Checking a possible bad GPU on a friends machine. Should I be worried?

[Krazycatpeekin]

Here's my setup

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-6700K 4 GHz Quad-Core Processor	$307.70 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	NZXT - Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard	Asus - MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory	G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	$79.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$149.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Toshiba - 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce GTX 970 4 GB FTW+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Case	Corsair - 760T Black V2 ATX Full Tower Case	$179.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$129.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit	$129.99 @ Newegg Business
Case Fan	Noctua - NF-F12 PWM 54.97 CFM 120mm Fan	$19.95 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua - NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM 64.92 CFM 140mm Fan	$14.95 @ Amazon
Case Fan	Noctua - NF-P14s redux-1200 PWM 64.92 CFM 140mm Fan	$14.95 @ Amazon
Monitor	BenQ - GL2460HM 24.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$119.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	BenQ - GL2460HM 24.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$119.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Kingston - HyperX Alloy Elite RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard	$139.99 @ Amazon
Mouse	Logitech - G502 Proteus Spectrum Wired Optical Mouse	$65.03 @ Newegg
Headphones	Logitech - G430 7.1 Channel Headset	$39.97 @ Amazon
Speakers	Logitech - Z506 155 W 5.1ch Speakers	$72.99 @ Newegg
External Storage	Seagate - Expansion 1 TB External Hard Drive
Other	NZXT Hue+ Advanced Gaming PC Lighting Control	Purchased For $59.99
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1665.15
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$1645.15
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-18 05:44 EDT-0400

I was playing Apex legends last night with a twitch stream on my second monitor when my entire system just went black. Monitors, case lighting, everything stopped. I switched off my PSU i/o and back on and my mobo led lighting came back on as well as cpu cooler lights. Press power button and i get a brief flick of the light and a click near the back (which I assume is the psu) but the system won't start up. Fans do not even try to tick over. I replaced the cmos battery, switched psu off and held power button while off and tried again to discharge any potential power. Still nothing. I removed the GPU and used IGP to boot and the system starts right up with no issue but i'm now stuck using on board graphics which are useless for anything but browsing. I have also reinstalled the GPU without the pcie power connected, no picture with display plugged into the GPU but my machine does start fine and displays fine when using IGP. The fans on the GPU also tick and spin a little while using just the PCIe slot power, again no power attached from PSU to GPU. Anytime the power connectors are connected to the GPU, the system will not post. So, I have a few questions. First, does anyone know if this is the PSU not having power to run the card and stopping the system or is the GPU done for?  I'm assuming my GPU is fried and I will have to replace it after reading a lot of similar problems online. Second, I should be able to try it in a friends machine tomorrow to verify this but am also a little worried I may damage something in his rig such as the PSU if the card has a short or something in it. Should I be worried that this may be a possibility?

[paddy-stone]

I highly doubt it's the PSU, Try another PCI-e power cable first anyway, just to check. How long have you had the system is always good to know by the way?  it gives us an indication of whether it has worked fine for years before this. Also how old is the GPU?

 

Then by all means try the GPU in another rig, shouldn't be able to do anything to your friends system... IIRC nvidia GPUs from at least a few gens aren't able to break power limits anyway, so even if you'd tried to OC and add more voltage it shouldn't have been able to exceed safe voltage.

[Krazycatpeekin]

@paddy-stone I tried both another PCIe slot and power cables to no avail. I built the whole system Feb of 2016, so just over 3 years (conveniently 2 months out of the GPU warranty date, lol). Bought everything brand new for my first build, added some random stuff here and there (lighting, fans, etc) but all main components (mobo, cpu, gpu, ram, psu) are from 3 years ago. Never had any issues with the system until last night. Game almost everyday and use for productivity as well. I work from home part time. Just want to make sure I don't have to fix a second rig before I stick my card in my friends machine. From what i've read online, it seems to be a dead GPU. Was gonna upgrade anyway, so it is what it is. Thanks for the help!

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, Krazycatpeekin said:

@paddy-stone I tried both another PCIe slot and power cables to no avail. I built the whole system Feb of 2016, so just over 3 years (conveniently 2 months out of the GPU warranty date, lol). Bought everything brand new for my first build, added some random stuff here and there (lighting, fans, etc) but all main components (mobo, cpu, gpu, ram, psu) are from 3 years ago. Never had any issues with the system until last night. Game almost everyday and use for productivity as well. I work from home part time. Just want to make sure I don't have to fix a second rig before I stick my card in my friends machine. From what i've read online, it seems to be a dead GPU. Was gonna upgrade anyway, so it is what it is. Thanks for the help!

No problem. I mean it could be a dead GPU for sure, but if it is, I would assume that it'd been subjected to near critical temps or something for a long time to die like that... I would have probably expected to see some sign of it dying, like artifacting etc maybe. I'm not a GPU guru or anything though.

I'd ask in the GPU forum, if they would expect certain signs of a GPU dying, to get their take on it too.

 

This is one reason why I am really glad I have access to other hardware at this point in my life, for troubleshooting purposes... in my youth I didn't so much and was awkward as hell sometimes.

[Krazycatpeekin]

@paddy-stone Was just about to take it apart to get a better if something blew on it and noticed one of the fan power connector cables was hitting the blade. Potentially had one fan not running which would surely fit this issue. Never really checked the fans with them being under the GPU out of sight line and not thinking twice about it. I have CAM software running all the time though so I should have got a temp warning from it and i haven't touched the GPU in months before this so not really sure if it was an issue. Already posted on Graphics Cards, they actually referred me here to ask about putting the card in a friends rig. Definitely at that stage where I'm gonna work on another rig to have around for these situations. Relatively new to PC gaming and building in general but I love it! Thanks again for the help!

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, Krazycatpeekin said:

@paddy-stone Was just about to take it apart to get a better if something blew on it and noticed one of the fan power connector cables was hitting the blade. Potentially had one fan not running which would surely fit this issue. Never really checked the fans with them being under the GPU out of sight line and not thinking twice about it. I have CAM software running all the time though so I should have got a temp warning from it and i haven't touched the GPU in months before this so not really sure if it was an issue. Already posted on Graphics Cards, they actually referred me here to ask about putting the card in a friends rig. Definitely at that stage where I'm gonna work on another rig to have around for these situations. Relatively new to PC gaming and building in general but I love it! Thanks again for the help!

No worries, always happy to try and help other members. Especially nice and polite members such as yourself