Problem with my GTX 295

[Sir Arun]

Hi guys,


as you might know, the GTX 295 (released January 2009) is a "dual GPU" card, i.e. two GTX 260s (I think) are basically sandwiched into one card.

Anyways, a problem that has been plaguing me for some time now, is that when I play video games, after a while, the screen suddenly goes black for 5 to 10 seconds, then the game either runs again, or I have to alt tab or press the start button to go back to my desktop and then exit the game.

This happens in Total War, in Battlefield 3, in Metro 2033, in Fallout 3, you name it...


When I go to the Nvidia Control Panel and disable Multi-GPU support, then everything works fine and I have no problems playing any game, but obviously I am only running on half my card's capacity.

My conclusion is, one of my 2 GPU components of my graphic card is defect. OR, maybe a power cord or something isn't sitting right...

With dual-GPU enabled, I get this black screen of death when I play most games for more than 10 minutes.

In the game Mafia II, I also notice small black triangles almost flickering in and out of existence like the artifacts on an old movie, even if I am running it on single GPU. This is the only game that is giving me these problems, and I have several dozen games.

Now, all of this started after I overclocked my GPU using (I think) MSI afterburner about a year ago, but I set the clock speeds back to the default values and yet the problem has been persisting ever since. I might have fried something...?

My specs:

GPU: Nvidia GTX 295
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9650 @3.0Ghz
RAM: 16 GB DDR 2
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q
PSU: too lazy to check, but I doubt that's whats causing the problem.
Drver version of GPU: 306.97

GPU temps are in the mid 40s when idling, according to Vtune

Please help!

 

[Helllearner]

PSU: too lazy to check, but I doubt that's whats causing the problem.

Maybe that's the problem. Your PSU maybe dieing , why not check if it works properly with another PSU. Also crappy PSU's tend to have these problems.

 

[Sir Arun]

My PSU is the CoolerMaster Real Power M850 or M1000 not sure, propably the former (850 Watts)

Is there a program with which I can stress test my PSU?

 

[Helllearner]

My PSU is the CoolerMaster Real Power M850 or M1000 not sure, propably the former (850 Watts)

Is there a program with which I can stress test my PSU?

Not really but you can stress test other components which also stress the psu in the process. Try furmark or prime95

 

[Sir Arun]

But how will I then be able to tell whether the fault lies in my GPU or in my PSU?

 

[MrWizzard]

I had one of those cards a while back.

Have you tried disabling SLI and seeing if the problem still happens? So you are only using 1 gpu.

The problem you are describing sound more like a driver crash.

How much did you OC the card?

 

[Sir Arun]

I had one of those cards a while back.

Have you tried disabling SLI and seeing if the problem still happens? So you are only using 1 gpu.

The problem you are describing sound more like a driver crash.

How much did you OC the card?

read my original post, please. I already mentioned there that I disabled Multi-GPU ("SLI", if you will, although these aren't two independent cards, remember) in the Nvidia Control panel and that solves the problem, but it's not really a "solution".

I have changed drivers and experimented with many different ones, but same problems every time.

About a year ago when I OCed the card, I think I OCed it by 25%; I also never had temps above 90, even during full load (Furmark test)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you've reinstalled drivers w/ same result, and disabling SLI makes it work, then I think your question is kind of answered.

You could wipe/reinstall (maybe on a spare HDD) just to double check (eliminate ALL software variables) but I think your card is probably toast.

 

[MrWizzard]

read my original post, please. I already mentioned there that I disabled Multi-GPU ("SLI", if you will, although these aren't two independent cards, remember) in the Nvidia Control panel and that solves the problem, but it's not really a "solution".

I have changed drivers and experimented with many different ones, but same problems every time.

About a year ago when I OCed the card, I think I OCed it by 25%; I also never had temps above 90, even during full load (Furmark test)

My bad.

A 25% OC on a video card....... Maybe MAYBE on a single GPU card with water but on a SLI card NOOOPE. Time to start looking for a new card. That was a expensive lesson for you to learn. Just because it didn't get hot doesn't mean damaged was not done. The VRMs (have to do with correctly supplying power on the card) could have been damaged and now are not working correctly. Really with a 25% OC lots of things could have gone wrong. Sorry.

 

[Sir Arun]

Well I really don't remember how much I overclocked it, 25% was just a rough (and wrong) guess.

EDIT: I dug up my old log and these are the notes that I have taken (can't make much sense of them now, but hopefully you can read into it):

My stock settings were:
576
1242
1008

I OC'ed it to:

626
1349
1095


...increments of 1.75 as multiplier (dunno what that means anymore)

I guess you can say I OC'ed it up by 8.6%, but once the problems started developing, I reset the clocks, uninstalled the program and havent touched the subject of overclocking with a barge pole ever since.

I have a Scythe Mugen 2 as cooling fan

 

[Helllearner]

But how will I then be able to tell whether the fault lies in my GPU or in my PSU?

Do these tests with two different PSU and then you can find out if the problem is your graphic card or the psu

 

[Smoove910]

How do you know you are only getting 1/2 the horsepower? In my opinion, if you are running a single card, you should have 'dual GPU' disabled (regardless if there are two chips on it). I would think the only time you should have it set to 'enabled' is when you are running SLI. Just my .02

 

[Puppies04]

How do you know you are only getting 1/2 the horsepower? In my opinion, if you are running a single card, you should have 'dual GPU' disabled (regardless if there are two chips on it). I would think the only time you should have it set to 'enabled' is when you are running SLI. Just my .02

It is a dual GPU card, if you don't get that I fail to see why you are posting here.