What could cause a graphics card to just die after leaving in a shelf or box for a long time (over 6 months)?

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Now im gonna start moving to fixing dead gpus cause dead mobos arent exactly infinite and they can only get me so far

 

This seems to be a rather common cause of death as 3 sellers ive asked (as of now) have had their gpus "die" after just leaving the gpu on a shelf or in a box for a prolonged period of time, basically when they put in a box/shelf the gpu is working fine but when they come back to test it after awhile no display

 

 

What could cause this aside from more obvious water damage or blunt force damage (chipped/cracked gpu die)? There isnt exactly a socket to clean or fix like on mobos but there is the pcie x16, the 6/8 pin power ports, and the rear i/o to clean

 

Im not gonna buy any of the artifacting or sudden death while in use ones cause those are usually royally fked in one way or another and usually unfixable or need special tools

[Shimejii]

One of a few things. Its probably not dead, GPUS simply wont die by being left on a shelf. If you clean it off, make sure everything is good, it should start right up. Making sure thats working, The no display issue is probably Display port bugging out. Ive had this happen before where upon first bootup, DP doesnt work but HDMI does. Thats why i ALWAYS have a HDMI monitor plugged in first to do all basic testing, then plug in my DP monitor upon boot to see if it will be fine.

 

Other then that, being left on the shelf was more then likely NOT what caused it. It had issues before it just wasnt noticeable, then it was forgotten about and voila now that you are paying attention to it and focusing, you now see the issues.

 

On the off chance it did cause it, electronics can be finicky, sometimes when a device is powered on, then off for a significant time it can cause some issues in the caps. Although 6 months is not nearly enough time for that to happen.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 minute ago, Shimejii said:

Its probably not dead

Very very likely not dead for sure assuming not stored in a really bad place where it may get knocked and fall off a shelf and nuking the die or water damaged

 

Pretty much why i always buy boards that have not been used for a long time as cause of "death" since its almost always dust, particularly socket dust. If its not socket dust i have my last ditch clean method (dunk in water after properly discharging the mobo) to fully clean the mobo, if that dont fix it i presume it dead either fr dead or effectively dead (as in i cant repair without special equipment)

 

5 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

The no display issue is probably Display port bugging out. Ive had this happen before where upon first bootup, DP doesnt work but HDMI does. Thats why i ALWAYS have a HDMI monitor plugged in first to do all basic testing, then plug in my DP monitor upon boot to see if it will be fine

How about dvi and vga? Im looking at really old cards that i can still sell at like >3x buying price if i can fix em. Also curious if adapters would do anything cause i have heard hdmi can just completely die on a card sometimes and you gotta use dvi, vga, or dp. I have dvi to vga and hdmi to vga adaptors i bought off aliexpress that ive never even used since 2018

[Shimejii]

5 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Very very likely not dead for sure assuming not stored in a really bad place where it may get knocked and fall off a shelf and nuking the die or water damaged

 

Pretty much why i always buy boards that have not been used for a long time as cause of "death" since its almost always dust, particularly socket dust. If its not socket dust i have my last ditch clean method (dunk in water after properly discharging the mobo) to fully clean the mobo, if that dont fix it i presume it dead either fr dead or effectively dead (as in i cant repair without special equipment)

 

How about dvi and vga? Im looking at really old cards that i can still sell at like >3x buying price if i can fix em. Also curious if adapters would do anything cause i have heard hdmi can just completely die on a card sometimes and you gotta use dvi, vga, or dp. I have dvi to vga and hdmi to vga adaptors i bought off aliexpress that ive never even used since 2018

If they have DVI or VGA, they are too old to probably matter and arent worth the time to fix vs the amount you get back. Buying a 5-10$ card, spending 2-4 hours testing it then selling it for 30-60$ is still not really worth your time. Gotta get a good ROI and time spent. 

 

Now if your doing it for shits and giggles as a side thing while your main job is making the $$$, sure i could see you doing that. I cant say ive used a DVI or VGA though in almost a decade, besides dealing with college/School computers or a relative that was trying to upgrade their computer from 2006.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

If they have DVI or VGA, they are too old to probably matter and arent worth the time to fix vs the amount you get back. Buying a 5-10$ card, spending 2-4 hours testing it then selling it for 30-60$ is still not really worth your time. Gotta get a good ROI and time spent. 

 

Now if your doing it for shits and giggles as a side thing while your main job is making the $$$, sure i could see you doing that. I cant say ive used a DVI or VGA though in almost a decade, besides dealing with college/School computers or a relative that was trying to upgrade their computer from 2006.

Im a bloody 15 year old so dont got a job, just doing this for some $ on the side and able to buy some other computer components

 

I buy these really cheap ones just because low risk and im still learning, if it fails doesnt matter ill only lose a $ or 2 at worst but still 300%+ profit margin even if its not that much money

[Brooksie359]

Honestly I would think some of the time it's static electricity that causes it.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Honestly I would think some of the time it's static electricity that causes it.

I dunno about that, ive chucked many boards onto my bed and none have died because of it, though that is a possibility and static can indeed damage or kill pcs (if theres tons of it not just the little bit youd get from rubbing a carpet or from your bed) as demonstrated in an old linus and electroboom collab video

[Brooksie359]

5 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

I dunno about that, ive chucked many boards onto my bed and none have died because of it, though that is a possibility and static can indeed damage or kill pcs (if theres tons of it not just the little bit youd get from rubbing a carpet or from your bed) as demonstrated in an old linus and electroboom collab video

Eltronics are finicky especially older models. Static electricity resistance has gotten better over time but again if its an old piece of hardware it's going to be less resistant because one it's older and two it was made when hardware weren't as resistant to Static electricity. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

4 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Eltronics are finicky especially older models. Static electricity resistance has gotten better over time but again if its an old piece of hardware it's going to be less resistant because one it's older and two it was made when hardware weren't as resistant to Static electricity. 

*laughs in 775 boards from 2007

 

I mean my 775 boards dont seem to care about static either