Reopened - Bad GPU?

[NOTNlCE]

Hello all,
Last week I had my GTX 660 2GB OC die on me, and EVGA replaced the card for me. However, this new card seems rather strange. I keep getting graphical glitches under both OS X and Windows, specifically, my screens stop displaying new information, but my computer keeps playing video/audio whatever it's doing and won't accept new input. Often I can move the mouse around the screen, but can't click anything. Computer must be hard-rebooted.

I initially thought that it was a Web Driver issue with OS X, but I've switched back to the native OS X drivers, and I just ran a Luxmark test on the GPU and got an output of 135. That's one hundred and thirty-five for a GTX 660 2GB OC.

I've reseated the card, but the real question is, do I send this thing back with complaints of underperformance and have them replace it again? Or do I wait for more significant issues? I think I'm going to run some stress tests in Windows to see if it's just an OS X issue or whether the card is bad.

Thanks for your input.
-N

EDIT:

Ah, and within minutes of posting this, my system crashed, and will not boot back up. EVGA's Customer Service is of course closed for the weekend. Looks like I'm breaking out the old Geforce 405 for the next two weeks. Here we go again.

EDIT:

Everything seems fine with my Geforce 405. Only two displays, but I will live. I am wondering if my 3,1 is nuking the 660s, because I mean, what are the odds that I was sent a bum card? Obviously, the cards that take PCIe power only are fine, but is it possible that my 6 pin power cable is overloading the card or something to that extent?

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Have you tried tossing the GPU in PCie slot #1 or #2?

 

[NOTNlCE]

Have you tried tossing the GPU in PCie slot #1 or #2?

Yes, same issue. I even stuck it in my Hackintosh. I can actually get the system to boot up, so it's not like the card is fried like my last one, but after just a few moments booted up, there are hangs and crashes and freezes and the system becomes unresponsive. This occurs in BOTH the Hackintosh and my 3,1.

 

[MH01]

Send it back. Clearly its faulty.

The next one you get, put in the hackintosh first.

 

[NOTNlCE]

Send it back. Clearly its faulty.

The next one you get, put in the hackintosh first.

Waiting on the RMA department to contact me back. Thanks for the advice. I am hoping they will allow for expedited shipping, or at least pay for the freight both ways, because 2 weeks and $15 later, I still have a broken GPU. I have heard wonders about the EVGA customer service department, so now is their time to shine.
-N

 

[MH01]

Waiting on the RMA department to contact me back. Thanks for the advice. I am hoping they will allow for expedited shipping, or at least pay for the freight both ways, because 2 weeks and $15 later, I still have a broken GPU. I have heard wonders about the EVGA customer service department, so now is their time to shine.
-N

Though you might face an issue. Say you get the new one, works great in the hackintosh, but your pro fries it. Not sure evga will replace it again, they will get suspicious after 3 cards.

Now can u get your hands on a cheap gpu, for as little as possible, to see if the Mac Pro is frying them?

 

[NOTNlCE]

Though you might face an issue. Say you get the new one, works great in the hackintosh, but your pro fries it. Not sure evga will replace it again, they will get suspicious after 3 cards.

Now can u get your hands on a cheap gpu, for as little as possible, to see if the Mac Pro is frying them?

I have plenty of spare graphics cards, but they're fine operating in my Pro. I believe that if something is actually frying them, it would be my 6 pin power connector, but that voltage is regulated by the MP logic board, right? I can't imagine that would be causing the issue...or would it?

 

[MH01]

I have plenty of spare graphics cards, but they're fine operating in my Pro. I believe that if something is actually frying them, it would be my 6 pin power connector, but that voltage is regulated by the MP logic board, right? I can't imagine that would be causing the issue...or would it?

Possible but doubtful.

Can you psu support the gpu and whatever u might have added to the pro?

Also try booting up in safe mode and see how it performs

 

[NOTNlCE]

Possible but doubtful.

Can you psu support the gpu and whatever u might have added to the pro?

Also try booting up in safe mode and see how it performs

There is a memory issue with the GPU, the PSU and GPU are totally fine. I ran my original card for more than 8 months without issue before it failed. It only takes 1 6 pin power connector. Power supply is in no way taxed. Safe mode didn't help. LuxMark would terminate with a hardware error regardless.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

There is a memory issue with the GPU, the PSU and GPU are totally fine. I ran my original card for more than 8 months without issue before it failed. It only takes 1 6 pin power connector. Power supply is in no way taxed. Safe mode didn't help. LuxMark would terminate with a hardware error regardless.

Requirements (EVGA website)
Minimum of a 450 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 24 Amps.) Total Power Draw : 140 Watts

PCIe + mobo 6 pin = 75W + 75W = 150W (good to go)

- Did you try both MoBo power connectors to hook-up the 6 pin?
- What's your reading of the PCIe Slot Boost (mobo 6 pin connector)

- Perhaps it is more a SC/OC type EVGA GPU that's bothering our MP? Try a 'standard' GTX 660 / 670?

 

[NOTNlCE]

Update:

So I switched the power connector from the top spot to the bottom spot, and booted up into Windoze. Ran Skyrim at max settings, and came across the same artifacting issue, but instead of freezing the system like it does in OS X, the game simply stalled for a moment, and persevered through it. Then I ran a BioShock Infinite benchmark on Ultra at 1080p, and ended up with a consistent 50FPS, with screen tearing, but that always happens on my system at Ultra. Since then, booted back into OS X, the card is once again driving 3 monitors, and I have been stressing it a good bit. No artifacting, no crash, though I am using the default OS X driver and not the NVIDIA web driver. Huh.

EDIT:

Spoke with EVGA customer support, and they said that it might just be a coincidence of breaking the card in. They gave me a complimentary RMA ticket that is valid for 48 days in case something were to go wrong again.

 

[edgley]

As I need to get a replacement GPU for my 3.1 can I make use of your expertise please?
Cannt get online, so kinda limited to PC World (don't), and here's the choice:
PCWorld GPUs

The only shifting it does is PS and Lightroom, and so a cheap one would be best please.
I'm presuming I then will have to remote load OS X, as I kinda nuked the RAID in the attempt to figure out what was wrong

Thanks!

(do'h - just found the excellent faq about all of this, but gonna keep me blonde request of the exact one needed)

 

[NOTNlCE]

Anything on that first page will do. The lower-power cards are great and perform well enough. When my 660 wasn't functioning, I was using a Geforce 405 I have spare, which is like crap-de-la-crap of Graphics Cards. Anything from the 600 series is fine, I would spring for a 650 or above though. The extra $$ for a nicer card or a GTX vs GT series NVIDIA card is worth it, imho. If you have a local computer hardware store, you might be able to find the 600 series cards on clearance or as a refurb. The 660 I originally purchased cost me $100 at a local Micro Center under Clearance AND Refurb. Lasted me a good 6 months, and EVGA replaced it at minimal cost to me. I think the card was bad when I purchased it, though, not to discredit "clearance" purchases. My friend bought the same card, on clearance and refurb from the same Micro Center, (though MSI edition, not EVGA) and has not had an issue. Guess it was luck of the draw.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Update:

So I switched the power connector from the top spot to the bottom spot, and booted up into Windoze. Ran Skyrim at max settings, and came across the same artifacting issue, but instead of freezing the system like it does in OS X, the game simply stalled for a moment, and persevered through it. Then I ran a BioShock Infinite benchmark on Ultra at 1080p, and ended up with a consistent 50FPS, with screen tearing, but that always happens on my system at Ultra. Since then, booted back into OS X, the card is once again driving 3 monitors, and I have been stressing it a good bit. No artifacting, no crash, though I am using the default OS X driver and not the NVIDIA web driver. Huh.

So you tossed connector on the mobo to connect the 6 pin to the GPU?

EDIT:
Spoke with EVGA customer support, and they said that it might just be a coincidence of breaking the card in. They gave me a complimentary RMA ticket that is valid for 48 days in case something were to go wrong again.

Good or you!

 

[NOTNlCE]

So you tossed connector on the mobo to connect the 6 pin to the GPU?



Good or you!

I'm actually using the same cable, I just switched the port it was plugged into. Whether or not that actually did anything is entirely subjective, I just gave it a try. I think the issue was a memory issue on the card, and when I booted into Windows and ran a few games, it plowed through the error and corrected it.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

I'm actually using the same cable, I just switched the port it was plugged into. Whether or not that actually did anything is entirely subjective, I just gave it a try. I think the issue was a memory issue on the card, and when I booted into Windows and ran a few games, it plowed through the error and corrected it.

Cheers on that!

Then trial-and-error this issue by changing it back to that first connected port again. Always good to know?

 

[NOTNlCE]

Well, just got home from work to find my computer unable to wake from sleep. All three monitors had no picture, forced to hard reboot. Powered up to extremely distorted screens with an incredible amount of artifacting on all three displays. That was it for me, I submitted the RMA for a new card, and EVGA has been generous enough to rush ship me a new card before I ship mine back.

I reseated the card, and am currently driving all three displays with no problems, but the fact that another issue occurred is enough for me to send the card back, especially if EVGA is going to be this great about it.

Will keep you all posted, thanks for all the help.

-N

EDIT:

Day off today, I've been doing a bit of gaming under Windows to test the card out, no issues. However, under OS X, it's slower than molasses. I believe there is a corrupted memory bank in the GPU, and the GPU is smart enough not to address the memory, but the bad part is that it's in the first bit of GPU memory, so it's utilizing something like 1/100th of the total capacity of the VRAM. The reason the issue doesn't show up in Windows, is because the GeForce drivers allow for the GPU to share memory with the System Memory, and OS X does not. So Windows yields just slightly below average performance, while OS X yields crap performance. You can see it with iStat when I run LuxMark. Processor usage is through the roof like it should be, but Memory usage stays at a super low level. Hopefully the replacement will be here soon.

 

[NOTNlCE]

And today we receive GPU #3 from EVGA - it seems to work fine. First thing I did was stick it in the i5 Hackintosh, ran a stress test for about 3 hours. Fine. Totally fine. No problems whatsoever. So, I have just taken the plunge into OS X on my 3,1. I ran a stress test for a few minutes, iStat showed maximum processor usage. Memory usage is currently at a minimum, but no crashes yet. Thanks for all your help.
-N

 

[m4v3r1ck]

That's good news! Cheers