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Question

damaged GTX 460? (blue screen on startup)

Mar 26, 2016 6:13PM PDT

Hello everyone!


I have a problem with my GTX 460 that occurred shortly after cleaning the inside of my computer. My Acer M7811 hasn't been cleaned for a couple of years. I used extensive amount of compressed air in cans to blow out the dust.

Prior to cleaning I faced some very rare blue screens and just as rare situations when my screen froze and I had to force restart.

After clean up everything was nice and quiet. I used 'Speccy' to check the temperatures on different components and they seemed pretty much the same when browsing internet etc.
No major changes were made software-wise; all the drivers were there already together with a fresh Windows 7 Home Premium. Regarding hardware I added some more matching RAM (upgraded from 4 GB to max of 8 GB).


After two days problems started:

1. The monitor turned off suddenly saying ' The current input timing is not supported by the monitor display. Please change your input timing to 1920x1080 60Hz or any other monitor listed timing as per this monitor specifications'

2. after that I managed to access Windows two or three times, once being able to access 'Specc' again. It showed the same low temperatures as before. Each time everything froze together with the cursor within 5 minutes and I had to force restart.

3. Startup repair kicked in at some point trying to repair the problem. It failed and informed of a problem signature 6.1.7600.16385

4. After that the screen went black each time right after 'Starting Windows'. During the last time it went black I could hear the sound of the system starting and the GPU fan blowing air very loud

5. On the next restart I encountered a blue screen saying that 'attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed'. A file was also mentioned – 'nvlddkm.sus'. In the background, there were also some... dots? It wasn't just a solid blue colour, there were some weird striped patterns made of light blue dots.

6. Blue screen happened each time from now on when trying to start Windows normally.

7. When entering BIOS after pressing DEL I could also see that weird pattern made of dots in the blue background. In BIOS they were black and they appeared in horizontal stripe

8. I can access Windows in 'Safe Mode' without any problems

9. I decided to format system partition and reinstall Windows again. It works in low resolution without the GTX 460 drivers. After installing them, blue screen appears again

10. Tried GPU drivers ranging from the latest to oldest accessible (early 2015). No change

11. I enclose a screen from GPU-Z showing some details
http://postimg.org/image/napqbhf9f

12. I ejected the GPU, tried to clean the golden bits, spray some more air, make sure it is fully inserted. The only change it made was some blue dots in the background during the 'American Megatrends' startup screen. Happened once, though.

13. All the above happened when my monitor (Dell E2310Hc) was connected with the bottom GPU slot. If I plug the cable in the upper one there is no blue screen happening after 'Starting Windows' screen; instead of that the monitor turns off and shows the prompt mentioned above in point 1. With the cable in the upper slot I cannot access 'Safe mode'

14. Lastly Ia opened the card itself, removed the bits of dust left and applied new thermal paste. I did not see any visible damage but I might enclose photos. Same as before, the only novelty were some stripes of blue dots on one of the first startup screens. They seem to appear when the card is removed and put back in again.


Anyone has an idea what might have happened?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Ram
Mar 26, 2016 9:53PM PDT

Remove the new ram and reseat the old ram..test.

Tell that you have at least a 500w quality single rail psu.

Did you blow out the psu both directions while you were cleaning?

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Reply
Mar 27, 2016 3:16AM PDT

Many thanks for your reply, Bob__B!

I will follow your advice regarding RAM and report back later.

I just checked my PSU and I am afraid it is a:
Fsp Group FSP450-60EP
Max. Output Power: 450W - 500W Peak
AC Input : 100-127/220-240V 10/5A, 60/50Hz

I did indeed blow the compressed air into the PSU from both directions. Was that a wrong move?
I also blew the air into the GPU from many angles

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Psu
Mar 27, 2016 9:11AM PDT

Cleaning the psu is something folks forget to do.
So what you did is not wrong.

The psu you have is a dual rail unit.
There's nothing wrong with that as long as you do the work to make sure your not overloading a rail.

That's too much work for me so I would go to a single rail unit.

This may have nothing to do with today's problem but it might bite you tomorrow.

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Add-on
Mar 27, 2016 9:33AM PDT
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Add-on reply
Mar 27, 2016 6:16PM PDT

Being an ignorant who uses his computer extensively I guess it would be best if I follow your advice and upgrade to a single rail unit. I will look into that, thanks a lot!

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Answer
The PSU is not that good.
Mar 27, 2016 8:17AM PDT
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Reply
Mar 27, 2016 6:19PM PDT

Thank you for your opinion, R. Proffitt!
I am trying to access a different GPU at the moment to check if the 'dotty' problem disappears!