Gigabyte gtx295 problem?

[Paws]

Hi all, I need a bit of advice.

My 1 yr old gtx295 rev.1 began to lock up during graphic intensive games. I only manage to play for few minutes and then the screen freezes. That certainly wasn't happening before.
I tried with different drivers with no success (currently on 257.21), ran memtest, physically changed ram chips positions, downclocked gpu/mem for 50Mhz with no luck. The same on win7 64bit and XP.
What bothers me the most is that after a lock up I am unable to hardware reset it. I do it and screen goes blank and blue light on the inside of the card goes off. Then I turn it on/off couple of times or press clearcmos on my motherboard to get it to start again.
The powersupply is Corsair 650 and memory are 3x2GB Corsair with Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 main board.

Did my graphic card became faulty? There's 2yrs warranty on it IMO.

[absic]

Hi,

to be honest, when Graphics Cards begin to lock-up or freeze when playing graphic intensive games, it is usually a sign of the GPU overheating. The fact that it has been running OK and the problem occurs in both Windows XP and Windows 7 64 Bit would also tend to point to there being a physical problem rather than the software being wrong.

Can you monitor the temp of your GPU?
Does it seem to be running hotter than usual?

[Paws]

The temperatures are 82-84 C maximum inside of rather well ventilated Antec 900 case.

[absic]

Looking into this a little more there are a couple of things that might be wrong here.

If I have got hold of the correct manual for your Graphics Card ( http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2996#ov ) it states that a: Minimum 680 W power supply specification and with both an 8-pin and a 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector is recommended.

Your PSU is rated at 650W and although it has been working OK, overtime the efficiency and power output can drop off. It might be that, when you are playing some of the Graphics Intensive Games that he PSU can't provide enough consistent power. It might be worthwhile trying a different, more powerful PSU if you can, or getting your one tested to make sure it is still delivering enough power.

The second thing is that your Card has developed a fault and the only way of being sure about that would be to try and test it in another PC if possible.

The third could be that there is a problem elsewhere in your PC and the best way to check that out would be to replace your GTX 295 with another graphics card and see if the problem still occurs.

This doesn't cover all the possibilities of what could be going wrong but they are the areas I would be looking at first in trying to solve the issue.

[Dark Mantis]

I would have to agree with absic on his diagnosis of this problem. The most likely fault is a failing power supply. They drop substantially in output even after a year or so. So your 650w PSU might not be anywhere near that now. Even more likely if it wasn't an expensive model in the first place.

If it isn't down to a lack of power it must be heat related, even though you seem to have it under control. It might not be the GPU itself it could be the memory on the card etc.

[Paws]

Thank you for your effort both, I have an update...during emailing in win 7 computer rebooted and there was a RED led lit on graphic card! I pulled out 6 and 6+2 power connectors, now it works, but that just supports your theory with PSU.

I am unable to try graphic card within another computer and was thinking about experimenting with multimeter to see voltage my gfx is getting but safer bet would be to take it to authorised service.

If you can think of any other test I can perform to narrow the problem I'd be thankful...

BTW PSU is Corsair TX 650 and as far as I read real life configuration experiences it should be enough to push gtx295 with only one HD and wifi card.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes a good quality PSU but how old is it? Also as was mentioned earlier the motherboard is quite power hungry.
To give you an idea I first built my system with a Zalman 750w PSU(new) and it wouldn't run windows setup. It would boot fine but that was it. I began thinking it was allergic to Micro$oft but in the end I tracked it down to a lack of power and put in a Corsair HX850 and never looked back. I don't exactly have a power hungry setup either.(see my sig)

[Paws]

Update: using evga precision tool I cranked up the vents to 100% and was able to play for an hour without a lock up.
Temps were 75-78 degrees. Will test more with other games.
 Hmmm...this is getting so frustrating not knowing what's causing this problem. And taking it to the service means some days without the rig. Wife will be soo angry - no plants vs. zombs for her for some time

[Dark Mantis]

Wife will be soo angry - no plants vs. zombs for her for some time 

Oh! You didn't say it was an emergency

[Paws]

To conclude my saga...it was the defective gtx295 after all. It was tested thoroughly and found freezing at around 87 degrees on other machines also. The warranty was in place so my dealer replaced it with 2 GTX 460 in SLI with little of my additional payment.
I like my new setup now and found it is capable of full load with that modest 650W TX of mine. For now 

[Dark Mantis]

Well another good ending. I think you did very well really and even managed to keep your PSU (for now)

[absic]

To conclude my saga...it was the defective gtx295 after all. It was tested thoroughly and found freezing at around 87 degrees on other machines also. The warranty was in place so my dealer replaced it with 2 GTX 460 in SLI with little of my additional payment.
I like my new setup now and found it is capable of full load with that modest 650W TX of mine. For now 

The second thing is that your Card has developed a fault and the only way of being sure about that would be to try and test it in another PC if possible.
This doesn't cover all the possibilities of what could be going wrong but they are the areas I would be looking at first in trying to solve the issue.

Well, I had covered this and also suggested that the card was failing due to overheating so pleased you got it solved!