Windows Code 43 (automatic disabling) on my GPU?

[TheDieHardNinja]

I think my graphics card (an EVGA 780Ti SC) might have bricked itself? You can see my full PC specs on my profile

 

The short story is that Windows (Pro, 64-bit) has automatically disabled my GPU (Code 43 in device manager) and there's nothing I seem to be able to do about it.

 

The long story is... The night before my woes I shut down my computer and it had no updates pending install, so everything seemed normal. The next day I powered up my computer and I think I hit enter after typing my password when the screen froze and after doing nothing for a bit, I got a BSoD whose apparent cause was "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION". I restarted my computer and basically the same thing happened again, however this time the display freaked out a little before it BSoDed with the same error. It then got stuck in a boot loop for a couple of cycles before starting up again, at which point I was able to log in, but very shortly after the display freaked out (I got all kinds of funny shapes and colours) before it died and put itself into recovery mode and I rebooted it again. This time it started in a funky resolution and let me into windows just fine, at which point I realised that it was running with no driver active. Interestingly, with the GPU physically installed, CPU-Z can tell what it is, but can't seem to access any operating statistics such as clock speed and memory capacity.

 

I have tried everything which I (and others) can think of to get windows to accept my GPU again... I have:

• Fully updated windows
• Completely physically removed my GPU and reseated it
• Uninstalled the GPU from the system in Device Manager and re-discovered it
• Run DDU in safe mode
• Installed a 3 month old driver through device manager
• Installed the latest driver from GeForce Experience
• Put it in another system, but the screen went black and remained blank when the driver was installed

I haven't tried reinstalling Windows because I've had to do it before and I want to avoid that inconvenience at all costs - is there anything else I can try?

I've bought a PSU tester to verify that it isn't a power supply issue.

Could it be a corrupted VBIOS?

[emosun]

well actually if the monitor is plugged into the gpu it's using the gpu just in hardware mode with no driver installed.

Try just reinstalling windows to see if it's fixable via software means rather than hardware.

[TheDieHardNinja]

1 hour ago, emosun said:

well actually if the monitor is plugged into the gpu it's using the gpu just in hardware mode with no driver installed.

Try just reinstalling windows to see if it's fixable via software means rather than hardware.

Ah, good to know. Reinstalling windows is my last resort. It would just be so inconvenient - I've already had to do it once before for a different issue... Is there anything else I can try?

[8-Bit Ninja]

1 minute ago, TheDieHardNinja said:

Ah, good to know. Reinstalling windows is my last resort. It would just be so inconvenient - I've already had to do it once before for a different issue... IS there anything else I can try?

I'd suggest using a piece of software called DDU to remove your graphics driver (Device Manager can be pretty crappy at deleting everything) and then reinstall the driver. 

[emosun]

8 minutes ago, TheDieHardNinja said:

IS there anything else I can try?

well right now is possibly the worst time in the past 30 years to have a gpu die so software fixes are what you wanna hope it is.

However if you dont use the gpu for anything and you have an onboard gpu you could switch to that

[TheDieHardNinja]

36 minutes ago, emosun said:

well right now is possibly the worst time in the past 30 years to have a gpu die so software fixes are what you wanna hope it is.

However if you dont use the gpu for anything and you have an onboard gpu you could switch to that

lol I'm painfully aware of that... my current GPU has served me well for six and a bit years, so I wouldn't mind upgrading, but I literally can't!

[TheDieHardNinja]

44 minutes ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

I'd suggest using a piece of software called DDU to remove your graphics driver (Device Manager can be pretty crappy at deleting everything) and then reinstall the driver. 

yep, just tried that and it didn't work. Good shout though. I considered it closer to the beginning of my troubleshooting process but forgot about it later on...

[8-Bit Ninja]

17 minutes ago, TheDieHardNinja said:

yep, just tried that and it didn't work. Good shout though. I considered it closer to the beginning of my troubleshooting process but forgot about it later on...

Have you been installing the same version driver on each reinstall? 

[TheDieHardNinja]

1 minute ago, 8-Bit Ninja said:

Have you been installing the same version driver on each reinstall? 

I had an outdated driver when the problem first occurred and it continues to occur now with the latest drivers. I have also tried manually installing a 3 month old driver though