Very frustrating build--bad Hero VI motherboard?

[ViperThrall]

I have been trying to pin down this problem during my spare time.
Current build:
Maximus Hero VI--bios 1505
Tried both Thermaltake 850 watt and Corsair HX 1000 watt power supplies
Tried 16 gigs PNY memory 2x8 and then Gskill 16 gigs 2x8 and then finally 16 gigs Corsair memory 2x8
Tried both XFX r9 290 DD and EVGA GTX 780 ti SC with ACX using driver sweeper to uninstall and latest non-beta drivers
Samsung EVO 840 SSD 250 gigs for boot and system drive
Intel 4670k at default settings
Clean install Windows 8.1 with updated motherboard drivers
On a Lian Li test bench with good room temps
Optimized bios settings trying XMP then manual settings on memory by down clocking
No overclocking profiles set
No temperature problems when running benchmarks across all hardware
No AI Suite III
System runs fine until the video card is stressed with video benchmarks
After 5-7 minutes screen starts to tear and goes to black and then comes back up
This continues until the screen stays black and then actually goes into rest mode even while still bench marking
I'm i missing something or not
It has to be the motherboard-right?
Anyway thanks and let me know what you all think.:mad:

[MeanMachine]

Hi ViperThrall

If you are satisfied that your graphic card is seated properly, that they are clean, cabling is correct and you have tried differing PCIE slots, and your drivers are up to date and still no go, With all that you have done, then yes I have to agree it is your MB.

I would recommend testing all components again outside your case to eliminate a possible short between MB and case prior to RMA.

[GregH]

Might be a stupid suggestion but are you sure the monitor is plugged into the graphics card and not the MB graphics port? You also don't seem to mention testing on a different monitor. Check that first, much easier that pulling the MB for RFC.

[ViperThrall]

Thanks to both of you for responding and yes all cables are plugged in. The dual DVI cable is old so I will try a display port cable instead. The monitor tests fine although the suggestion was try a different one? An LCD panel just works or not right? Just because a machine is being stressed would not make the panel go dark because it's failing-would it? Additionally, I will uninstall the video card from the primary PCIE slot and try the secondary one to see what happens. Thanks again.

[GregH]

Trying a different cable and a different monitor will at least rule that out. Then things definitely point to the MB. It might just be coincidence that when you stress the GPU, the monitor is failing. Main thing is to rule everything else out as it would be so frustrating to swap out the MB only to find the problem still exists once you get everything back together.

Another suggestion: remove the graphics card from your system altogether and run the graphics from the MB graphics port. Depending on your CPU this should be possible. The BIOS should detect this but if not, you may need to reset BIOS to defaults so that it can identify the correct graphics port to use. If that works OK and you have eliminated the graphics card as a culprit, all eyes are unfortunately back on the MB being the problem.

[NemesisChild]

After 5-7 minutes of stress, have you been monitoring your GPU temps?

Also, it's critical that all trace previous driver components are completely removed when switching from AMD to Nvidia (and visa versa).

[ViperThrall]

I am trying several things. First, my GPU temps stay within operating range. Secondly I did try a different monitor and cable with the same results. I also tried the second red PCIE slot and it's worse now. Just trying to watch XBMC and the screen starts to tear and go to black in about 10-15 minutes. Uhgg, I was hoping I wouldn't have to tear this current build apart for RMA purposes. I am going to remove the cards altogether as suggested and just run the integrated video to see what happens. I am very careful when uninstalling graphic drivers by using driver sweeper and booting into safe mode to make sure all driver remnants are gone. Thanks again.

[ViperThrall]

Now that I am using the integrated video off the motherboard everything is fine. There is no way both of my video cards are bad and I have run benchmarks with all three memory kits with no black screens and no tearing. So it has to be my motherboard-correct? UGGHH!? Tear down and rebuild coming up?! Thanks to those who took the time to comment.

[GregH]

Unfortunately it looks like a bad connection or component in your MB....
Good luck and hope you get sorted quickly.