Studio XPS 435T/9000, GTX 970, black screen, blinking

Question

Hello, Dell Community!

I’ve been working on my Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000 and recently tried installing a Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce OC (GV-N970WF3OC-4GD). Unfortunately, I ran into an issue where the screen intermittently goes black, then dark gray, and sometimes recovers after a few seconds. I’d like to ask if anyone has experienced similar issues with this system or GPU and what steps they took to resolve it.

Here’s a summary of the situation and troubleshooting I’ve done so far:

System Details:
- Model: Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000
- GPU Attempted: Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce OC (GV-N970WF3OC-4GD)
- PSU: Corsair HX750 (plenty of wattage for the GTX 970)
- Current Working GPU: XFX Radeon R7 360 (no issues at all)
Issue:
- After installing the GTX 970, the screen blinks between black and dark gray.
- The system sometimes recovers after several seconds, but the issue persists during usage.
Troubleshooting Steps Taken:
- Clean installation of the latest NVIDIA drivers (used DDU to remove previous drivers).
- Checked GPU power cables (6-pin and 8-pin PCIe connectors are secure).
- Verified PSU wattage and stability.
- Monitored temperatures (not overheating).
- Tested the GTX 970 in a different PCIe slot with the same result.
- Tried waiting during the black/gray screen phase (thinking it was downloading or initializing drivers), but the issue remains.

As a workaround, I’ve reverted to the XFX Radeon R7 360, which works flawlessly, but I’d really like to get the GTX 970 working if possible.

Could this be a compatibility issue with the Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000? Or does it sound like the GTX 970 itself might be failing?

I’ve uploaded a short video showing the behavior if that helps.

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help!

redxps630 · Answer

first of all I would test this GTX 970 in another desktop pc to see issue recurs. it could be the gpu is somewhat defective from the report.

if you do not have another desktop, try enter bios video screen using the GTX970 and just sit there watch. if the bios video is rock stable, then you may entertain a hypothesis that it is the OS or Nvidia display adapter that may be causing intermittent video issue, while in BIOS, only the very basic simple display adapter is used.

on the other hand if the bios video is also bad, then it is more likely a defective video card.

It does not seem to be a power issue, as you did some investigation to rule out.

redxps630 · Answer

another test is to try a different video port of GTX 970

both 970 and R7 360 have multiple DVI port

try a different DVI port using same DVI cable.

if your monitor supports HDMI or DP, can try those ports too

KidMiracleman · Answer

Some very good suggestions.  I had not thought of.  I will try them as soon as I get back home from work.

KidMiracleman · Answer

@redxps630​ I connected my TV to the HDMI port.  No problems whatsoever.  I wonder if it is the cable.

redxps630 · Answer

there you go.  the card has no issue.

KidMiracleman · Answer

@redxps630​ Not sure if we know that for sure.  But even if true what is the solution??  The fact is I most likely will not be connecting this computer to a monitor via DVI so I guess it does not matter

redxps630 · Answer

DVI is getting out of fashion.  If you can get normal display out of DP or HDMI port of video card I would say that is a success.

KidMiracleman · Answer

@redxps630​ I agree.  I can't see any benefit from trying to figure out why it is not working.  I am going with HDMI and taking the W.  :)  Thank you for your help

Techgee · Answer

I have almost the same setup (XPS 435T/9000 with a GeForce GTX 970), although GPU is a EVGA model.

I don't recall exactly why, but even though my monitor has DVI input and no HDMI and my GTX 970 outputs both, I chose or had to run a HDMI cable from the 970's HDMI to a cabling HDMI-to-DVI converter to a DVI endpoint that connected to the monitor. I think it had to do with limited bandwidth of the 970's DVI output that wasn't quite capable of driving my 2048 x 1152 monitor.

Anyway, sounds like you made the right call using its HDMI output and keeping the GeForce GTX 970.

KidMiracleman · Answer

@Techgee​ Thank you.

XPS Desktops

Studio XPS 435T/9000, GTX 970, black screen, blinking

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