Will my setup support a EVGA 04G-P4-2974-KR 4GB GeForce GTX 970 SuperClocked Graphics Card?

[jbarcus81]

I just bought a used EVGA 04G-P4-2974-KR 4GB GeForce GTX 970 SuperClocked Graphics Card on eBay and the seller is reputable, and stated the card works fine. So, I just swapped out my 750ti and put the 970 in, plugged in the PCI-E power, and turned things on.. No post. So, I turned things back off, took the GPU out, re-seated it, plugged the power back in, power on. No post. I do this a few more times, finally, the PC posts, and I am in Windows. The display looks pretty fugly, so I update drivers, go down for a reboot, stops posting. So I'm wondering if it's the card, or my PSU, or setup. Here's what I'm working with... My PSU is a Seasonic G-650 ... See attached images for the rest.. I just can't figure this out and don't have access to another system to test.. I will be taking things to a local shop and see if they can tell me if the card is bad.. or what I'm dealing with. Just thought I would reach out and see if anything I have could be causing an issue outside of it being the card itself.

 

 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

My finger says the GFX card is the issue. I would return that to the eBay seller.

[jbarcus81]

7 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

My finger says the GFX card is the issue. I would return that to the eBay seller.

I hope not.. Such a pain in the rear but it is what it is.. I know looks can be deceiving, but this card honestly looks brand new. But that could also be a bad thing. No dust? Was it being used at all? Hmmm...

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

I had a EVGA 970 that kept crashing, because of temperature, on me because the fan kept failing on me. And this was a RMA'd device. You pay what you get for, I guess. And DOAs are a normal occurrence.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

750ti works...right?

970 doesn't...right?  Counting on that you've hooked it up properly (plopped it into the slot and hooked up required PCIe power) ... you've got a dud.

PSU is adequate for the 970.

[jbarcus81]

15 minutes ago, Jim K said:

750ti works...right?

970 doesn't...right?  Counting on that you've hooked it up properly (plopped it into the slot and hooked up required PCIe power) ... you've got a dud.

PSU is adequate for the 970.

Yep.. using the 750ti as we speak... Damn! Some deals are just too good to be true!

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

44 minutes ago, jbarcus81 said:

Yep.. using the 750ti as we speak... Damn! Some deals are just too good to be true!

I'm sure you can refund it and get your money back

[jbarcus81]

So I just got back from a computer shop locally here.. He installed it into a system and it booted fine. So, could it just be randomly working or is there something within my setup that I have incorrect? I'm so confused.. 

[jbarcus81]

I was just able to get into Windows.. Tried installing new drivers. But, during the installation I heard the Windows notification as if I had unplugged something/removed something. So I checked device manager and CPU-Z and well..  I put the old card back in for now.. Not sure what the issue is.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Still think it is the 970 ... unless for some odd reason your PCIe power cable from the PSU isn't providing the required power (which I find highly unlikely).  So, if the GPU isn't bad than I would be looking at the PSU.

 

I know you said you took it to the local repair shop.  When you said it booted fine .. were they able to mess around Windows for a little bit ... maybe load up a game ... etc?  They didn't just POST it and say .. yep, it works?

 

Should be as simple as putting it in the PCIe slot, hooking up PCIe power, install nvidia drivers (selecting "clean installation" for good measure) ... and be happy.  Your particular case is intriguing.

[jbarcus81]

29 minutes ago, Jim K said:

Still think it is the 970 ... unless for some odd reason your PCIe power cable from the PSU isn't providing the required power (which I find highly unlikely).  So, if the GPU isn't bad than I would be looking at the PSU.

 

I know you said you took it to the local repair shop.  When you said it booted fine .. were they able to mess around Windows for a little bit ... maybe load up a game ... etc?  They didn't just POST it and say .. yep, it works?

 

Should be as simple as putting it in the PCIe slot, hooking up PCIe power, install nvidia drivers (selecting "clean installation" for good measure) ... and be happy.  You particular case is intriguing.

That's exactly what they did.. he said it posted and windows was booting but then powered down.. I was unable to see it or mess with it in any way. I did some more testing and switched to the onboard GPU with the 970 installed and Windows was showing it in device manager and no errors.. So I rebooted, then booted with onboard GPU, and Windows was reporting errors with the 970 .. So it's going back.. It has to be the card .. My setup seems perfectly fine and able to run this card.. It's random, but it's failed more than it's booted so.. off to find something else! 

 

Thanks so much for all the help in trouble-shooting.. 

[DevTech]

8 hours ago, jbarcus81 said:

That's exactly what they did.. he said it posted and windows was booting but then powered down.. I was unable to see it or mess with it in any way. I did some more testing and switched to the onboard GPU with the 970 installed and Windows was showing it in device manager and no errors.. So I rebooted, then booted with onboard GPU, and Windows was reporting errors with the 970 .. So it's going back.. It has to be the card .. My setup seems perfectly fine and able to run this card.. It's random, but it's failed more than it's booted so.. off to find something else! 

 

Thanks so much for all the help in trouble-shooting.. 

Sometimes the card won't balance the power draw from the PCIe bus with the cables to the power supply properly. You should check the manufacturers site for a firmware update (well you should have done that anyways...)

 

Also sometimes due to slight misalignment the metal support where you screw it down prevents the card from fully seating in the socket.

 

Any further thoughts would require full specs on the computer you got it working in so any difference might stand out...

 

[jbarcus81]

So an update.. I bought another card, same model as before and it's working fine. So it was definitely the other card. Now if only I could fix it and set up SLi haha.. GPU repair shops exist?

[SnoopZ]

1 hour ago, jbarcus81 said:

So an update.. I bought another card, same model as before and it's working fine. So it was definitely the other card. Now if only I could fix it and set up SLi haha.. GPU repair shops exist?

Thought you sent the old card back for a refund?

[jbarcus81]

11 hours ago, SnoopZ said:

Thought you sent the old card back for a refund?

That was the plan.. But the seller refunded and said to keep it since it was busted.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

20 hours ago, jbarcus81 said:

So an update.. I bought another card, same model as before and it's working fine. So it was definitely the other card. Now if only I could fix it and set up SLi haha.. GPU repair shops exist?

Probably not and it probably wouldn't be worth it...unless the problem is something "simple" like a bad capacitor or whatever...even then the cost of repair (and the diagnostics) probably would be more than what you paid for the card.

[jbarcus81]

On 7/14/2019 at 7:56 AM, Jim K said:

Probably not and it probably wouldn't be worth it...unless the problem is something "simple" like a bad capacitor or whatever...even then the cost of repair (and the diagnostics) probably would be more than what you paid for the card.

That's true.. I just wonder if a BIOS flash would help things? Or if that's what happened to begin with? I don't know how to diagnose and flash a BIOS for a GPU that won't boot though.. Sounds complicated.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Well ... if you aren't able to boot into Windows with it then it would be very hard.  You could submit a ticket to eVGA (https://www.evga.com/Support/Ticket/) requesting the latest (or original) vBIOS and maybe they'll send it to you.  afaik they aren't available publicly from eVGA.  Techpowerup has a vBIOS database but I've never used it...so...?  (Link)

 

You would still need to boot using the bad card (I would take out the new card so you don't inadvertently flash it). 

 

Really doubt this would rectify your issue though.