SERIOUS concern regarding GTX 670 drivers!

[nodoubtgenius]

Yesterday, I returned my Sapphire 7950 after being a little bit disappointed with the performance I was getting from it. I then purchased an EVGA GTX 670. I uninstalled the old AMD drivers and all other AMD software, then put my new graphics card on the motherboard and put in the driver installation disk, but for some reason it would not install correctly. The first time it got half way through then said it could not install, or something to that degree. I retried it and then it go about 1/4 of the way through and stayed at that point for an hour and a half and nothing happened. The computer was quite buggy and this point and was performing choppily. I restarted it and then it began to show the desktop in 800x600 resolution and was not even stretching to the full size of my monitor, and if I tried to change to 1080p it would freeze.

So today I reformatted my computer. I went out and bought Windows 7, put the installation disk in and it was all running smoothly through the following steps -

1. Installed windows (legal copy, I purchased it)
- this was after deleting everything that had previously been on the HDD to the point where the only option to install windows to was called "unallocated space" which was in reference to my now empty HDD.

2. Installed Microsoft Security Essentials

3. Installed Diablo 3

4. Installed Google Chrome

5. Installed Motherboard Drivers

6. Restarted Computer to finish installation

~Computer at this point is running completely fine

7. Installed nVidia Graphics Drivers

8. Restarted Windows to finish installation

~Problem now begins

The Windows loading screen starts (with those floating orbs that morph into the glowing windows logo) and it appears to be working fine, BUT then after the loading screen finishes and moves to the log in screen, nothing appears. The monitor is on and connected correctly, but the screen is just black except for the mouse pointer which I can move around freely. So blindly, because I can't actually see what I'm typing, I type in the password and press enter and then it loads the desktop, but the problems here is that the desktop does not show anything except for the mouse pointer and the desktop background. I can't see the start menu, I can't see the task bar, and I can't see any icons.

I seriously have no idea what I've done wrong or what I need to do to fix this guys. Maybe I can go into safe mode and go to a restore point, but I literally just reformatted this computer this morning so I'm not sure where I would restore to, or if there would be any restore points. I also don't have a recovery/repair disk - all I have is the original Windows 7 installation disk, but it's not showing the "press any key to boot from disk" message when I restart my computer like when it did when I originally installed it.

Please, if anyone knows what I have to do here, let me know. I just spent $1600 on this computer and I'm already having problems with it so I'm extremely worried and frustrated right now.

For reference, these are my specs;
- Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H motherboard
- EVGA GTX 670 graphics card
- Intel i5-3550 processor
- 8gb of G.Skill 1600mhz RAM
- Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
- and my monitor is a 1080p Asus connected directly to the GPU through VGA, not that that probably has anything to do with the issue.

Again, I really need help here guys. Thank you.

 

[fantastik250]

Use older drivers. The 300.xx drivers are not good from Nvidia right now. If possible find the older drivers such as 296.xx drivers.

 

[nodoubtgenius]

How am I supposed to do that? I can't go on the internet on it, and I can't open any programs let alone start installing different drivers.

 

[fantastik250]

Boot into safe mode and with network drivers.

 

[nodoubtgenius]

When I restart my computer it's not giving me the option to boot into safe mode. It's just automatically starting windows normally

edit - I was able to boot the computer into safe mode, now what should I do?

 

[nodoubtgenius]

No driver below the 300.xx ones will support the 670.
There is no issue with the drivers in regards to the 600 cards, you are trying to install older ones... that is the issue.

I installed the drivers on the disk that came in the box with my GTX 670.

edit - and if those are old ones then how would I go about installing the new ones now?

 

[nodoubtgenius]

When on the windows startup screen, disconnect the mains from the PC, then turn the PC back on again... you will be greeted by a menu of options...

Start it up in safe mode with networking... for your above question^^

Yes, sorry, I did figure out how to boot into safe mode and did so. Now what should I try?

 

[dish_moose]

recon-uk said "When on the windows startup screen, disconnect the mains from the PC, then turn the PC back on again... " Please don't do this - if you are unlucky the only screen you will get will be blue. Power went out on my work computer as windows was starting - took me a day to get it working again. Safe mode on faster computers is getting harder & harder. You used to have to get into windows safe mode just have to be quick about it.
-Bruce

 

[17seconds]

I'm not sure, but you mentioned that you had the monitor hooked up through VGA. I hope you mean the Dual-link DVI connection. A standard VGA would not be able to do 1080 resolution. Be sure that connection is correct first, and it has to be "dual link" DVI, not the "single link" standard DVI.

Uninstall AMD and Nvidia anything from the Windows Control Panel. Restart, then install the drivers using the "Clean Install" option. Only install the driver components you need, at minimum the graphics driver and the PhysX software. Skip HD Audio, 3D Vision, Update, etc., if you don't use them.

If you can get on the internet, download the latest drivers off the Nvidia website, 301.42 WHQL. They are great drivers and any problem you have with them is likely due to an installation error.

I'm actually confused as to why you would install Diablo 3 before installing any motherboard or graphics drivers.

 

[nodoubtgenius]

I'm actually confused as to why you would install Diablo 3 before installing any motherboard or graphics drivers.

lol yes, I know, I definitely facepalmed afterward. But ya, I did mean VGA, I just went out and bought an HDMI cable.

Also, what I've done so far is uninstall the current video adapter through windows device manager. Then I restarted my computer and went into the BIOS and then turned off internal video adapter. I've now booted up and have started installing the drivers from the disk that came with my GPU.

 

[akamrcrack]

Go download the driver off of the Nvidia website for the 670.

I did this instead of using the CD that came with it.

 

[Smeg45]

First time builder? Chuck all the driver CD's out. They are outdated already. Always get the latest freshest drivers straight off the internet and keep them on a malware free USB just in case you need to reinstall. The install should go (internet disconnected) -> 7 -> [all] chipset(s) -> gpu -> sound -> ethernet -> win updates -> reboot -> updates again (probably) -> reboot.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

First time builder? Chuck all the driver CD's out. They are outdated already. Always get the latest freshest drivers straight off the internet and keep them on a malware free USB just in case you need to reinstall. The install should go (internet disconnected) -> 7 -> [all] chipset(s) -> gpu -> sound -> ethernet -> win updates -> reboot -> updates again (probably) -> reboot.

^ This.

Never use the driver on the CD. Always use the latest one on the manufacturers website.

 

[nodoubtgenius]

Thanks everyone, I've fixed the issue and installed the latest drivers from nvidia's website. Computer is working fine now, thanks again.

 

[17seconds]

Thanks everyone, I've fixed the issue and installed the latest drivers from nvidia's website. Computer is working fine now, thanks again.

That's great!

 

[larkspur]

I hope you mean the Dual-link DVI connection. A standard VGA would not be able to do 1080 resolution. Be sure that connection is correct first, and it has to be "dual link" DVI, not the "single link" standard DVI.

Both Single-Link DVI and VGA are perfectly capable of displaying 1920x1080 (i.e. 1080p). Not sure where you are getting that info but it's not accurate. VGA being analog can show some very mild degradation at such a high res but the OP did not describe degradation, he described using the drivers on the worthless CD that came with the card.

 

[eltouristo]

Both Single-Link DVI and VGA are perfectly capable of displaying 1920x1080 (i.e. 1080p). Not sure where you are getting that info but it's not accurate. VGA being analog can show some very mild degradation at such a high res but the OP did not describe degradation, he described using the drivers on the worthless CD that came with the card.

670 seems to have a problem with analog output to CRT. its barely noticeble on desktop, but more noiceable in games, both ogl and dx. image lacks 'crispness' call it 'focus' it is very slightly blurred. this is not imagined, quite real. i have years on this monitor and various cards. I have tried many many settings etc. it must be either a hardware issue with the 670 (and 680?) or a driver thing idk. running driver sweep and reinstalling latest 300.xx driver did help an unrelated performance issue. i am certain is not monitor, cable, or dvi to vga adapter issue. have degaussed monitor, checked color convergance, etc.