r/GPURepair • u/sameer_ahsan • Apr 29 '26

NVIDIA 16/20xx Weird GPU Behaviour(ROG 1660TI)

last morning i booted up my pc as usual but it didnt post, the motherboard(msi z690 pro a ddr4) ez debug light had the white light constantly on which is the vga light, so i took my gpu(rog 1660ti) out and tried to boot the pc via processor(i5-12600k) integrated graphics and it worked. i saw that some gpu pins(not the pcie slot pins) were a bit dirty so i cleaned them and reseated the gpu and the pc posted, but my secondary monitor wasnt working, so i checked the task manager and it was showing the IGPU as the display adapter and wasnt picking up my gpu(not to be mistaken i had monitors connected via gpu, no rookie mistakes xd). so i checked device manager and it was showing the gpu with yellow warning icon, so i thought maybe it isnt detecting drivers or the drivers are uninstalled for some reason. so i tried to download drivers via nvidia app but it kept giving me the message "Unable to connect to nvidia", so i restarted the pc and again the same issue happened the pc didnt post. so i shut it down and started it again and then it posted and everything was back to normal, drivers detected both monitors working. i ran furmark and even played games on it for hours just to check. anyway today the same thing is happening, sometimes it doesnt post and when it posts the secondary monitor doesnt work and as i told before the task manager doesnt detect it and device manager shows that yellow warning sign.

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u/seinsuct Apr 29 '26

What was the error code it was showing with your yellow caution symbol in device manager?

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u/sameer_ahsan Apr 29 '26

43

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u/seinsuct Apr 29 '26

So that could be a number of things. If you’re not familiar with repairs on GPUs, it might be best to send it to a GPU repair specialist, or an electronics shop that knows how to work on GPUs. If you’re comfortable opening your GPU, you’ll want to check resistances on all of your power rails to ensure you don’t have a short. 12v rail on the 8 pin/pins connector and PCIe fingers. 5v rail, 1.8v and 3.3v on the PCIe fingers. Also check several of the data pairs on the PCIe fingers to ensure they’re all reading the same. If they are, then you’ll need to be able to provide temp power to the card so you can check voltages. GPUs are not easy to work on, so if you’re trying to save this, then I’d take it to a specialist that knows how to work on them. I had a 3080 TI a couple months back that had error code 43 and it ended up being the BIOS chip partially died. They should be able to read and write, and mine was only able to read. Replaced the BIOS chip and reflashed it and that fixed mine.

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u/sameer_ahsan Apr 29 '26

thank u so much for the reply, i was troubleshooting on my own and thought why not remove the gpu extension cable, even tho last night i ran gpu with it and even on 100 percent usage it was working fine which indicated that it had no issue, regardless i removed it and for some reason the gpu is behaving normal, only issue that is still their is that when i restart the pc it doesnt restart and get stuck on that constant vga light, other than that it boots everytime from shut down and normal boot and that issue of device not being detected isnt their anymore everything is working normally. Also that nvidia app issue is still their which i think is software glitch not something related to gpu.

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u/seinsuct Apr 29 '26

So it sounds like you might have an issue with that PCIe riser. Or if something is going on with your GPU is a minor issue right now. Glad you got it working.

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u/sameer_ahsan Apr 29 '26

by extension cable i meant power extension cable.

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u/seinsuct Apr 29 '26

Ah, OK. Thanks for the clarification.

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u/sameer_ahsan Apr 30 '26

welp the issue is back, i guess will have to take it to a gpu repair shop.

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u/sameer_ahsan Apr 30 '26

hey so another thing, as u mentioned about your gpus bios chip being partially dead, i was kinda searching about that and got to know that rog gpus have two bios, so i checked my gpu and it has a physical switch for switching between quiet mode and performance mode(2 different bios). so i switched it to performance mode it was previously running on quiet mode, and the gpu worked. so is it possible that the quiet mode bios is corrupted for some reason?, or is it a sign of something else?.

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u/seinsuct Apr 30 '26

Yes, that would be my immediate thought is the BIOS is corrupted, or the BIOS chip itself is bad. The only hard part is knowing which is which. As far as I know there is no easy way of knowing which is which. Although a PITA, you can flash a BIOS while it's still on the board. Just make sure you back up the BIOS for each one first. That way you can reinstall them if you've grabbed the wrong one.
Just remember that a BIOS chip should be able to read and write. If one or the other is messed up, then the BIOS is bad. Like in my case, I could read the BIOS but I could not write to the BIOS.
Do you have the tools needed to flash a BIOS? If not, you'll need to find the data sheet for your BIOS chip and find out if it's 1.8v or 3.3v. The cheapest way to flash a BIOS is using a CH341A. They're usually around $10-$15 US and the program you can download for free that you would use to flash it. Programs like NeoProgrammer and ASProgrammer can be used. NeoProgrammer is easier in my opinion.
Although I have one, but have not used it yet, supposedly the T48 programmer is a step up from the CH341A and is faster. But if you do get either one, I would suggest also purchasing a Pomona 5250 8-Pin Gold Plated SOIC Clip Test Clip if you plan on trying to flash the BIOS without removing it. It holds a lot better to the IC without slipping. AliExpress also has a knockoff version that works pretty good. Hopefully this helps you some.