So I bought a used GTX 1070. Tried it for about 2 weeks, unfortunately its a no go. I get eye strain. My eyes burns, with muscle twitches and all. This sucks. I tried connecting to my monitor using HDMI cable - eye strain. Next i tried using DVI port with a DVI to VGA converter and use VGA cable to my monitor - eye strain also. I tried using HDMI port with a HDMI to VGA converter and using VGA cable to my monitor - eye strain again. So my theory (in another thread) on how analog signal can flush out the thing that is causing us eye strain doesnt work with PC. https://ledstrain.org/d/483-android-tv-box-eye-strain-and-solution-for-pc-also/17

I tried the oldest driver I can find (from the CD), no go, and I tried the latest driver, also eye strain. I gave up after about 2 weeks.

I read the thread about GTX 970 and how AgentX20 can use his 970 without a problem. So I bought a used GTX 970, exactly his model, which is Gigabyte G1 Gaming model. I have been using this GTX 970 for a about a week now, and thankfully I can use it without eye strain. Phew. Thanks AgentX20. At least my home PC gets a bit of graphics upgrade from its GTX 760.

  • KM replied to this.
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    Kray How did you know you were buying the right v1.0 version (e.g. with no Samsung memory as @AgentX20 said), could you see this on pictures or were you just lucky?

    • Kray replied to this.

        KM

        Yikes, there are different versions of the Gigabyte G1 GTX 970 graphics card? I must have missed that. What I understood from the thread is that different GTX 970 cards (from different makers) can cause eye strain. That's why I bought the exact model used by AgentX20, at least I know this model can be used by someone who suffers from eye strain like me. I didn't know there were 2 versions of it...and I dont know which version I got, its already installed. I guess luck is on my side this time.

            You can't easily tell which version of the Gigabyte Gaming Edition 970 1.0 hardware you have. You need to install it and use something like GPUID to identify what memory is on the card. Of course this all assumes my theory about which ones work (Hynix) and which ones don't (Samsung) hold true, and it's not some weird BIOS variation.

            I noticed the cooling fins are slightly different between the two cards I have at present (one good - Hynix, and one bad - Samsung) but it's very subtle. Perhaps it's evidence of different sub-manufacturers?

            Glad you got a good one Kray. Maybe you could run CPUID up and let us know what memory you have on your card?

            • JTL replied to this.

                JTL Correction: It's GPU-Z

                Yep - that's the one! Thanks 😀

                  I ran GPU-Z, and I got the Hynix one. Wow, it was a 50-50 chance and somehow I got the good one. What a relief.

                  • diop replied to this.
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                    Kray Would it be worth comparing the VBIOS version between both of these good 970's? The bad card may have a different version.

                    • JTL replied to this.
                        5 days later

                        diop I remember @degen said his 970 was "bad" and the VBIOS was later then a possibly "good" card.

                            2 months later

                            BTW the problem seems to be not limited to new video cards. I tried to use GTX970 with my new z390 chipset motherboard with no luck (also tried internal motherboard Intel VGA). There was still eyestrain . The same thing goes for my old X79 chipset + RTX2080. Only gtx970 + X79 worked. Don't know what's going on. Hope my eyes will recover from such a heavy blow over time. No more experiments. I quit PC gaming from now on. But still I'm going to try the next generation playstation when it's released.

                              1NGIBITOR were you using Windows 7 or Windows 10 v1511? If not, you will have eyestrain no matter what.

                                  Hey everyone, I also experience eye strain but with the GTX 970 (ASUS STRIX). Yet if I change over to my onboard graphics (Intel HD Graphics 4600), I experience ZERO eye strain! I have logged a support ticket with NVIDIA, but I don't have high hopes in getting a solution. I wonder if it was a driver at some point that has caused this issue as I'm sure I didn't have this problem when I first got the card. Am going to install the oldest driver I can find for the GTX 970 and see if any change occurs!!

                                  Gurm I don't have problems with Win 10. I use it at work on the other desktop. And I have problems with the new VGA even in BIOS, let alone win 10 and 7.

                                    1NGIBITOR

                                    Can I just confirm what you're saying here are you saying the 970+x79 was eye strain free but the 970+z390 gave you eye strain?

                                    If that's the case did you use the exact same OS and drivers on both?

                                    I ask because I've ran in to problems with using some newer (2017-2018 haswell) motherboards that despite EVERYTHING else being the same apart from the CPU and motherboard I'm getting eyestrain yet if I switch back to my sandybridge CPU and motherboard I'm immediately eye strain free again. I'm wondering if EUFI can actually affect display all the way in to the OS

                                        Soreeyes It doesn't matter what OS is installed. The problem starts from the BIOS screen. I use win 10 and win 7 on apropriate hardware without problems. I even tried linux mint at some point with no luck. No way to use my new PC build without serious eyestrain. No matter what OS is installed, no matter what monitor is connected, no matter what cable is used, no matter what chipset/GPU driver is used.

                                            1NGIBITOR

                                            While I can not confirm it I believe UEFI may be introducing problems somewhere. I have seen a couple of people claim that installing the OS via legacy and not UEFI has produced better results regarding eye strain also

                                                Soreeyes Thank you for the advice. I'll check it when my eyes are ready (probably not soon). But X79+RTX2080 build gives me eyestrain too. So it seems to be at least 2 different hardware problems. Using a powerful GPU is more important for gaming anyway. For other tasks my old X79 build is more then enough. I wasted a lot of money on the new build though... and that's a sad story(

                                                  1NGIBITOR
                                                  Maybe it's worth to mention that I also have second computer with z390 motherboard on which I'm experimenting with different Linux distribution and custom kernels but without any luck (with several old radeon cards, new nvida card and intel 630 graphics).

                                                    4 months later

                                                    As I said for me ASUS STrix GTX 1070 is fine. Looking to something similar to other build. I have read that the 20xx series uses some new technology with lightning etc and I dont know if this won't cause problems.
                                                    Anyone tried the GTX 1660 ti? Its similar family as my GTX1070.

                                                      Luki99 You're definitely one of the lucky ones. Very few of us here have had any success with the 10 series Nvidia cards... 🙁

                                                        dev