Starting the GPU, speed concerns, and cooling problems.
Starting the GPU, speed concerns, and cooling problems.
Hey there. I’ve faced some odd problems with my used 4070 FE. After switching from an EVGA 2080ti, everything functioned smoothly and I managed to install the latest NVIDIA GPU and AMD drivers. Once I set up MSI Afterburner and Asus GPU Tweak III to investigate, both fan controls disappeared, leaving no visible buttons or data. When I power on the system, the boot indicator flashes and then locks onto white for VGA. Pressing power repeatedly just brings up the American Megatrends screen with strange characters (refer to attached photo). The only way in is via F1 to enter BIOS. From the A.M.t. screen through to BIOS, the display updates slowly. I set it to ‘optimized defaults’, exited BIOS, and restarted. The white LED lingers briefly before turning green for a successful boot, then I launch Windows and see the GPU fan still active but not spinning. It doesn’t return to normal speed even when under load. It’s now running at full 1440p, but in Task Manager it appears in the ‘performance’ tab without any fan activity. Afterburner or GPU Tweak don’t show anything about the fan status. I considered flashing vBIOS, but the only version available on TechPowerUp matches what I already have. The seller who sold me the card mentioned using it in an eGPU case and reported no issues. My setup includes: 4070 FE (with 12-pin adapter), Ryzen 5600X, Noctua NH-L9A ROG B550i 16GB, Corsair sf750 platinum 750W (with PCIe power cables), and Fractal Design Ridge riser. Let me know if you need more details to fix this. Thanks!
There are two versions of the riser available: Gen 3 and Gen 4. You might be using the Gen 3 model or a faulty Gen 4 version that's leading to problems. Open BIOS, adjust the primary PCIe slot to use generation 3 of the main PCIe port, and check if the issue resolves. If not, try testing it directly in the PCIe slot, and if that fails, you're in trouble.
It's frustrating to hear that. The person confirmed the warranty is still active and gave me the original receipt. It didn’t seem like a big deal. I’m hoping to have it returned via RMA in the worst case. Could you tell me about the expected timeline for that process? Also, let me verify the riser Generation & BIOS settings.
Uncertain about the quality of Nvidia's RMA service, though other GPU manufacturers suggest it might take anywhere from a week to a month.
Additionally, I experienced some issues after force rebooting multiple times; the GPU fan was spinning but my game still wouldn’t launch. After a restart, I encountered more boot loops before reaching the BIOS and adjusting the PCIe speed to Gen3. Once I rebooted again, it booted up quickly, though the GPU fan remains inactive. It seems the Auto setting for PCIe generation might have contributed to the unstable startup, but I’m not sure. I’m still confused about this problem.
Yes, the problem likely lies with the PCIe riser, possibly because it's not Gen 4 or defective. Check the temperatures—this card should operate in zero-dB mode, running without fans until it reaches around 50 or 60°C. It's common for newer cards to skip fan startup in lighter loads, so insufficient load duration could be the cause. The system will automatically switch to Gen 4, which might explain the issue.
I checked the Gen 4 settings and everything worked fine. No boot issue, just reset to Gen 3 which started up right away. I looked into the FE 4070 cards for a 0db mode but didn’t find a definitive answer. I was told to verify Afterburner and GPU settings, and I adjusted the fan controls manually. It turned out pushing Gen4 through a Gen3 adapter caused unexpected behavior. I didn’t realize that would lead to such problems. This was a big lesson, but it was frustrating trying to figure it out.
It usually happens, though it's uncommon for it to just start up slowly. Still, it's not impossible. At least you realized the card isn't dead.