troubleshooting RTX 3080 troubles

[thisisderpy]

So, I bought a former mining GPU an RTX 3080 Gigabyte Edge OC 10gb rev 1.0, but unfortunately it's not posting anymore, well except for when it is... hang on let me explain before you furiously write things down.

 

So the order of events are that I put the GPU in my computer and everything was perfectly fine.

I then went in the UEFI to check settings and shutdown without saving anything and then proceeded to get no signal, but the GPU lights up and the fans spin normally as expected, so after some head scratching I put my old GPU in and forced PCIE to gen 3 instead of auto, saved, and shutdown (after resetting UEFI settings, which meant re sizeable bar was off, I'll get back to that).

Everything started working again, but then I decided, well, I'll put all the settings in the UEFI back on... and... guess what? The UEFI hangs after enabling re sizeable bar (well, turning it onto 'auto'), so I shutdown via the power button, but unfortunately I'm back to no signal so I put my old GPU back in again and decide to update the bios just in case, and then, I do what I did last time and get the 3080 working again, which it does.

 

I decided that I'll just go into Windows to see if that works as it should, messed around a little (making sure driver were correct and then trying out super resolution and a few basic games that aren't demanding at all, well opening them anyway) and after less than 10 minutes my whole PC shuts off, so I check to see if it'll post or not, suffice to say it doesn't, but I do get a flashing underscore in the top left of the screen, but after waiting awhile it's apparent that nothing is happening so I force shutdown and then it refuses to even do that anymore so I decide to go through the motions of what worked before, but now none of the previous solutions work anymore... PC does still work perfectly with my old GPU, which is a 1070 if you're wondering.

 

Thoughts my good fellows?

[leclod]

Trying the card in another desktop could make sense,

Dusting, repasting and repading could help if heat is the issue

What about drivers ?

If you've got a spare drive you could try installing Windows from scratch 

A shame if it's broken

Edited July 23, 2025 by leclod

[jaslion]

57 minutes ago, leclod said:

Dusting, repasting and repading could help if heat is the issue

It does exhibit a lot of issues that would be expexted for a mistreated 3080 with major thermal issues

[DoctorNick]

3 hours ago, thisisderpy said:

So, I bought a former mining GPU an RTX 3080 Gigabyte Edge OC 10gb rev 1.0, but unfortunately it's not posting anymore, well except for when it is... hang on let me explain before you furiously write things down.

 

So the order of events are that I put the GPU in my computer and everything was perfectly fine.

I then went in the UEFI to check settings and shutdown without saving anything and then proceeded to get no signal, but the GPU lights up and the fans spin normally as expected, so after some head scratching I put my old GPU in and forced PCIE to gen 3 instead of auto, saved, and shutdown (after resetting UEFI settings, which meant re sizeable bar was off, I'll get back to that).

Everything started working again, but then I decided, well, I'll put all the settings in the UEFI back on... and... guess what? The UEFI hangs after enabling re sizeable bar (well, turning it onto 'auto'), so I shutdown via the power button, but unfortunately I'm back to no signal so I put my old GPU back in again and decide to update the bios just in case, and then, I do what I did last time and get the 3080 working again, which it does.

 

I decided that I'll just go into Windows to see if that works as it should, messed around a little (making sure driver were correct and then trying out super resolution and a few basic games that aren't demanding at all, well opening them anyway) and after less than 10 minutes my whole PC shuts off, so I check to see if it'll post or not, suffice to say it doesn't, but I do get a flashing underscore in the top left of the screen, but after waiting awhile it's apparent that nothing is happening so I force shutdown and then it refuses to even do that anymore so I decide to go through the motions of what worked before, but now none of the previous solutions work anymore... PC does still work perfectly with my old GPU, which is a 1070 if you're wondering.

 

Thoughts my good fellows?

Turn of PSU, take out gpu, clear cmos. You can remove the cmos battery for 5 min. Then put in gpu and fire up. If it posts, download hwinfo64 or GPU-Z to check temperatures of the GPU.

[thisisderpy]

20 hours ago, leclod said:

Trying the card in another desktop could make sense,

Dusting, repasting and repading could help if heat is the issue

What about drivers ?

If you've got a spare drive you could try installing Windows from scratch 

A shame if it's broken

Thermals is below, but with regard to drivers they were fine as far as I'm aware, I actually do have a fresh install of Windows on a drive, but at the moment posting is an issue and sadly I don't have a CPU with an APU.

 

Edit:  forgot to reply regarding another desktop. Sadly getting another PC with a good enough PSU would be troublesome, but I could ask around. 

19 hours ago, jaslion said:

It does exhibit a lot of issues that would be expexted for a mistreated 3080 with major thermal issues

Regarding thermals it was fine on the non hotspot area, around 40C if I remember correctly, but that was immediately after booting so it could have heated up a lot. At the moment I need to avoid doing anything rash as it was sold to me as a working GPU, so the platform I bought it through enforces refunds if not sold as described and taking it apart without the sellers blessing would probably void that (as in definitely).

17 hours ago, DoctorNick said:

Turn of PSU, take out gpu, clear cmos. You can remove the cmos battery for 5 min. Then put in gpu and fire up. If it posts, download hwinfo64 or GPU-Z to check temperatures of the GPU.

Yeah, I'll give it another try after I get some word back from the seller as to some questions, but I actually did take out the cmos battery after turning off the PSU in some of my earlier trys while I ate dinner which was at least 10 minutes and everything was still as I configured... rather wack if I do say so myself. 

[DoctorNick]

48 minutes ago, thisisderpy said:

Thermals is below, but with regard to drivers they were fine as far as I'm aware, I actually do have a fresh install of Windows on a drive, but at the moment posting is an issue and sadly I don't have a CPU with an APU.

 

Edit:  forgot to reply regarding another desktop. Sadly getting another PC with a good enough PSU would be troublesome, but I could ask around. 

Regarding thermals it was fine on the non hotspot area, around 40C if I remember correctly, but that was immediately after booting so it could have heated up a lot. At the moment I need to avoid doing anything rash as it was sold to me as a working GPU, so the platform I bought it through enforces refunds if not sold as described and taking it apart without the sellers blessing would probably void that (as in definitely).

Yeah, I'll give it another try after I get some word back from the seller as to some questions, but I actually did take out the cmos battery after turning off the PSU in some of my earlier trys while I ate dinner which was at least 10 minutes and everything was still as I configured... rather wack if I do say so myself. 

If you clear CMOS by pins then check manual, at least on my b550 Gigabyte motherboard PSU need to be ON when clearing CMOS. 

[thisisderpy]

On 7/24/2025 at 4:47 PM, DoctorNick said:

If you clear CMOS by pins then check manual, at least on my b550 Gigabyte motherboard PSU need to be ON when clearing CMOS. 

Well, I run the Gaming X V2 of which you can view the manual here (PDF file) and it does appear that there is such a thing, but I've always just done it by taking out the battery and making sure there's no juice inside, so yeah, haven't really bothered checking any of that until now, lol.

I'll probably try some things out tomorrow.

[thisisderpy]

@DoctorNick@jaslion@leclod I'll just attach all of you, hope you don't mind.

So the gist is that it seems after that time the whole computer shut off in Windows, it simply will not display anymore, resetting the UEFI doesn't change anything anymore, putting my old GPU in does nothin' anymore, so I'll just proceed with a refund, although I did offer to keep it for much, much less than I paid, so we shall see,

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, thisisderpy said:

@DoctorNick@jaslion@leclod I'll just attach all of you, hope you don't mind.

So the gist is that it seems after that time the whole computer shut off in Windows, it simply will not display anymore, resetting the UEFI doesn't change anything anymore, putting my old GPU in does nothin' anymore, so I'll just proceed with a refund, although I did offer to keep it for much, much less than I paid, so we shall see,

Do not go for much less than paid. The 3080 seems like a deadly piece of hardware and shouldbt be kept.

 

Aside from that whats the psu make and model? 

[thisisderpy]

On 8/8/2025 at 2:35 AM, jaslion said:

Do not go for much less than paid. The 3080 seems like a deadly piece of hardware and shouldbt be kept.

 

Aside from that whats the psu make and model? 

Apologies for late reply.

I use a Cooler Master v6 1300w, so more than enough wattage.

 

Also by much less I essentially meant what would be 50 USD, which for me, even if it was dead beyond repair would be a fun learning experience, and as a plus I could hang it on the wall.

[Kettleonfire]

Here’s a few ways to Troubleshoot

•Reinstall all Drivers (unlikely)
• Swap PCIe power cable(s) or use a different modular port.

• Test the 3080 in another working PC.

If the card causes shutdown in another system or with a different PSU/cable, it’s a GPU hardware fault, leading to a RMA/repair needed. Do not keep turning on the PC as this can lead to a GPU failure

[thisisderpy]

@DoctorNick@jaslion@leclod @Kettleonfire 

On 7/23/2025 at 7:51 PM, leclod said:

Trying the card in another desktop could make sense,

Dusting, repasting and repading could help if heat is the issue

What about drivers ?

If you've got a spare drive you could try installing Windows from scratch 

A shame if it's broken

Thought I'd just let you know I made a new post that has all the internals and guts for you to look at if you want.