GPU stopped working

[NicoD]

Hi all

My configuration: Success: Gigabyte GA-H170-HD3 + Intel Skylake Core i5-6600 in a Corsair Carbide 200R case
Still on El Capitan 10.11.5
The monitor is connected to the GPU via a DP cable.
Everything worked without a glitch since day one for 6 months, besides restarting after shut down so when the process is done I switch it off manually.

The issue:

• Yesterday: shut down.
• This morning: started up → black screen.
• Started my old Mac Mini with same monitor, keyboard, mouse, external HDs, etc. → everything worked fine.
• Opened the box and checked everything (and did some dusting).
• Restarted the hackintosh connecting the monitor first with the DP cable then with an HDMI cable to the GPU → black screen.
• Connected the monitor with an HDMI cable to the MoBo → everything is OK (besides the resolution is 1080 instead of 2560 x 1440).
• Opened the box again, took the GPU out, sprayed contact cleaner on the data and power contacts as well as on the ports, refastened it → no result.

Hence the GPU is dead, right?
It's still under guarantee so I can have it replaced.
Yet I heard I should be able to get the 2560 x 1440 resolution through the MoBo HDMI connection but how? Currently I can only get 1080.

TIA
Cheers
Nick

 

[kiiroaka]

If you power down the PC, pull the AC cord, disconnect all the drives, re-set the BIOS (usually depressing a button or moving a jumper, and if it's a jumper, move it back to its normal position before) reconnect the AC cord, power on the PC. Anything on the monitor?

Does your mobo have a built in video port? If so, power down, pull the AC cord, connect monitor to DVI or DP port on the mobo, connect AC cord, power up, hit the F-Key to get into the BIOS. Anything?

Sometimes, when an Intel CPU goes bad there is no video. If there's no video with the GPU and the built-in, then chances have gone up that it's the CPU.

 

[NicoD]

Hi
Thanks for your quick reply.
As I said:

• Restarted the hackintosh connecting the monitor first with the DP cable then with an HDMI cable to the GPU → black screen.
• Connected the monitor with an HDMI cable to the MoBo → everything is OK (besides the resolution is 1080 instead of 2560 x 1440).
• Opened the box again, took the GPU out, sprayed contact cleaner on the data and power contacts as well as on the ports, refastened it → no result.

Hence the only thing that seems to go wrong is the GPU. I have been working on the computer since yesterday and everything is OK (besides the resolution, which is normal). Yet there is something I didn't think I could have done: plug a different power cable to the GPU in case it would be the power that failed. Isn't it strange the GPU just failed one morning at restart after six months of perfect service without any warning sign in advance?
Do you know how to get 4K resolution through the MoBo HDMI port because I can get only 1080, if it's possible?
TIA

Nick

 

[kiiroaka]

It's not possible.

As far as the GPU goes, is it still under warranty?

It dying suddenly is not not-normal. I had a $400 video card die 1 month after the warranty expired. I no longer buy $400 video cards... Same happened with a DVD write - it died a week after the warranty expired. HP products seem to die shortly after the warranty expires. At least that's what I find.

It could have been something simple - either static or you installed the video car with the AC cord connected to the PC. My guess is that it was static, that you didn't take anti-static precautions.

 

[NicoD]

As far as the GPU goes, is it still under warranty?

It's six months old with a 2 year guarantee.

It could have been something simple - either static or you installed the video car with the AC cord connected to the PC. My guess is that it was static, that you didn't take anti-static precautions.

I always take the AC cord away when I open a computer. My case is all metal and completely closed. It's connected to a grounded mains outlet. I never opened it since July when it was finally in order and it worked without a glitch until the card failed. It's just Sunday morning that there was no signal. Nothing special had happened before. I not even disconnected the DP cable.
Nick

 

[NicoD]

Hi all

I got a refund and I bought a new one : Gigabyte GV-N75TOC-2GL
I installed it, connected the DP cable and… black screen.
I shut down, connected the HDMI cable to the MoBo and tried to imagine different possible and impossible scenarios:

• Could it be the MoBo that had failed and not the GPU? Yet was it possible that both PCIe connectors would fail?
• The DP cable? Impossible since I tried it with my Mac Mini and it worked.
• Then I thought about the NVIDIA driver. So I looked in the Preferences > NVIDIA Driver Manager and bingo! Strangely enough, even though the page was locked and hence it was entirely greyed, instead of the NVIDIA Web Driver option it was the OS X Default Graphics Driver option that was selected. In the ECC page, in the Device list all slots had 'No Device Found, Empty'.

So I unlocked it, selected the NVIDIA Web Driver option, restarted, and had my image. Sigh!

How come this selection changed without my intervention and while it was locked? Was it because the other GPU failed and I connected the monitor to the MoBo so the System switched automatically the Preferences? and did not switch back when I installed a working GPU?

Nick

P.S., FYI
The GTX 950 I had is discontinued so I looked for an equivalent. Either they had no DP port or they were much more expensive than the one I bought at a discount (~€150).
So I chose a GTX 750… which is significantly cheaper (~€112).
The image is just perfect.

 

[kiiroaka]

Congrats on fixing on the problem. I'm glad that it was replaced under warranty.

How come this selection changed without my intervention and while it was locked? Was it because the other GPU failed and I connected the monitor to the MoBo so the System switched automatically the Preferences? and did not switch back when I installed a working GPU?

It was probably something simple, like a device ID changing - either because of a different configuration: different RAM capacity, different ports, different speeds, different firmware version, different hardware, etc. I'm sure that the GTX750Ti has a different ID number than the GTX950. Or it was locked because it tried to change over to a different port when the working port on the old GPU failed.

Either they had no DP port...

Yes, you got to go through the selection process all over again. It all depends on what you have now and your future needs. Kind of like having to buy a replacement monitor and either it doesn't have DP, DVI and HDMI, or you settle on a monitor with DP and DVI, or DP and HDMI.

was it possible that both PCIe connectors would fail?

I made the mistake of removing the video card in my G5 with the AC cord plugged in. It now won't work in the x16 slot but works perfectly in the x8 slot; the same card from my Mac Pro 1,1 (now has ATI HD4870) works in the x16 slot in the G5.

So, who knows?, it wasn't "Infant Mortality" that caused your GPU to die. More likely it was an over heat problem, or something simple, like the solder connections because it was made in China.

 

[NicoD]

Congrats on fixing on the problem. I'm glad that it was replaced under warranty.

Thanks. Yet I deserve little credit, besides going through the hassle of sending the old one to Amazon and getting the refund, choosing a new one (that's a hassle) and so on. I must say Amazon deserves a credit for their excellent after sales service.

Yes, you got to go through the selection process all over again. It all depends on what you have now and your future needs. Kind of like having to buy a replacement monitor and either it doesn't have DP, DVI and HDMI, or you settle on a monitor with DP and DVI, or DP and HDMI.

Yet it seems to me DP is here to stay.

So, who knows?, it wasn't "Infant Mortality" that caused your GPU to die. More likely it was an over heat problem, or something simple, like the solder connections because it was made in China.

Who knows?
Nick