GTX 580, Blue rectangle artifacts, won't get past Windows is Loading

[narmix]

Hey guys. Built a computer about a month and a half ago. Everything was going great. Have been playing Battlefield 3, Team Fortress 2, Starcraft, Skyrim, etc., no problems.

My specs are this:
1000 watt OCZ psu
8gigs ddr3 G.Skill Ripjaws ram
Intel i5 2500k
Nvidia EVGA GTX 580
Asrock Extreme 3 Gen 3 mobo
128gb Crucial SSD
250gb Old HDD (unknown manufacturer)

((NOTHING OVERCLOCKED))

I've never, ever, had a problem with the card (at least, in the short time I've had it). I have to run MSI afterburner to specifically for the fan adjuster, to keep it cool.

Last night, for about 6 hours, I played Magic the Gathering (the card game -- video game version) on steam. I did not turn on Afterburner. Now, MtG isn't a really GPU intensive game, but I was running it in 16xCSAA, which MAY have heated the card up a bit. Again, I forgot to run MSI afterburner, so I don't know if it did.

Everything was great. I finished up, shut the computer down, hit the power switch on the back of the PSU, and pushed the power button to drain the power out of the mobo as I always do.

Then this morning, I went to turn the computer on and WHAM. The resolution of the motherboard's logo was off (1/3 of the picture was off the screen -- sometimes it didn't even show correctly), there are long, narrow blue rectangles all over the screen, and when it gets to the "Windows is Loading" screen, the screen goes black and I have to reboot it.

When I remove the GTX 580 and use the intel chipset, the computer runs flawlessly. The mobo logo comes up perfect, the computer boots very quickly (SSD), my desktop is fine. I'm currently posting this from my computer without the GTX 580.

When I put the GTX 580 back in, I get the same problems again. Obviously I've rebooted, reseated, etc. Nothing works. I even reset the CMOS just in case. Didn't help.

Is my GPU fried? From Magic the Gathering the Card Game? Could it be the PCIe socket on the motherboard?

I need advice.

::edit:: More details:

When the 580 is in, and I go into the EUFI, about 1/3 of the EUFI interface is off the screen, and the whole screen is a bit blurry. When I *remove* the 580 and go into EUFI, everything is crisp and clear and fits on the screen.

 

[Wamphryi]

I would think that the GPU has a memory fault. When memory on the card fails a common sign is random artefacts and boot failures. This is especially true if you see artefacts appearing at BIOS level before Windows kicks in.It is more than likely RMA time. Having noted the fact that the card does not present the EUFI properly I am reasonably confident the card has a failed memory chip or controller.

 

[redeemer]

Update you bios
is your 6-8 pin power on the card connected?
Do you have another computer to test you GTX 580 in?
possibilites
Bad PSU
Bad GPU

RMA the gpu and or PSU if possible

 

[inzone]

The card you got from Evga is covered by them for the life of the card all you need to do is make sure that you have registered it and uploaded the invoice to the product list andd you can do a RMA and they are really very good about it. That is one reason why I buy Evga cards they have the lifetime warranty and thier RMA process is very easy to do. You do have to open up a support ticket to get the process started.
One thing to try before you start the RMA is have you tried using a different driver , maybe update to the latest beta driver (295.51) Which driver are you currently using?

 

[Wamphryi]

The card you got from Evga is covered by them for the life of the card all you need to do is make sure that you have regitered it and uploaded the invoice to the product list andd you can do a RMA and they are really very good about it. That is one reason why I buy Evga cards they have the lifetime warranty and thier RMA process is very easy to do. You do have to open up a support ticket to get the process started.
One thing to try before you start the RMA is have you tried using a different driver , maybe update to the latest beta driver (295.51) Which driver are you currently using?

I considered the driver question but feel it is unlikely to be an issue as the card is failing to present the EUFI interface properly. As this is occurring pre Windows and thus pre driver then the card is failing at a basic VGA level. On that basis I believe the issue is hardware related most likely memory. If it is the GPU then the card would not fire at all.

 

[narmix]

@Wamphryi
I see, thank you for that input. I hear frequently of people that have memory problems with their FERMIs. I don't know if it's worth noting, but this was a 3GB VRAM version (but in Dxdiag, it was always listed as having ~2600mbs instead of ~3100 like I would expect of a 3GB card).

@redeemer
I can update my bios (EUFI) but I did that about 20 days ago. I can check for something newer. Also, yes, the power connectors (8 + 6) are both connected to it. The other computer I could test it in is at another house (I gave my old PC to my brother). I can take it over and see if it works fine in it. The PSU is kind of small though (600 watt). Also, it doesn't have a hard drive right now.

@Inzone
I registered the card immediately to take advantage of the Lifetime warranty and indeed, that's why I always buy from EVGA as well. The current driver I'm using (which has worked great for almost 3 weeks) is the next-to-newest beta driver (290.53, as opposed to the newer 295.51 which most of my Steam games will NOT launch with). I tried the 295.51 for a day, but most of my games including Skyrim would fail to launch with it, and many other people also had that problem.

Also, how can I update my Nvidia drivers if I can't get into windows while I have the GTX 580 hooked up? To install drivers, it checks to make sure you have the proper card/windows configuration, and with the card in, I can't make it to the desktop.

 

[Wamphryi]

It would be useful to try redeemers suggestion even if the other machine does not have a HDD. If the problem is what I think it is then it will fail to display the BIOS on that machine also. If it does display the BIOS on the other machine correctly then that could raise the possibility that the motherboard has a PCI E issue or alternatively the PSU may be an issue. Try the card in the second machine and lets see if we can narrow down the issue. If the card fails in the second machine at BIOS level we can reasonably assume it is the card. If it works we can focus on the other possible issues. It may be relevant that Direct X is reporting less memory than the card is supposed to support. 600 watts is enough to test the card. If the card behaves in the second machine the next step would be to swap the 1000 watt for the 600 watt in your main Rig to eliminate the PSU as possible culprit.

 

[inzone]

I also have the Evga GTX 580 3gb version (actually 3) but they are the Hydro Copper 2 and I have the 295.51 driver running MW3 (steam). The cards are reporting the correct amount of ram in any software program that looks at the spec's , like gpu-z for example , so that may be part of your problem that the v-ram may be the defective part of the card or that the fact that it only sees the wrong amount of ram would be an indication that the card is not functioning correctly and is defective.
What you can do is go into the my products section of the Evga site and put in a support ticket describing the problem and they will either give you a solution or give you the go ahead for the RMA. You do need the support ticket since that is the first step in the RMA process.
I knew that the driver suggestion was a long shot but I was hopeing to have a simple quick solution for you instead of the RMA.

 

[narmix]

Thanks guys, and thanks Inzone for hoping it was the driver solution. I, too, wish that it was a simple fix. Trust me. It's never fun to not only be without a card for the whole RMA process, but to also have to pay to send it there. Ugh.

I WILL post in this thread tomorrow when I'm able to take my card over to my brother's house and test the card in that computer. At this point I pray that it also fails in that computer because it's the only piece of hardware I have that has any worth while warranty. If it's the motherboard or PSU, I'm not sure I'll be able to get an RMA on them.

Here's hoping.

Tomorrow I'll put it in and if it WORKS then I'll have to bring the power supply from his house home with me to test the card + his power supply in my computer. Then, as suggested, if it still doesn't work it must be my motherboard. At least I have within my power everything I need to 100% narrow it down to the card, motherboard or PSU.

Will post back tomorrow. Thanks so much for your continuing help in this matter, gurus

 

[narmix]

Well guys, I've tested it out. Sort of. Unfortunately, the power supply in my brother's computer is pretty crap and doesn't have any 8-pin connectors (aside from the unusable cpu one). So I couldn't use that psu to test it (and I didn't bring MY psu along to put it in instead). So what I did instead was replace the 580 in my PC with 2x 9800GTX+s in SLI (to try to rival the power consumption of the 580) and everything's perfectly fine with the 9800s. I'm willing to say the 580 itself is the bad thing in my computer -- not the PSU or mobo.

Time to RMA said 580 :/

Thank god for EVGA lifetime warranties.

At least I can game on dual 9800s until I get it. I'm not completely SOL.