ASUS Strix GTX 970 Hardware Problems

Well, within almost a week this new card is now starting to do the same. I'm not sure where to go with this now. I have changed out every part except for the monitor and power supply. The powersupply tests out ok using a tester and I have even switched the power cables from the built in to a couple of the modular PCI-E cables

Is the EVGA card tearing up or is it the replacement ASUS? It could be something as benign as a faulty HDMI cable/connection?

The replacement EVGA card is now doing the same thing. I even tried replacing the DVI cable with an HDMI just to see and I got the same tearing happening. Considering this is happening on both the old P8P67 and now new (as a result of what I thought was a problem with the old mobo) Maximus VII Hero motherboards the only thing I can think of is monitor or power supply even though it reported fine using a Thermaltake Dr. Power II Power Supply Tester. I have re-seated the cards numerous times and the tearing keeps happening. The only thing I haven't tried there is using one of the other slower PCI-E slots.

So now I have 2 GTX970s that I think are both fully functional and I can't use them even in an SLI configuration after reading that they aren't SLI compatible.

Sun Tsu said:

The replacement EVGA card is now doing the same thing. I even tried replacing the DVI cable with an HDMI just to see and I got the same tearing happening. Considering this is happening on both the old P8P67 and now new (as a result of what I thought was a problem with the old mobo) Maximus VII Hero motherboards the only thing I can think of is monitor or power supply even though it reported fine using a Thermaltake Dr. Power II Power Supply Tester. I have re-seated the cards numerous times and the tearing keeps happening. The only thing I haven't tried there is using one of the other slower PCI-E slots.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure about that power tester, but I am pretty sure that it cannot give you accurate information on load regulation or ripple. Are you sure it is not a software issue with the game? Tearing is usually indicative of VSync issues. Artifacting, on the other hand, indicates GFX card issues.

So now I have 2 GTX970s that I think are both fully functional and I can't use them even in an SLI configuration after reading that they aren't SLI compatible.

Click to expand...

I think that is true only with the FTW version (somebody please confirm?). AFAIK, the SSC and SC+ cards are on reference PCBs.

You can use any two 970s in SLI to the best of my knowledge

Nope, I cannot get the EVGA 970 and ASUS Strix 970 to do SLI. The NVIDIA control panel refuses to enable it. It's documented that there are different 970 models that will not work in SLI.

Considering this is problem is happening on 2 different systems now first being the old SandyBridge system and now on a newly built system with the only common piece being the power supply I tend to think it has to be that. While that power supply tester is showing what voltages are being supplied on the connectors is ok it probably isn't reporting any spikes as you suggest Super Nade.

As for the tearing issues it almost never happens in game when the card is under load. It happens just sitting at the desktop or whenever I open and use a web browser mostly. I guess my next step will be to replace the power supply and see if it stops happening. If not I will have a week to return it for a refund.

I have to say I have been building systems for 20+ years now and this has been the most frustrating one ever.

Sorry, you know what, I think they have to have the same BIOS now.
That said, it's possible that you could flash the BIOS on the STRIX to match the EVGA.

I will look into that again but when I tried flashing the ASUS Strix Bios using their utility it wouldn't detect the card to flash. I will certainly give it another try though.

As for power supplies I think I will pick up the EVGA SuperNova 850 G2 tonight and see if it resolves the tearing issue. I should know right away since it's fairly easy to reproduce (of course now that I have said that watch it not happen)

I will post another update once I have replaced the power supply with the results. If this doesn't work then I can safely say I have replaced every single component and no longer have a solution.

So just as an example I have found another users video showing exactly the same symptoms happening on my system.


And yes I have tried the different v-sync options in the Nvidia control panel with no effect.

So, in what will most likely be the final update to this I believe I have figured out the issue and it has nothing to do with the video cards or system. This issue appears to be a faulty monitor. I disconnected mine last night, took it over to my fathers place and swapped with him and brought his home. Both are 27" LCD 60 Hz monitors and for the entire night I could not reproduce the problem. Doing a google search for ASUS VE278 and monitor flickering shows it appears to be a common issue. Its sad as the specs on the monitor itself are decent and I liked it. I've owned it for almost 5 years now so there is no warranty so I guess I will be looking for a new one. I'm going to run this other monitor for a couple of more days before swapping back but I'm pretty confident I have the answer now.

Now I have a second card to get rid of as I won't be able to SLI them based on this EVGA post.
https://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=59534

The EVGA Card I have from my research should fall in the 3rd column and the ASUS Strix is in the second column so it doesn't appear as though SLI with these 2 will ever happen. I also tried the DifferentSLI patch and it still didn't work.

Thanks for all the suggestions on what to do to troubleshoot this. Now the search for a new monitor begins.

Well, at least you've figured out the issue.

Have you thought about getting a G-SYNC monitor?

I have not. Haven't looked at monitors for years now so I don't know whats out there. Need one with a VESA mount for sure and I'm seeing that some manufactures like Samsung seem to be dropping that feature.

Sun Tsu said:

I have not. Haven't looked at monitors for years now so I don't know whats out there. Need one with a VESA mount for sure and I'm seeing that some manufactures like Samsung seem to be dropping that feature.

Click to expand...

Do you have a size requirement?
Also, what's your budget for a monitor?

I won't go any smaller than 27" now and as for budget I can't afford $1000 monitors so I'm probably in the $500-600 range at most.

At that price range I would recommend the Philips 272G5DYEB

Cool, thanks for the info. I will check it out.

Any time!