GTX 460 failing me already?

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thecensor

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Jul 18, 2010
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I recently built a new system (last week) and everything worked great, I could play games, and edit HD video no problem. Until I noticed that it occasionally would freeze overnight - I'd wake up and the cursor was stuck. It got worse and worse until it started freezing up on me right after I would boot. Then before it could finish booting... then it finally started freezing on me while in the BIOS. Then it wouldn't turn on at all (without reseting the mobo). When I could get it to turn on, it would boot up in safemode (mostly) no problem, but it couldn't start normally and last for more than a few seconds.

Memtest86 and windows memory diagnostic showed no problems, neither did any other benchmarks I ran. There weren't any errors either, except I once heard the mobo beep to indicate that "No VGA Detected"... though it only happened once. And as far as drivers go, I'm almost sure I've used the latest ones.

I tried every different combination of RAM, including all 6 gigs in different orders, 4 gigs, and each stick individually. Same thing, freezes regardless.

I tried re-seating the GPU in different PCI express slots. Oddly, that made it return to the state at which it ran earlier in the week - it would play games and HD video no problem... until I left the damn thing alone and it would freeze up again.

I've reformatted close to 10 times now, on different harddrives; SSD and ol' fashion. Doesn't seem to make a difference.

I could really use a little help/advice/suggestions, because at this point I don't know whats left to try. I've researched this problem online, and there seem to be some people with the same problem and a GTX 460, but nobody has resolved the issue yet... perhaps this is the culprit? I would try swapping out GPUs but I don't have a spare lying around.

SPECS:
Windows 7 x64 Home Premium
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-930 2.80GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU
ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
Intel 80 GB X25M Mainstream SATA II Solid-State Drive (SSD)
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750-Watt TX Series 80 Plus
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive (WD1002FAEX)
 
Solution
cmcghee358
Sounds like it's either a motherboard or 460 issue. Gigabyte makes good cards, and ASUS makes good boards. Without more information I'd say RMA both and rebuild from scratch.
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A

asteldian

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Just before you go sending things off for RMA, have you played with the RAM timings at all? I know you have done memtest and things seemed good, and by the sounds of it cmc is right that the mobo or GPU is likely the problem, but a while back I had some dodgy RAM that was causing freezing at random times - just after boot, idle, in games etc.

When I slowed the RAM down it became stable, for some reason the RAM would not work at the stated settings yet ran fine at a lower speed. Also, oddly memtest had not picked up any error with it.
 
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thecensor

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Jul 18, 2010
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I think I'll try messing with the RAM settings tonight, but I'm going to swing by a bestbuy before I do that and pick up a GPU and Mobo (as long as the return policy isn't outrageous) and test those as well. One of the other recommendations I'd heard was to increase the voltage on the Northbridge, which I did incrementally, but it gave me mixed results (it worked longer/shorter), but never solved the problem. I'll keep you guys updated, thanks for the tips.
 
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thecensor

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Jul 18, 2010
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UPDATE:

Well long story short, my suspicion about the GTX 460 failing me are correct... maybe*

Ran over the Bestbuy last night (they have a pretty good return policy... or so they claim) and basically re-purchased RAM, GPU and PSU. Started with the PSU (because someone at worked mentioned every 5th PSU he has bought failed him). He was also partly right, however, it wasn't my PSU that was broken, it was Best Buys. Within seconds of plugging it in it went into crazy turn off turn on by itself mode and made some crazy noises. Rechecked that I'd plugged everything in properly, and confirmed that I had just re-purchased a dud PSU - throw that in the return pile.

Moved on to the GPU (I had to purchase a GTX 465 since that is all Best Buy had), plugged it in and started it up. I am now on hour 20 without a freeze! This is a triumph, and I am tentatively confirming that it was in fact the GTX 460 that screwed me over. Didn't even bother testing the RAM.

*the reason I say "maybe" is that I did not swap out the old GTX for a new one, but rather a GTX 465. There is still an outside possibility that something was screwy compatibility wise with my board and the 460, or simply a driver issue I failed to resolve properly. There is also a possibility that the "triumph" will be down again when I get home from work, but running on 20 hours is about 16 hours longer than the other system ever ran.

Now I have one last dilemma.. do I assume that the GTX 460 I purchased was defective and try to replace it for a new one? Or do I not press my luck and stick with the GTX465 which I have confirmed works. I didn't do a ton of research on that card yet (will dig into it today), but from what I heard the 460 made everyone who had just purchased a 465 feel like an idiot, correct?
 
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thecensor

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Hmm, as I've found out. I also found out that if you "accidentally" check two items for an RMA and send newegg an email asking to delete the RMA so you can start over because you only wanted to return one, that they will give you free shipping back to their warehouse! I just saved 10 bucks!
 
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jared51182

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Yay! Congratulations on getting this solved. I hope you were able to return anything/everything to Best Buy without a problem. And thank you for keeping this post alive and updating us on the issues and the solution.

Cheers to you!
 
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ulvulv

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Aug 17, 2010
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Hello

I can confirm I've experienced JUST the same problems as you with my ASUS GTX 460 768mb. I'm running Windows 7 64bit with 6gb ram and a Corsair 550W PSU (Motherboard : ASUS P5KE PREMIUM) and after installing the GTX 460 instead of the old 7800GTX (which the PC is 100% stable with) *** hard-freezes and locks up during the BIOS, Windows, being idle, gaming, etc.

I'm RMA'ing the card and hoping i get a functioning one back.

Greets

Eirik
 
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K

killblazer

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Feb 26, 2010
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Hey, I also have the same problem, and what is worse, I bought two EVGA 460 GTX's and they both freeze on me! I sent one in for an RMA and I am going to see if that fixes it when I get it back. The second one was working perfectly fine alone for a couple days till now the freezing problem arrived in that one too. I'm going to wait to RMA it till my other one comes back to see if it still has the same issue. I also was part swapping and I am currently writing this from my 9800 gt, which is working perfectly fine.
 
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Nappa

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Sep 25, 2010
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GTX 460 is rubbish. 85% of all gtx 460's are defective, and the remaining 15% were sent to the reviewers.

Happy gaming kids and remember, stay away from the gtx 460
 
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Nappa

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Sep 25, 2010
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I must admit that the stats are made up, however as a victim of a faulty gtx 460 myself I went and looked at the situation a bit. Do yourself a favor and go to google, then type "gtx 460 pro" without hitting search. Notice anything? Next hit search and then make up your own mind. I currently cannot use my pc because I purchased a product that was receiving extremely high praise from every reviewer and their grandmothers. It would have been fine if it were just and isolated case but clearly it is not.

Bottom line: I apologise for acting like a buffoon but please try to understand my frustration
 
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cmcghee358

cmcghee358

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You are basing your perception off of only anecdotal evidence. You see, what you will eventually learn, is people who have faulty items complain, publicly.

Where-as people that are pleased don't shout it from the mountain top, they usually just mention it in a more intimate setting, such as to a friend.

So I understand you had a bad experience, as did the OP. But don't exaggerate, inflate or create random statistics to slander a product or company.

For the record, I am an ATI fanboi so my statements are as unbiased as I can be.
 
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pandayanyan

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Sep 27, 2010
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As much as I hate to say it I am about done with this card. I feel everywhere I go all I see is people RMA it. Now whether that is actually the case or just the naysayers reporting we may never know.
Anyways... here is one more for the record books. I bought and received a gtx 460 768m from NewEgg. After installing it in my computer on my fresh install of win 7 ultimate 64bit i quickly loaded up my favorite game. I was quite impressed with everything this card could do. It was a gigantic upgrade from my previous card. Made all my games (now on high or ultra settings) seem like going from VHS to Blu-ray. :love:
Then the monster comes. First it froze just a simple lock up still had sound for the game but no controls registered and picture was black. Hard rebooted and tried again. After about 20 minutes the same thing this time game froze as if I was taking a screen shot and was unresponsive. The entire system was locked up. I started to get that bad feeling when all your hopes and dreams are about to come tumbling down. I started up the computer one more time double checked all my drivers and settings and everything was perfect. Instead of shooting fro a third time I decided to kick it online and do some research. Now I am two days later. I have ran every benchmark and stress test I can. Nothing shoots the temp up into high or critical and nothing can recreate these freezes. Any slightly nice game crashes it after a random amount of time. I don't crash at the OS I don't crash during video playback or any 3d benchmark I have ran. :eek:
I seriously can think of anything else to do. I have done every suggestion I can find via Google searching. I have eliminated the possibility it is any piece of hardware other than this card (process of elimination by simply swapping or removing the pieces one by one and testing. no problems with a diff video card I tried either).


Here are my sys specs in case anyone sees a commonality (even though from what i have seen this card is the only common ground in all these issues).

Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
Mobo - NVIDIA model NVK84CRB (sys bios version Pheonix technologies, LTD 6.00p)
Memory - 3gb ram ddr 400
Vid Card - GeForce GTX 460
500 watt PSU
OS - Win 7 ultimate 64 bit
:sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat:
:na: Help me Obi wan kanobi youre my only hope! :na:

 
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pandayanyan

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Yeah, it is a fairly new PSU (within 6 months) and when I had a friends test it everythign was putting out fine. I will try to get the manufacturer posted here when I get back to the house (at work currently).

Good point about the posting of manufacturer's. Palit is the manufacturer of my seemingly faulty vid card. So far I have tried communication with them as well. This is what they have told me about the issue (all of which I have tried separately but when I get home I will start again just to be sure).

Dear customer

Please follow below steps to solve the issue.
MB part:
1. Update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version.
2. Install the motherboard chip driver.
3. Test system RAM separately.
4. Update the service pack of your Windows to the latest version.

Graphic card part:
1. Clean the dust from the graphic card especially the fan part.
2. Clean the "gold finger" of the graphic card by an eraser.
3. Update the graphic card driver to the latest version(258.96 or 260.63). Please remove the current driver before you install the new one.
Download driver website: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
4. Update BIOS. Please re-name the attached file to BIOS.zip and then unzip it. It contains the latest BIOS version, update tool and instruction. Please un-install & re-install the graphic card driver after the updating.

Thanks.

Palit Support
Palit Microsystem Ltd.
Website: http://www.palit.biz
 
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