Contacted ASUS, used this thread and my video, got an RMA on the card that acts like a total douche canoe. We'll see how that goes.
Box cooler does refer to the stock one, the one that was in the box with the CPU.
Since the MB has already been replaced, I can't see two boards both having bad PCIe slots/controllers.
Well, I had to order 4 Asus boards before I got one without bent CPU pins. That's the first thing I check. None of them ever had a CPU put in them. So, based on that, I don't find 2 boards with bad PCIe slots totally out of the question.
Running one card at a time, there should be little if any difference between them. They should show the same performance, no matter which slot they are in.
The Intel stock cooler is not very efficient, especially on a Haswell CPU.
Another thing just dawned on me, and I don't recall if I mentioned it before. When it's on a "bad boot", malfunctioning, the sound in games will be crackly, like if a speaker wire had a loose connection or was being manhandled. Does that scream anything in particular?
Okay, I just got done dealing with some crashes and decided to methodically test each video card. Didn't need to. BOTH... failed their first boot.
Sounds like ANOTHER RMA on the motherboard? You said something about needing four once for bent pins. I wonder if whatever's causing my problem is something else, but something that could have just been shitty luck on two boards so far?
Also, I've done two clean Windows installs since the last post...
I thought you RMA'd one of the cards. It could be a bad board, I really don't know. The board is one of the things we can't check. We just have to go by the process of elimination. If you do RMA it, I'll give you some advice. When you remove the CPU, take a good light and magnifying glass and check the CPU pins very close. If there are bent pins, they are going to say user damage and charge you to repair it. If there are no pins, take several good pictures where you can see the pins very well. And if the S# is on the front, take a picture where you can see the pins and S#. Just for insurance. There has been more than 1 case where there were no bent pins, but they say there are and try to charge you. You should take pictures of anything you RMA to anyone.
I did RMA a card, but I didn't send it in yet, I might end up cancelling the RMA, because I thought about it again, my GTX650 or 670 or whatever the hell it was I had before was doing the same damn thing as these cards. Thinking critically, that should eliminate the video cards.
So I just got off a chat with Amazon, they're sending me a third board. I do have to apologize however, to anyone interested in the board; if my next one fails too, Amazon may pull it from their site, according to the employee I chatted with.
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