Nvidia 295 Powers on but does not display sometimes.

[jaderaven]

I have a xfx gtx 295, and when I go to power on the green light indicating that it is receiving the appropriate amount of power comes on, but the Blue led indicating that it is transmitting a video signal remains off.

Here's the weird part.

I am using this machine to type this message. It seems that If i leave the computer alone for a few hours and come back it all works properly, but if I shut off the computer or restart it in any way it will no longer display.

The graphics card works flawlessly otherwise. No graphical glitches, and no crashes or bsod's
I can play crysis and fallout perfectly.

Specs are as follows.

Asus P5n-d Motherboard
Intell Q9650
Nvidia 295
2X Western Digital 320gb 7200 rpm hard drives.(Raid 0)
6Gb Crucial Ballistix @ 1180mHz
5-5-5-12
Windows 7 build 7264 64 bit.
RocketFish 800 watt psu.

 

[digibucc]

that is really something. is it a fresh install of windows? and you've rechecked everything to make sure it is all seated properly (ram, video, etc?) I have had cold-start / warm-start issues before. usually narrowed down to power or RAM. just because the vid is giving you the signal, doesn't mean that's where the problem is at.

 

[jaderaven]

that is really something. is it a fresh install of windows? and you've rechecked everything to make sure it is all seated properly (ram, video, etc?)

It's been taken apart more times in the last few days that I am willing to admit. It is the same install i have been using for a month or so.

I have also updated drivers, and moved the card down to my second pci-e slot.

 

[digibucc]

It's been taken apart more times in the last few days that I am willing to admit. It is the same install i have been using for a month or so.

and is this a fresh symptom, or have you been dealing with it this whole time?

 

[digibucc]

I would look into power. grounding and PSU. I don't know of rocketfish - but are they reliable? if your psu is not putting out stable energy, it doesn't matter the wattage. your video card seems fine by objective standards, so it makes me think something else is changing when the gpu posts, and that could be power fluctuations. you don't have one to test with do you?

edit:rocketfish is a best buy brand. even if it's not the cause, I would ditch it. your hardware is too important to let a best buy/dynex bastard child destroy it.

 

[jaderaven]

and is this a fresh symptom, or have you been dealing with it this whole time?

just started happening two days ago when I had a friend bring a rig over to test out with my card. I followed all proper procedures (ie. grounding myself with an anti static bracelet, and just being careful in general) I even used my own power supply. It worked fine on his motherboard, but when I transferred it back to my rig these problems started. I should also note that I used a spare card to see if it was possibly my board giving me problems, and it worked just fine, so I have narrowed this problem down to my card.

 

[digibucc]

.... I should also note that I used a spare card to see if it was possibly my board giving me problems, and it worked just fine, so I have narrowed this problem down to my card.

well not necessarily. what is the spare? is it equivalent in power draw? is RMA an option?

 

[jaderaven]

I would look into power. grounding and PSU. I don't know of rocketfish - but are they reliable? if your psu is not putting out stable energy, it doesn't matter the wattage. your video card seems fine by objective standards, so it makes me think something else is changing when the gpu posts, and that could be power fluctuations. you don't have one to test with do you?

edit:rocketfish is a best buy brand. even if it's not the cause, I would ditch it. your hardware is too important to let a best buy/dynex bastard child destroy it.

I used to have a corsair 850 watt, but it had a bad habit of frying boards. I have used the same GPU/PSU config for months now.

 

[jaderaven]

well not necessarily. what is the spare? is it equivalent in power draw? is RMA an option?

RMA is not an option as I have had this card since they came out. The other card is a 9600, and it is no where near equivalent in power draw.

 

[digibucc]

and you've got the 24 +8 plugged into the mobo, or did you do a +4? your other wires are properly out of the way, but not contacting anything?

 

[digibucc]

when it doesn't post, do you get any system beeps? do you have a system speaker hooked up?

 

[jaderaven]

When the Gpu doesn't post the rest of the system carries on normally. I even get the music from the password prompt through my speakers. All my input devices still work.

I am using the 24 +4 option for power.

 

[digibucc]

so yeah. that does sound more like the gpu you are right. I would expect the psu to halt the system, not just the gpu.

I will have to look into this one. hopefully someone comes up with something before me, but otherwise I will be back in a day or so with something I would hope. this is most defintily a new one ... haven't had one of those in years

 

[jaderaven]

I did a decent job as far as the wiring is concerned. I'm leaning towards some kind of software issue on my card. Is there any way for me to flash it or something?

 

[jaderaven]

Also thank you for the help! I appreciate it greatly.

 

[digibucc]

yes you can flash them. I don't know how to do yours specifically, but I can find out. It doesn't seem as likely, but it is definitely possible that it is a bios thing on your gpu. and no problem
'

yeah ... i would stay away from flashing it until you are down and out. i have neve rfelt good about flashing a bios unless absolutely necessary. have bricked enough mobos/cards to learn that one.

anyway, here is a link on tpu for bioses:
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/...ufacturer=&model=GTX+295&interface=&memSize=0
and here is a quote post on how to use it:

Short answer:

1) Use "nvflash" to first make a backup of your current BIOS
2) Use "nibitor" to manipulate and save a BIOS (or you can download one from http://www.mvktech.net/)
3) Use "nvflash" to flash the new BIOS to the card

For detailed instructions - well they are discussed many, many places on the net including on Guru3D so I'd suggest doing a bit of research.

If you're stuck at some stage I can help, but first you should try and do a little research on how it's done - now that you know what software to use.

a tpu link for nvflash
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1439/NVFlash_5.80.html

 

[jaderaven]

yes you can flash them. I don't know how to do yours specifically, but I can find out. It doesn't seem as likely, but it is definitely possible that it is a bios thing on your gpu. and no problem

If you could link me to a decent guide I would be willing to give it a shot. It's easy for me to say I did everything right when transferring the card from my machine to my friends and back, and also very easy for you to say I broke it while doing this, but I take massive amounts of precautions when doing this sort of thing, and I firmly believe that the card didn't like it when it was run on another machine. It really makes me think flashing it would do the trick, especially since it plays games fine. Im playing fallout 3 right now, and its working perfectly.


EDIT: you beat me to the post button. Thanks a ton.

 

[digibucc]

make sure to get nvflash 5.8, not 5.57! that one is from 2007. i updated the link , but there was a link to it on the original page as well.

good luck ! keep us updated!

 

[jaderaven]

Do you happen to have any idea where I can get a 64 bit version of that NVflash program?

 

[digibucc]

run it in dos mode , through command prompt or boot to cmd

 

[erocker]

I should also note that I used a spare card to see if it was possibly my board giving me problems, and it worked just fine, so I have narrowed this problem down to my card.

This may have made a hardware/driver conflict. Uninstall and reinstall the latest drivers for your video card.

 

[jaderaven]

run it in dos mode , through command prompt or boot to cmd

I Ran it in command prompt and thats where it gives me the error. It says its not compatable with x64.

 

[eidairaman1]

maybe a faulty driver or that PSU, who makes rocketfish anyway?

 

[jaderaven]

I just updated my gpu driver last night. Didn't help. The Psu seems to be in working order. I checked voltages with my multimeter. It's not the cause of the problem as far as I can tell.

 

[jaderaven]

If I could just figure out how to get nvflash to work I would be in good shape. Ive ran it in command prompt and it still gave me that same error.