[SOLVED] Possible faulty video card - advice needed

[Somsip]

Pretty sure I know the answer to this one, but just in case:

Just upgraded from an old, old Nvidia GeForce card to a better Gigabyte GTX 1050 Ti OC Windforce. As my old PSU didn't have a 6 pin PCI-E adaptor, I also replaced that with a CoolerMaster MWE White 550W. I'm running dual-head with one 60 Hz monitor on DVI-D and a 144 Hz monitor on HDMI. Previously this all worked fine.

Within a couple of hours of play testing, the signal on the HDMI was lost and the monitor blanked. Reboot did nothing, swapping to a different HDMI port (all 3 of them) did nothing so shut down, removed and reseated the video card and used the other PCI-E connector off the PSU. The same thing is still happening randomly - the screen might blank for a few seconds then come back and works for an hour or more, but at some point it will blank again. So something is not right. FWIW I'm on Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) with the official 470 drivers. This is happening when the GPU is under load (got it to 48% when gaming so I'm not pushing it particularly) and when just using the desktop. Temperature is stable at around 55-58C.

Does this sound like a power issue, or a video card issue? I'm still in the 7 day return-to-retailer window and I'm thinking that's the way this will go, but any insights before I do that are welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Hellfire13]

There are a handful of ways to confirm the source of the issue. In your case, test with a better PSU or test the card in another machine.
If thats the V1 version of the MWE White and not the V2 version, then I would definitely look at a better PSU...

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[Somsip]

There are a handful of ways to confirm the source of the issue. In your case, test with a better PSU or test the card in another machine.
If thats the V1 version of the MWE White and not the V2 version, then I would definitely look at a better PSU...

None of the other PCs in the house have PSUs with 6 pin PCI-E, so swapping out isn't possible. The MWE White is the V2 though.

Are you suggesting it is likely to be a power issue given the problems I'm having? Honestly thought that the CM PSU would've have enough for this rig at 550W given the old PSU was 450W and all I've done is add the GTX1050Ti. Though I know little about the ins-and-outs of power consumption and seem to have bought something that I thought was decent spec but maybe isn't :-/ Might have to price something up from a higher tier from that list then...

 

[Hellfire13]

None of the other PCs in the house have PSUs with 6 pin PCI-E, so swapping out isn't possible. The MWE White is the V2 though.

Are you suggesting it is likely to be a power issue given the problems I'm having? Honestly thought that the CM PSU would've have enough for this rig at 550W given the old PSU was 450W and all I've done is add the GTX1050Ti. Though I know little about the ins-and-outs of power consumption and seem to have bought something that I thought was decent spec but maybe isn't :-/ Might have to price something up from a higher tier from that list then...

V2 should be good enough as per the list. But you can only ascertain by testing with substitutes. If you do not have any, I suggest that you go to the nearest possible PC store and let them test it for you. They can try this card on another PC or test with a better PSU on this PC.

Edit: If you dont have the above option, then you RMA the card first and then the PSU, if problem persists.

 

[Somsip]

V2 should be good enough as per the list. But you can only ascertain by testing with substitutes. If you do not have any, I suggest that you go to the nearest possible PC store and let them test it for you.

The problem with the local PC store is that I'm a bit....rural. They had to order the PSU specially for me as they had none in stock with PCI-E 6 pin connectors. They're not going to order a different one just for testing, so I either need to plump for an immediate upgrade or travel a bit to find a shop that might be able to help out. That's why I was trying for an answer like "it sounds like the PSU", just so it gave me something to go on.

Edit: If you dont have the above option, then you RMA the card first and then the PSU, if problem persists.

Well it died at 8:30am today, and ha been fine in the 11 hours since, with desktop use only. I'll do some gaming this evening and see how it behaves then will have to make a call whether to return it, upgrade the PSU (again) or something else.

Much appreciate the advice though. Thanks 🙂

 

[geofelt]

HDMI cables come in different qualities.
For hdmi you might need an ultra high version when trying to run at 120hz or better refresh rates.

I doubt the issue is the psu.
The specs for your card show a 300w psu.
The maximum power draw of a gpu with a single 6 pin connector is 150w.

What was the make/model of your previous gpu and psu?

 

[Somsip]

For hdmi you might need an ultra high version when trying to run at 120hz or better refresh rates.

I'll have a close look at it when I next power down, but it was fine with the old card. Though saying that...sometimes the monitor would flick on and off, but only for a second or so. Which I put down to brown-outs as the power is very dirty here and most gear goes through a UPS but not the monitors. So is it possible that the new card is somehow hitting the HDMI cable harder? (dunno the correct terms to use here...)

I doubt the issue is the psu.
The specs for your card show a 300w psu.
The maximum power draw of a gpu with a single 6 pin connector is 150w.

That's sort-of what I thought, but I trust the expertise of people here.

What was the make/model of your previous gpu and psu?

Fake GTX1050Ti that I ran for 2 years before I realised it was a fake. Something like a GTS 600 with a reflashed ROM on it IIRC. PSU was a GView Silver 450.

 

[Somsip]

So is it possible that the new card is somehow hitting the HDMI cable harder? (dunno the correct terms to use here...)

After more research...

So it's possibly a throughput issue if I'm using a HDMI 1.4 or lower cable?

The video card specs are:
HDMI-2.0b*3 (Max Resolution: 4096x2160 @60 Hz)
Display Port-1.4 *1 (Max Resolution: 7680x4320 @60 Hz)

And the monitor specs are (limited information from Acer website for VG240Y P):
(Full HD)1920 x 1080@144 Hz
2x HDMI®-in
1x DisplayPort

So it seems like I can try a HDMI2.0 cable, or a DisplayPort1.4 and see if that fixes anything. Does that seem sensible as a next step?
(Given my desktop and games are running at 1920 x 1080 @ 144Hz

 

[geofelt]

If displayport connection is at all possible, I would certainly try that first.

 

[Hellfire13]

It never hurts to upgrade to a better cable. Else you have the other options.

 

[Somsip]

Well this is fun.

After trying a locally bought HDMI2.0 cable that was even worse than the current one, and then ordering a DisplayPort1.4 that's not yet arrived, I realised a pattern in when this was happening, which is about 8:30am and 10:30pm every day. Which just happens to correspond with when my son has a shower. It's died again just now when he's having a shower, and come back when he's finished. So I've gone and turned the shower on, and it's gone off again, then come back on when I've turned the shower off!

Which suggests some sort of electrical interference problem. I think. I'll see if the DisplayPort cable makes any difference, and might get our electrician in to check the shower unit or swap it to another phase (we're on 3 phase wiring), but don't really know about this sort of thing myself. So if anyone has an "Ah - that'll be this thing causing that" comment, please let me know

 

[Hellfire13]

Well this is fun.

After trying a locally bought HDMI2.0 cable that was even worse than the current one, and then ordering a DisplayPort1.4 that's not yet arrived, I realised a pattern in when this was happening, which is about 8:30am and 10:30pm every day. Which just happens to correspond with when my son has a shower. It's died again just now when he's having a shower, and come back when he's finished. So I've gone and turned the shower on, and it's gone off again, then come back on when I've turned the shower off!

Which suggests some sort of electrical interference problem. I think. I'll see if the DisplayPort cable makes any difference, and might get our electrician in to check the shower unit or swap it to another phase (we're on 3 phase wiring), but don't really know about this sort of thing myself. So if anyone has an "Ah - that'll be this thing causing that" comment, please let me know

Wow...thats quite an unusual one. Seems bigger power issue than your PC.

 

[Somsip]

And the DisplayPort cable solved the problem with the monitor, though i still plan to get the electrician to make sure we haven't got some fundamental problem elsewhere.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Much appreciated 🙂

 

[Hellfire13]

And the DisplayPort cable solved the problem with the monitor, though i still plan to get the electrician to make sure we haven't got some fundamental problem elsewhere.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Much appreciated

glad to know that...cheers