280GTX Waterblock Issue

[dude_500]

I got a full cover EK waterblock for my 280 GTX today and installed it and there are artifacts and pattersn on the screen in BIOS post (the image is there but highly corrupt).

I took the card out and it was pretty warped on the block, I think I overtightened around the core way too much. I re-mounted much looser so it's not warped anymore but I still have the issue. Any thoughts or is the card toast?

I'm nearly positive there was no water leakage.

[Diverge]

warping the board isn't too good, as it can break solder connections on pins, ect.

Your best bet would be to put on the stock cooler and verify that it works with that. If so, then you need to recheck how your mounting your water block. If it doesn't work with the stock cooler, forget the waterblock for now, and see if you can figure out why, or buy a new card.

[Jokester_wild]

looks like you killed your card bro. RMA it. ;)

have to be careful when tightening down blocks.

[dude_500]

Is there any way to flash the bios to tell it to not use the bad memory chip (assuming that's the problem, I think that's usually what causes artifacting) and then just go trial and error on the 16 chips to find it? My checkbook is liking a 950MB card much more than a new 1GB card.