GTX 590 issues Fix on the way!!

Lord_Exodia

Supreme [H]ardness
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I might have called it with yet another FORUM FAMOUS CRYSTAL BALL post here http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1037041071&postcount=351

It seems nvidia has changed their tune and discovered the problem is not driver related. Latest info hitting the web is that they are now testing and qualifying a new bios that will fix the issues. This would explain why even with the correct drivers and in some cases default clock speed/voltages the card was still burning out. Something bad on the bios level could explain the isssues, so here is some linkage to the latest info.

http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/item/22272-nvidia-fixes-case-of-exploding-gtx-590-card

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...-gtx590-bios-rushed-out-to-repair-reputation/

So on the negative side, does this really matter to the handful of people who have had their card blow up. Info is also saying that the card launched in very limited quantities here in the US and.. is SOLD OUT! So right now RMA = Refund as there are no more cards. Maybe they will make a 2nd batch... who knows at this point.

http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/item/22260-geforce-gtx-590-launches-with-few-thousand-units

Update 03/31/2011

Yesterday Fudzilla got official word from nvidia and that was posted here on the thread. today Kitguru also mentioned the update but dived deeper in what seems to be an issue that is spreading like wildfire across forums worldwide. Could this problem with the card be deeper than anyone knows right now. Linkage

GTX 590 Bios Good, no changes
http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/item/22274-gtx-590-bios-is-good-no-changes

How serious are the Nvidia GTX 590 problems
http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/how-serious-are-the-nvidia-gtx-590-problems/

So to recap, nvidia is not making a new bios nor have they. At least that is what they are saying officially. They deny anything is wrong with the bios as it is, however they say they will look into some custom bioses released by add in board partners. I guess if they know of any issues they are sweeping them under the carpet for now. Time will tell how serious the issues are whether they are willing to admit them or not.
 
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So a BIOS fix will solve it? Sounds a little fishy... like they're further de-tuning the card...

But hopefully it solves the issue.
 
So a BIOS fix will solve it? Sounds a little fishy... like they're further de-tuning the card...

But hopefully it solves the issue.

It might change the automatic fan control of the card. It might also alter voltages and clocks, but we'll have to wait and see.
 
Probably a combination of lowering the voltage and bumping up the fan.
 
my bet is they changed the fan profile and hard locked the card so you can exceed a specific voltage (probably 1.1v) no matter what software you use to overclock..
 
I call shens on this, with my card dying without ocing it...

My guess is that you may have done some damage to the card during your OC sessions and the card dying at stock levels was simply a result of the load from Shogun 2 pushing it over the edge. Just a guess....
 
I call shens on this, with my card dying without ocing it...

Did you get an RMA for a refund or did they have another one for you to exchange for? This may be true, however. Perhaps something is poorly written in the bios when it comes to how the VRM's are working etc.. A bios fix could rectify those issues. Noone is saying the card doesn't have a problem anymore, in fact it looks like by saying it's a firmware issue nvidia is confirming the issue was there even without overclocking. They might have actually found a permanent fix for the issue which is a good thing. We have to wait and see what is coming but expect it very fast as this issue is spreading like a major virus all across the internet so the articles seem to imply they are scrambling to rush this fix out there to put the issue behind them as fast as possible.

Not that we will forget about these issues. It's the first thing that'll come up when they announce the GTX 690 LOL
 
I could only do an RMA with newegg so they are going to replace it.
 
My guess is that you may have done some damage to the card during your OC sessions and the card dying at stock levels was simply a result of the load from Shogun 2 pushing it over the edge. Just a guess....

Call it like you want but when I did do the mild OC it was at stock volts and only at 700/1800.
 
I could only do an RMA with newegg so they are going to replace it.

That was what worried me when I bought mine is that it is replacement only. If this happens to me I might be willing to call them and demand a refund.
 
Call it like you want but when I did do the mild OC it was at stock volts and only at 700/1800.

Didn't realize you were on stock voltage. Most people that have bricked their card have been jacking with the voltages. Can't say that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling about mine....
 
Wow and the way people were defending Nvidia like it was the user fault must feel VERY stupid now.

Nvidia dropped the ball on the 590 GTX in more ways then on.
 
They will probably downclock it more, and/or hardlock voltage, and/or put more ''limiters'' on those cards...

If reviewers were honest, they would redo all those 590 benchmarks with the new BIOS...
 
damn AthlonXP... can't believe yours died. I would be VERY unhappy. Hopefully they don't screw us and release the BIOS on the Nvidia website instead of leaving at the discretion of the OEMs on this one. I can see some lag in the release from OEMs, if that's the way that it goes, due to PCI Vendor coding, etc. That would simply NOT be acceptable.


here's to hoping.
 
Nvidia scrambled to fix a problem that wasn't there?

To be serious though, hardware should have worked to prevent exploding even with bad box software or higher than ideal voltage. The fact that the infamous video shows the card dying at 1.02 v highlights the failure of independent safety features. As far as conspiracy theories go, binning well-known professional reviewers with AMD fanboys is going a bit far.

I really hope Nvidia brings some real pain to AMD next round, for consumers' sake.
 
Call it like you want but when I did do the mild OC it was at stock volts and only at 700/1800.

Ouch! That oughtta hurt.. On top of that your PSU is a healthy 1200w. Can't help get the feeling that nvidia has rushed this card to the market without some real-world testing.
 
So after the bios update we may see less than GTX 570 SLI performance. I am not bashing them, but it was already at GTX 570 sli performance, and there is only so much they can push the fan speed up. Lowering voltages will force lowered clock speeds, and even though it has more cores, we have already seen that the reduced clock speeds makes a difference.
 
The amount of miss-informations around this piece of hardware is staggering.

This by far surpasses Save the rainforest 480 movement, and I wouldn't be surprised if secret services were involved into this smear campaign.


@DASHIT did u read that article u linked or just browsed through?
 
The fact is they simply can't guarantee anything because the drivers need to be tested for thousands of hours and on a large sample of cards. Who wants even a 1% chance they have an unwarranted $700 paperweight 6 months from now.
 
The amount of miss-informations around this piece of hardware is staggering.

This by far surpasses Save the rainforest 480 movement, and I wouldn't be surprised if secret services were involved into this smear campaign.


@DASHIT did u read that article u linked or just browsed through?

I didnt read it at all, and just posted it to rile you up /sarcasm
 
I didnt read it at all, and just posted it to rile you up



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They will probably downclock it more, and/or hardlock voltage, and/or put more ''limiters'' on those cards...

If reviewers were honest, they would redo all those 590 benchmarks with the new BIOS...
I would like to see new benchmark results too, but I'm not sure how the review process works. If the cards were only on loan and then given back there wouldn't be a way to do a bios flash and then a second run through everything.
 
See I was correct. Told you not the driver. Its impossible without changing the bios. The driver scans the voltage table in the bios. Its know nothing of the VID. It works of a performance table in the bios.
 
this is like watching a 5 year old try to lie their way out of something... too many direction changes to make heads or tails of what the hell is going on.
 
Wow lol i thought the woodscrew incident was exciting.. this takes the cake :) (but the cake is a lie)
 
What about the few Zotac cards that have burnt down. LOL stock clocks, voltages, and stock bios. Um... yeah. The reference bios was shit for sure but yet they say they stand behind it and the product was perfectly fine. Oh well who cares at this point. Hopefully the new bios will fix the issue.
 
They just shipped a batch of defective hardware, end of. Shame said defective batch was the only batch... lol

There was a defective batch of 4GB HD5970s from Sapphire, which I happened to encounter two of (on separate occasions), but that was relatively overlooked as it was not a reference product, nor was it a particularly reachable card, at $1150 a piece.
Not believing the fud article from http://fudzilla.com/graphics/item/22274-gtx-590-bios-is-good-no-changes because if the voltage had been raised to 1.2V it would have been reflected in the power draw measurements of benches. It hasn't.
 
Uhmm dunno which power meaurements ur talking about, because
a) OVP throttling would kick in ( u have plenty of OC-ed 590 w/o expected fps gain)
or
b) card would be dead (TPU)
 
This time they can't. Nvidia built all the cards themselves and they'll be the only ones building the GTX590, AIBs only slap a sticker on the card to differentiate from one another. It's only apologist fanboys blaming the AIB partners because they conveniently ignore the meaning of reference design. Nvidia cheaped out on the power delivery components to make the card competitive on price. Had they used good quality components it would still have been a slower card but even more expensive than the 6990.

P.S: This whole thing is eerily similar to the bumpgate laptop GPU fiasco. First they denied and dismissed any reports about it, citing user error. Then, only after consumers complained in mass and OEMs themselves reproduced the failures they silently updated the BIOS of those laptop GPUs by downclocking them and increasing the fan speeds. Nvidia still denied any wrong doing and OEMs took all the flak. Apple didn't like taking flak for the shitty Nvidia hardware and exposed them in that famous knowledge base article, and the rest is history.
 
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My god that is some nasty burning. Hopefully Nvidia can get this resolved for those who lost cards.
 
I call shens on this, with my card dying without ocing it...

you overclocking it and the BIOS settings really have nothing at all in common

i can make a custom BIOS for my card that sets idle speed to 50Mhz at 1.3v

that would be pretty stupid....im sure its not that extreme.....just saying, there's a lot of voltage and clock speed tables in the BIOS you can't see unless you go there....
 
Even if there is a defect with the card buy a card from a good partner with a lifetime warranty. Is anyone out money over this? That would be my concern.
 
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