Bad PCI-E slot or bad GPU?

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ClickityClack

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Dec 30, 2014
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I am the owner of a GTX 660 OC, which is seated on a Z97 Anniversary Edition Motherboard's only PCI-E slot. Yesterday, my monitor randomly lost its connection to my GPU (DVI-D), yet the PC was still functioning. I opened up my case to find that the card was completely dead, no fans spinning, no output. The onboard graphics still work, however.

I have ruled out the PSU being the problem here. The reason is because when my GPU has insufficient power, there is a notification on boot, telling the user to connect the PCI-E connectors; there is currently no signal coming from the GPU at all. All the other devices connected to the PSU are working fine, such as the SSD, HDD, Motherboard, and Chassis Fan. I have also used molex to PCI-E adapters that worked with other components, and there was still no power to the card.

The only two causes I see for my problem are either a dead PCI-E slot, or a dead card. I must say that a few weeks earlier, I accidentally tipped my pc over on its side, albeit not too hard. I have checked my BIOS hardware browser, and nothing shows up in my PCI-E slot. I do not know if this means that the PCI-E slot is faulty and not detecting the card, or that the card is faulty and not being detected.

I have searched for a situation similar to mine for quite a while, and have found no luck. The problems I face are beyond any form of software/driver magic, and I don't have any access to another GPU or motherboard to test for which component is bad. Hopefully some of you know more than I do about the behaviour of this hardware, and could enlighten me before I need to throw around money on hardware.
 
Solution
terry4536
First off, you were operating with a power supply that was just over the minimum system requirements of 500 watts. Over time a power supply will degrade so that it will be operating at less than stated outputs. That is one possibility.

Some motherboards do have on board LED's on the various subsections of the board. But I'm not sure if a faulty PCI Express x16 slot be indicated or not by the on board LED's. The easiest means of testing the slot is to switch out the graphics card with one that is known to be working. Perhaps you can borrow one?

In the mean time, there are some other things that you can try. Try reseating the RAM sticks (clean the contacts and blow out the slot). You can check the power supply voltages with a...
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terry4536

terry4536

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Mar 28, 2010
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Please list the component list. You are probably correct about the dead GPU. The only practical way to test it is to test it in another working computer.

The power supply isn't ruled out at this point. The power supply may no longer be supplying enough power to operated the graphics card. The power requirement of the rest of the system is small compared to the graphics card.

There are about three issues that will cause this in an other wise functioning system. The main one is an inadequate power supply, The second is a memory issue. And the third is a driver issue. (Plus loose connectors)
 
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ClickityClack

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My components:

EVGA 550W Power supply
Gigabyte GTX 660 3GB Windforce 2X OC Edition (Monitor is connected via DVI-D)
i5-4690k w/ stock cooler
Z97 Pentium Anniversary Edition Motherboard
8GB G.Skill RAM

Also, I remember first building the PC, and getting the notification from the GPU that it wasn't getting sufficient power. Now there is no notification or any sign of life from the card, even when I use confirmed sources of power.

Would a motherboard detect if a PCI-E slot is faulty, in the BIOS? I am currently limited in what I can do, and I was wondering if there were other ways of determining the problem.

Also, I will be getting a PSU tester, just in case.
 
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terry4536

terry4536

Glorious
Mar 28, 2010
9,743
6
46,265
First off, you were operating with a power supply that was just over the minimum system requirements of 500 watts. Over time a power supply will degrade so that it will be operating at less than stated outputs. That is one possibility.

Some motherboards do have on board LED's on the various subsections of the board. But I'm not sure if a faulty PCI Express x16 slot be indicated or not by the on board LED's. The easiest means of testing the slot is to switch out the graphics card with one that is known to be working. Perhaps you can borrow one?

In the mean time, there are some other things that you can try. Try reseating the RAM sticks (clean the contacts and blow out the slot). You can check the power supply voltages with a multimeter. You can monitor the PSU voltages for stability using a utility like Hardware Monitor. Unstable voltages are also an indicator of a defective power supply. You can also take the power supply to a PC repair shop and have them test it (same goes for the GPU).

But as I said, I think that you are probably correct that the graphics card has failed.
 
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