EVGA GTX 760 SC 4GB w/ ACX Cooler
i5-2500k @ 4.3GHz
Corsair H90
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
8GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600MHz
XFX Core Edition PRO650W
Windows 8.1

Problem started about three weeks ago. In various games from Day-Z to Gary's Mod to Minecraft. This is my brother's computer so finally today I had a chance to go over to his house and take a look at it.

First decided to see if it was the CPU overclock. Ran Linpack LinX for 20 passes @ 80% memory utilization. Passed with no errors. Then to eliminate any variables I set the CPU at stock clocks.

Then to eliminate more variables I set GPU clocks at stock. Applying default in EVGA Precision.

Ran Heaven Benchmark, started benchmark, made about 3 passes then crashed (Screen goes black / turns off, fans spin up to 100%). Had to hard power it off.

Uninstalled 337.88 drivers and installed the 340.43 Beta drivers. Applying clean installation when installing the Betas.

Restarted computer, tried Heaven again (again this is at stock GPU clocks and stock CPU clocks). Crashed in the first 15 seconds. Screen goes black / shuts off, fans ramp up to 100%. This time it restarted itself, but froze at the Bios screen.

Decided to Google search some possible fixes. What I found was to set Power Options to "High Performance" and also tried in System & Security Advanced System Settings, "Adjust for Best Performance." Also tried setting in nVidia options, "Prefer maximum performance"

Then I tried installing to an older driver from before this started happening. So I installed 335.23. Crashed as soon as Heaven Benchmark loaded up fully. Screen goes black, fan ramps up to 100% restarts. This time though it restarted fine and went right back into Windows.

Then I tried to go even further, and installed 332.21. Ran Heaven 4.0. Same result, screen goes black turns off, sound freezes up in Heaven, and computer restarts.

So this has got me stumped. Computer ran fine for about 6 months no problems, and then three weeks ago the problem began. The overclocks on the GPU were never really that high to begin with (+50 on the core, + 200 on the memory). So I'm having trouble believing the overclock damaged the card. However, the only conclusion I could come up with is the card needs to be RMA'ed.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Note: As far as temperatures go, CPU never goes over 60C and GPU never goes over 60C.
 
Note 2: Also read that people have fixed this issue by flashing their Bios to a newer version. Not sure where I would gain access to a newer bios (also only know how to flash Bios on the 600 series, not really familiar with flashing a bios on a 760; unless it is the same). 

Sajin
Have you tried downclocking the card -105 on both the core and memory? Is the PCB on the card stamped "EVGA" or "NVIDIA"? 
 
 

I've tried down clocking the card but not that much. Can't look at the card right now because I'm no longer at my brother's but I can assure you it's an official nVidia card from EVGA. I will double check tomorrow but the card was purchased from a Microcenter. 

Sajin
Let me know the results tomorrow. 

What happens if it runs at those clocks? Does that mean it needs an RMA?

Sounds like either the GTX 760 or the XFX Core Edition PRO650W is failing..If the card runs either at the lower clocks or overvolted, then it's RMA time..If it don't matter much, then focus on the PSU..Taking the card and putting it in your rig and juicing it up with your Seasonic 1050W to test it further it would be ideal.   

So I downclocked the card to both -100 on the core and -100 on the memory. Made 25 passes on Heaven Benchmark 4.0, finally crashed on the 26th (whereas before it crashed on the first pass). Opened up a ticket for RMA. 

Sajin

BiG StroOnZ
So I downclocked the card to both -100 on the core and -100 on the memory. Made 25 passes on Heaven Benchmark 4.0, finally crashed on the 26th (whereas before it crashed on the first pass). Opened up a ticket for RMA. 

 
Was the card stamped with EVGA or NVIDIA on the PCB?

I forgot to look because I was in a rush to get home to take care of my kid, I'll check again tomorrow. Is there any specific reason why I'm looking for the stamp?

Hate to have to bump this thread after such a long while. But unfortunately I'm having problems again with the newly RMA'ed card. Got the card about two weeks ago. Installed it. Ran Heaven Benchmark 4.0 fine without any issues. I also made sure I didn't overclock anything this time, just to leave out any variables. Card was ran completely stock from this point on. Brother continued to play on the computer in various games without any issues for two weeks. Up until a few days ago, it started exhibiting the same problem as the previous card. Black screening in 3D Mode after a little while. In Heaven it Black Screens within the few first passes. Tried downclocking it to -100 on both the core and the memory. Didn't make much of a difference. Black Screened as soon as I loaded up Heaven.
 
I'm curious about this because I noticed this card did not come in a retail box, but rather a Brown Box. Similar to the Refurbished Boxes you get when you purchase a refurbished EVGA product. I'm assuming that means that this was a refurb card that they sent me. And I'm quite disappointed about this considering the card only lasted two weeks before exhibiting the same problem as the previous card.
 
I would like to point the finger at some other piece of hardware in the rig, but in reality the card worked flawlessly for two weeks until a few days ago. If it was another piece of hardware I'm pretty sure it would exhibit the same issues immediately as opposed to two weeks later. Or like with the other card's case, 6 months later.
 
Is it really possible that I got two defective 4GB 760's in a row?

Sajin

BiG StroOnZ
Is it really possible that I got two defective 4GB 760's in a row?

Yes.

Is there anyway to get a difference series of cards in the RMA process? My brother's rig has been down for quite some time now. Only being able to get it back up for two weeks. I really don't want to get another 760 4GB and have it exhibit the same problems shortly thereafter. I really don't want him to give up on PC gaming. 

Sajin

BiG StroOnZ

Sajin

BiG StroOnZ
Is it really possible that I got two defective 4GB 760's in a row?

Yes.

Is there anyway to get a difference series of cards in the RMA process? My brother's rig has been down for quite some time now. Only being able to get it back up for two weeks. I really don't want to get another 760 4GB and have it exhibit the same problems shortly thereafter. I really don't want him to give up on PC gaming. 

You'll only get a different series of card if EVGA doesn't have anymore 760's for RMA.

Okay, so I should start the RMA process again right?

Sajin
 
No, you should test the card in another machine to make sure the card is really the problem first before starting the RMA again.

Alright I'll do that when I get a chance and report back. Not sure when I'll get a chance to do that because this is a hectic week but I will attempt to do it by this weekend.

Sajin
Report back when you can. 

 
Turns out it was a driver conflict from Windows 8. Apparently Windows 8 was trying to install older drivers on top of the newer driver causing instability and crashes. I noticed when it went to Black Screen it was going to desktop shortly after with a driver error appearing or a Windows error. After cleaning out everything with Driver Sweeper, CC Cleaner, and a few other methods. While also disabling automatic updates we managed to get it running again without Black Screens or CTD.