GPU Functionality: How do you test potentially faulty card?

[DNRDustin]

Rig's in the sig. I've got a friend who has a GPU believed to be dead. He has switched it out with a GPU believed to be working, but the problem(IDK as he never filled me in on symptoms) persists. So I need to test the cards.
How would you go about testing them? Can I leave my card in its slot, while testing his in another? Can I run separate drivers side-by-side with my current divers(maybe disable them?)? Or do you remove old drivers, then switch the cards, and then install new drivers..... Then repeat for the next card, etc.... and then...? You get the picture I'm sure.

His cards:
Radeon HD 6870;
Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT;

My Current GFX:
Asus Strix 4G GTX960;
Driver 353.62;

 

[EarthDog]

Put it in another PC.

If a known good card shows the same symptoms as a potentially bad card in the same system, chances are its not the cards.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

(IDK as he never filled me in on symptoms)

Need to find this out first.

 

[DNRDustin]

Should I put my card in his rig, or his card/s in mine?

 

[knoober]

Well if you want to know if the card is bad, then you have to put it in a known working system. If you want to know if the board is bad, then you have to use a known working card. They symptoms might tell you without having to risk known working equipment though, and if the symptoms dont tell you then be aware that there is a gamble factor in testing like that. I keep some cheap hardware that I dont mind toasting for tests like that (albeit that most of that hardware has migrated into working machines)

Watch out for sparks

 

[DNRDustin]

Scary!

 

[EarthDog]

Should I put my card in his rig, or his card/s in mine?

both.. depending on what each test says.. the goal is to eliminate the source of the problem by using know good parts and swapping with suspected bad.

I wouldn't worry about sparks in this case, lol!

 

[knoober]

Yeah man I didnt mean to worry you. Im just saying that depending on what is wrong with the card it could still be drawing power or something. The point is that you dont know why it isnt working so you should do what you can to mitigate the risk. The sparks were just to be funny, sorry for the worry. I have also never burnt any extra parts when trouble shooting like this - but also havent done it a bunch, and wanted to point out that it is not a "no risk" situation

 

[DNRDustin]

No worries here. Sarcasm doesnt translate well from other side of the screen Both cards posted to screen in my rig. After I talked to him about what happened, I was comfortable with the calculated risk. Guess he most likely has a bad mobo.

 

[wingman99]

Sounds like you found the problem, did you try a different slot in his motherboard.