Graphics card broken - caused by motherboard?

[H4rdware_man]

My graphics card recently failed while gaming. The screen was suddenly covered in stripes similar to this photo.

I'm afraid that the motherboard damaged the card -- a while ago I damaged a USB connector on the motherboard when cleaning. Many USB ports don't work now.

Is the MB damage relevant to the damage? I don't want to damage another graphics card.

 

[hang-the-9]

While a bad motherboard can damage things, it's not likely the damage to the video card was caused by the motherboard. But if you have USB ports out, you may want to replace the motherboard anyway. Video cards more often get damaged due to a bad power supply, overheating or just random failure that can happen with most electronics.