Question GPU Problems

[Changster101]

Hi all,
I'm having issues with my personally built PC, specifically my GPU. Recently, I've been running my computer with an EVGA 970 (ran perfectly with no issues) but saw that a stranger was giving away a EVGA 980 TI for free, so I decided to give it a try. Well I first plugged it in, the system kept shutting down after 5 minutes of playing a game, but at the time my PSU was 500 watts so I thought that was the reason why. Today, I got an EVGA 750W BR and plugged everything in, but now I run into the same problems. 50% of the time on boot my PC doesn't even display any output and restarts automatically or by me pressing the restart button. The other 50% of the time when the PC does properly boot, I run a game for 10 minutes and then it goes to this grey screen of death where I don't see or hear anything, not even my cursor. The computer then restarts after 30 seconds.

Now, I would normally pin this on the GPU but the one strange thing is that if I just keep my PC running on the home screen it runs for hours without crashing, so when I see this I'm a little confused since if my GPU was fried I feel like it would always crash no matter what.

My windows and drivers are up to date, but I did update my drivers when the 970 was installed, and when I plugged in the 980 ti it said that I didn't need to update them so I didn't.

Please help!!

Specs:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CbhQhg
CPU: i5-9400f with stock cooler
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6 GB
PSU: EVGA BQ 750 W
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 UD
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB DDR4-3400
Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM

 

[Phaaze88]

You accepted a 980Ti from a stranger for free and didn't suspect that there may be an underlying issue with it?

Now, I would normally pin this on the GPU but the one strange thing is that if I just keep my PC running on the home screen it runs for hours without crashing, so when I see this I'm a little confused since if my GPU was fried I feel like it would always crash no matter what.

It's not doing anything on the home screen though; that's an idle state.
You push it, and before long, it blows up... no telling what could be wrong with it.
Possible overheating?
Damaged hardware underneath the cooler?
🤷‍♂️

 

[Changster101]

You accepted a 980Ti from a stranger for free and didn't suspect that there may be an underlying issue with it?

I mean, getting for a free 980TI is worth a shot wouldn't you say? Obviously I still have my 970, but I feel like since I got the free 980TI it was worth trying it out.

It's not doing anything on the home screen though; that's an idle state.
You push it, and before long, it blows up... no telling what could be wrong with it.
Possible overheating?
Damaged hardware underneath the cooler?
🤷‍♂️

I have MSI Afterburner and when it crashes the GPU temps are normal, in the 60 degrees (celcius). How should I check for damaged hardware underneath the cooler?

 

[Phaaze88]

Understandable, but still... I couldn't help but be a little skeptical. Did the guy tell you anything at all about the card?

How should I check for damaged hardware underneath the cooler?

You're going to have to take it apart and compare with other images of the 980Ti PCB. You may need to get some replacement thermal pads if you accidentally rip the ones currently on the card, as well as some spare thermal paste.

 

[Changster101]

Ok, I'll search up a video on how to do it, but I've run into another problem. I totally reinstalled windows with deleting all my files and stuff, and now my PC runs for a couple minutes, goes to some blue vertical lines, and then a grey screen for 30 seconds before automatically restarting. The GPU is busted isn't it?

 

[Changster101]

Understandable, but still... I couldn't help but be a little skeptical. Did the guy tell you anything at all about the card?


You're going to have to take it apart and compare with other images of the 980Ti PCB. You may need to get some replacement thermal pads if you accidentally rip the ones currently on the card, as well as some spare thermal paste.

Here are the pictures when I took it apart. I have no clue what I'm looking for, but from a beginner standpoint nothing looks wrong. But honestly I have no clue. Here are the pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/UqZ638j

View: https://imgur.com/a/UqZ638j

 

[Phaaze88]

Ok, so I gave it good look, and...
Everything looks ok. There's a fair bit of staining from oil used on the thermal pads - according to EVGA, that's normal. It'll 'ooze out' from the pads over time.

I'm going back and forth between these pics and pics on the web, and one thing did look unusual.
Picture 2, the washer between the memory pads and the pads surrounding where the gpu core would be located, is that rust?
Out of all the other washers I see, it's the only one with some discoloration.
What about the other side of the gpu backplate? What's that look like?

 

[Changster101]

Ok, so I gave it good look, and...
Everything looks ok. There's a fair bit of staining from oil used on the thermal pads - according to EVGA, that's normal. It'll 'ooze out' from the pads over time.

I'm going back and forth between these pics and pics on the web, and one thing did look unusual.
Picture 2, the washer between the memory pads and the pads surrounding where the gpu core would be located, is that rust?
Out of all the other washers I see, it's the only one with some discoloration.
What about the other side of the gpu backplate? What's that look like?

They've been updated. Could u possible send a picture of where the potential rust is? Lol I'm such a noob at this. It's so weird cause there seems to be nothing wrong with it

 

[Phaaze88]

This one:

Spoiler

The washer closest to the paper plate.
That's the part I wanted to see the other side of.

 

[Changster101]

Uploaded. I uploaded three in total of some things I didn't send before.

 

[Phaaze88]

Hmm... a small dent in the middle of the backplate, and some more stains around the 'EVGA Geforce 980Ti'.
I think this guy had bad luck with a cpu liquid cooler or some other fluid.

 

[Changster101]

Tbh I don’t see them so if u could circle them. Also is there anything I can do?

 

[Phaaze88]

I... actually don't know how😳

Also is there anything I can do?

Nothing that I know of.
I've called for help on the matter. Perhaps someone else will have a better idea.

 

[Changster101]

So I was talking with this one guy in my other post, https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/gpu-problems.3588150/#post-21660057. He said that there is probably liquid or something that got in this gpu a while ago. I got this from a stranger for free so I have no clue. Is there anything I can do to try and fix this?
Thanks

 

[Phaaze88]

Heads up! You might want to remove the 4 image. There's a name and address visible - a bit blurry, but still.

 

[Changster101]

I... actually don't know how😳


Nothing that I know of.
I've called for help on the matter. Perhaps someone else will have a better idea.

so I made a different post and it got deleted or something but someone commented this.
“In picture 5 those two strips of tape are they remnants of thermal pads or just scotch tape? looks to me like they go over the caps under the power connector and along the power regulation bordering the socket.“

 

[Changster101]

Heads up! You might want to remove the 4 image. There's a name and address visible - a bit blurry, but still.

Thanks, contacted them about it because I posted without an account. Have you come up with any ideas or should I just write it off as dead?

 

[Phaaze88]

I ran out of ideas, that's why I asked others to chime in.

It's not totally dead, it just flips out when you try to put an actual load on it... might as well be useless if that's the case.

 

[Changster101]

I ran out of ideas, that's why I asked others to chime in.

It's not totally dead, it just flips out when you try to put an actual load on it... might as well be useless if that's the case.

Understood. Thanks for the help. If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know! Don't want to sell it for parts quite yet

 

[Changster101]

I ran out of ideas, that's why I asked others to chime in.

It's not totally dead, it just flips out when you try to put an actual load on it... might as well be useless if that's the case.

Did anyone else contact you or did you come up with any solutions? Thanks for the help by the way. I'd be willing to try anything, if that means reapplying thermal paste or anything.

 

[Phaaze88]

Negative. Sorry.

 

[Changster101]

Negative. Sorry.

Any ideas? Could I try anything, replacing thermal paste, cleaning it, etc. just hate to have it broken.

 

[Phaaze88]

Any ideas? Could I try anything, replacing thermal paste, cleaning it, etc. just hate to have it broken.

You're welcome to try cleaning it and re-pasting it, but...

I don't see any obvious signs of damage on the card, other than some stains here and there - some of which I'm sure were caused by the thermal oil that oozed out from the thermal pads.