Bad GPU or PCI-E slot?

[nafoni]

Hey there.

I'm having a problem determining if it's my GPU, EVGA GTX 670, or the PCI-E slots on my motherboard, a ASUS P8Z77-V, that is faulty.

My system was built this friday, and everything was working fine until my display drivers started crashing (yes, I have been re-installing older drivers, re-seating the card etc etc.). Eventually I got so tired of this because I couldn't find a fix that I decided to re-install Windows (7, 64-bit). After doing this, I end up getting more problems.

Now the screen won't show me anything at all if I'm plugging the card into PCI-E slot #1. However, if I plug it into slot 2 (of 3), it works, but I'm getting a lot of blue dots on my screen (artifacts?). Also, NVIDIA control panel tells me that the screen is not plugged into a NVIDIA GPU.

Haven't tried PCI-E slot #3 yet, because some cables are blocking it.

Is there any way to tell if it is my GPU or the PCI-E slots on the motherboard that is faulty? I don't have another motherboard or GPU.

Long story short:
While the GPU actually was working "properly", it did give me lots of problem such as display driver crashes and unexpected crashes. Now I am confident that either my PCI-E slots or my GPU is faulty. Which?

Thanks in advance.

 

[hang-the-9]

Probably the GPU but maybe the power supply in addition to the ports. Easy way to find out, try a different video card and try yours in another system.

 

[nafoni]

Quick update.

It can't be my PSU. Corsair HX 750W should be more than enough power for 1x GTX 670 and 1x i5-3570K + the usual HDDs and fans.

After more testing, I found out that my PCI-E slot #1 is also actually working, but it is giving me the same artifacts as slot #2. Means it's probably my card?

Also ran a RAM test in Windows - no problems with the RAM.

 

[hang-the-9]

The power supply as a whole may have enough power, but the individual cables may be having issues or the power rails.

It's way more likely the video card, what you are seeing comes from a bad card. It's either overheating or some chips have been damaged from heat or some other reason. If it's overheating, try running it with the case open and find a fan to blow on the card, if the artifacts go away you may be able to salvage the card by removing and re-attaching the heatsink with new compound.

Or if it's in warranty, swap it for another one, once you start taking things apart you probably won't be able to return it.

 

[nafoni]

Don't think it's overheating. Case is running without one of the side panels because I frequently remove and re-install the GPU into different PCI-E slots. Never seen any temperatures over 70C either, and that is when playing games like BF3 on ultra settings.

Yep, I'm pretty confident it's a bad video card. Will be returning it to the shop I bought it from tomorrow. Hope I will get a new one before the weekend

Thanks for the replies, hang. If anyone else has something to say - feel free to post

 

[fantastik250]

I agree with the comments posted. Also, have you updated your drivers? And did you overclock the card?

 

[hang-the-9]

Don't think it's overheating. Case is running without one of the side panels because I frequently remove and re-install the GPU into different PCI-E slots.

This may be your issue, why move the card around, install it, let it run. The more you take it out and reseat it the more chance you have or damaging it.

 

[nafoni]

I agree with the comments posted. Also, have you updated your drivers? And did you overclock the card?

Tried 3 different drivers, 301.42, 301.25 and another one, can't remember which. Issues with all drivers.
From what I can see in PrecisionX, the card is boosting itself, without me changing any settings. Even if the boosting would be the issue, I still want to return my card because it is not working as it should.

This may be your issue, why move the card around, install it, let it run. The more you take it out and reseat it the more chance you have or damaging it.

Probably not. The issues started to appear after the first time I put it into my computer. I'm also very careful when it comes to handling computer components. All the times I removed the card I waited 2 minutes after my computer had shut down to let the card cool itself. I have never touched the PCB either.

-----

The card is on its way back to the shop now. Will probably be ordering a new one the same card.

Someone has anything more to say? Say it!

Thanks

 

[nafoni]

Eventually turned out it was a bad card.

Got my replacement some weeks ago, and everything worked fine.

Guess I was just unlucky with my first one.

Anyway, thanks a lot for taking time to reply!