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Video Cards Keep Dying

V

Vyx

n00b
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
6
Hello everyone!

I have a 8800GTX that keeps dying. I'm on my 4th RMA from EVGA now. Obviously there is something wrong with another piece of my hardware thats causing this problem. I've done a clean install of Win 7 as well as check the ram for hours with memtest and it always comes up fine. I'm now thinking it's either my motherboard or the PSU.

With each of the cards they seem to cause random system crashes (along with common video driver crashses) for a while and then start artifacting. The one piece of infromation I can think of off hand that might be helpful is that I have a cheap non-powered pci-e card that I've been using as a stand in while my card is off to get RMAd'd. This card doesn't seem to have any of the above problems which leads me to believe it is a PSU issue.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Vyx

System Specs: Gigabyte P35-DS3R, Core 2 Duo 6750, 4GB Ram, Antec TruePower Trio 550, Nvidia 8800 GTX
 
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What's your complete system specs? (include mobo, psu, etc.)
 
Do you have a spare power supply around or maybe you can borrow one from a friend? Test it with the new video card when it comes in.
 
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It could be the psu. The other thing to look at is what type of case are you using? Does it have good air flow and keeps your video card temps in a reasonable range? Or is it a not so great case in which you 8800gtx is always over heating?

I ask this because before I bought the Antec 902 case I was using a cheap case with practically no air flow at all. What happened is that games that stressed my video card I was getting a lot of artifacts because my card was running too hot even with the fan manually set to 75% on the video card. Ever since I bought the Antec 902 I no longer have overheating issues nor do I get artifacts any more.
 
Yes, I have a spare power supply that I've gone ahead and installed. The problem I have is that everything seems fine for a couple weeks after install with a few driver crashes throughout. Then all of the sudden I get artifacting and crashing throughout. I'm hoping to diagnose the problem before frying another card >.<

Is it a common issue for the motherboard to start causing these kinds of problems? or common vs a PSU causing the problem?

Also, I haven't yet RMA'd the card but did swap the PSU and still go the same results of artifacting so I guess the card is just fried and I'll have to RMA anyhow.
 
leh18621 said:
The other thing to look at is what type of case are you using? Does it have good air flow and keeps your video card temps in a reasonable range? Or is it a not so great case in which you 8800gtx is always over heating?
Click to expand...

I have an Antec P182 and all of the wiring is routed for good air flow. I don't recall the exact temps I was getting but during on of my many RMA's I checked the videocard temp and it was well within normal range.
 
Vyx said:
I have an Antec P182 and all of the wiring is routed for good air flow. I don't recall the exact temps I was getting but during on of my many RMA's I checked the videocard temp and it was well within normal range.
Click to expand...

Probably not temps then. I just figured I would mention it because I was having gpu problems because of heat until I got my 902. Oh well.
 
How long do the cards last after RMA? The 8800 GTX is known to have longevity issues. The solder BGA breaks down due to temperature fluctuations over time and they fail just as you're describing. It's a flaw in the manufacturing process / design, and there's not much to be done about it so far as I've seen.
 
silent-circuit said:
How long do the cards last after RMA? The 8800 GTX is known to have longevity issues. The solder BGA breaks down due to temperature fluctuations over time and they fail just as you're describing. It's a flaw in the manufacturing process / design, and there's not much to be done about it so far as I've seen.
Click to expand...

We're up to considering desktop bumpgate now? News to me, though no surprise I guess given all the GTX failures that seem to be happening. On the other hand it could be an age issue. *shrug*

Anyways, it could be trouble with outlet power as well, don't count it out.
 
Wasn't there a recently released driver that caused this kind of problem?

I bumped my GPU fans speed up as I didn't like the temp sitting around 60 something, and the fan effectively not speeding up to control the heat build up, I got 260's though so it could be different for the 8800 range, try the EVGA precision software, and ramp the fan up a bit 60% should be enough.
 
The cards seem to last about 2-3 weeks before finally dying. Even on a clean install of win 7 I have been getting driver crashes straight from the get go and it sort of escalates from there until 2-3 weeks later I'm seeing artifacting, blue screening and even artifacting durning boot.

As far as being a power issue, wouldn't I have noticed issues earlier? I bought my house about 10 months ago and these issues have only surfaced in the past ~3 months. All the while the computer has been plugged into the same surge/outlet. Is there a way to test an outlet for clean current?

Also, I am using the latest drivers now and skipped the ones with the fan controller issue ;)
 
tybert7 said:
sell it and get a 5770

live happier
Click to expand...

While that seems like a good idea, I'm not entirely sure that the card is the root of the problem :( I mean, what is the likely hood of getting 4 bad cards that all last a couple of weeks?
 
silent-circuit said:
How long do the cards last after RMA? The 8800 GTX is known to have longevity issues. The solder BGA breaks down due to temperature fluctuations over time and they fail just as you're describing. It's a flaw in the manufacturing process / design, and there's not much to be done about it so far as I've seen.
Click to expand...

That's fixable by baking.

Falling Anvil said:
Anyways, it could be trouble with outlet power as well, don't count it out.
Click to expand...

I would hope that anyone with such equipment would spend $20 on a decent surge protector if not a UPS.
 
lead free solder BGA. The 8800 seemed to bear the brunt of this. I have has a few fail also. I just went to the 285 and have not had any more of these issues.
 
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine toasted 3x8800GTX in a row, replaced everything and at the end, it was the motherboard...gigabyte too.
 
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