GTX 560 Problems

[Zukan]

So i have this GTX 560 for quite some time now and after a year of usage it started acting weird like when i installed Windows it would always keep crashing with "nvidia video driver has crashed and was recovered" but sometime in games it would run for a little and the hole PC would freeze. I took it down and talked with EVGA support about this and they said since i still have the RMA on it i should send it. So i looked in my town for some delivery services that would bring this card to the  EVGA repair center in Germany only to find out that only sending this card will cost more then half it's value without the proper packaging like bubble-wrappers and they don't offer any kind of protection for it. After seen how people throw around packages in the vans i decided not to risk it and just leave it be. I kinda feel silly for this but after not using the card for like a year when i opened the box that came originally with the card i failed to grab the card and it slammed the ground with the face down where the fan is spinning. There was some sort of movement there but it's not quite that dramatic. I remember the card having issues when you booted it up even when it was loading the Windows you would get lines on the screen in like a 8 or 16bit mode and even in Windows it was all the same. It was unable to render properly... so turned down the PC and put it vertically... centered the hole fan thingy and SURPRISE SURPRISE it runs beautiful with no flaws.. no crashes not even overheating. Been using this card for the past 3 weeks now in desktop apps, movies, games and so on and it hasn't failed once so i was wondering what seems to be the problem with this card? If i turn the PC horizontally again i'll get those 16bit black and white lines again. Any tips what it could be?

[CostcoSamples]

A loose connection on the card somewhere?  Perhaps try plugging the display into a different port?  You could always open the thing up (take off the heatsink and fan etc) and look around for any signs of damage.  It might also benefit from cleaning and applying new thermal paste while you are at it.  I'm amazed at how often taking electronics apart, cleaning, and putting back together can solve problems.

[Zukan]

A loose connection on the card somewhere?  Perhaps try plugging the display into a different port?  You could always open the thing up (take off the heatsink and fan etc) and look around for any signs of damage.  It might also benefit from cleaning and applying new thermal paste while you are at it.  I'm amazed at how often taking electronics apart, cleaning, and putting back together can solve problems.

 

Frankly I'm a little skeptical about opening that GTX since i never did this sort of stuff and everyone that I've talked to regarding this is said that if you don't know what your doing then you might as well not touch it

[middleclasspoor]

I used two GTX560 ti's for years (still have them actually). Removing the fan shroud and heatsink is very easy to do, just take your time and keep track of what goes where. If I can do it......anyone can.

 

 

Just my .02.

 

 

Good luck.

[Zukan]

If i decide to open it up what thermo paste should i use since i believe the CPU ones like Artic Silver 5 won't cut it since GPU's have a tendency to run a lot hotter then CPU's

[middleclasspoor]

I just used the same thermal paste I used on my CPU......worked just fine.

[CostcoSamples]

If i decide to open it up what thermo paste should i use since i believe the CPU ones like Artic Silver 5 won't cut it since GPU's have a tendency to run a lot hotter then CPU's

Whatever you've got will be fine.  It's an old card so I wouldn't go spending a bunch of money on fancy paste.

 

When you take it apart, make sure you have lots of room, carefully keep track of where each screw goes, take pictures if you want, and you'll be fine.  Also keep the thermal pads on the memory etc.  you'll need to put them back on when you are done.

[Zukan]

I still haven't touched the grill on this GTX but so far if i stand the PC up with this card this is what the image looks like. As far as temp goes i get 36C in Idle mode and 65C in FULL LOAD