Did my video card just die?

Roin

Was sitting playing Tera. Decided to switch from Fullscreen (2560x1600) to Windowed (1920x1080) so I could do other things while playing. I hit apply the screen goes black and never comes back. So I hold the power button to shut the system down, and turn it back on to reboot it. Starts loading into Windows 10 (Blue Windows symbol, blue spinning loading spheres) screen goes black. I can hear the Windows startup audio, it sounds distorted, then it cuts out. 

So after a few failed attempts at rebooting. I boot into safe mode, uninstall drivers, run driver sweeper, reboot. Ok so now I'm back into Windows 10, boots up fine. Problem is when I install any Nvidia driver it goes back to black screen, distorted/dropped windows startup. I've tried every Nvidia driver going back as far as July (353.62).

The only thing that comes to my mind is that the video card is finally kicked the bucket. 

goboygo

Hmm, its possible, I just replaced a bad video card on a dedicated game server, and my buddy did as well recently on his main gaming rig.

For me the computer would run and the monitor will turn off but the system would keep running fine, and occasionally the computer wouldn't boot at all.

For my friend, games and windows would randomly blue screen.  If your computer runs fine in safe mode for longs periods of time then its probable that when installing drivers and asking the card to perform its high end functions the problems start, that yes its the card.

But you said audio distorts too which is odd, is your video card integrated into the board also supporting audio, like some NVidia chips do, or is it a stand alone PCIe card?

carotid

Try different video cable. Yeah, I know, freaky idea. I'm talking from experience though.

Quizzical

It might have died, but I would try unplugging stuff and plugging it back in first.  In particular, unplug all of the monitor cables, unplug the power cables to the video card, pull the video card out of its slot entirely, and then plug everything back in.  That likely won't fix it, but it could if the problem is that some connection somewhere is loose.

You can also try plugging things into different slots.  Try a different monitor cable, different power connectors, putting the video card into a different PCI Express slot, etc.  You don't want to replace a video card just because a PCI Express slot is failing.

Exactly what hardware do you have in your system, anyway?

Roin

I7 3930K @3.2ghz
16GB (4x4096MB 1600mhz DDR3)
Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard
Intel Raid Controller RS2BL040
3x Intel 400 SSD series (I want to say 420's) in Raid 0 (Contains OS/Primary Drive)
1x Intel 400 SSD series (Backup/Game Storage)
2x Nvidia 690 GTX's (Not using SLI, Lost the SLI cable while moving, replacement hasn't been on top of to do list)
Creative SB Recon3D PCIe
Dell 30' U3011
Logitech G19 Keyboard
Logitech G500 Mouse

Also two additional mechanical HD's. One connected via USB3.0 port (2TB) other is connected via eSata port(1TB). Wireless USB connecter for Xbox 360 Controller. I wouldn't be upset if it did die. The system is over 3 years old now. More or less at this point just used for older games/MMO's (Tera, Skyrim), back up of documents which is done using the eSata drive, and itunes music/movies.

tawess

try plugging one card in at the time (and if you board supports it, run your monitor through it to make sure it is not the cables that are weird.) 

at least thats the advice i got in a similar situation.

Quizzical

tawess said:

try plugging one card in at the time (and if you board supports it, run your monitor through it to make sure it is not the cables that are weird.) 

at least thats the advice i got in a similar situation.

Yeah, I'd try physically pulling one card out of the rig and just using one card at a time.  I'd also try using the one card in different PCI Express slots and with different power supply cables.  It's pretty unlikely that both video cards would independently die at the same time without anything else in the system going out with them.

There's also the issue that dual GPU cards are generally a case of too much heat in too little space, so you have to be really careful how you build the case cooling around them.  The GTX 690 wasn't as bad as some others, but it still doesn't help.

What power supply do you have, and what case?

Roin

Case is an Antec case it is either similar or is the P183 (Been a very long time)
http://us.hardware.info/productinfo/71546/antec-performance-one-p183/photos

2 Fans in front.
1 Fan in rear.
1 Fan on side panel.

Power Supply is a Corsair 1000w. Can't think of model off top of my head. Can't even remember if I bought it before or after the big push to +80/Gold/Plat/Silver started. I think I might have actually pulled it from another system. I need to start keeping a log. Guess I should also point out it is one of my only two water cooled systems. Single loop running from pump to CPU to 690 1 to 690 2 then back to pump. Koolance RP-401X2.

ste2000

You have 2 Graphic cards but not SLI?
You can connect additional monitors to another graphics card to reduce the load on your main GPU while gaming, or you can use the extra GPU for PhysX, but you can't directly share their rendering power the way you could in an SLI configuration.
It's basically like using 1 card.
Just take them out and plug them 1 by 1, if none of the 2 has any positive effect on your screen then it's not the cards (the chance that both died at the same time is almost zero).

Also, you have connected lots of stuff to that PSU try to disconnect something and see if there is a power problem there.
What's the power of your PSU?

Roin

Decided to play around with it a bit while wait for DishTV rep to show up. It's not a Corsair PSU it's a SilverStone PSU 1500w.

@ste2000
Yeah I used the SLI up until the point I moved. I lost the SLI connector close to 4 months ago on that day. As what I'm playing is mostly older stuff, that a single 690 has no problem with (I use one of my other systems for newer stuff). I have a very very heavily modded Skyrim. (Pretty much everything 4k textured) It had no problems with it so I never prioritized replacing the connector. (Yes I know, wasteful and lazy) About the only thing I moved off the PC was FF14 because I noticed an occasional hitch in it during certain raids. 

ste2000

But did you try the cards 1 by 1 with the other one unplugged?

Quizzical

For those who aren't aware, a GeForce GTX 690 has two GPUs on a single board.  It's basically two GTX 680s on a board, clocked lower to reduce heat problems.  Two GTX 690s would mean four GPUs in total, two on each board.

Roin

Unplugged one card,left it seated in PCIe Slot, attempted to install current Nvidia driver again (Dec 1, 359.06). While installing I heard that familiar sound you hear when you unplug a USB/PnP device. The screen went black mid-installation.

Ok so that's a first. Never had that happen. Usually it just installs then ask reboot now or later. Before I could even hit the reset button, the system rebooted. Boots all the way into Windows no problem. So I keep resetting it to get it to give me prompt so I can go back into safe mode. I remove the drivers, sweep again to make sure no left overs. Power it down. Unplug the card (left it seated) but plugged in the other card. Did driver install again. Same thing happens. Screen goes black during driver install (heard noise again for something being removed). System reboots on its own. Straight into Windows 10.

The PSU does have a slight burnt contact odor, though very faint. Haven't noticed any smoke or popping noises. Going to need to buy some tubing before I can unseat the cards, place them in another system, and narrow it down further.  I've seen plenty of weird things when a PC part goes bad, but this is by far the oddest.

lurleena

Have you try to plug it to other monitor?

Roin

Went ahead a pulled them out. Had to borrow some tubing from a friend. Wishing I had kept the fan housing for them now. One card is definitely dead. The PSU and other card are definitely on the way out. Even separated, they showed early signs of failing in two hastily put together bare bones for testing. Wanted to avoid using my 980 for anything but newer games, but not ready to give up Tera or Skyrim just yet.
 
Motherboard is still good, as is the ram, and SSD's. I think I might have a 760 laying around here somewhere, might have given it to my nephew. Either way, thank you all for the help.

Aldoliera

Once I had the same problems.. I changed the video card and then the motherboard  refused at all...So that`s how I bought my existed computer))

Cleffy

Usually if you can get into safe mode, your GPU is fine. There is a chance of lack of power. It could be the psu is not providing enough power when the gpu is using it's typical power draw.
Usually when your gpu goes, you won't even see the boot up.

Ridelynn

I've seen a lot of cases where the VRMs on a GPU card are on the way out and the card will work fine in Safe Mode. It occasionally will work fine at "Normal" resolutions, but the instant you put any stress on the card it craps out entirely and either BSODs, blackscreens, or hard reboots the computer.

Actually, of GPU failures, the vast majority I've seen are like this. I have seen a very few number of GPUs fail to where they won't even POST, but most of the failed ones I've seen will POST and boot to safe mode just fine, they just can't do anything past that reliably. If it's a load thing I attribute it to VRMs, I've seen a few cases where it will load fine but up to a point or crash only in certain applications, and I suspect that is faulty VRAM, but I've only seen that happen a couple of times.

Seems the GPU itself is pretty hearty (kinda like a CPU), but the VRMs take the brunt of the collateral damage. They run hot, they sometimes filter out crap power from the PSU, they take a lot of stress on an overclock, and a lot of card manufacturers will skimp on the VRM design (because hey, who cares about the VRMs).