Link) end was plugged into my GPU's DVI-I (Dual Link) port. In theory there shouldn't be an issue with it being plugged into the DVI-I (Dual Link) port. However I've been having weird issues outside of the issue mentioned in this post. For example, when I would turn off my bright fluorescent desk lamp, my monitor would go black and then back to normal. I did some digging and people said that the monitor blink with turning a light off will happen with a poor quality cable. So when you mentioned the cable for my weird green dot issue I figured you might be on to something. For fun I plugged the DVI-D end into the DVI-D port on my GPU (where it should have been). No more black screen when turning my light off. Started my PC and haven't witnessed any green dots yet. I say "yet" because it's always been intermittent, but I'm hopeful. I'll update if I end up seeing green dots, but i'm super happy that the monitor doesn't blank out anymore with the desk lamp being turned off. Time will tell if this was the issue all along.

 

[PandaButtonFTW]

well I hope all stays fine for ou, good luck.