[SOLVED] Stain and mark on my GPU, PC works fine except when i try to install Windows 10 1903 build. Could be a relationship between these facts?

[pettore84]

Hi guys,
i'll try to be as short as possible but i really need your expert advice.
Yesterday i got my new m2 ssd so i took GPU (zotac 1050ti mini) apart to place drive and i noticed a strange dark mark in the bottom-side PCB: a dark spot in the top right corner, just near the DVI (never used it, only HDMI) solderings https://ibb.co/4VYYdHQ
Also noticed that the inward side (facing toward the mobo) of the bracket was brown https://ibb.co/9nVqWLX ,
furthermore a back pin of the PCIE connection was dark too, like burnt or oxidated https://ibb.co/WFF1rLj
Anyway no burnt-smell i perceived, sniffing on them. I cleaned the marks with 97% isopropyl and now all the the stain in the corner has vanished https://ibb.co/sw4Px78
but this hasn't worked for the "black" (looks like a little scratch) pin of PCIE

Some details:
I built my pc in '18 july, it works fine, never spilled anything inside it, no smell have ever come out from my case.
All my temps are good and my case is well ventilated: the only games i play are point&click adventures so my GPU temp has never got over 50 °C.
I took a look into the motherboard near the PCIe and i couldn't find any similar marks. I also can't wonder when these dark stains were born; this one year old https://ibb.co/P5W6L13
seems showing the same spot in the corner and maybe i didn't noticed it 'til now.
For about 5 months my PC has been fed by my 5 years old Thermaltake Berlin (80 plus white label Sirtec OEM and not the current CWT you could find now).

My SPECS are:
-H370 Aorus Gaming 3 wifi (latest BIOS F13)
-Intel core i5 8600
-32GB (4x8GB) Crucial Ballistix Sport PC4-19200
-Cooler Noctua NH-U12S (dual NF-F12 fans)
-GPU GTX 1050 Ti Zotac ZT-P10510A-10L (drivers updated)
-SSD Crucial MX500 250 GB
-HD Western Digital Blue 2TB
-HD Western Digital Red 3TB
-M2 SSD XPG SX2800 pro 512GB
-PSU Seasonic focus+ gold 650
-case: cooler master N300
-fans: NF-A14 front intake, 2xNF-S12A noctua back and top exhaust
-Win 10 pro 1809

Now a real problem that i can't figure out if it's related to CPU, GPU or motherboard:
my PC has always worked fine (no BSOD, freeze neither black screen) with win10 1809 (or previous) build.
Everytime i try to install 1903 my screen turns black installing the nvidia drivers (tried lot of versions that run very well in 1809 build). Nevertheless after "no signal" event on my LCD tv the system keeps on working for several minutes: you can hear the sounds of some open application. I have to force reset by button but when OS loads, the screen turns black again after few seconds i get into win10 desktop.
Here's a video about the whole event:

View: https://youtu.be/0p8f54flKxk

(sorry, my windows is in italian language).
I tried lot of driver versions, did all the available windows updates, clean installations of win10 waiting and hoping next build updates could solve the problem but nothing worked.
The only thing i can do is to leave the self-installing drivers by windows (dated 2017).

So what do you think:

• Could the spot on the corner really be some burnt or maybe flux or manufacturing residuals? If you think could be a burnt, it looks very strange i've got no physical sign or pc issue.
• Could the pin with this sort of dark scratch (you can see it only looking from a certain visual angle) be a problem for my PC? Expecially i'm worried about motherboard and PCIe slot.
• Is it possible that issues above are related with black screen error with 1903 build?

Thank you very much for your time

 

[hang-the-9]

Are you just using the Windows drivers or the ones from nVidia site or from Zotac?

 

[Ketchup79]

I am confused. The title says "i try to install Windows 10 1903" but the video shows you installing a video card driver. Which is it?

Question: where are you getting the version of Windows you used when doing the "clean install of Windows"?

 

[pettore84]

I am confused. The title says "i try to install Windows 10 1903" but the video shows you installing a video card driver. Which is it?

In the post i explained that the issue comes out when i try to install any driver by nVIDA in win10 1903. The same drivers give me no problem if i use 1809 or previous win10 builds. During the installation of the gpu drivers, my screen turns black, if i reboot i can get into desktop but after few seconds screen turns off again (but OS keeps on working because i can hear the sounds if i leave some apps open). The only thing i can do is to remove nVIDIA drivers by DDU and let windows update install GPU drivers by itself.
So i'm trying to understand if issue could be related to hardware or software problem.

Question: where are you getting the version of Windows you used when doing the "clean install of Windows"?

I use MediaCreationTool from windows site to burn a copy of win10 pro on flash USB stick (i used different usb sticks but it changed nothing). The version you can see in the video was downloaded 3 days ago.
I tried to install 1903 several times since it was relased (about 7 months ago) hoping that some fix or update during this time could've solved the problem but that wasn't.

 

[pettore84]

Are you just using the Windows drivers or the ones from nVidia site or from Zotac?

In the video i tried to install latest drivers downloaded from nVidia site. Anyway i tried also Zotac drivers, and a lot of previous versions (both game ready and studio). At the moment i rolled back to 1809 in my main hard drive because it works perfectly.
I really wish understand if it's a win10 problem or hardware: those stains on my GPU raised some suspicions but it's so weird i have no issues (no BSOD, black screen, neither errors in event viewer) if i run 1809 or previos win builds.
At the moment i'm not hanging out with someone could borrow me a GPU to see if the problem persists. If i was sure that is hardware problem i would start to save something to buy new one.

 

[Ketchup79]

Gotcha. That is odd, and backwards, because generally people are upset when the latest drivers don't work on their older Windows builds. So I have to ask, what is the Driver version you are trying to install in 1903? Is it that 441.12?

 

[pettore84]

Gotcha. That is odd, and backwards, because generally people are upset when the latest drivers don't work on their older Windows builds. So I have to ask, what is the Driver version you are trying to install in 1903? Is it that 441.12?

In the video i was trying to install 441.12, but it doesn't make any difference. Tried also previous versions (both game ready and studio) like 391, 388, 384 (at least 7-8 different drivers) but nothin' worked.

 

[Ketchup79]

Go to settings/system/about and send a screen shot.

 

[pettore84]

Go to settings/system/about and send a screen shot.

https://ibb.co/C9V9BS6

At the moment i rolled back to 1809. I'm waiting for microsoft support and if they (or someone else) will able to give me any useful advice i'll try another 1903 installation.

 

[Ketchup79]

Well, 1903 is almost history, as all of my machines have updated to 1909 today and yesterday. It should show as an optional update. Might want to give it a try.