Just received - Video Card Not Working

Hi all,

I just received a Digital Storm water cooled computer, the first PC/Linux computer I did not self build since the 90s. (I had tried to trade time for money, since I am at a new job and had very limited time.) Unfortunately, it has a problem I was hoping for guidance with.

The computer has two nVidia RTX cards in SLI, connected via HDMI to my 4K home TV. The boot card (closer to the CPU) shows the BIOS screens, and has problems when HDMI is connected to it. The second card works fine, but only displays the Windows desktop.

There are two sets of problems:

1. When HDMI is plugged in, it does only HD and sub-HD resolutions. At some resolutions, the screen will show lots of regular "noise" that looks like lines of horizontal bad pixels, every few rows, in a definite pattern. These noise lines flicker a bit. It does this in BIOS, in the boot screens, and in the Windows desktop. In Windows, it says it is using the Microsoft Basic Display Driver.

2. Once Windows boots, the Device Manager shows this card as disabled (a little yellow triangle in the corner), and when you look at its properties, it says "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems." I can tell it has a problem (HDMI not outputing cleanly) but I don't know why Windows thinks it doesn't have a problem.

What I have done so far:

1. Clean uninstall and reinstall nVidia drivers, twice. I don't think it's a driver issue, as the second card displays 4K 4:2:2 12-bit just fine.

2. Attempted to unseat and re-seat the card. This was very difficult as the water connection between the two cards is a hard metal connection, so I wasn't able to unseat it very much. I also removed and reseated the SLI connector.

3. Updated the BIOS to latest. Didn't have any noticeable change on video, although the fan(s?) now run full time and more loudly. (ASUS ROG Strix Z390-H Gaming) This might be a function of different settings from the factory configuration, or the Digital Storm Hydro Lux Control Center, and I'm not concerned with it (for now).

I am a bit lost as to how to proceed at this time. I have a tech support call in, but they said they probably won't call back for several days, and chances are I will be at work when the call comes anyway. So, I was hoping for some thoughts of what I could do while I have some time this weekend to mess with it.

Thanks!

Hi bprat22, thanks for your thoughts.

First, yes, they are two RTX 2080Ti cards. Disappointing to think I bought the card that has the most problems. :).8

Reseating: The tubing is not hardline, actually - it is flexible tubing. However, the connection between the two "water blocks" (I think they are called) on the cards is "hard line" in that it is a single chrome connector firmly connecting the two cards. So, to re-seat one I would probably need to remove and re-seat both cards simultaneously, due to the hard chrome water connector between the two. The other two water lines are flexible clear tubing. I have never done this before, and wanted to ask advice before trying it. I can also never remember which way the "tab" at the front of a PCIe x16 slot needs to be pushed to release the card. (The DS salesman actually recommended against hardline too, and I went with his recommendation.)

Other outputs: I did not yet try. I actually have a Dell 4k monitor elsewhere in the house with DP, so I should try and bring that to the computer, thanks.

Finally - it definitely has artifacts. See picture. This is through HDMI to TV via a Marantz AVR - which works fine on the second card. It has them at boot time and in Windows.

paste.pics/6be144b09298dda4941be637cd96fa00

Update:

I brought my Dell 4K monitor with DisplayPort down to the computer and tested it out with only the DP monitor connected to the first card (closer to the CPU).

Alas, the boot screens came up with the same pattern of "messed up lines" as the HDMI. However, unlike the HDMI, Windows would not display at all on the DisplayPort connection so after the boot screen with the twirling dots, the screen simply froze until I plugged it into the other card at which point the Windows login screen appeared. I tried it a few times, including from cold (power off) boots.

I don't know much about the architecture of these cards, but the regular pattern of interference would seem to imply a problem with the framebuffer memory or the hardware that reads out said memory and sends it to output. It must be at a higher layer than the actual PHY that does the output, as HDMI and DP have very different protocols, yet the visual result is similar, leading me to believe it's further up the chain. I can upload the picture if desired, but it looks nearly identical to paste.pics above (just smaller, as it is a 27" vs 85" display).

How do I update my DS support ticket to indicate that I need a replacement card, it seems?

87548

Well, I tried everything I could, but it really does seem that I have a "bad" card.

I am talking to DS now, tech support.

Here is what I did:

1. Removed completely and reseated both cards.

2. Removed both 8-pin power connectors on the "bad" card and swapped them.

Here is what I did not/could not (easily) do:

1. Swap the slots the two cards are in. I don't know how to do the un/re-plumbing, and the system came with no spare cooling fluid, so I cannot do this without some documentation and the fluid.

2. Swap the 8-pin power with the "good" card. The power lines are tie-wrapped to the exact length.

Hopefully Digital Storm will do the "remote in" and be able to ship me out a replacement card and some fluid (and maybe printed instructions) to fix this.

Me, too. Everyone's nightmare has become your reality, and it just pains me you have to confront this. Very sorry.

Oh, one minor thing. I strongly recommend against anyone purchasing this power supply:

"1200W SilverStone Strider (Fully Modular)"

We spent some time trying to figure out why one of the fans on the computer would spin up really loudly for a few seconds to 15-20 seconds, every now and then, and determined it was the fan on this power supply. It goes from silent to very loud every few minutes, and there is absolutely no way to control it (from reading their documentation).

The entire reason I purchased a water cooled system is that this is an HTPC in the living room, and hence it needs to be as silent as possible. It's also why I got two graphics cards, figuring they MIGHT be altogether cooler/quieter running 4K content/games than one that is pushed all the way to its limit.

Cheers!

PS: I have half a mind to replace the power supply, or even disassemble it and replace the fan with a quieter one or a fan-speed limiter. I have never done the former but I have done the latter with networking gear fans for use in offices and theaters.

Yeah Corsair PSU fans are efficient and nearly silent...

DSNY call them or email [email protected] much faster than waiting on a forum reply of Alex saying the same thing.

Edited by Psyoshi - 29 Jan 2019 at 6:50am

Did you go to your account portal and submit the form? There is a spot for issues like that, RMA form.

I feel your pain DSNY...My PC with a 2080Ti came in on Monday, and it doesn't work either...sounds like different symtoms, but same result...2080 Ti not working out of the box.

I won't highjack your thread with my issue, but wanted to wish you good luck, and let Alex know that there are some issues with these cards out there.

Yeah I have been waiting on mine to ship too... Getting inpatient, they put the hold on my account last week....