Question GPU got damaged and I want to prevent it from happening again ?

[Skelun]

These were the specs:
MOBO: TUF GAMING X570-PLUS_BR
PSU: Corsair RM750x 750W 80 Plus Gold Modular
AIO: Corsair H100 RGB 240mm
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: 3x8GB Crucial 3000Mhz + 16GB KLEVV BOLT 3200MHz (@3000Mhz)
HDD: ST1000DM010-2EP102 (1TB, IDE)
HDD: ST1000DM003-1CH162 (1TB, IDE)
SSD NVMe: XPG GAMMIX S41 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB
SSD NVMe: XPG SX8100 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB

I built it in 2021 and in late 2022 I moved to a place with frequent power outages, like ~10 in a year. Since UPS are hugely expensive in my country, some people recommend me a good power stripe with surge protection. So I got one from Clamper.

In late 2024, right on Christmas, my GPU got fried while I was playing Marvel Rivals. Some components were replaced and it is working again. But now I have PTSD. I think my PC will get fried at any moment, I can smell the burnt plastic whenever I remember it happening.

No tweaking clock speeds. Just regular use with some gaming and 1080p video editing.

What could have caused this? Was it power instability? If it was, what can I do to prevent it from happening again? Do I have to sell my other kidney to buy a 1.5K VA UPS?

Thank you!!

 

[beyondlogic]

These were the specs:
MOBO: TUF GAMING X570-PLUS_BR
PSU: Corsair RM750x 750W 80 Plus Gold Modular
AIO: Corsair H100 RGB 240mm
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: 3x8GB Crucial 3000Mhz + 16GB KLEVV BOLT 3200MHz (@3000Mhz)
HDD: ST1000DM010-2EP102 (1TB, IDE)
HDD: ST1000DM003-1CH162 (1TB, IDE)
SSD NVMe: XPG GAMMIX S41 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB
SSD NVMe: XPG SX8100 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB

I built it in 2021 and in late 2022 I moved to a place with frequent power outages, like ~10 in a year. Since UPS are hugely expensive in my country, some people recommend me a good power stripe with surge protection. So I got one from Clamper.

In late 2024, right on Christmas, my GPU got fried while I was playing Marvel Rivals. Some components were replaced and it is working again. But now I have PTSD. I think my PC will get fried at any moment, I can smell the burnt plastic whenever I remember it happening.

No tweaking clock speeds. Just regular use with some gaming and 1080p video editing.

What could have cause this? Was the power instability? If it was, what can I do to prevent it from happening again? Do I have to sell my other kidney to buy a 1.5K VA UPS?

Thank you!!

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Protector-Right-Angle-INSURANCE/dp/B0000510Z9/ref=sr_1_14?crid=3BXERGLSK9XVE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PXgp89gV5mSLOop7ns0TXecyhevSewl48vI_9whNbjO1rGZcwI0sKE0dj1UuRWsNv73hlRrMElPUUFxRBBykX2e3_eTsbCO2HKKRKI1CoU2ceY7w-exvEC21Cl7jGtQNVVyBDHPexDpxJlq3eJ6rD3DMG84IU576mcDOAyJej0_MYsd7ndc72WsFUT-wDtn1DGEAWO5twIXMADHs_tpOz_lo57eAiyXmWFqJR3JMpkQMdW7fyvP6yk0LugJPqlfI18O1VUYiNj8zdEC7reyQu2pyyNT3QitE4glJE02c_enYOHiQomk9NpWcmNFK_iYBiwmAfdioZO0J24XY1K09iNLsyxPUFrgB1s4sIIh1tIY.0E7Z86kyrl0QlfrXy-gQexAWsDq9nW13UgN4gX03kZo&dib_tag=se&keywords=surge+protector+individual+switches&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1742097722&refinements=p_6:ATVPDKIKX0DER&rnid=303116011&s=electronics&sprefix=surge+protector+individual+switche,aps,155&sr=1-14&th=1

not a huge amount you can do apart from use a good quality surge protector. which once a power cut has occured will give you enough time to turn off the power from the wall. if you dont have switches on your wall then you need a surge protector with individual switches.


https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Individually-Controlled-TLP76MSG/dp/B0068LACFI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BXERGLSK9XVE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PXgp89gV5mSLOop7ns0TXecyhevSewl48vI_9whNbjO1rGZcwI0sKE0dj1UuRWsNv73hlRrMElPUUFxRBBykX2e3_eTsbCO2HKKRKI1CoU2ceY7w-exvEC21Cl7jGtQNVVyBDHPexDpxJlq3eJ6rD3DMG84IU576mcDOAyJej0_MYsd7ndc72WsFUT-wDtn1DGEAWO5twIXMADHs_tpOz_lo57eAiyXmWFqJR3JMpkQMdW7fyvP6yk0LugJPqlfI18O1VUYiNj8zdEC7reyQu2pyyNT3QitE4glJE02c_enYOHiQomk9NpWcmNFK_iYBiwmAfdioZO0J24XY1K09iNLsyxPUFrgB1s4sIIh1tIY.0E7Z86kyrl0QlfrXy-gQexAWsDq9nW13UgN4gX03kZo&dib_tag=se&keywords=surge+protector+individual+switches&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1742097722&refinements=p_6:ATVPDKIKX0DER&rnid=303116011&s=electronics&sprefix=surge+protector+individual+switche,aps,155&sr=1-1&th=1


every protector will be rated to a diffrent rating the ones mentioned are rated for pcs

 

[Skelun]

https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Protector-Right-Angle-INSURANCE/dp/B0000510Z9/ref=sr_1_14?crid=3BXERGLSK9XVE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PXgp89gV5mSLOop7ns0TXecyhevSewl48vI_9whNbjO1rGZcwI0sKE0dj1UuRWsNv73hlRrMElPUUFxRBBykX2e3_eTsbCO2HKKRKI1CoU2ceY7w-exvEC21Cl7jGtQNVVyBDHPexDpxJlq3eJ6rD3DMG84IU576mcDOAyJej0_MYsd7ndc72WsFUT-wDtn1DGEAWO5twIXMADHs_tpOz_lo57eAiyXmWFqJR3JMpkQMdW7fyvP6yk0LugJPqlfI18O1VUYiNj8zdEC7reyQu2pyyNT3QitE4glJE02c_enYOHiQomk9NpWcmNFK_iYBiwmAfdioZO0J24XY1K09iNLsyxPUFrgB1s4sIIh1tIY.0E7Z86kyrl0QlfrXy-gQexAWsDq9nW13UgN4gX03kZo&dib_tag=se&keywords=surge+protector+individual+switches&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1742097722&refinements=p_6:ATVPDKIKX0DER&rnid=303116011&s=electronics&sprefix=surge+protector+individual+switche,aps,155&sr=1-14&th=1

not a huge amount you can do apart from use a good quality surge protector. which once a power cut has occured will give you enough time to turn off the power from the wall. if you dont have switches on your wall then you need a surge protector with individual switches.


https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Individually-Controlled-TLP76MSG/dp/B0068LACFI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BXERGLSK9XVE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PXgp89gV5mSLOop7ns0TXecyhevSewl48vI_9whNbjO1rGZcwI0sKE0dj1UuRWsNv73hlRrMElPUUFxRBBykX2e3_eTsbCO2HKKRKI1CoU2ceY7w-exvEC21Cl7jGtQNVVyBDHPexDpxJlq3eJ6rD3DMG84IU576mcDOAyJej0_MYsd7ndc72WsFUT-wDtn1DGEAWO5twIXMADHs_tpOz_lo57eAiyXmWFqJR3JMpkQMdW7fyvP6yk0LugJPqlfI18O1VUYiNj8zdEC7reyQu2pyyNT3QitE4glJE02c_enYOHiQomk9NpWcmNFK_iYBiwmAfdioZO0J24XY1K09iNLsyxPUFrgB1s4sIIh1tIY.0E7Z86kyrl0QlfrXy-gQexAWsDq9nW13UgN4gX03kZo&dib_tag=se&keywords=surge+protector+individual+switches&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&qid=1742097722&refinements=p_6:ATVPDKIKX0DER&rnid=303116011&s=electronics&sprefix=surge+protector+individual+switche,aps,155&sr=1-1&th=1


every protector will be rated to a diffrent rating the ones mentioned are rated for pcs

Thank you for your answer.

I couldn't find these that you recommended available in my country.

When you say I will have time to turn off the power, do you mean, to just prevent damage from the surge after the PC power goes off, or does it give me a brief moment like a cheap UPS?

I got this surge protector. Bought after the incident: https://www.amazon.com.br/CLAMPER-Ad-bm1-135939-Clamper-Energia-Tomadas/dp/B0763VCVYD

Is this good enough? What should I look for? I saw some people (not sponsored) praising the quality on some local youtube channels.

Here's the translucent version, it seems cheap:
https://www.amazon.com.br/Filtro-linha-Protetor-Contra-Surtos/dp/B0DMQLS222

 

[helper800]

You only real option is a UPS. Surge protectors don't protect against brownouts.

 

[Exploding PSU]

Oh, I can sympathise with you... Sorry, but I had a little bit of a chuckle when you said ~10 a year to be quite frequent... I used to live in a place where power outage happened every week on average. Sometimes twice a week. Electronics generally never lasted long back then..

You only real option is a UPS. Surge protectors don't protect against brownouts.

Unfortunately you might need an UPS... I know, it can be expensive and all but, it might be worth it... I used to install one of those stabilisers as a band-aid solution, but my motherboard still got taken out one day..

 

[beyondlogic]

Thank you for your answer.

I couldn't find these that you recommended available in my country.

When you say I will have time to turn off the power, do you mean, to just prevent damage from the surge after the PC power goes off, or does it give me a brief moment like a cheap UPS?

I got this surge protector. Bought after the incident: https://www.amazon.com.br/CLAMPER-Ad-bm1-135939-Clamper-Energia-Tomadas/dp/B0763VCVYD

Is this good enough? What should I look for? I saw some people (not sponsored) praising the quality on some local youtube channels.

Here's the translucent version, it seems cheap:
https://www.amazon.com.br/Filtro-linha-Protetor-Contra-Surtos/dp/B0DMQLS222

Surge protector protects from a wild swing in power usually when the power gets back on from a outage the voltage can be to high. When the power cut happens it gives enough time to get the electronic out of the wall.

Other options for low power is power conditioning.

But a ups is the only true way to protect from complete shut off of power.

Personally I'd get the sockets tested to check there running the correct voltage.

 

[Skelun]

Thank you all for the answers. It seems that I will need to make an effort to buy one UPS, but which should I buy? How many VA? Sinusoidal? Please, the cheapest but enough to save my loved computer.