[SOLVED] Why is my GTX 1060 6GB stated DDR3

Jun 10, 2020
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Hello. My GPU acts a bit strange lately. It has made screen tearing problem and task manager couldn't even detect it. After all days searching for the problem I saw that (software) GPU-Z are showing that my 1060 has a 'Memory Type DDR3 (Hynix)' and 'Memory Size 2048MB'. Moreover I can't even do any of my works with this GPU!The gpu's fan is still spinning as normally though.(MSI Afterburner could not use/detect anything) & (Resolution becomes small and uncontrollable)

I have tried changing the BIOS but it makes Black Screen only (So I reverse to previous BIOS).
I have tried every driver.
This GPU works fine perfectly before...
but one day it suddenly makes a screen tearing and .... Broken....
I have only used it for only 3 MONTHS!!
I'm currently using GT 710.

My Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: HyperX 8GB x2 (16GB) 2666MHz
Motherboard: asrock a320m-hdv r4.0
PSU: Cooler Master Elite V3 500w
GPU (before): Galax EXOC Geforce GTX 1060 6GB
GPU (currently writting this): GT 710 2GB

Thanks for everyone of you trying to help me. Can't wait to hear your suggestion.
And i'm totally scared that all you telling me to buy a new one.. cause conclution
"GPU broke" ༼☯﹏☯༽
I'm currently broke building this Gaming PC. I spend every money in my pocket just to build this.
 
Last edited:
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Solution
So is the card flashed with the EXOC BIOS at this point? If it is not, do it before proceeding.

Then, after the card is flashed do in the following sequence:
  1. take 1060 out
  2. put the GT710 in
  3. boot, uninstall afterburner and any other utilities you have used
  4. reboot and run DDU, then reboot in safe mode and clean out all NVIDIA drivers.
  5. power off, remove the GT710, install the 1060 and answer my question below. DO NOT install any drivers yet.
1 Question..
Yes
I did get a Black Screen after the system is booted.
When 1060 with the EXOC BIOS, is the only card in the system and has the screen hooked up to it, upon pressing the power button, what is true?
  1. you can...
I was going to say that if you are running a GT 710 while checking GPU-Z, then it might be giving you the details for the GT 710, which has 2GB of DDR3. However, looking at the image, it's showing the 1060 as having 2GB of DDR3, along with other details largely matching what a GT 710 would have. The same clock rate, bus width, and so on, all seem to match the details for a GT 710, aside from a lower TMU count.

As was mentioned, there's the possibility it could be a counterfit card, as in, an older, slower card with it's BIOS manipulated to look like a GT 1060. When it was working, did it seem to perform significantly better than a GT 710, like a 1060 should? What brand and model is it, and does it match images of the card that it's supposed to be?

Another possibility though, it that you messed something up when flashing the BIOS...
I have tried changing the BIOS but it makes Black Screen only (So I reverse to previous BIOS).
Are you sure that when you "reversed to previous BIOS" that you didn't accidentally install a GT 710 BIOS to the 1060, if you had that card installed in the system? Were you messing with the BIOS in an attempt to fix the screen artifacting, or was the BIOS flash only after you noticed the VRAM specifications being incorrect?
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
Its not counterfeit. Its working fine for 3 months and suddenly stop working. GALAX is actually GALAXY before PALIT bought them then it became GALAX. These GPU you can find them in Europe/Russia/India..
Can you provide a link for such a product? The aforementioned links provide a different picture and indicate a potential issue. I am aware of no GTX 1060 variants with only 2GB of memory. They should have either 3GB or 6GB of memory.
 

gamenadez

Commendable
Feb 17, 2018
378
51
1,790
Can you provide a link for such a product? The aforementioned links provide a different picture and indicate a potential issue. I am aware of no GTX 1060 variants with only 2GB of memory. They should have either 3GB or 6GB of memory.

No he said the card was working perfectly before.. Its working for 3 months then suddenly he did something like flash bios that brick the card. Now even when he restore the bios he totally bricked it.

Try to restore your bios with this.
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/?manufacturer=GALAX&model=GTX+1060


@COLGeek If you did gpu flash bios before with wrong file and brick it, you will see wrong reading information on gpu-z as example.
LeTkIRQ.png
 
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gamenadez

Commendable
Feb 17, 2018
378
51
1,790
If you only had it for three months, then it should still be under warranty. Send it back.

-Wolf sends
Unfortunately GALAX warranty change ever since Palix bought them..

This warranty is only valid if the product:
  • 1. Was installed per GALAX instructions;
  • 2. Was not damaged during installation or removal from the computer;
  • 3. Was not damaged by software or hardware, including software or hardware incompatibility;
  • 4. Was maintained and operated under conditions of normal use in accordance with GALAX specifications;
  • 5. Was not damaged by overclocking or modification by someone other than GALAX.
  • 6. You are the original purchaser and have provided proof of purchase evidencing the date of purchase (sales receipt or invoice), place of purchase, purchase price, item number or ID, and original packaging and accessories.
 

bignastyid

Titan
Moderator
Its not counterfeit. Its working fine for 3 months and suddenly stop working. GALAX is actually GALAXY before PALIT bought them then it became GALAX. These GPU you can find them in Europe/Russia/India..

It's quite possible that before the card had issues the OP never checked it's specs. Counterfeiters also like to use name brands to help make their garbage look legit. Given what GPU-z is reporting it looks like one of the fakes.

Haize55, in gpu-z click the lookup button and post a link to the site it pulls up.
 

gamenadez

Commendable
Feb 17, 2018
378
51
1,790
It's quite possible that before the card had issues the OP never checked it's specs. Counterfeiters also like to use name brands to help make their garbage look legit. Given what GPU-z is reporting it looks like one of the fakes.

Haize55, in gpu-z click the lookup button and post a link to the site it pulls up.

Then OP need to state what game he was playing for 3 months and what FPS is he getting.
A Counterfeit GT 710 and Flash as GTX 1060 still would not be able to replicate high fps.
 
Jun 10, 2020
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I'm been blessed right now. Thanks for trying to help (^ω^)

Wait i'm sorry actually I have been using it for nearly 6 months now.
I've been using it for Editing (Adobe After Effects & Premiere Pro ) Gaming
Rendering and etc..

@COLGeek
Well I'm not sure if its a counterfeit. I think there is a chances that this GPU is a second hand.
Here's the Product number: 60NRH7DVM6EC

" I am aware of no GTX 1060 variants with only 2GB of memory "
Count me in! Well unfortunately it was working 100% like a GTX 1060 6GB (Benchmark and other heavy load)
before and I'm pretty sure It was stated GDDR5 too.

@cryoburner
" that you didn't accidentally install a GT 710 BIOS to the 1060 "
No I wouldn't do such a thing. Besides Flashing Bios could brick the GPU.
And turns out I did brick the GPU using its own Galax EXOC BIOS.
Thank god that I've made a backup (Default Bios)

" Were you messing with the BIOS in an attempt to fix the screen artifacting "
Yes I mess with the BIOS an attempt to fix the screen artifacting/glitch/distortion.
I thought that the screen artifacting/glitch/distortion was cause by the driver so
I change almost every 1060's driver and I thought that the GPU's bios
are denying all of those driver.

I flash it and failed (It took me 1 month to reverse to default BIOS)
" was the BIOS flash only after you noticed the VRAM specifications being incorrect "
After a month changing to default BIOS I just saw the DDR3 things stated in GPU-Z
(Well to be exact its 3 weeks not a month)

@gamenadez
"Its working for 3 months "
I'm very sorry. Its been working for 6 months
which means even worse than a 3 month.

" Try to restore your bios with this. "
This is the BIOS I tried first time flashing my GPU.
It makes my screen goes black screen only.
I could try it again, if you want me too.
Honestly I think this is the only way to fix it. right??
or there's some damaged in my gpu?

@Wolfshadw
" then it should still be under warranty. Send it back. "
I tried contacting them before the (1 month trying to fix my BIOS)
So just a day ago I tried to contacting them again but there's no reply.

I think I have finish my Warranty. (╥_╥)

@bignastyid
" Counterfeiters also like to use name brands to help make their garbage look legit "
I have used it for 6 months and I have tried doing some heavy load works such as,
[ Editing ]
Rendering 10 mins video (Media Encoder) for just 1 minute
(Currently it took me 1 hour to render just a 1 minute video)
[ Games ]
Minecraft Shader (A big one)
1060 6GB: smooth 200 fps
710 2GB: Bad 14 fps (Currently)

League Of Lagends
1060 6GB: smooth 220 fps - 230 fps
(I'm sure this what im getting in LOL)

At moment I can't even edit any video (Color correction, Motion and etc).

" gpu-z click the lookup button and post a link to the site it pulls up. "
I did this yesterday and Techpoweredup said that they never saw this card.
I think they said that due to "Memory type DDR3 (Hynix)"


[ Extra Information ]
Thank you and thank you for helping.
So this GPU makes screen tearing/broken in first of April.
The way it broke its kind of weird though.

So I went to toilet for a few minutes and came back
with the first glance on my monitor I saw a POP UP
from StreamLabs or OBS Studio.
I accidentally press yes
(without reading it) right away I got a black screen for 3 seconds
and I got the screen tearing things. I was panicked of course.
I restart it and the problem remains unsolved.

(Sorry for the late reply)
 
Last edited:
vov4ik_il
"Post some PCB pictures if you want further help "
Sure! just noted that I have using this for 6 months

My Geforce GTX 1060 6GB PCB Images

" Is it possible that you have flashed a wrong BIOS? " @vov4ik_il
I have re-flash to default bios. The reason i mess with the bios due to screen tearing and
the driver
I can hardly tell the memory type from those pics. Looks like Hynix. Can’t see the board version and revision either. Can’t tell the chip type too, should be gp106-400-a1 but not sure.
Will have a better look from PC when I get home from work.
 
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COLGeek

Cybernaut
Moderator
I don't think i have any hope....
The screen artifacts....
Broken gpu....
Reality.. xd
Well, lets confirm it before drawing conclusions...
For starters,
  • flash it with this one
  • remove any utilities you might have had
  • DDU and fresh install nvidia drivers
  • install afterburner
  • get the Core clock down to 1000.0
  • set the memory to stock
  • get OCCT and run video memory stress
Disregard the artifacts for now.
 
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@cryoburner
" that you didn't accidentally install a GT 710 BIOS to the 1060 "
No I wouldn't do such a thing. Besides Flashing Bios could brick the GPU.
And turns out I did brick the GPU using its own Galax EXOC BIOS.
Thank god that I've made a backup (Default Bios)
Unless GPU-Z is reporting something incorrectly due to having two cards installed at once, I still think the "default BIOS" you restored to might have been the default BIOS for your GT 710, not the default for the 1060. Again, the card's specifications appear to mostly match those of a GT 710, at least as they are being reported by GPU-Z. It's not just the memory being reported wrong.

It would be normal for a GT 710 to have...
2GB DDR3
64-bit Bus
954 MHz core clock
900 MHz memory clock
192 shaders
8 ROPs
16 TMUs

But a GTX 1060 6GB should have...

6GB GDDR5 or GDDR5X
192-bit Bus
1500+ MHz core clock / 1700+ MHz boost clock
2000 MHz memory clock
1280 shaders
48 ROPs
80 TMUs

If you look through the GPU-Z screenshot from your first post, you'll notice that nearly all of the stats being reported for your 1060 instead match the much lower values that a GT 710 should have. That leads me to think that the backup BIOS file was actually the GT 710's BIOS, so the 1060 now thinks it has the hardware of a GT 710, hence why it won't work.

If that happens to be the case, then unless you have another backup BIOS file floating around somewhere from the 1060, then you might need to find another 1060 BIOS that is compatible with your card to have any hope of getting it to start.

Of course, even if you get a compatible BIOS on there, it's still likely that the screen artifacting issue would still be there. Maybe something like underclocking the card a bit could help with that, though you would need to get the BIOS fixed first before attempting that.
 
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Jun 10, 2020
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Unless GPU-Z is reporting something incorrectly due to having two cards installed at once, I still think the "default BIOS" you restored to might have been the default BIOS for your GT 710, not the default for the 1060. Again, the card's specifications appear to mostly match those of a GT 710, at least as they are being reported by GPU-Z. It's not just the memory being reported wrong.

It would be normal for a GT 710 to have...
2GB DDR3
64-bit Bus
954 MHz core clock
900 MHz memory clock
192 shaders
8 ROPs
16 TMUs

But a GTX 1060 6GB should have...

6GB GDDR5 or GDDR5X
192-bit Bus
1500+ MHz core clock / 1700+ MHz boost clock
2000 MHz memory clock
1280 shaders
48 ROPs
80 TMUs

If you look through the GPU-Z screenshot from your first post, you'll notice that nearly all of the stats being reported for your 1060 instead match the much lower values that a GT 710 should have. That leads me to think that the backup BIOS file was actually the GT 710's BIOS, so the 1060 now thinks it has the hardware of a GT 710, hence why it won't work.

If that happens to be the case, then unless you have another backup BIOS file floating around somewhere from the 1060, then you might need to find another 1060 BIOS that is compatible with your card to have any hope of getting it to start.

Of course, even if you get a compatible BIOS on there, it's still likely that the screen artifacting issue would still be there. Maybe something like underclocking the card a bit could help with that, though you would need to get the BIOS fixed first before attempting that.

So I found something more interesting today
I need more time to investigate it
 
Jun 10, 2020
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So I uninstall and re-Install back my Windows 10 (I'm tired) and make a few test...(Its supper pain)

" GPU-Z is reporting something incorrectly due to having two cards installed at once "
@cryoburner your theory turns out about to be True

[This just to Prove that GTX has GDDR5]
Thanks to @cryoburner and others. [Problem from Title solve... but not quite]

GTX 1060 [Only] Details :

Image: Look at GPU-Z
Insert : GTX 1060 (Without GT 710)
Bios : Default
Memory Type : 0 MB

Resolution : BAD
Artifacts : ON (BAD)
Specification GPU : Exact Same as GTX 1060

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
( This is what You need to see )
[ Keep in mind that I need GT 710 to screen monitor ]
(Bios & Device Manager)

1 Set.
GTX 1060 Default Bios Details :

Image : Device Manager Default Bios
Insert : GTX 1060 (With GT 710)
Bios : Default
Device Manager GPU : ERROR
Black screen : Wouldn't Occur even with GTX 1060
Memory Type : DDR3 (GT 710)
Resolution : Normal (GT 710)
Artifacts : OFF (GT 710)
Specification GPU : (GT 710)

Meanwhile.....

2 Set.
GTX 1060 Galax Bios Details :

Image : Device Manager Galax Bios
Insert : GTX 1060 (With GT 710)
Bios : Galax Bios
Device Manager GPU : NO ERROR (I was shock)
Black screen : IT WILL OCCUR EVEN WITH GTX 1060
(So this doesn't makes sense......)
(Why is it showing black screen only???? )
(Why does it only ok with Default Bios????)
 
I am starting to get confused with what you do... Assuming you would confirm that the chip is GP106-400A1 and memory is Hynix (since you never did),

  1. with the supposedly right BIOS you get a black screen, right? Is it after the system is booted?
  2. Does it POST if this is the ONLY card with monitor hooked up to it?
  3. Does the monitor led turn to active state with no output when you try to turn the PC on with only 1060 (GTX710 out)? It is important bit.

  • Currently it does not matter what it does and shows with what you call a “default bios” as it is very likely a wrong file.
  • If the answer to 2 or 3 is “yes”, I have a few further steps for you.
  • If it is a “no”, try other files from the list.
  • To reduce confusion, do your flashing without booting to windows using a bootable thumb-drive and command-line and only try to boot windows with one card at a time and post the results.
 
Jun 10, 2020
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Forgive my oblivious attitude. I'm kind of focusing to much on BIOS... I can't think of other option to fix it.
I know I'm a bit lack of experience on this part. Just ask everything you need and I'll try to fulfill it.

Yes it has GP106-400A1 (Double check)
Yes
it is Memory type Hynix (Double check)

1 Question..
Yes
I did get a Black Screen after the system is booted.

2 Question..
Yes it will post if its the only card hooked up to the monitor.


(You mean post as in like the gpu's fan is spinning or gpu's fan spinning and the screen are normal [no black screen] )

Just for your information that:

Yes I could use my computer normally when my GPU is in default BIOS but, with EXOC BIOS
it boot in Black Screen only.

3 Question..
Yes the monitor led turn to active state by just using GTX 1060



" Currently it does not matter what it does and shows with what you call a “default bios” as it is very likely a wrong file. "
I just realize that, that is true.