Solved EVGA GTX 570 HD OC 012-1573 Card not performing well; crashes computer

[TanyaC]

About 4-6 weeks ago I posted here when I was searching for GTX570 cards for my sons for Christmas. After much debate we settled on the EVGA 570HD Superclocked.

I thought I should post my experiences with the card having played games with it for the last 8 hours.

Installation of the drivers was untidy. We had to install, uninstall, and reinstall several times to get both Benq GL2440HD monitors working. Initially we could only get the DVI connected screen to work. The HDMI screen remained black, but was not lacking a signal, just an image. All up 45 minutes to get the card working properly.

What little documentation that came with the card was attrocious.

Then the problems started. Playing Payday: The heist first, which is not a high end game by any means, the computer screen would go black for a second or two and the computer would restart. Maximum playing time before this happened was 8 minutes.

We played around with the fan settings using EVGA Precision to see if we could manage the GPU temp, which was hitting 95C. To our horror, at settings over 50% the card made sounds like a jet taking off, but had little impact on the temperature, and the system still restarted.

We did not change any other settings. No changes to voltages, or clock settings at all.

So then we tried other games. In no game could we keep the GPU temp under 90C, even with the fan maxxed out at 85%. These include APB: Reloaded, Skyrim, Half Life 2, Black Ops and so on.

The only way to go past 85% with the fan is to install the firmware update, but I'm concerned about being able to return the card. So we haven't done that. Besides which, the noise of the fan is so loud we had to yell at each other to be heard.

The systems are I5-2500's at stock settings. The systems have 4gb of Corsair CL7 1600Mhz RAM, on a P67A-UD3R mobo. The systems have Noctua NH-U9B-SE after market coolers, and the ambient room temperature is 21C. These systems are running at 37C idle, and at 48C - 55C playing games, which is not too shabby.

So, I put in the other card I purchased. Same symptoms exactly. So I tried both cards in another PC. This one had a Z68X-UD3R mobo, but everything else was the same.

The systems have 650W Antec Power supplies in Antec 900 Two cases. The cabling in the case has been tidied up and all fans are operational in the case. I believe I have the two PCI connectors for the card running off different 12v rails. One is a native PCI connected from the PSU, the other is connected from a PATA cable with a PCI connector/converter.

The previous cards were GTX 460 OC 1GB with dual fans. The EVGA only has a single fan. The noise on the Gigabyte 460 was negligible. The temps, when we troubled to look at them, never seemed to exceed 85C. But no game the kids played, even on high settings trroubled the card at all.

So, I'm planning to speak to ScorpTec on Wednesday and see if I can exchange the cards for the Gigabyte versions.

Unless someone has anything to offer that might point to a solution with the EVGA cards.

Anyone?

thanks
Tanya

 

[Ivan the SoSo]

Someone forgot the thermal paste? I would try to get the cards exchanged....

 

[Wishmaster]

Something certainly doesn't seem right.

eVGAs customer service is really good, so it may be worth dealing with eVGA directly rather than the retailer.
In fact, I think they prefer you do.

try posting on thier forums, and perhaps they can guide you in the right direction or one of the eVGA team members can get you a RMA going.
EVGA Forums

There may even be a known problem with that particular card that a bios update resolves. Im not sure though.

 

[TanyaC]

Something certainly doesn't seem right.

eVGAs customer service is really good, so it may be worth dealing with eVGA directly rather than the retailer.
In fact, I think they prefer you do.

try posting on thier forums, and perhaps they can guide you in the right direction or one of the eVGA team members can get you a RMA going.
EVGA Forums

There may even be a known problem with that particular card that a bios update resolves. Im not sure though.

thanks for the advice. I'm not feeling real warm and fuzzy about this ordeal. The last thing I need is to be spending weeks trying to sort it out with eVGA.

There is a firmware update that has some "undisclosed fixes", and allows people to run the fan up to 100%. that would suggest to me acknowlement that there are heat issues with the card, though the fan noise at 85% is staggering.

But I will have a quick chat with the AU eVGA and see if applying the update would void my ability to return the card. If so, I will just return the cards and stick with Gigabyte, with which I have never had a problem.

 

[Wishmaster]

I know the firmware update did do a little more than unlock the fan speeds.
It also increased the core voltage slightly.

At least, on my 570SC.
It was at stock 1.000 to 1.025 after the firmware update.


There are supposed to be other fixes, but not exactly sure what they were. And I do not believe eVGA specifically stated them all either.

 

[TanyaC]

Well, seems updating the firmware will void my ability to return the item for exchange for another brand. Would have to send them off for RMA if I did that.

So I didn't update firmware. Took cards back, exchanged for Gigabyte cards.

Installed in a jif, idling at 35C, and under load are running between 60C - 75C.

Maybe I just got a pair of faulty cards?

Anyway, problem solved.