ASUS GTX 770 OC 4GB - driver failure? (solid color or flashing display crash)

[chloeroddy]

Hey everyone, thanks in advance for reading this - it's been a frustrating past day or so trying to deal with this issue; I'll try to give all the details I have regarding this problem but I'm sure I'll forget to add something, so just let me know if I forgot something critical!

I have the GPU stated above. I built a new rig on Friday and went through the Windows installation on Saturday. All was dandy until I (in hindsight, stupidly) took the CD that came with the GPU and inserted it into my disk reader. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but this coincided with the first incident of the problem I'm now struggling with. Basically, display output (through HDMI) to my monitor craps out, sometimes by outputting a single, seemingly random solid color (it was usually red or a shade of blue at first, now sometimes it just turns to black) or a flashing screen. The first few times I had this problem, I didn't think it was a big deal, because upon rebooting I was able to get past the logon screen and actually function for a reasonable amount of time (2 hours?) before the problem happened again. Another crash occurred, for instance, not while playing a game, but right after I exited the game window.

Now, however, I'm not even able to get on to Windows - the problem usually occurs right after I sign on. It says "Welcome," and then outputs the crash screen almost immediately afterwards. I tried un- and re-installing the drivers while using integrated graphics on my i7-4790k (which worked for a while, but for some reason is now not outputting...), which did not solve the problem. I used Display Driver Uninstaller a couple of times as well. Installing previous drivers did not help, either. At this point, I was able to run in Safe Mode, but after the integrated graphics stopped outputting to the display, I wasn't able to boot to SM.

A few hours ago, I re-installed Windows, which allowed me to successfully operate again. The first thing I did was install the GPU drivers, via Windows Update. As soon as I restart, bam, the problem returns. I've googled this issue, and it seems like several people with this specific GPU have also had this problem, but it's unclear to me how to solve it. It looks like people with the 2GB version of the card updated the GPU's BIOS and that solved it, but there is no BIOS update for the 4GB version.

Any help would be much, much, much appreciated!

CPU: i7-4790k (currently not overclocked) cooled by a H100i
Mobo: Gigabyte Z97N Gaming 5
GPU: ASUS GTX770-DC2OC-4GD5
PSU: EVGA G2 Series 750w
RAM: G-Skill Ripjaws DDR3-2133 16GB
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO
HDD: WD Red 2GB

[chloeroddy]

I turned off Windows Update, and installed everything from my mobo's website. I did try installing everything from Windows Update but it also led to crashes. And I followed those instructions except instead of using a CD for Windows installation, I used a flash drive.

[Nate152]

So what you are saying is the Nvidia driver is installing automatically before you can install the other drivers?

[chloeroddy]

It was, but I was able to create a restore point where I installed the other drivers and deleted the NVIDIA driver. If I don't stop it (i.e. turn network off), it will automatically install.

[Nate152]

At this point I'm not sure what is causing your problem. The BSOD's during windows update has me concerned. I'm not sure how you are putting your os onto your usb stick but it's possible windows is not installing properly. Would you have a windows retail disk to install from?

Also I'm not sure about gigabyte boards but for ROG boards you have to format the usb stick to .FAT 32.

[chloeroddy]

They don't occur during Windows Update, rather after the graphics driver updates have been installed. I'm fairly certain there's nothing wrong with the Windows installation itself, as the first time I installed it from a flash drive it had been formatted properly using the official Windows USB boot utility, and the second time I had to format it again as I replaced the boot files with a mobo BIOS update, this time on OS X but it still should have been properly done. I checked and it is definitely formatted in FAT32.

I'm going to fiddle around a few more times and if I can't find a solution, I guess I might RMA the card and see if that helps. It is frustrating because I've seen that other people have had the same problem with this card in particular, but it's unclear what exactly is causing it.

[Nate152]

If it is happening after installing the Nvidia driver then yeah, I Would suspect your gtx 770. Is there any way you could try it in another pc just to confirm?

[chloeroddy]

My mobo is ITX - only one PCIe slot. And yeah, the power cables are connected fine.

[chloeroddy]

Probably not, I don't have access to another PC 😕 I'll ask around though on the off chance that somebody will let me use theirs.

[Nate152]

You could try installing the card in the 2nd pci express slot. You do have the gpu power cables connected correct?

[chloeroddy]

See, on this forum thread for instance: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/549653/geforce-700-600-series/gtx-770-random-black-screen-i...

It seems like loads of the people getting this have the same card, but most have the 2GB version, which apparently can usually be solved by a BIOS update. The 4GB version doesn't have an update.