PC Freezes With GPU Installed

[jeffersonstargate]

When I powered on my box today, it started freezing ~10 seconds to a few minutes after login. 

 

Here's my specs:

• Windows 10 
• CPU: Intel i5 7500
• MB: MSI H110M GAMING BIOS 5.A0
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 Samsung M378A1k43CB2-CRC
• PSU: 700W OCZ700MXSP 
• GPU: Asus GeForce GTX1070
• Boot SSD: Intel 240GB SSD
• 256GB Micron SSD
• 1TB WD Blue HDD

It'll freeze after booting to any medium, be it OS on SSD or a USB Linux distro or a Windows repair tool.

After unslotting a RAM stick and pulling the GPU, I was able to successfully perform a Windows 10 reset.

After this, if I reslot the second stick and GPU, the issue comes back.

 

If I reslot just the second DIMM, I can get to desktop without a freeze and am currently running without issue (3+ hrs now)

 

This leads me to believe something is wrong with the GPU, but from what I can tell all the capacitors and the visible hardware appear to be fine. I've never known a GPU to cause a system to lockup. Should I RMA the card? It was bought 4 months ago, I would be very surprised if it died that quickly.

 

Is it more likely that it's the PSU or mobo? I've changed PCIE power slots on the PSU since it's modular and the issue remains. If it was the PSU, I'd expect a blue screen, not a hard lock that needs a hard reset to clear. Could the PCIe slot on the mobo be faulty? I'm at my wits end as to what to test next. The mobo doesn't have a second PCIe slot to try, and no friends/family have systems capable of testing the GPU in...

[Ace McPlane]

9 hours ago, jeffersonstargate said:

When I powered on my box today, it started freezing ~10 seconds to a few minutes after login. 

 

Here's my specs:

• Windows 10 
• CPU: Intel i5 7500
• MB: MSI H110M GAMING BIOS 5.A0
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 Samsung M378A1k43CB2-CRC
• PSU: 700W OCZ700MXSP 
• GPU: Asus GeForce GTX1070
• Boot SSD: Intel 240GB SSD
• 256GB Micron SSD
• 1TB WD Blue HDD

It'll freeze after booting to any medium, be it OS on SSD or a USB Linux distro or a Windows repair tool.

After unslotting a RAM stick and pulling the GPU, I was able to successfully perform a Windows 10 reset.

After this, if I reslot the second stick and GPU, the issue comes back.

 

If I reslot just the second DIMM, I can get to desktop without a freeze and am currently running without issue (3+ hrs now)

 

This leads me to believe something is wrong with the GPU, but from what I can tell all the capacitors and the visible hardware appear to be fine. I've never known a GPU to cause a system to lockup. Should I RMA the card? It was bought 4 months ago, I would be very surprised if it died that quickly.

 

Is it more likely that it's the PSU or mobo? I've changed PCIE power slots on the PSU since it's modular and the issue remains. If it was the PSU, I'd expect a blue screen, not a hard lock that needs a hard reset to clear. Could the PCIe slot on the mobo be faulty? I'm at my wits end as to what to test next. The mobo doesn't have a second PCIe slot to try, and no friends/family have systems capable of testing the GPU in...

Sounds like the memory to me.

Try running memtest86 from a thumb drive. You need to use the USB installer on this page and then boot to the drive. Then just let it run overnight and see if there are any warnings in the morning.

https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

[jeffersonstargate]

Worth a shot. I'll fire it up when I get home tonight.

 

Could the dimms going bad really cause this? I find it really odd that popping out the GPU and leaving both sticks installed makes the system run seemingly fine. 

 

[jeffersonstargate]

Update:

 

Was able to slot the GPU card in another box at work, and it boots fine. Swapped out PSUs and the issue persists, and tried a brand new dimm.

 

I still cannot get past the Windows boot screen with the GPU installed, regardless of RAM configuration.

 

This is beginning to look like something on the motherboard has gone out...