Image corruption on bios load & POST ..

[Synth]

Hey guys,

I have recently rebuilt my PC, and installed my new GTX275.

The rig has been working flawlessly for 2-3 weeks, gaming (ie. CoD:MW2) and priming (Prime95) for hours on end, with NO problems.

However, since yesterday, whenever I cold boot, right on bios load, and then POST, the text is completely garbled and shows image corruption... up until the Windows 7 loading screen that looks perfectly normal.

However, after the W7 loading screen, the computer fails to fully load Windows and I'm stuck with a black screen.

I assumed the video card was the culprit, but the more I think about it, it makes no sense:
- the Win7 loading screen looks fine
- the drivers should not even be loaded at that point
- no load on the GPU

Now, I have taken the following steps, to no avail :
- cleared the CMOS (a million times)
- swapped out RAM
- unplugged hard drives (SSDs)
- checked for water cooling leaks (none found)

I have yet to try swapping video cards... But I now think my P35 DFI might be giving up the ghost.

So guys, tell me, anyone ever see this happened to them?

[BrainEater]

Yes , I've seen this

What video card drivers are you using ?

[Synth]

195.62 maybe..? Got them like 2 weeks ago, they were the latest at the time.

Like I said, I don't think drivers are loaded on POST, so ...?

[BrainEater]

Actually , Video cards have thier own bios , and it's dynamically configurable from windows , so driver issues can in fact occur in bios/post......

Does your bios/post look like this : ?

http://braineater.kicks-ass.tv/miscshite/MVI_4111.avi

[Synth]

Originally Posted by BrainEater

Actually , Video cards have thier own bios , and it's dynamically configurable from windows , so driver issues can in fact occur in bios/post......

Does your bios/post look like this : ?

http://braineater.kicks-ass.tv/miscshite/MVI_4111.avi

Actually, yup!

Driver issue then?

[chrisk]

Jesus another guy on here complaining of corrupt video card.

Braineater you should put that video on youtube so it can be streamed.

I went with 190.62 drivers (end of August)...are those safe?

[BrainEater]

ack , another victim.Have a read through this post of mine :

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...x-drivers.html

The drivers have borked your card.It may or may not be fixable.

At this point you need to try and revert to 185.85 drivers.And it might not work.

-remove the 195 drivers via add/remove programs.
-run driver sweeper
-If you have a different video card you can use for a few mins , install it with 185's
-remove the 185 drivers but dont run driver sweeper.
-reinstall the first (borked) card
-reinstall the 185's.

If this procedure doesn't work and the card continues to artifact in bios , it's bricked and needs to be RMA'd.....you may in fact find the new drivers won't even install.....

The deal is the 19x.xx drivers are adjusting some low level VGA bios settings , and it can corrupt the VGA bios and brick the card.

Sorry bud.

[BrainEater]

Originally Posted by chriskwarren

I went with 190.62 drivers (end of August)...are those safe?

Actually , it was the 190.38's that finally bricked my card.....

the 185.85's are the latest ones I know to be safe......I'm too afraid to try any newer ones now.

[gingerbee]

yup remember the force bios feature in the bios it relates to the video bios. i would go with drivers issue

[Synth]

Thanks Braineater!

I've taken this up with XFX, and to my surprise, they will not acknowledge the "driver issue" but are offering to RMA with little to no additional info required...

I guess they are aware of the issue, but are keeping the whole thing under wraps.

Anyways, you saved me from buying a new mobo