Solved - GPU fine - BIOS setting

[CLite]

I pretty much re-read all the BIOS settings, and googled everything I didn't know.

Spread Spectrum - Enabled = 1,000's of errors for GTX 570 in OCCT
Spread Spectrum - Disabled = 0 errors for GTX 570

Thanks for the tips, they helped me narrow things down.

Power: Seasonic 560X. [P55-GD80/16GB G.skill/i5-680]
current GTX 570: OCCT 10,000 errors in 1 minute
old 8800 GT: OCCT 0 errors in 10 minutes

non-GPU Tests:
48 hours prime95 - Success
Bootable memtest - Success
5 hours OCCT CPU linpack - Success
12.18v dropped to 12.17v on 12v rail while running OCCT gpu and cpu
Tested all 6 yellow holes on PCI-E , all show 12.18v
Driversweep in safemode - multiple times - currently using Nvidia 275

Old Rig: Antec Earthwatts-500/GA-P35 worked fine with a larger 12v drop (12.15 to 11.98).
GTX 570: 0 errors in 10 minutes
8800 GT: 0 errors in 10 minutes
[I appreciate you guys increasing my confidence w/ testing on the EA-500, that really helped narrow down this investigation]

currently exploring:
-alternate PCI-E slots
-a couple bios settings
-different Win7 settings.

 

[alcoholbob]

Poor thermals maybe?

 

[SHAQ]

Test it on the other rig. It should be enough power for a quick 1-2 minute test.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

An Antec Earthwatts 500 is more than capable of handling even a 125W TDP CPU + a GTX 570, a stick of RAM, and a HDD for full-on stress testing, not just a quick 1-2 minute test.

 

[MoridinUK]

but that could blow his other psu? That gpu draws a full 219 watts on its own! I'm not convinced his 560x is doing enough.

How old is the 560x psu brand new or older?

Also your board specs, suggest the bios automatically adjusts the PCIe speed, depending on the card installed and which slot it is in. You may want to check the bios is still doing this, and not assuming your new cards are actually your old ones.

Otherwise I can't imagine why you old card works so well when 3 news ones fail. My gut says power, but guts are hardly reliable.

I'd discount thermals only because three new cards CANT all have bad enough thermals to throw errors that quickly? And if the cooling issues was due to air flow etc, in the whole machine then your old card should suffer just as badly.

EDIT: this post crossed with the above post. I'd suggest stripping the system down (either one) to just the GC, minimum memory, one hard drive. to minimise power usage and try just testing the gpu. See if that clears up the errors..

 

[CLite]

Thermals aren't an issue. The new GTX 570 hit errors instantly (~5 seconds), before passing 65ºC. The old card 8800GT was hitting 80+ºC without any errors. My case is a CM HAF 932 w/ tight cord management and when I am testing voltages/etc. the side is open. The Seasonic 560X is 4 months old.

I will test the old system with both cards, I appreciate your help guys.

 

[CLite]

*edit* tested both cards on old rig.

8800 GT - flawless 10 minutes dropped 12 rail from 12.15 to 12.08
GTX 570 - flawless 10 minutes dropped 12 rail to 11.98 but it kept on trucking.

So my new rig is flawed...... I'm thinking it's the motherboard PCI-E slot, I really doubt it's my seasonic 560W because the 12v is rock solid, it only dropped 10mV from 12.18 to 12.17.

could a bad windows 7 installation explain it? Windows 7 aero theme was really messing up my past cards (GTX 580 and 1st GTX 570), whereas they worked with windows basic theme.

 

[hardboy]

3 diff 570 s won't be bad, your psu is. Try a quality 700 watts even if you think that it may not be needed

 

[MoridinUK]

Put the Seasonic in the old rig and test it there... or put the 500watt in the new rig, with the new card and see if that works...

Otherwise it's the slot.

It is odd that the old card works in your new rig, but the new one doesn't.

That's why I'm confused about the pcie slot. but your new Gc card draws more than twice the wattage.

Maybe the fault is in the psu. Try swapping them!

EDIT: if directx and graphics drivers are up todate I doubt it's win 7. Turn aero off if that worries you. Thing is the win 7 system works with the 8800 GT, if it was corrupted you'd expect to see something regardless of the card?

 

[notty22]

I think its your m/b also, I was reading owner reviews and at least one person had pci-e problems. You could check the back of your board and look for shorts/contaminant shorts, something obvious. But it could easily be something unseen on one connection point , that could bork I/O of the card.