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GPU Causing Strange Boot Issues

Moose

Meta Moose
Hello all,

For a while now my computer has been experiencing some strange boot issues and I have discovered that my graphics card is the source of the problem, although I'm not quite sure why. I'm don't know what help anyone can offer other than confirming that I need a new GPU, but it is worth a shot.

The PC will occasionally decide that there is no problem and boot perfectly, after which it will run fine for the duration that it is powered on. However, more than often when I try and power the PC on it will do one of these three things:

1) Power on but not display any signs of booting.
2) Power on, display some text from the BIOS that says something along the lines of 'UEFI DUAL BIOS' at the top of the screen (with a blue-black gradient background) and then restart, only to go to 1).
3) Power on as in 1) and restart endlessly.

To 'fix' the computer when it decides to be an annoyance, I turn it off and on at the PSU and then power it on again. Rinse and repeat until it decides to be kind.

At the moment I have removed the graphics card and the problem has subsided. There are no visual indicators as to the graphics card being on its way out/broken when the computer does decide to run as normal.

EDIT: If it is of any interest, the GPU is a Radeon HD5770.
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
What made it make you conclude that it was the GPU? What type of motherboard do you have? Gigabyte?
 

Moose

Meta Moose
Well initially the problem disappeared after I had removed the graphics card, but today, after about 3 days, it has returned (with the GPU removed)... I'm thinking that it might be the PSU now?

I recently upgraded the barebones of my computer (the problem was around prior) as I had been planning to do so for a while. Silly of me sticking new components in with the problem still lurking, but yeah, I did anyway.

Yeah, it's a Gigabyte Z77 motherboard with the new Ivybridge Core i5.
 

FrozenIpaq

Justin B / Supp. Editor
Enforcer Team
Didn't necessarily sound like a GPU issue, although I can't so for sure what it is. It existed prior to upgrading so just eliminate the parts that you upgraded and look at the parts you have remaining. It could very well be the power supply if this is the case. It's tough to troubleshoot that unless you have a spare one lying around.. what brand PSU is it? It may still be under warranty
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
First step is to always swap the PSU. Run memtest+ for several hours and always set RAM voltage manually (a little higher than the rated voltage to compensate for any voltage drop your board might have).
 

Moose

Meta Moose
Am I running the test prior to switching out the power supply?

EDIT: Also, the test will indicate problems with memory, right?
 

LocutusEstBorg

Active Member
Yeah before. If there's a whole bunch of errors then it's the memory. If there's only a couple of errors very infrequently and at different memory locations then your board/CPU/RAM is unstable.
 

Moose

Meta Moose
Alright, thanks. I'll do that as soon as I get home. I can't see that my memory is the problem seeing as I recently bought and installed new sticks and the problem was around beforehand.
 
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