Understanding and Troubleshooting GPU Issues: A Case Study with NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 Ti
Upgrading your graphics card can significantly enhance gaming and productivity experiences. However, sometimes new hardware introduces unforeseen challenges. Recently, a user reported encountering persistent graphical issues after upgrading from an NVIDIA RTX 3080 to a GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. This article aims to analyze the problem, outline troubleshooting steps, and provide insights into potential causes based on the user’s experience.
Overview of the Issue
The user initially observed stable operation during benchmarking with tools like Superposition, Furmark, and OCCT, both with and without undervolting. However, subsequent days revealed a series of graphical anomalies and system behaviors:
- Occasional screen flickering near the top of the display
- Visual artifacts such as stuck image corners or transient text misalignments
- Static flashes upon toggling HDR mode, with a similar but less severe black screen in their previous 3080 setup
- System freezes in specific games (Deltarune), requiring hard resets
- Game crashes with gray screens and audio disconnections (Zenless Zone Zero, Honkai Star Rail)
- Brief bottom-half white screen flashes
- Temperatures remained within normal ranges, indicating thermal stability
Key Observations and Troubleshooting Efforts
The user’s troubleshooting process was thorough:
- Driver management: Utilized DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to eliminate driver remnants, followed by installing various driver versions, including the latest and older drivers
- BIOS adjustments: Reset BIOS to default and update firmware
- Display interface swaps: Changed from HDMI to DisplayPort
- Hardware resets: Reconnected PSU cables, reseated RAM modules
- Configuration adjustments: Tested both undervolted and default GPU settings
Notably, after installing the first RTX 5070 Ti, the user accidentally broke the PCIe slot’s locking mechanism. While the card remains physically secured with an anti-sag bracket, this unusual occurrence prompts investigation into potential mechanical or electrical impacts.
Additional Considerations
A key point is that the user’s previous and replacement 5070 Ti cards exhibited identical issues, suggesting a pattern rather than an isolated defect. The PSU, a Corsair RM850x, has been consistently reliable with the RTX 3080, implying that power delivery might be less likely to be the root cause.
However, symptoms such as system freezes and graphical artifacts could point to several underlying factors:
- Faulty or incompatible graphics card(s)
- Mechanical
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