RTX 4070 Troubleshooting help

[NerfedBoomer]

Hi,





Looking for advice on an RTX 4070 showing artifacting mainly in Apex Legends.





Symptoms:

• 
  []RGB/checkerboard artifacts
  []Mostly in skyboxes/light sources/rocks
  []Gets worse the longer the card is under load
  []Desktop, videos, and browsing are fine
  []Used to happen across the whole game, but now with the things above now mostly limited to sky/light rendering after troubleshooting
  []No crashes or BSODs

What I’ve tried:

• 
  []Reinstalled Apex
  []Deleted Apex shader cache (psoCache.pso)
  []Cleared DirectX shader cache
  []Used DDU in Safe Mode
  []Installed latest NVIDIA driver clean
  []Reset NVIDIA settings
  []Lowered texture streaming budget to None
  []Lowered graphics settings (turned of GPU Accelerated)
  []Disabled some rendering features
  []Tried different fan curves
• Tested VRAM underclock (-502 MHz in MSI Afterburner)

Results:

• 
  []Clearing shader cache and lowering texture budget helped a lot
  []VRAM underclock cut artifacting roughly in half
  []Stronger fan curve didn’t help
  []EA FC 26 was mostly fine aside from one quick artifact in a menu however did produce the highest Temperature Hot Sport and Average temperature

Temps:

• • 
    []GPU (Idle - Desktop): 45–50°C
    []GPU (In Game): 72–80°C
    []VRAM junction: 68–74°C
  • Hotspot was around 92°C before, now hitting 105.7°C max
  
  
  
  
  
  Trying to work out if this sounds more like:
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    []hotspot/contact pressure issue
    []unstable VRAM
    []Apex/driver issue
    []or early hardware failure
  
  
  
  
  
  I’m not fully convinced the GPU is dying since:
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    []normal desktop/video use is perfect
    []fan curves, settings, and memory clocks clearly affect it
  • other games seem mostly stable
  
  
  
  
  
  Any opinions from people familiar with RTX 4070 hotspot issues or Apex artifacting would be appreciated.
  
  I’ve tried troubleshooting using AI but I can’t fully rely on it so I thought I’d ask here. My PC was bought about 3 years ago but I can’t remember where.

 

[Tetras]

other games seem mostly stable

If you don't have any problems in other demanding games, then it sounds specific to the game (e.g. a driver issue), however, you also said:

VRAM underclock cut artifacting roughly in half

Which is a bad sign there's a hardware fault!

Clearing shader cache and lowering texture budget helped a lot

That's a better sign.

Do you have anything showing in the event viewer?

This isn't a 13th-14th gen CPU, is it?

Trying to work out if this sounds more like:

hotspot/contact pressure issue

Which model is your 4070? If the contact pressure is an issue, e.g. one VRAM chip not cooled properly, then it is likely other users have had the same problem.

The hotspot temperature sounds high to me, though you said a higher fan curve didn't help? What about underclocking the GPU?

The cooler needing attention could cause what you're seeing and if so, best not to use the card too much until you get it checked out.

 

[G J]

You said you've set a higher fan curve, are all the fans working/spinning?

It's early hours in the morning and the temperature has dropped abit from the last few days, I've taken the under volt off and I just done a 3min FurMark 2.7.0.0 stress test.

Card is a ASUS PRIME RTX 4070 OC



I'm leaning towards your GPU may need repasting/thermal pads changed. Any warranty left on the card?

​

 

[NerfedBoomer]

It’s an Inno3D or something along those lines

My CPU is AMD 7700

Where can I check warranty as I’m unsure where I bought from

 

[tommybhoy]

GitHub - GpuZelenograd/memtest_vulkan: Vulkan compute tool for testing video memory stability

Vulkan compute tool for testing video memory stability - GpuZelenograd/memtest_vulkan

github.com

Download and run Memtest_vulkan at stock/default settings, if the results deteriorate as it works through the test, you may have a vram issue.

 

[heatonpkmassive]

Where can I check warranty as I’m unsure where I bought from

Can you not check your bank statements?

 

[NerfedBoomer]

It depends on wether it’s carried over to my new bank account I got nearly two years ago

 

[Tetras]

It’s an Inno3D or something along those lines

There are reddit threads of people commenting on having to repaste their Inno3D cards.

One poster even mentions the screws weren't tightened evenly, which was contributing to poor contact.

 

[hornetstinger]

It depends on wether it’s carried over to my new bank account I got nearly two years ago

The old bank still have transaction records even on closed accounts

 

[Tart]

Even if it's an old bank account it sounds like it's within the 7 years that HMRC might want to trawl back through your accounts should they wish, so I'd imagine the bank would need to keep them just in case. Calling them up, saying you used to have an account but it's closed and can you have a copy of your accounts from whatever the time frame was might work. Or they might be able to just look at the statements and tell you the info over the phone. I've not tried this so it might just be a shot in the dark.

Just noticed @hornetstinger has said the same.

 

[Tetras]

The old bank still have transaction records even on closed accounts

or just log into their shopping accounts, not that many stores in the UK which sell graphics cards

 

[Tart]

or just log into their shopping accounts, not that many stores in the UK which sell graphics cards

That's me answering the question instead of thinking of a better overall solution again.

 

[michty_me]

Silly question possibly, Have you tried different DP/HDMI cables? Re-seating the GPU in the slot?

 

[NerfedBoomer]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I’ve located the order number and it’s going back to OCuK for an RMA. This is a simpler and less time-consuming option for me.

 

[Gray2233]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I’ve located the order number and it’s going back to OCuK for an RMA. This is a simpler and less time-consuming option for me.

If they offer a replacement in the current climate there's a chance they'll give the option for an 8gb 5060ti, flat out refuse and push for a 16gb 5060ti if they can't give you a straight 4070 replacement with it being EoL.

Ideally a 5070 but that's probably pushing your luck a tad, but shy bairns get nowt as they say.

The 5060ti 16gb is slower than your card by around 10-15% on average, but you do get the benefits of extra VRAM and certain DLSS features. They'll also probably play on the idea that you've owned your card for X amount of time and as such don't deserve the full value of it back, that said they should try to offer something at least semi comparable even if from a lower tier card and an 8gb card is not that.

 

[NerfedBoomer]

It needs to be like for like as my build is sky blue and white so only the one I have matches but thanks for the heads up

 

[Gray2233]

It needs to be like for like as my build is sky blue and white so only the one I have matches but thanks for the heads up

There's a good chance they'll offer a partial refund if that's the case and you can't come to an agreement, white products sometimes demand a bit of a tax as is but fingers crossed for you.

 

[NerfedBoomer]

I’m confused why they’d offer a partial refund if it’s broken and still under warranty. Is it just a money-saving measure? I understand that the exact model might be out of stock but it should still be the same spec or better not worse.

 

[michty_me]

I wouldn't worry about it until they actually contact you with options.