Intermittent GPU display - baffled after numerous tests!

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27 Dec 2020
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3
Hi,

Hope I get this down right and give the detail required.
About a year ago I stupidly tripped over my pc cables, giving them a yank. I obviously can't be sure that was the problem as it was fine for the rest of the day but in the next day or two, pc powered up, gpu fans and LED came on but no display on HDMI or DVI. The GPU (second hand) had previously been fine for its months with us so power and mobo were fine compatibility-wise.

If we turned it off and on multiple times, it would eventually come on and stay on, often for many power ons, until it failed again eventually.

As we weren't sure if the issue was mobo or gpu, we have tried what feels like everything suggested on forums but am still at a loss.

Our spec:
GPU GTX970
Acer Aspire TC220 with original mobo
600W power supply

Things we've tried and outcomes:
Using a better and bigger case so everything is seated better (everything's quieter but display failed eventually)
Different cables (even though both HDMI and DVI don't work at the same time so this seemed unlikely.)
Checking BIOS for PCIe settings
Re-seating GPU
Our friend lent us two GPUs (a Sapphire HD750 and Sapphire HD7970), both PCIe but the first not requiring the extra power (the small one has worked fine for months, the big one has power but no display, but we tested this in a friend's PC and the same happened, so suspect this gpu is broken. However, when this one was in we could use the VGA on the on-board graphics, but if our GTX original gpu is in, we can't use on-board graphics at all, as if it's trying to recognise it but can't)
Put our GTX970 in a mate's computer (started first time but sometimes it would be fine in ours too!)
Checked drivers etc. many times (no change)
Reseated RAM (seemed unlikely but another forum suggested)
Tightened and untightened seating screws.

The fact it's so intermittent makes it really hard to pin down, and we're happy to buy a new GPU but are worried the problem could be the motherboard/PCI slot and we have the same problem. Any other tests anyone can think of to determine if it is GPU or mobo?

Thanks in advance!
 
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