Unusual Problem.

Jarhead0331 · August 27, 2016, 08:34:21 AM

Ever since I swapped my GeForce 980 ti for a GeForce 1080 Founder's Edition, I have been having a couple of unusual problems that I cannot source.

Frequently, when booting the computer, it will lock up on the motherboard graphic splash (the part where you can hit F11 to get to the boot menu, or del to get to bios). Other times it will hang at a blinking command prompt. If I shut the system down and restart immediately, it will usually boot normally, but sometimes I have to do that more than once. It makes me wince every time.

In addition, I have been having some unusual system crashes that lead to a reboot. I do get the Win10 blue screen with the error message. They don't really seem to be related to anything in the GPU, but who knows? It is not something I ever experienced prior to swapping the cards.

My only idea is that it could somehow be power related? Perhaps the card is exceeding the capability of the PSU? Since swapping the cards, the only thing I have really played is Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and although I've had some CTDs while playing, the game is pretty much regarded has having a lot of technical issues, so its impossible to tell if the CTDs are due to the game, the card, the system or something in between.

Any ideas?

jomni · August 27, 2016, 08:51:07 AM

I can only think of power issues for now.

Toonces · August 27, 2016, 08:53:29 AM

Jarhead,
I had exactly what you are describing and it was my hard drive failing. It eventually completely failed.

Because you said the problems started after you swapped video cards I would normally say that your problem is related to that. In that case, agreed it could be PSU related or drivers?

But, your symptoms exactly mirror mine when my HD died. If you haven't, I strongly recommend backing up your computer ASAP.

Staggerwing · August 27, 2016, 09:04:46 AM

What error messages do you get when you BSOD?

Jarhead0331 · August 27, 2016, 09:28:59 AM

Quote from: Toonces on August 27, 2016, 08:53:29 AM
Jarhead,
I had exactly what you are describing and it was my hard drive failing. It eventually completely failed.

Because you said the problems started after you swapped video cards I would normally say that your problem is related to that. In that case, agreed it could be PSU related or drivers?

But, your symptoms exactly mirror mine when my HD died. If you haven't, I strongly recommend backing up your computer ASAP.

God damn it.

Jarhead0331 · August 27, 2016, 09:30:07 AM

Quote from: Staggerwing on August 27, 2016, 09:04:46 AM
What error messages do you get when you BSOD?

One was a DPC Watchdog Violation. There were a few others though too, that I can't recall.

DoctorQuest · August 27, 2016, 09:35:19 AM

Did your new GPU have doc with the minimum power rating? If so, how does that compare with your PSU rating?

You haven't had this rig that long have you, JH?

Tuna · August 27, 2016, 09:47:31 AM

Did you try reseating the card? If you put the old one back in is all well (just wondering if the power supply was 'going').

Staggerwing · August 27, 2016, 10:32:54 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 27, 2016, 09:30:07 AM
Quote from: Staggerwing on August 27, 2016, 09:04:46 AM
What error messages do you get when you BSOD?

One was a DPC Watchdog Violation. There were a few others though too, that I can't recall.

A quick couple of google chops show that DPC Watchdog Violation errors can be caused by improper shut downs as well as hardware issues (so PSU and GFX card can certainly be the culprit). Did you update your video drivers to the latest version? As DoctorQuest mentioned, verify your GFX card's power needs and if you are just within spec also look at any other major components that are drawing power. Do you have a lot of USB peripherals that need USB power? Do you have a power hungry CPU and/or lots of ginormous cooling fans? All that stuff adds up.

undercovergeek · August 27, 2016, 11:27:32 AM

My money is on power

Richie61 · August 27, 2016, 11:53:53 AM

Might be a stupid question, but have you tried swapping GeForce 980 ti card back to see if you still have the issue?

Quick search shows they recommended system power of 500W. Search of card Power consumption is 180 W.
https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/GTX-1080-Founders-Edition.html

I am an AutoCAD guy and I needed to upgrade to a 750W PSU based on my card, fans, drives. My card needs 142W.

Dread Rlyeh · August 27, 2016, 12:27:37 PM

When you restart the computer after a lock, are you hitting reset or powering down and then powering up? I had a computer which would lock every time on a cold boot but a warm boot (reset) at that point would get you through every time as well. This is more of a curiosity question.

As for the instability, I would do the following. Download memtest86 (or whatever the current version is, may have to do some searching) to a usb stick and boot off that. See if the tests complete. If all is good there, start testing from Win10 for stability. RealBench is an excellent testing tool. Make sure you monitor temps while testing though. Get some hd SMART info reader and make sure your OS hd isn't reporting any weirdness.

If something is unstable (which it certainly appears), then the troubleshooting begins. Unless it is obviously a memory or HD issue you could swap back to your old card and retest. If it is the new card, just RMA it. If it is a MB/CPU issue that just cropped up, that is bad news and I would be expecting a failure soon. In the meantime you could monkey with various voltage settings in the BIOS and see if you can get things stable.

As others mentioned, and giving the timing, it could be a PS issue too, though I would think that would be more likely to show up under heavy load.

JudgeDredd · August 27, 2016, 03:55:19 PM

I would think power or perhaps a heating issue? Have you got any software to detect how hot the system is (and your GPU) when running under load?

Dread Rlyeh · August 27, 2016, 05:05:47 PM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on August 27, 2016, 03:55:19 PM
I would think power or perhaps a heating issue? Have you got any software to detect how hot the system is (and your GPU) when running under load?

The issues with boot (appearing at the same time) are pretty strange though. Heating issues shouldn't appear that soon (unless 0 heat sink contact?), though I certainly would check the temp of the cores and GPU as part of the diagnostics and especially during any load testing or GPU bench.

One thing on the GPU side: whatever software you are using, I would setup a user fan profile (%fan speed by degree C), auto can sometimes be wacky. I control my fans and such with MSI afterburner even using an EVGA card, it works fine. I don't have it set to start on boot though (due to overclock settings) and forgot to fire it up the other day and realized that I was sitting at 70C for the entire day (not a huge deal) with StarCrawlers tabbed out. Make sure that whatever you are using for fan control is cooling adequately.

Yskonyn · August 27, 2016, 09:46:24 PM

My money is on power as well.
Even though a given PSU might say its a 700w PSU that really doesn't tell you the whole story.
You need a PSU with a constant voltage and amperage output .
Newer PSU's have a dedicated powerline for high end demanding videocards but if you have an older PSU or a second grade brand one, it very possible the thing struggles with providing stable current under load from the GPU.