Scrambled Graphics on startup

[attrition]

6 months ago i upgraded my PC with a intel 3820, x79ud3 mobo and 8 gigs of ddr3 ram. ever since then occasionally the window 7 start up logo graphic would glitch up and i would get a black screen. at first i thought is was my mobo because that was the most significant change in the system. I've recently had it replaced(same model) and its happening more than ever. I've tested the PSU as well and its been able to hold a mark95 test and a furmark test, going at the same time, so its been ruled out. i've tried swaping out my graphics card but that didn't solve the problem either.

i'm kind of at a dead end.

specs

CPU - intel i7 3820 @ 3.60
motherboard - gigabyte X79-UD3 (F11)
ram - 8GBs @ 1600
Hdd - intel 330 120 ssd
graphics card - gigabyte GTX460 OC
PSU - antec earthwatts 750watt
cooler - corsair h80

any insight would be appreciated

here are some pics

desktop

windows install

 

[sam_p_lay]

I've had this before. I'm sorry to say it looks like your graphics card is dying. Is it still under warranty?

 

[attrition]

i wouldn't say so.
those pictures are from a fresh install. i updated the vid drivers and was able to get onto the desktop after a few restarts. during the dud restarts the windows 7 logo appears and the animation plays but colored lines start appearing in a box around the logo then the monitor goes into standby mode. i can hear windows start up and can click things but i can't see anything.
i find once i get into windows the card works fine( i can play battlefield 3 or whatever). its just when i restart or go into windows 7 installation that it messes up.

 

[mouse24]

Hmm since swapping it out with another gpu didn't help maybe try switching PCIE slots?

If you have another monitor cable or type of cable, try that.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

OK, you've eliminated the motherboard by replacing it, and the video card by swapping it with another. The power supply is still suspect as you can not test via software alone, and the voltage monitors in BIOS are notoriously inaccurate. You need a calibrated test rig to properly test, or, swap in another power supply.

This leaves memory. Download and burn to disk memtest86 ( http://www.memtest86.com/ ). Run no less than 3 complete cycles on each stick of RAM individually in each slot. Follow this by pairs, alternating slots between tests (it's gonna take a while).

 

[attrition]

i have swapped the PSU into another PC and it worked fine.

 

[Scott_D_Bowen]

Are you overclocking at all, or did you overclock this machine in the past?

 

[sam_p_lay]

Maybe roll through desktop resolutions? Main thing I can think of that's different at boot is the screen resolution. Bear in mind that your drivers won't even be loaded while the Windows splash screen is displayed, so I don't think you need to worry about software issues.

 

[hairystuff]

It does look like a graphics chip or graphics ram chip fault, have you thought about cleaning the pci-e edge connector on the graphics card.

 

[attrition]

i'm currently running memtest on my ram. its done 3 passes on the 2 sticks of 4GB ram and no errors. i'm going to start running the test on individual sticks soon.

@hairystuff
i'll check that