Did my MSI mb go bad?

[bbhaag]

I started a thread over on the MSI forums but I want to try here to. This is a copy and paste from my thread their.

Well I think my P67A-GD55 (B3) MB is bad but I want to check here first before I start the RMA process or start looking for a new board.

Here are the symptoms that lead me to believe the mb is bad. When I insert my GTX 460 into the top pci-e slot(the blue one)I get random black screens, reboots, lost signal to monitor, or the driver crashes in Windows. It does all of these things or does them individually.
When I insert my GTX460 into the bottom pci-e slot the system starts normally and and I get no crashes, black screens, or reboots.

Things I've done to try and trouble shoot the problem.
1.Flashed to the latest BIOS(4.3)and updated ME to 8. Cleared CMOS.
2.Ran memtest86. Received no errors.
3.Tested power supply. Voltage is stable and within specs.
4.Re-installed Windows 7-64bit
5.PULLED my hair out!

So any suggestions to try before I start the RMA process with MSI? Any help or insight would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2188371&highlight=pulling+hair+out+instability

I know exactly what you mean . I had a MSI X58 PRO.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2188371&highlight=pulling+hair+out+instability

 

[bbhaag]

Hmmm did you ever find the problem or did you just start fresh with your new mb and forget about the MSI?

I had an old Gt 430 sitting around and tried that tonight. I tried the GT 430 in the top slot and everything seems to work fine no problems. Any ideas because I'm stumped.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I replaced the motherboard with an ASUS Sabertooth and haven't had any problems since. If you read through my thread you'll see that I tested every variable when debugging and finally determined it was the motherboard. If you do determine it is the motherboard, which it looks like it is, there isn't much you can do except replace it. There are so many traces and ICs that even if you could determine which component was faulty, you most likely could not fix it. But please feel free to keep on debugging. I'd be curious to see which component is failing.

 

[UaVaj]

it is a bad pcie slot.

have an asrock board with similar symptoms. with bios set to pcie3.0. it will cause black screen. with bios set to pice1.0. it will boot fine and runs all day.

 

[bbhaag]

Thanks for the suggestion about lowering the pcie slot in BIOS. I'll check tonight and see if that option is available.
The guys over at MSI seem to think it's the GTX 460 going bad not the mb. They might be right because last night it started acting up in the lower slot but the GT 430 works fine in both slots.