squeets
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Two weeks back I bought I GTX 970 from Microcenter when my GTX 680 suddenly and unexpectedly died. I paid full price for a "new" card... http://i.imgur.com/TLG45EB.jpg That is an image of my card right after taking it out of the box. As you can see there is some kind of stuff all over it. Someone told me it was solder flux residue and not to worry, but I have had many different cards over the years (8800GTS, GTX 260, GTX 470, GTX 680), all of them from EVGA, and I have never seen anything like that on my cards before. The dirty appearance of the card isn't all that bothered me though... It also runs incredibly hot... Like my 680 idled at ~36C and max under load got up to 68C... And the 970 is supposed to be more energy efficient and use less power in general and mine idles in the area of ~41C and gets up to 76C-78C full load... And then on top of that, a few days ago I had two apparent driver crashes during my games... Everything was functioning normally and then my screen went black, and recovered shortly after... With one of the games everything recovered fully a few moments later with the game still running fine... But the second game where this happened after the screen went black and then recovered the game itself crashed and required me to restart my computer... I completely uninstalled my drivers with display driver uninstaller and then put the most recent drivers on... I haven't had any further crashes like that since... This all has me incredibly worried though because I have never had temps this high outside of my GTX 470 and I have literally never since 2007 and my first PC with that 8800 GTS had any experience where my screen would go black while playing a game... Should I RMA this card? Thank you.
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MrImSoGood
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/20 21:01:21
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I say take it back to Microcenter and tell them you think this was a refurbished card that you paid full retail for and that you either want a refund or to exchange for a brand new one
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squeets
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/20 21:02:43
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MrImSoGood
I say take it back to Microcenter and tell them you think this was a refurbished card that you paid full retail for and that you either want a refund or to exchange for a brand new one
Will they let me do that if I have registered it here on EVGA's website?
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sahafiec
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/20 21:31:57
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the GTX970 doesn't spin the fans until 60C, that's the zero dB fan mode.
with that said 40C at idle is not much neither is the 76C-78C at full load.
still if you wish you can use a custom fan profile using PrecisionX or MSI Afterburner.
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Erik
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/20 23:59:48
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squeets
MrImSoGood
I say take it back to Microcenter and tell them you think this was a refurbished card that you paid full retail for and that you either want a refund or to exchange for a brand new one
Will they let me do that if I have registered it here on EVGA's website?
That registration information is only for us. I'd recommend un-registering the product before returning it so that you do not see it every time you check your registered items. sahafiec
the GTX970 doesn't spin the fans until 60C, that's the zero dB fan mode.
with that said 40C at idle is not much neither is the 76C-78C at full load.
still if you wish you can use a custom fan profile using PrecisionX or MSI Afterburner.
This is correct. When my 980 was still on air, it would even reach into the low 50's when using the standard profile which is still well within safe temperatures.
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pathfindercod
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/21 03:18:12
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The flux is normal. Every evga card I've owned has had excessive amounts of smearing and flux on them.
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stalinx20
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/21 04:37:01
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If the card works, i wouldnt really worry about it. you're not going to see those "smears" anyway once you install the card. My opinion, of course.
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ericc191
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/21 10:10:35
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The smears are normal. I have had them on my last 3 cards and once the card heats up, they fade.
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the_Scarlet_one
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/21 11:20:27
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If you are on the latest 350.26 driver, you should read the release thread in the 900 series forum. The driver crashes with that driver are not the card.. It's every card doing it... Meaning it is a driver issue. Revert back to 350.12 or whatever it was.
The flux is fine, just looks funky.
Also, what games? The first game and second game don't say much. Can you list which ones are first and second?
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squeets
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 18:12:37
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Scarlet-Tech
If you are on the latest 350.26 driver, you should read the release thread in the 900 series forum. The driver crashes with that driver are not the card.. It's every card doing it... Meaning it is a driver issue. Revert back to 350.12 or whatever it was.
The flux is fine, just looks funky.
Also, what games? The first game and second game don't say much. Can you list which ones are first and second?
Sorry was indisposed since I posted this the other day. The first time the drivers crashed I was playing Diablo 3. Nothing was out of the ordinary and the card wasn't even running at high clocks/temperature. The screen just went black for a few seconds and then recovered still in game and playing. This crash happened in the middle of playing for several hours, like 2-3 hours of playing fine, then the crash/recover, and played like an hour longer. The second time was with Witcher 3. The screen went black for a few seconds and then seemed to recover, but the game client was actually frozen and I couldn't Ctrl Alt Del out or anything and needed to restart my computer. This crash was after playing for about two hours. I took it back to Microcenter like that first guy suggested and they were pretty cool about it and just gave me a new card... I threw it in and had a driver crash on Chrome of all things earlier... I tried to play Witcher 3 again and it crashed and froze within 20 minutes of starting. I don't even get it because in these last two weeks of having this card I have played like 30-40 hours of various other games (yep, no life), and haven't had anything like this happen on any other game, even with the newer drivers... Games like WoW, SWTOR, League of Legends, Dragon Age: Inquisition, etc... All of them, a fudge ton of play time and no problems at all. I uninstalled the newest drivers with Display Driver Uninstaller and installed the 347.88 drivers because someone told me those were the last stable drivers for 970, but I have no clue at this point. All I know is I am having a pretty bad time because in the 8 years of being a PC gamer since I could afford my first PC in 2007 I have never had anything like this happen and its unnerving. At least when a part is dead its cut and dry, but this is making me really uncomfortable since it is happening only on some games some times.
post edited by squeets - 2015/05/23 18:19:06
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chrisdglong
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 19:23:02
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squeets
MrImSoGood
I say take it back to Microcenter and tell them you think this was a refurbished card that you paid full retail for and that you either want a refund or to exchange for a brand new one
Will they let me do that if I have registered it here on EVGA's website?
Yes, registration does not affect a retail return. Believe me, I have done so MANY times.
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flexy123
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 20:01:56
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When I had my first SC ACX2.0 970 RMAed and got a brand-new, sealed one in the box back, it had on the PCB what I can only call a slight "milky" film. TBH I didn't care and think this may be normal from manufacturing. As long as the card works. Your idle temps are totally normal, but what surprises me are your load temps since you have a -3975 which AS I ASSUMED shouldn't even get anywhere near this because they have an entirely different heatsink and should run cooler than the -2975 (SC ACX2.0). Do you overclock? If you do not overclock this is indeed odd. There are some possibilities: A) Your PC temps in your case and your airflow are very poor, adding to the temps. (NOT that 77C or 78C would be "worry-some"), I would "worry" once you hit 80s and (correct me if I am wrong) I think the card only throttles once they hit 85. So while 77C is for some odd reason high, it's not a "worry some" temp really. B) Your card's heat sink is not seated right. I am actually strongly believing this the case since the -3975 should NOT reach 78C and for sure not at stock speeds, also not without a custom fan curve. (If this is the case and you'd know what to do and how to do it you can remove the heatsink and re-apply good thermal paste like Arctic MX4 and re-seat the heatsink and see whether this improves things) C) Your fan is not working/spinning... VERY LIKELY too seeing those temps. Do you use MSI Afterburner (recommended) or PrecisionX for a custom fan-curve? I mean this should be standard for anyone to use such a tool. ** Rather than pondering about specific games where no-one knows whether they have bugs or whether the latest Nvidia drivers work ok it's better to test your card with benchmarks like 3DMark (firestrike, 3dmark11, 3dmark06) and Heaven Benchmark at Ultra/Extreme settings. Because with those we know it's supposed to work and it's just better to have a common denominator rather than the latest game. So or so, yes if not done already use Display Driver Uninstaller, clean out everything with it and reinstall drivers. Aside from that, there can be other reasons for crashes, like a poor "cheap" or simply not powerful enough power supply. Since you had TWO cards and saw crashes it may well be that you have a problem with your PC (PSU? Memory?) and not even the card. I recommend you check your memory with "memtest", see Google. PS:No-one can diagnose your problems "over the internet" since you didn't specify anything about your PC, for example what type and brand of power supply you have.
post edited by flexy123 - 2015/05/23 20:12:26
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squeets
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 20:24:18
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flexy123
When I had my first SC ACX2.0 970 RMAed and got a brand-new, sealed one in the box back, it had on the PCB what I can only call a slight "milky" film. TBH I didn't care and think this may be normal from manufacturing. As long as the card works.
Your idle temps are totally normal, but what surprises me are your load temps since you have a -3975 which AS I ASSUMED shouldn't even get anywhere near this because they have an entirely different heatsink and should run cooler than the -2975 (SC ACX2.0). Do you overclock? If you do not overclock this is indeed odd.
There are some possibilities:
A) Your PC temps in your case and your airflow are very poor, adding to the temps. (NOT that 77C or 78C would be "worry-some"), I would "worry" once you hit 80s and (correct me if I am wrong) I think the card only throttles once they hit 85. So while 77C is for some odd reason high, it's not a "worry some" temp really.
B) Your card's heat sink is not seated right. I am actually strongly believing this the case since the -3975 should NOT reach 78C and for sure not at stock speeds, also not without a custom fan curve. (If this is the case and you'd know what to do and how to do it you can remove the heatsink and re-apply good thermal paste like Arctic MX4 and re-seat the heatsink and see whether this improves things)
C) Your fan is not working/spinning... VERY LIKELY too seeing those temps.
Do you use MSI Afterburner (recommended) or PrecisionX for a custom fan-curve? I mean this should be standard for anyone to use such a tool.
** Rather than pondering about specific games where no-one knows whether they have bugs or whether the latest Nvidia drivers work ok it's better to test your card with benchmarks like 3DMark (firestrike, 3dmark11, 3dmark06) and Heaven Benchmark at Ultra/Extreme settings. Because with those we know it's supposed to work and it's just better to have a common denominator rather than the latest game.
So or so, yes if not done already use Display Driver Uninstaller, clean out everything with it and reinstall drivers.
Aside from that, there can be other reasons for crashes, like a poor "cheap" or simply not powerful enough power supply. Since you had TWO cards and saw crashes it may well be that you have a problem with your PC (PSU? Memory?) and not even the card.
I recommend you check your memory with "memtest", see Google.
PS:No-one can diagnose your problems "over the internet" since you didn't specify anything about your PC, for example what type and brand of power supply you have.
Well my second card had basically identical temps. It can't be airflow as I am using a Corsair Air 540, meaning all of the drives, cables, etc., are on the back side of the case. So inside the front of the case there are literally two 120MM fans, empty space of about 4 inches, and then the GPU. No dust either. Power Supply is a Seasonic X-850. I do NOT overclock, never have, never will. Before I returned/replaced my first card at Microcenter I called EVGA support and the person I spoke to told me that my temperatures were perfectly normal. I think the chances of both GPUs having the heatsinks seated incorrectly are remote. I created a custom fan profile and my temps never got above 66C, but even at 50-60% the fans on this card are incredibly loud. Like I can hear them through my desk, through my over ear headphones, through explosions and killing in my games... The 78C was before the custom profile and the fans barely kicked in, going to max 35% at that temperature. I played Witcher 3 again since posting my previous post with the 347.88 drivers and the custom fan profile... The game didn't crash in the two hours I played which is a far cry from crashing after only twenty minutes with the latest drivers. I am inclined to think what scarlet tech said of it being driver related is entirely the issue, and not temps. The EVGA support guy said the card is rated to run up to 95C and I have never been anywhere near that... And both cards were up to 76-78 without the custom fan profile.
post edited by squeets - 2015/05/23 20:27:13
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chrisdglong
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 22:00:46
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What are your ambient room temps?
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squeets
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/23 22:54:59
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chrisdglong
What are your ambient room temps?
Pretty cool, been about ~70F in my area and I have had my whole house opened up with a breeze blowing through.
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EVGATech_JaesonW
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Re: Is this a used GPU?
2015/05/24 09:24:28
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As the others have said, the flux residue on the back of the card is normal and fairly common. Both my 970s have it, as did my 760s.
Your temps are fairly average for the card. The stock fan curve is fairly conservative on 900 series ACX cards so they run hotter but quieter than 600/700 series cards under load without a custom fan curve.
A lot of people have been reporting crashes with the 350 and 352 drivers. Try running Display Driver Uninstaller ( wagnardmobile.com/DDU/ ), then install 347.88 and see if your crashing goes away. I had some issues with 352.86 at first, then ran DDU and reinstalled and I haven't had a problem since.
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