Nvidia GTX780 fault

[esc4p3]

Hi there, I have a Zotac 3Gb Nvidia GTX780 graphics card. My display suddenly went blank mid-gaming session and the PC rebooted, had to reboot again using the onboard Intel graphics. The GTX780 had disappeared from Device Manager. Moved the card to the 2nd PCIe slot and it worked fine. On that basis because the graphics card works fine in the 2nd slot I figured my motherboard must be at fault, so bought a new identical motherboard.

 

Fitted that today and guess what, the fault is exactly the same. The card will not work in the main x16 PCIe slot, but works fine in the x4 slot. So despite thinking I had diagnosed the fault, it seems the graphics card is fault? Am I missing something?

 

In order to get the graphics card working in the x4 slot, I have to disable onboard graphics....which isn't an issue to me. However, the same solution for the x16 slot results in the PC not booting at all, presumably because the PC does not see a functioning display adapter.

 

System is:

Gigabyte Z87-HD3 motherboard, latest F8 bios

Zotac GTX780 graphics (tried latest drivers, no drivers and some older drivers - but card not even showing in Device Manager)

16Gb ram

Intel Core i7-4770K (not overclocked)

Windows 10, all latest updates

[-rascal-]

13 minutes ago, esc4p3 said:

Hi there, I have a Zotac 3Gb Nvidia GTX780 graphics card. My display suddenly went blank mid-gaming session and the PC rebooted, had to reboot again using the onboard Intel graphics. The GTX780 had disappeared from Device Manager. Moved the card to the 2nd PCIe slot and it worked fine. On that basis because the graphics card works fine in the 2nd slot I figured my motherboard must be at fault, so bought a new identical motherboard.

 

Fitted that today and guess what, the fault is exactly the same. The card will not work in the main x16 PCIe slot, but works fine in the x4 slot. So despite thinking I had diagnosed the fault, it seems the graphics card is fault? Am I missing something?

 

In order to get the graphics card working in the x4 slot, I have to disable onboard graphics....which isn't an issue to me. However, the same solution for the x16 slot results in the PC not booting at all, presumably because the PC does not see a functioning display adapter.

 

System is:

Gigabyte Z87-HD3 motherboard, latest F8 bios

Zotac GTX780 graphics (tried latest drivers, no drivers and some older drivers - but card not even showing in Device Manager)

16Gb ram

Intel Core i7-4770K (not overclocked)

Windows 10, all latest updates

 

It could be a CPU problem, if swapping the motherboard and the problem is still the same.

The top PCI-E X16 slot gets it's 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes directly from the CPU.

The PCI-E X4 slot gets its lanes from the Z87 chipset.

 

[esc4p3]

Thanks @-rascal- - I certainly hadn't banked on this as a potential fault....what you've said makes perfect sense. The only problem is, getting my hands on a processor to swap to confim/deny the issue. Here in the UK a 4770k is around £120 second hand, so not a small amount of money to fault-find. 

[gepowr]

2 hours ago, esc4p3 said:

Thanks @-rascal- - I certainly hadn't banked on this as a potential fault....what you've said makes perfect sense. The only problem is, getting my hands on a processor to swap to confim/deny the issue. Here in the UK a 4770k is around £120 second hand, so not a small amount of money to fault-find. 

Just to make sure, have you tried another gpu ? Doesn't matter which one as long as it fills all 16 lanes. While not impossible, i really doubt that the 4770k is the problem here. 

[esc4p3]

Thanks @gepowr I haven't got a spare GPU unfortunately, a friend who I thought might have a spare one, has not.

 

When you say "as long as it fills all 16 lanes", what do you mean by this? It has to be a reasonably high-spec card I assume?

[-rascal-]

5 hours ago, gepowr said:

Just to make sure, have you tried another gpu ? Doesn't matter which one as long as it fills all 16 lanes. While not impossible, i really doubt that the 4770k is the problem here. 

 

3 hours ago, esc4p3 said:

Thanks @gepowr I haven't got a spare GPU unfortunately, a friend who I thought might have a spare one, has not.

 

When you say "as long as it fills all 16 lanes", what do you mean by this? It has to be a reasonably high-spec card I assume?

 

Gepowr is saying to get any GPU that can go into the PCI-E X16 slot.

Don't get a weird server / workstation GPU where it is only PCI-E X1, X4, or X8.

So basically ANY desktop graphics card .... even like an old GeForce 210 or something...

Just to make sure it is 110% NOT the graphics card.

[esc4p3]

So a GEForce GTX260 for £17.50 off ebay would do it? (I note the power connectors are a little different to mine, so would have to check that, probably cable tidied away in the case somewhere) 

[-rascal-]

13 minutes ago, esc4p3 said:

So a GEForce GTX260 for £17.50 off ebay would do it? (I note the power connectors are a little different to mine, so would have to check that, probably cable tidied away in the case somewhere) 

 

Yes, that would work...

Yes, the GTX 260 uses two (2) PCI-E 6-pin power connectors; GTX 780 is typically 6-pin + 8-pin.

If your 8-pin is a 8+2 cable, just leave the extra +2 hanging.

[esc4p3]

Yes, mine is 6-pin + 8-pin, I THINK it is 6+2, will check tomorrow. Thanks for all your help so far. 

[esc4p3]

The GTX260 is on its way, won't be here until next week. My power supply is a 6+2, so that is fine. Thanks for your help so far, I'll post back when the card has arrived and what the test revealed, so hopefully I can close this one off! (or not!)

[esc4p3]

Ok. GTX260 has arrived and it works fine in the x16 slot, installed the driver and all seems well. (as an aside, having bought the cheapest card I could find for the test, it looks really crappy, made by "Point Of View", never heard of them)

 

Over the weekend, I had restored my PC back to its original state, so this is using my original motherboard, the one I suspected to be faulty. Do I take it then, with reasonable certainty, that my GTX780 is in fact faulty in some way. How can it not work in the x16 slot but does work in the x4 slot?

 

Assuming the answer is "faulty GTX780" then I guess I will have to get a new one, there isn't an easy fix for an amateur like me? I could get a second hand GTX780 here in the UK for around £120-£140, or I could just bite the bullet and go for a GTX1660 Super.....? Am I going to see a noticeable performance improvement for my £220 (1080p gaming on top titles like AC Odyssey, Tomb Raider and Grid 2019)

 

Or in fact for around £160 would a GTX1650 Super provide a good upgrade from the GTX780?

 

I don't want to spend a fortune, because the PC is already 6 years old.

Edited June 1, 2020 by esc4p3
Added a bit more info

[esc4p3]

Would appreciate your input @-rascal- Thanks.....

[-rascal-]

9 minutes ago, esc4p3 said:

Would appreciate your input @-rascal- Thanks.....

 

So the GTX 260 works in the top PCI-E X16 slot?

On both the old "suspected faulty" motherboard, and the new replacement?

 

It's going to be hard to troubleshoot on a complex, multi-layer PCB, like a graphics card.

You'd have to check the PCI-E gold contacts, and follow the electrical traces, and check for signs of damage.

It gets complicated...

 

Either GTX 1660 / 1650 Super would be a HUGE upgrade over a GTX 780.

It even outperforms the GTX 980 all across the scoreboard.

[esc4p3]

11 hours ago, -rascal- said:

 

So the GTX 260 works in the top PCI-E X16 slot?

On both the old "suspected faulty" motherboard, and the new replacement?

Yes that is correct.

 

11 hours ago, -rascal- said:

Either GTX 1660 / 1650 Super would be a HUGE upgrade over a GTX 780.

It even outperforms the GTX 980 all across the scoreboard.

This is great to know (super even....), thanks @-rascal-

[esc4p3]

Just to close this off, thanks again to @-rascal-

 

I have now fitted a new 1660 Super to my old motherboard in the x16 slot, and it works fine (71fps on Ultra 1080p in Tomb Raider). A long road to fixing this, but got there in the end. 

 

It seems my GTX780 has some weird fault where it works in the x4 slot but not the x16..... Huh? 

[-rascal-]

36 minutes ago, esc4p3 said:

Just to close this off, thanks again to @-rascal-

 

I have now fitted a new 1660 Super to my old motherboard in the x16 slot, and it works fine (71fps on Ultra 1080p in Tomb Raider). A long road to fixing this, but got there in the end. 

 

It seems my GTX780 has some weird fault where it works in the x4 slot but not the x16..... Huh? 

 

That's some good news!

Good thing the ol' CPU and motherboard got another chance at it.

 

It seems like the remaining GTX 780's around are starting to pop up with issues as they age.

Given they were first launched in 2013...7 years is a lot for electronics...