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Diagnosing system instability, is it my gpu?

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  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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February 27, 2014 12:07:37 AM

Hey everyone, I'm having some weird computer issues and I'm not sure where to go from here. First off, my pc:

i5 2500 (non k sadly)
Intel dp67bg motherboard
Asus 7970 DCU2
Thermaltake 750 watt power supply
m4 ssd as boot
wd black 2tb as data
fans everywhere (total of 8 so the system stays super cool)

Now, Here's whats going on. I had a 560ti but swapped over to a used asus 7970 I got offa ebay (2209 dollars, great deal, considering i got 140 for my 560ti). Sadly it was DOA but I managed to return it to my local frys under the guise of my friends card, so I had a brand new card. Now for a while its been fine but I'm starting to have weird artifacts, Like transitioning between browsers the screen scruches in the middle and randomly my monitor will shut off for a few seconds then come back on. (happens on both my monitor and on my television). Today, I had one screen become just brown and blue lines, when I went to 1 display ( i run 2 monitors) it transferred over to the main display.

I was used to my ridiculously stable 560ti which i NEVER had any issues with, going to this mess has been unsettling. I'm just wondering if its for sure my graphics card. The issues happen at both stock speeds and overclocked. The power supply was purchased with the gpu so its new as well.

I ran the heaven benchmark on max settings for a hour and it made it through without any noticeable artifacts. I've also fully re-installed windows the the catalyst drivers twice.

What do you guys think? is it the gpu or the motherboard or the psu? I have no other parts to test with so I can't knock out the other factors. I've been approved for a rma through asus but I've read so many horror stories, I'm afraid to send in my basically brand new card (got it in December) and receive back whatever crap they send me.

Considering this is my 2nd bad card in a row I'm starting to have doubts about it being the card, the first one was obviously bad but I can't believe I got 2 dead cards IN A ROW.

Any advice?

More about : diagnosing system instability gpu

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February 27, 2014 12:27:20 AM

Switch back in the GPU and PSU that had your system completely stable, and see if it then still is...? Then you can introduce first the PSU, then the GPU, testing for stability (over a number of days at least) in between each step. That should hopefully tell you which component is the problem.

Don't be too scared by horror stories - people seem far more concerned to write about them than about when things work as they should
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February 27, 2014 12:29:43 AM

snowctrl said:
Switch back in the GPU and PSU that had your system completely stable, and see if it then still is...? Then you can introduce first the PSU, then the GPU, testing for stability (over a number of days at least) in between each step. That should hopefully tell you which component is the problem.

Don't be too scared by horror stories - people seem far more concerned to write about them than about when things work as they should


I sold the original card and the orginial psu didn't have the right connectors, nor the power to drive the card so I have no ability to test.
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February 27, 2014 5:28:01 AM

A tricky scenario then.... go the RMA route I guess, it is possible you got a faulty card
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