Problems With GTX 295 or maybe my pc

[kevinmbaron]

So i built a gaming pc about 2 years ago. I put in it a GTX 295. Every other part was top notch including the power supply. However i have had to rma the video card 2 times and now soon maybe a 3rd. But i am not sure if it's the video card anymore. What was happening was the card would run cool at first but as months went by the card would heat up and then would idle at 80c. I figured the card just went bad. maybe junkie thermal paste or whatever. The pc would lock up while in games from time to time. Specific games not at all, not sure why. Company of heroes for example would never lock up. So even games that pushed the card wouldnt all cause a lock up or overheat. This last several months i have noticed alot of nvidia driver failures, A good many while not even gaming, just surfing the web or whatever. Evga doesnt think it's the card. And pc power and cooling tells me that the 12 volt rail is fine at 11.5 volts. So what is it then. I have reinstalled the os several times. Every drivers and piece of software is always up to date. i have tried other versions of nvidia drivers. I have done it all. I am not sure what the issue is or how to fix it. I had believe i knew alot of pc's. But how do i know what part is not working right without any clear cut answers. I had heard this issue could be caused from the PSU. But how is it i can find that out? I have no tech tools that could test the thing out.

 

[kevinmbaron]

I should also mention i had the same issue with overheating with a pair of 8800gt's prior to the gtx295. which i why i am thinking it's not the cards but something else thats killing the cards.

 

[wa1]

What is your current PSU? brand? model?
Case? Normal ATX? mid/micro ATX?
maybe you already know that GTX295 is a power hog card and runs pretty HOT, right?

 

[dokk2]

Well if it is not the video card and the psu then it must be the motherboard,kindly give us more system info...

 

[kevinmbaron]

Motherboard is Striker II Formula, ZALMAN Z-MACHINE mid tower. PC Power and Cooling S75QB 750W PSU. I understand the GTX295 is a power hog and runs hot. But when new it would idle at like 45c. As time went on it would just get hotter. I can see running hot for a game. But idle temps shouldnt jump to 70c in 6 months. Thats a sign something is wrong to me. I've owned other cards, they never did this. I Heard that a Bad PSU could cause many problems. One of which is while the 12 volt rail may register as proper voltage. It could be fluctuating voltage which could kill a card. Fact is these cards are dying. Ventalation in my case seems fine. CPU and motherboard temps are 35 or 28 at idle respectively. I have read alot of responses from people owning 295's. And none have this problem. On my prior card b4 RMA i replaced the thermal paste. It didnt help. All i am sure of at this point is that it doesnt make sense that the card is to blame. I've had the issue with to many cards for that to be true. Fact is only the motherboard and PSU could be to blame in my mind. Just not sure how i can figure out which.

 

[kevinmbaron]

I may have found the answer. But not sure yet. I was running the latest nvidia drivers (260.99). I uninstalled them and installed 197.13, and since then it's been flawless. It's only been one day, so not like that proves much. If indeed that is the problem, it makes me mad. I mean shouldnt newer drivers be better not worse. It's like long ago nvidia stop caring about the gtx295 and hasnt bothered to make sure the drivers work for older cards. The gtx295 is not a card the is old and outdated at all. In fact the performance of any of the newest cards is just a tad bit faster. 500+ for a card that nvidia seems to no longer care about. Of course i say this in hope my pc wont crash again. I hope i found the problem. However my card still runs alot hotter then it did at first. So one can wonder if the drivers where killing the card or the card is just made by idiots.

 

[wa1]

Sometime, the older driver can be more stable than the latest one...
That's pretty normal. So if the older driver is fine then stay with that one.

 

[kevinmbaron]

so my pc crashed again while playing a game. it's only been once. But we shall see how often it happens. i will gives it a few days. Maybe try another driver and see how that goes.