Help Please-GTX 970 Drivers not installing?

[Charlysays]

My friend got her teenage son a gaming Pc for Christmas, pre built but without an OS. She got Windows 8.1 & installed it (well I did) Mobo Drivers, Windows updates etc. Everything goes smooth, no problems. Restart after the graphics drivers and it starts up then says graphics drivers require a re-start to complete the installation which just does the same when re started.
On checking in device manager its giving an exclamation mark at the card.
I've tried uninstalling the drivers and re doing them from here, tried various drivers including the newest non beta and they all install fine then once you re-start same old problem.
The resolution also jumps down to well below the monitor spec and gameplay is laggy. If we uninstall the drivers and re start the card is able to do full monitor resolution using the windows drivers and without asking us to restart to complete the installation? I'm at a loss as to what's going on, have even done clean installs 3 times still no joy. She has contacted the company she bought it from for advice but they have not been very helpful. So now she has a 13yr old son with an unusable gaming PC for his Christmas.
I can't help think it's a simple fix but can't think of what it could be?
The Pc Spec is as Follows:

Case: Zalman Z11 Plus
OS: Windows 8.1
Power Supply: XFX 550W
Mobo: Gygabyte 970-DS3P
CPU: AMD PileDriver FX-8350 (Corsair H55 Water Cooling)
Graphics: Palet GTX 970 4gig
Ram: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Hard Drive: Seagate 1tb ST1000D M003
Sound: Realtek ALC887 - 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
Optical Drive: 24x DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

 

[Charlysays]

Do you have another gpu you could put in to test?

If all else fails reinstall windows (or that's what I would do)

Have already tried re-installing windows 3 times, I have an AMD HD7770 I could try but it would be better if I had a similar card me thinks.

 

[Charlysays]

What about trying a bios update for the motherboard if there is one ?

Also try moving the graphics card to another slot ?

Will try/check later. I'm going up there tonight so looking for suggestions before I start problem solving later.

 

[Charlysays]

I would first make sure the motherboard bios is up to date, clear cmos, ensure monitor is plugged into the gpu and not the on-board gpu. Try reseating the cpu cooler and gpu I've seen coolers that have been over tightenedecause problems with the pcie lanes.

Lastly, try the card in another pc.

First thing I did was check the monitor was plugged into the card, seen that so many times with people lol. Never had time to check anything else, just heading up there now to start on it. So judging by the comments there should be no compatibility problems with the hardware?

Will let you guys know how I get on and thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Charlysays]

No Joy

Where to start? Right did all of the above suggestions still no Joy. However newest drivers render the screen text and icons unreadable yet the display settings are correct for the monitor. I've since reverted to the drivers that came on the disc numbered 344.75 and I'm back to normal resolution of 1600x900 with sharp readable text and icons. Again the drivers are failing to install and I get the message telling me to restart to complete installation. If I cancel this I get a message saying force to reinstall graphics drivers. I've tried 3 different monitors and a TV using every cable except display port, clean install each time, same problems. I'll take the card home with me and try in my own PC later as I can't think of anything else. (I have a gigabyte mobo and AMD FX-6350 Black Edition)
http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/CharlySayz6/media/GPUz_zps751cda77.gif.html
http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/CharlySayz6/media/reinstall_zps55b98d3a.jpg.html
http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/CharlySayz6/media/Devicemanager_zps75028b34.jpg.html
PS: Just thought I think I'll speak to the company first in case I invalidate the warranty by taking the card out and trying it in another pc

 

[Charlysays]

So after speaking with the company, took the card out the pre built system and tried it in my FX6350 based system...same problems. Card is being replaced, thanks for your suggestions

 

[Charlysays]

I actually thought the same but as a last resort I noticed Gigabyte did their own GTX so downloaded their drivers which were 344.77 or there abouts and gave them a blast, still the same. I was hoping by posting on here someone would have posted some kind of known conflict but they never did. Anyone??

 

[Charlysays]

Never thought of that, need to text my pal and tell her to take pictures for comparison. Feel bad her son cant get to use it but hey that's PC's for you and he got an insight into what can go wrong

 

[Charlysays]

Good news, it was the card. Sent it back they tested it and sent a new one out, up and running fine now. Thanks for all the suggestions.