NVIDIA's new flagship GeForce GTX 1080 is the most advanced gaming graphics card ever created. (Photo : Facebook/Nvidia )
As NVIDIA struggles to resolve the low supply plaguing the release of the GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1070, which in many instances resulted to price surging, the few users lucky enough to get hold of the flagship graphic cards are reportedly encountering Windows boot problems directly caused by the new hardware.
Reports said that while NVIDIA and its manufacturing partner TSMC are dealing with the supposed production and shipment miscalculations that marred the GTX 1080 and 1070 rollout, the cards that managed to reach consumers turned out problematic. "Users of GTX 1080 and 1070 using dual-link DVI connectors could experience problems with booting in to Windows with pixel clocks set higher than 330 MHz," TechFrag reported.
Citing the numerous complaints posted on the GeForce Forum, the report said that the boot error was observed affecting all models.
Booting up to Windows will fail if the refresh rate of the dual-link DVI monitor has been set at over 81Hz, which according to TechFrag is "the highest number you can achieve with pixel clock staying under 330MHz." The boot error will be apparent as users will see flash colors on the computer monitor instead of the Windows flash screen.
TechFrag said that the system BIOS screen seems unaffected by the glitch due to its low resolution run.
As of writing, NVIDIA is yet to deploy a driver patch but the same report offered a workaround. The quick fix is the use of the DisplayPort or users can just boot in safe mode then dial down the monitor refresh rate below 81Hz, which appears to be a level that current GTX 1080 and 1070 firmware are unable to handle smoothly.
Reports of the GTX 1080 and 1070 boot errors came out following the fan revving issue or rapid increase of the card fan RPM speed that a number of users have experienced, which thankfully NVIDIA swiftly corrected with a driver update, TechFrag said.
But the headache persists for NVIDIA as both the GTX 1080 and 1070 remain mostly out of stock in store shelves. The problem is compounded by sellers taking advantage of the high demand for the cards with the sticker price breaching the original $699 sticker price. On Amazon, the card is even selling at over $1000, according to MobiPicker.
The report added that the NVIDIA GTX 1080 and 1070 supply crunch is likely to continue as stocks remain hard to find. In some cases, the NVIDIA cards lag behind the more affordable AMD Radeon RX 480, which in many retail stores boasts of "stocks that are 25 times more," MobiPicker added on its report.
