A partial failure possible?

fleggett

Gawd
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Messages
546
I have a Gigabyte GTX970 mini that has started giving me a problem. A bizarre problem. It seems that, whenever I try to run something that pushes the card, it crashes. For ordinary use, like browsing or Photoshop, it's fine and there's no indication anything is wrong. I'm actually using it now to type this post. However, when trying to run something like Alien: Isolation or the Heaven benchmark, it crashes.

I've verified it's the card by trying it in another system and running Heaven. Same crash at the same time, no matter the settings. I've also tried replacing the TIM with Arctic Silver to no effect. I also made sure that both machines had the same nVidia driver installed (the latest "game ready" one).

Is it possible for part of a card to fail, but not the entire thing? Is there anything I can run to help pinpoint the exact fault?

Oh, this card has never been used for cryptomining. It's actually seen relatively little use.

Thanks in advance.
 
Does indeed sound like the card failed, most likely the power delivery. You can try reducing power cap/voltage to see if that may stabilize it. Or if the core itself is unstable you can try raising the voltage, which 970 should allow.
 
Yes, it's possible to have partial failures of hardware. The card is made up of hundreds of tiny parts. Browsing, or doing some rudimentary Photoshop tasks may not push the card to fail. If you've got bad VRM's or other problems, not every usage case scenario will cause it to fail. As for pinpointing the precise issue with the card, I wouldn't bother. Component level diagnostics and repair will be borderline impossible.
 
Ugh. Wonderful. Dougie, I guess I'll try Afterburner just for S&Gs. Dan_D, sounds like the card has to go, but this is one of the worst times imaginable to purchase a new videocard. Curses!

Thanks for the quick feedback. I think I'll now take a double-shot of Vicodin.
 
Ugh. Wonderful. Dougie, I guess I'll try Afterburner just for S&Gs. Dan_D, sounds like the card has to go, but this is one of the worst times imaginable to purchase a new videocard. Curses!

Thanks for the quick feedback. I think I'll now take a double-shot of Vicodin.

Well, Gigabyte does have a 3 year warranty, unless that expired. Common failure among 9xx series cards was a burnt up inductor, something to consider, although I'm not sure if it would exhibit symptoms like yours. Unless you are waiting for the new gen, prices have come down a lot recently.
 
I purchased it in 2014, so it's warranty-less at this point. Interestingly (maybe predictably), a used card costs more than I paid for it new.

Is the inductor on the front or rear of the card? When I was inspecting it, there was some gunk on the back that looked kinda gross, but it didn't look like a leak from a cap or something similar. I cleaned it up when I redid the TIM, but to no avail.

I did try futzing around in Afterburner, but no joy. Heaven still crashed at exactly the same spot. It's just a video crash, though, as the audio keeps playing.

I know the 1180 is rumored to be released either this month or next. I'm not sure that's going to have a lot of effect on prices, though. Miners could jump on them or resume gobbling-up 1080s with the expectation that they'll start flooding the market when enthusiasts start buying 1180s en masse.

Is there really that huge a difference between a 1070 non-Ti and a 1080Ti? I really don't know what to do at this point. I'm between jobs ATM, so I can't just throw money at my system.
 
I purchased it in 2014, so it's warranty-less at this point. Interestingly (maybe predictably), a used card costs more than I paid for it new.

Is the inductor on the front or rear of the card? When I was inspecting it, there was some gunk on the back that looked kinda gross, but it didn't look like a leak from a cap or something similar. I cleaned it up when I redid the TIM, but to no avail.

I did try futzing around in Afterburner, but no joy. Heaven still crashed at exactly the same spot. It's just a video crash, though, as the audio keeps playing.

I know the 1180 is rumored to be released either this month or next. I'm not sure that's going to have a lot of effect on prices, though. Miners could jump on them or resume gobbling-up 1080s with the expectation that they'll start flooding the market when enthusiasts start buying 1180s en masse.

Is there really that huge a difference between a 1070 non-Ti and a 1080Ti? I really don't know what to do at this point. I'm between jobs ATM, so I can't just throw money at my system.

There's a fairly large performance gap between the 1070 and 1080 ti, but coming from a 970 the 1070 will still be a massive jump. If you can find a 1070/1070 ti on the cheap/on sale I'd probably go for that given it seems you were happy enough to run the 970 til it died. Arguably you could get away with a GTX 1060 6Gb, and still see a solid performance increase, but it definitely won't be as noticable.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I purchased it in 2014, so it's warranty-less at this point. Interestingly (maybe predictably), a used card costs more than I paid for it new.

Is the inductor on the front or rear of the card? When I was inspecting it, there was some gunk on the back that looked kinda gross, but it didn't look like a leak from a cap or something similar. I cleaned it up when I redid the TIM, but to no avail.

I did try futzing around in Afterburner, but no joy. Heaven still crashed at exactly the same spot. It's just a video crash, though, as the audio keeps playing.

I know the 1180 is rumored to be released either this month or next. I'm not sure that's going to have a lot of effect on prices, though. Miners could jump on them or resume gobbling-up 1080s with the expectation that they'll start flooding the market when enthusiasts start buying 1180s en masse.

Is there really that huge a difference between a 1070 non-Ti and a 1080Ti? I really don't know what to do at this point. I'm between jobs ATM, so I can't just throw money at my system.

It would be towards the power connector under the cooler(just google gtx900 inductor failure or something). You should know used cards cost significantly less right now, so the card you buy will drop in value a lot as soon as you open the box, the upside of that Evga card is that it comes with step up program, if you register within 14 days of purchase, but it's only valid for 90 days.
 
Hmmm. On this particular 970, I think the inductors are nearer the I/O plate. I just watched a vid on the thermal pad fix for the 1070/1080 and the inductor row looked the same as the row on mine, just positioned differently. Could be 'cause this is a half-card. I might replace the pads just to rule that part of the equation out, as I did notice they looked a little sketchy. It would be a miracle if that solved the problem, but it's worth a shot, as I have some extra pads due to laptop repairs I did recently.
 
Hmmm. On this particular 970, I think the inductors are nearer the I/O plate. I just watched a vid on the thermal pad fix for the 1070/1080 and the inductor row looked the same as the row on mine, just positioned differently. Could be 'cause this is a half-card. I might replace the pads just to rule that part of the equation out, as I did notice they looked a little sketchy. It would be a miracle if that solved the problem, but it's worth a shot, as I have some extra pads due to laptop repairs I did recently.

I don't think pads (assuming you mean thermal pads) will solve your problem. If the inductor burned up, it should be somewhat obvious to the naked eye, it would require a replacement inductor.
 
But I never took the (thermal) pads off when I was replacing the TIM. I only looked at them with more than a little consternation and suspicion.
 
I looked at the chips under the thermal pad block and couldn't see anything awry. Replaced the pads, but the failure persists.

So, I cheesed-out and bought a new 1050Ti. Even the 1060s I looked at were flapping around in the ionosphere. I know there are plenty of used cards that can be had for a lot cheaper (eBay is practically bursting at the seams), but does anyone really trust them nowadays?

I pity the fool that wants to build a relatively modern PC in this jacked-up videocard and memory economic climate. Even motherboards are a lot more expensive.
 
Last report - the 1050 Ti install went great. Heaven runs fine along with A:I. As a mild bonus, the 1050 series doesn't require a separate cable, as it can run directly from PCIe power.

I'm not entirely sure what to do with the ailing 970. I could keep it to use when testing motherboards, which I do on occasion, but I already have a card for that. I suppose I could just throw it in a bin should I need it in an emergency, but if the 1050 goes south on me, I'll probably bite the bullet and get a 1080. Hopefully, if that happens and by that point, new 1080s will be in the neighborhood of $450.

I don't want to just outright trash it, as it does work to the extent that it does. Plays 2D games just fine, just bombs out when your try to throw 3D stuff at it. Which I still think is a little bizarre.

The PCB on both sides looks fine. No charring or leaking anywhere that I can see. The gunk I initially eyeballed was probably just built-up phlegm, as I'm using an open-air case.

Sooooo...I think I'll offer it to anyone who wants to pay shipping, which will probably run around $20 depending on location (I'm in Florida). I was thinking about carrying it somewhere to get it cleaned ultrasonically with a solder reflow, but now that I've got the 1050, I'm a lot less motivated. There's a 50/50 chance I still have the box for it. First one to PM me can have it.
 
Back
Top