EVGA GTX 1080 FTW crashing when loading drivers. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: Arty30
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2022, 01:21:51 am
content: Hello all, I've just recently purchased a partially working GTX 1080 FTW edition believing I could resurrect it, which may have been my first mistake, but well ignore that. This GPU is completely allergic to NVidia drivers, I have the same GPU in my own system and when I swap them, with drivers, it gets past the bios post screen, and the windows icon shows up momentarily but crashes shortly after. with the help of my brother and hic pc we were able to boot into safe mode safely, and once we used DDU it was able to work perfectly fine in windows as a basic display adapter. this is where my first question comes in, what does this tell me, how much of the GTX 1080 can I say is working properly; the bios? the memory? I'm not sure. I had suspected a bios issue, so I tried flashing it using NVflash, with no results, however NVflash does give good information, including comparing the installed bios with a .rom bios file from techpowerup. this comparison showed a mismatch with the inforom, (info-rom), which I also flashed using the .ifr file that can be found on the inforom in my working 1080. I would recommend watching JayzTwoCents' video athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZuDVwZixD0&t=1021s,it shows my symptoms are exactly the same,to a tee, only NVflash doesn't return a new/old version change after flashing, and my GPU doesn't have artifacts on screen. having said all that, I just want to know if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing and can give me any advice on how (or not) to proceed. thanks.

author: testpoint1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 02:33:22 am
content: the problem is the most complex for the GPU repairing, as usual, a GPU card problem, less than half an hour, I can fix it, but for the problem, I also need more time, you need to test:1. all the MOSFET working is OK, even the power IC;2. voltage/Current detect IC is OK;3. GPU core chip is OK;4. Vram chip is OK;5. GPU BGA soldering is OK;if you can boot the PC, Vbios is no problem. and please make sure your power supply is good. I just suggest you sell it in Ebay, or send to me I try to fix it for you.

author: TiN
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 02:46:06 am
content: Having no artifacts in basic modes means nothing.Try to find MATS/mods diagnostic tool (may need visit dodgy sites for those) and run memory test in that. If any bits are bad, then you have most likely bad card (open connection with memory/GPU chip) or somebody written wrong BIOS into it (e.g. overclockers or evil miners). Also useful to visually inspect PCB of the card from BOTH sides to see if any component missing/cracked/damaged.

author: Arty30
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 03:54:32 am
content: I have inspected the card and found no obvious faults, I have also flashed the bios multiple times with different versions, and did not change the symptoms. when I get into windows, (no drivers running), and start GPU-Z, it recognizes all GPU information except for the Bus Width, Bandwidth, and Memory size, everything else is correct. I was led to believe that this is information stored in an InfoRom, a non volatile storage device on the GPU that stores various information including that which is missing from GPU-Z. My current diagnosis is that this InfoRom is in some way faulty. I have attempted to flash it, which NVflash stated I did successfully, however this did not fix the issue. In NVflash there are ways to read and compare data on the card. In my case, reading the ROM, which creates a .ROM file, and comparing that to the data on the ROM itself, brings no mismatch errors. However, writing to the ROM, and comparing what should now be on the rom, with the .ROM file I just wrote to it, throws a mismatch error. Essentially, it appears that there is an issue writing to the ROM, but not reading it. With all that said, I'm not sure how to proceed other than determining where the ROM is and possibly replacing it if it is corrupted.

author: Arty30
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 03:58:04 am
content: When is said it creates a .ROM file, I meant a .ifr file, one is bios, one is infoROM data.

author: TiN
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 04:22:05 am
content: If you flashed few BIOSes and it all the same results then 100% its not the BIOS issue. You need to have driver working for GPU-Z to read full information, as that readout done via driver interfaces. So you have hardware fault at this point.

author: Arty30
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2022, 03:16:09 pm
content: Thanks for your input, I guess now the question is what part is faulty and if it can be fixed. This card was relatively cheap so I wouldn't be afraid to attempt a repair if it's not too complicated. since this is a dual bios card and both bios' act the same way, I guess I should look for what is common between them.