GPU outputs horizontal lines

[Linert]

Please see edits for updated information

My GPU stopped working overnight - possibly right after I unplugged a TV, but I'm not sure as the PC monitor was displaying a black screen, so I thought I'd put it to sleep. The next day, I noticed that the PC was on and was displaying nothing but a black screen. A restart failed to show any video -BIOS splash screen included- I went through a number of trouble shooting steps: Reseated and tested RAM, reseated GPU, reset BIOS (reseated battery), reinstalled drivers and operating system (windows 10). By the time I'd cleared the BIOS, I noticed that while the BIOS still didn't display, windows did, so I attempted a reinstall and fresh drivers; this got me to a point where I could tell the BIOS was up (see screenshot), but was still much worse than what an OS could output. I then tried booting to an ubuntu test installation to see if it was software based. Ubunut showed similar issues, with the notable quirk that a block of distortion follows the mouse around (see screenshots), but otherwise seems the same.

At this point I'm a bit lost and would appreciate some advice. The weird lines don't quite seem the same as other people have had and don't occur in small active windows being dragged so I'm not sure what to make of them. At one point it seemed as if they were getting better over time, but it's kind of dynamic, so hard to tell.

I'm comfortable attempting physical work on the card, but figured it's better to ask someone who knows what they're doing to point me in the correct direciton if that becomes neccessary.

Please see the attached screenshots for reference,
Thanks for your time.

Edit:
Card is Zotac GTX 1070 amp extreme,
Card is not overheating,
None of the display outputs work properly,
The card is not overheating,
Screenshot of GPU-Z results

Edit 2:

I've tried to run some memory tests and they instantly fail, plus the card is getting a code 43 from windows, so I suspect it may be VRAM issues as some suggest - does anyone have a reliable source on diagnosing and replacing the problem components?

Thanks for the help

 

[pavle]

What graphics card are we talking about? How old is it? How was it used, did it get too hot anytime?
Might be graphics RAM.

 

[Jose Jeswin]

1. Rule out GPU or GPU memory overheating...
2.Try out the GPU in another System..
3.change the thermal paste..

 

[Linert]

What graphics card are we talking about? How old is it? How was it used, did it get too hot anytime?
Might be graphics RAM.

Doh!

Card is a Zotac GTX 1070 Amp Extreme, 6 years old, it's been hot here but it has good cooling and hasn't been used for anything taxing lately. I have good ventilation in my case as well, nothing should be overheating.


Results from GPU-Z sensor log, which seems odd.

Date , GPU Clock [MHz] , Memory Clock [MHz] , CPU Temperature [°C] , System Memory Used [MB] ,
2022-08-20 21:26:57 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 44.9 , 5076 ,
2022-08-20 21:26:58 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 44.6 , 5081 ,
2022-08-20 21:26:59 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 44.1 , 5087 ,
2022-08-20 21:27:00 , 0.0 , 0.0 , 43.5 , 5083 ,

 

[68Olds]

What cable are you using, HDMI or Display Port? Any kind of adapters? Try switching to a different cable of the same type or a different type.

I had an output go crazy on a DP cable, but still works great on HDMI.

 

[Linert]

What cable are you using, HDMI or Display Port? Any kind of adapters? Try switching to a different cable of the same type or a different type.

I had an output go crazy on a DP cable, but still works great on HDMI.

Forgot to mention: Yes, I've tried using each different output (DVI, hdmi, display port) and they all have garbled output.

 

[Linert]

I've tried to run some memory tests and they instantly fail, plus the card is getting a code 43 from windows, so I suspect it may be VRAM issues as some suggested - does anyone have a reliable source on diagnosing and replacing the problem components?

Thanks for the help

 

[MarsM4N]

My GPU stopped working overnight - possibly right after I unplugged a TV, ...

Could be there was a over current when you connected/disconnected the TV & you fried something on your card. What connection did you use? What model is the TV?
I guess the PC & the TV where powered on when you connected/disconnected them, right? Which increases the chances.

Also make sure you selected the right display in the Windows display settings. And make sure it didn't mess up something in the GPU OC & fan curve settings.
Reconnect the TV and check if the problem occurs there, too.

I've tried to run some memory tests and they instantly fail, plus the card is getting a code 43 from windows, so I suspect it may be VRAM issues as some suggested - does anyone have a reliable source on diagnosing and replacing the problem components?

Thanks for the help

If it's a hardware defect, then you're better off selling the card on eBay as broken & order a new one.

SMD soldering is something not many can master, and even if you find one it will be very expensive. And you first need to do electrical measurements & find out what's actually broken.
Plus chances are high you overcook other components when working on it. Todays tech just isn't designed to get fixed.

P.S.: is "Memory Size 0MB" in GPU-Z normal?

 

[Linert]

Could be there was a over current when you connected/disconnected the TV & you fried something on your card. What connection did you use? What model is the TV?
I guess the PC & the TV where powered on when you connected/disconnected them, right? Which increases the chances.

Also make sure you selected the right display in the Windows display settings. And make sure it didn't mess up something in the GPU OC & fan curve settings.
Reconnect the TV and check if the problem occurs there, too.



If it's a hardware defect, then you're better off selling the card on eBay as broken & order a new one.

SMD soldering is something not many can master, and even if you find one it will be very expensive. And you first need to do electrical measurements & find out what's actually broken.
Plus chances are high you overcook other components when working on it. Todays tech just isn't designed to get fixed.

P.S.: is "Memory Size 0MB" in GPU-Z normal?

Yes, I think both were on. The TV is a Panasonic TX-P42ST50Bm, connnected via HDMI port.


Reconnecting to the TV showed the same issue. I also borrowed someone else's GPU and it worked perfectly, so I'm pretty sure my GPU is the issue.
There is only one display connected and the GPU doesn't even need fans for such low level usage - it has a large heatsink

 

[Linert]

So, I lit some incense and directed positive thoughts towards my defective hardware. Nothing happened.


However, the GPU suddely regained all functionality (VRAM) today without any meaningful contribution from myself; if anyone else has a similar issue, I suspect unplugging the HDMI caused static in the VRAM or something similar. This apparently drained over a couple of days with the GPU plugged in and some on/off cycles.

 

[HD64G]

Something in this GPU is dying. VRAM most possibly.

 

[Shrek]

I'd guess a cracked solder joint on the GPU, which explains the recovery.

 

[pavle]

So, I lit some incense and directed positive thoughts towards my defective hardware. Nothing happened.


However, the GPU suddely regained all functionality (VRAM) today without any meaningful contribution from myself; if anyone else has a similar issue, I suspect unplugging the HDMI caused static in the VRAM or something similar. This apparently drained over a couple of days with the GPU plugged in and some on/off cycles.

I'm glad it works again, I thought your description of the situation is really funny (static charge accumulating in VRAM). Anyhow - may it work for a long time yet.