msi GTX 580 artifacts

[ribcage]

Hi, I wonder if anyone could give me any advice on this. I've had this card for like ten years and it suddenly started showing artifacts and the PC crashes when trying to log into Windows. The attached photo I found on the internet but my case looks identical. I reduced the voltage with msi Afterburner from 1025mv to like 963mv and then an hour or so later, while running an intensive game the PC just crashed. Typical of me to do dumb things but my PC was baking, so yeah... From what I've read undervolting shouldn't physically damage anything but it seems too big of a coincidence. Although I've seen quite an amount of similar cases with this card on the net, but nothing too helpful. I've also seen these cards getting fixed by reballing either the GPU or the VRAM chips but then later I've heard it's not really the reballing that fixed it but the heating of those chips that is supposedly only a temporary fix. Yet I've heard others claim that it is indeed the BGA at fault, because manufacturers use lead free solder that's prone to cracking... What are your thoughts on it? I've run this bootable tool called "Video Memory stress Test" and it did spit out tons of identical errors but I'm yet to figure out what it means. One thing I might try to do is edit and reflash the GPU's bios with lowered clocks, since this card is slightly factory overclocked. Would be glad to hear your ideas!

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

the gpu is toast. no amount of messing with the voltage or clocks will fix it. u can try reflowing it but the success rate is low for nvidia gpus.

the better solution is to prevent this from happening in the first place. prevention is better than cure. the preventive measure is to make it run as cool as possible. the cooler it runs the longer it will last. many video card manufacturers use undersized or inadequate coolers and/or crappy/slow fans. u can get around this by always running the fan at full blast either by using overclocking software like msi afterburner. however, the system would become very noisy then.

another way is to replace the stock cooler with a better and quieter one like the arctic twin turbo or accelero extreme. since this is a lead-free gpu, always make sure it runs under 70°C at all times to make it last long. research has shown that tin whiskers form at an exponential rate at temperatures hotter than 70°C, thus lead-free gpus will die fast if they run at above 70°C for long periods.

anyway, u got 10 years of life out of that gpu which is pretty impressive for a high end gpu. unless that system or hardware has sentimental value or legacy purpose, its time to move on and get something better...

[ribcage]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

I always found it crazy how 70 degrees is considered acceptable for GPUs, no wonder there are so many accounts of these specific cards failing. These cards seem to be pushed to the limit, I've read about so many cases where people have such problems with brand new cards or shortly after getting them. At least mine worked flawlessly up until now.

The thing is, it had barely any load on it for a few hours before it crashed, then I started a very intensive game and like a minute like it crashed. I was also doing some Alt+Tabbing, so I suspect thermal cycling was the final push. I feel like one of the BGAs cracked, either the one between the card PCB and the GPU PCB or one of the memory chips. Or it could be the micro-BGA that's in between the GPU PCB and the actual silicon die.

Also, just like in that photo I attached, mine also has this rectangle of area where there are no artifacts. Kind of makes me think that one of the memory chips is at fault. I've tried putting pressure on every memory chip and the GPU itself while it's running to see if the artifacts go away but unsuccessfully, there's probably too much surface tension on those BGA balls and when they break a big gap appears.

The card pcb itself looks healthy.

[zunasthegreat]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

Death rate of Fermi cards was quite high, dunno if you ever re-pasted the card but that would have helped. Thermal paste dries out and heat transfer drops, we are also talking about a GTX 580 which is a 250W TDP card even without OC. You can try to drop the clocks for GPU/MEM and also do a small undervolt. I think artifacts are most likely degraded mem chips. I'm still amazed it lasted ~10y if you've never replaced the thermalpaste. Very bad times in case you need a capable replacement.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

I think artifacts are most likely degraded mem chips.

they're not. a break in the many connections that connects the gpu to the video ram can also occur, giving the appearance of bad memory, memory artifacts or memory related issues but really its just the gpu breaking its connection to the video ram due to age and heat.

also, some video memory errors can backfeed further and further into the frame buffer, making even more errors. so just one bad connection from gpu to video ram can give the appearance of multiple artifacts.

since the gtx 580 is a 384-bit mem bus video card, so plenty of things and connections to go wrong and break for it to fail and produce artifacts.

anyway, ribcage is lucky to have a high end card like the gtx 580 last for so long. im already lucky if i get my video cards to last 5-7 years...

[ribcage]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

I replaced the paste like a year before it failed. However, after it failed I took off the cooler and found the paste almost like a liquid, totally clear, like oil or something. And the card was cold, was shelved for a day or two before I took off the cooler. The paste I used was indeed some cheap obscure stuff, is it possible it shorted something? Or is it normal for the paste to become so watery? But like I said, I monitored the temperatures and it didn't go beyond 70.

I tried another software which told me one of the memory banks has write errors. There are six channels total, with two chips per channel. Does it mean anything if one chip in a channel is faulty and the other is fine?

Also please take a look at the attached picture, see those six unpopulated SMD capacitor slots? My card is like that. I wonder if it hurts the card not having them. I've seen other versions of this card that do have them installed.

[DynaxSC]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

Hi. The paste can be the reason of the problem if it got under the GPU, even if it is not conductive, the memory lines from CGU to memory are high impedance, and even a very low conductive paste got under the GPU may cause problems. U can try to clean the paste with isopropyl alcohol, there are special isopropyl spray cans with brushes available for electronics cleaning. You need to clean all of the paste fron under the GPU, which is not easy, as the space under it is only some 0,4mm big, but the alcohol is flowing good under the GPU. Pay attention of the capacitor on the GPU if present, and the thermopads which are sensitive to alcohol. The missing caps must be placed on the board, as they are essential for the GPU vcore filtering, without them the GPU may be or is already toasted if power is applied, except this is intended by the vendor. Practically on every card you find unoccupied places for parts.

[DynaxSC]

Re: msi GTX 580 artifacts

PS.: for the caps google for pictures on the internet of same type of card and compare.