PC Drivers & Software

[bobe]

I am having problems with my AMD 7870 GPU.  I updated the drivers yesterday, tested a game for a few minutes, and all seemed fine.  Shortly thereafter (before the screensaver came on) my screen did some strange things, eventually turned all blue (no text) and then the screen was black and the light on my monitor turned yellow (acting liking my PC was off or asleep).  When I tried to change inputs it said there was no DVI signal.  I did a hard shutdown and when the PC came back on, the screen was still black, light monitor still was a consistent yellow, and still said no DVI signal.  The PC sounded like it was running fine.  I swapped the DVI out for a HDMI and then the monitor said no signal for HDMI.  I took out the GPU and plugged the DVI into my motherboard to use onboard graphics.  PC worked perfectly fine.  I assumed this definitely showed a drivers issue so I tried to uninstall the AMD drivers using the following steps:

https://community.amd.com/thread/180667

I followed all steps exactly (except there were two optional Windows updates that failed when I tried to install them multiple times).  When I plugged the GPU back in, I still have the same problems (monitor light remains yellow).  I didn't install the new AMD drivers before putting the GPU back in, but shouldn't it work anyway?  I didn't have drivers installed when I built the PC and ran it for the first time.

I should also mention when I took the GPU out, after I unscrewed it and pulled gently, I heard a snap.  Laying on the motherboard were two small pieces of black plastic.  The GPU has been in the machine for 6 years.  Any idea what that came from or if it could cause new problems?  Doesn't look like it came from the GPU.  Motherboard maybe?  I suppose the drivers issue could be fixed and this is now what is causing the same black screen.  I do not have another PC to plug the GPU into.   

Any ideas or thoughts on what to try next?  I've never had an issue updating GPU drivers in the past.

System (don't laugh, it is 6 years old and still plays the game I like, haha):

Desktop

XFX Double D Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition

Windows 7 64bit

Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.2.3 is the driver I updated to.  18.4.1 is the last one that worked.

ASUS montior, DVI connectoin

Motherboard: Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 ATX Intel (unsure on Bios Version)

Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor

8GB RAM

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Ac...

[kingfish]

I would make sure Win7 is fully updated before trying to install any AMD driver

** Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 must be fully updated before attempting to install any AMD driver. All 'critical', 'recommended', and 'optional' (no language packs,etc) updates as well as any Service Packs (SP) must be installed before any attempt to install graphics drivers. If you do not get this message .... keep installing until you do:

[bobe]

kingfish, I just have two optional updates that for whatever reason keep failing.  I never tried to install these before yesterday.  One is for my printer and another is an Intel Corporation - Graphics Adapter.  Both were published 2+ years ago.

Here are the broken pieces

Imgur: The magic of the Internet 

jdrobinson, I'll try putting it in another slot.

[jdrobinson314]

Honestly, it sounds like your video card died.

The broken plastic may have been the retainer clips on the back end of the pcie slot. These aren't the sturdiest things. I've broken several on older motherboards with no I'll effects.

Intel boards can sometime be flexible with slotting a graphics card, try a different slot? This is very rare however.

[bobe]

I changed my BIOS settings to force the PC to use onboard graphics if the GPU is plugged in.  When I check Device Manager, it shows a Standard VGA Graphics Adapter but there is a little yellow exclamation point.  Is that because there is a problem or just because it isn't being allowed to operate?  Would it show if the video card was dead?

[jdrobinson314]

You can probably attempt pointing it to a driver - use the check windows update, you can then opt into better version later. See if you can get past this point.

[bobe]

Says "Windows has determined the driver software for you device is up to date."

Would there be any harm in installing the last driver that worked?  I could then switch BIOS to PCI-E.

[jdrobinson314]

Probably no harm in trying.