2 Dead Cards in a row?

[PBernardo]

Hey all,

I built a new system (specs below) and had trouble with the GPU from the start. It's an ASUS Radeon 6870HD. Card started showing heavy artifacts until even the BIOS screen and Windows Desktop were impossible to see. So I RMA'd it. Just got the new card and...

...it worked fine for a day. Then my computer went into sleep mode (I forgot to turn that setting off - lots of problems in Win7, I know, but this was a clean install). As I tried to 'wake' the computer, I heard the GPU fan spin up real fast, then no response. I tried restarting the computer, I reset the card in the slot, no luck. There is no signal coming from the card at all. I tried an old video card: works fine. Is it possible I just got unlucky with a second bad card direct from ASUS? Could there be some motherboard issue I'm unaware of? (Yes, both PSI-E power connectors are hooked up!)

Basic System:

ASUS P8P67 board
Intel Core I5 2500K LGA 1155
8 GB Corsair XMS3 memory
Thermaltake 750W PSU

 

[mjsharma]

Since another card worked fine there is less chance that your board is damaged.. try the card in some other pc

 

[iam2thecrowe]

your power supply could be killing the cards if it is faulty. I have heard of issues with computers coming out of sleep mode. Just disable sleep mode.

 

[PBernardo]

If it is my power supply, is ASUS going to claim that the cards are physically damaged? That's another worry - if they charge me retail for the replacements I'm out more than $400 on a $200 card.

I assume a multimeter will tell me if the PSU is ok? Do I just check the voltages?

 

[PBernardo]

Ok. I think I've ruled out the PSU. I tested the PCIE cables and each pin is giving 12V. Just for the heck of it, I turned on the computer, listened to it start up, and waited for it to go to sleep. I then tapped the keyboard to wake it with the leads still in the PCIE connectors. Rock solid at 12V. (Well, 12.15V...) Anyway, no surge. I guess this doesn't rule out a bad MOBO, but at least it seems the PSU is fine.

Any other thoughts here? I'm sending both cards back to ASUS on Monday, but if there's anything else to check, I'm game.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

you would need an oscilloscope and load tester to test the PSU. I'd say its unlikely to be killing the cards but its possible. Try another card again first and go from there.

 

[PBernardo]

Gotcha. Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, no lab here. I'll try a cheap card in that slot while I pursue RMA #2 from ASUS. While Googling to see if there was something else I was overlooking, I saw on another forum from a couple of years ago that somebody got 3 bad cards in a row direct from ASUS during RMA! I guess they send out the 'repaired' items.