[SOLVED] GTX 980ti Failing Under Specific Conditions

[AGreyRoom]

Hi there,

Witnessing a strange issue with my 980ti. It started yesterday seemingly out of the blue.

It does Internet browsing, Youtube, etc just fine, but will shut off the displays and require a hard reset when put under more strenuous conditions such as games like Outer Worlds or Deep Rock Galactic.

I tried a few tests on the 980ti. FurMark didn't cause any issues, but I know that's not the best way to test it, so I tried 3D Mark. 3D Mark caused the display shut off + hard reset requirement.

Hoping it was maybe the PSU, we put the 980ti into a separate system (we'll call that System B). The crashes could be replicated in the System B.

System B uses a 1080ti. We put that in the original system, which handled the 1080ti fine. No problems whatsoever. No crashes during Outer Worlds test, etc.

Because of this, I'm pretty positive something is wrong with the 980ti then somehow, somewhere.

Do I have any options available to me to try to make the card last till the 3080 releases? I'd really like to delay upgrading since the new cards are right around the bend.

Last couple notes:
1. Warranty is already past or I'd just RMA the dang thing

2. Temps on the GPU seemed fine, so I don't think reseating the heatsink would make a difference, for example, but I'm considering going through the trouble... I wanted to just compare notes with folks before I start trying anything. I'm hoping maybe I can just roll back some drivers and have a hallelujah since this problem came out of the blue

 

[getochkn]

Could be a cold solder joint, akin to what happened to the old Xbox and PS3 red/yellow ring of death.

 

[AGreyRoom]

Could be a cold solder joint, akin to what happened to the old Xbox and PS3 red/yellow ring of death.

Would that be something that could be fixed with baking the card? I'm terrified at the idea of doing that, lol...

 

[OllympianGamer]

Would that be something that could be fixed with baking the card? I'm terrified at the idea of doing that, lol...

Baking a card to reflow it is ridiculous and no don't even attempt it even if people do it on youtube. I'd maybe try a different bios first.

 

[AGreyRoom]

Final update: 980ti sparked and smoked. Turns out the MOSFET chip had a catastrophic failure.

Just toss the whole card out. Blah.

Original post: Update: I might have been able to band-aid the situation by setting a threshold on the GPU for power/temp.

 

[dr34mf13ld]

Dude, I'm having the same issue.
Do you mind telling me what can I possibly do to not "spark and smoke" the life out of it before it's too late?
My display is turning off even in the slightest load on a games from 2012-2013 running with anti-aliasing and not even high details. It's pretty much dead already. I'll be doing the "System B" test in 2 days if it's not too late.

 

[stonecarver]

I

Dude, I'm having the same issue.

Is your Card EVGA ?

 

[AGreyRoom]

Dude, I'm having the same issue.
Do you mind telling me what can I possibly do to not "spark and smoke" the life out of it before it's too late?
My display is turning off even in the slightest load on a games from 2012-2013 running with anti-aliasing and not even high details. It's pretty much dead already. I'll be doing the "System B" test in 2 days if it's not too late.

If you can repair the MOSFET/capacitors stuff manually on the GPU itself, you might be able to save it? That goes into hardware, and I'm not at all versed in that world.

If your display is turning off, I'd otherwise suggest that you remove the card and don't risk your system further. I regret pushing mine. Thankfully, the shroud on my mobo protected my system, or else the sparking would have taken out way more stuff on my PC. I have a burn mark now on my mobo's shroud to remember my mistake by.

 

[dr34mf13ld]

If you can repair the MOSFET/capacitors stuff manually on the GPU itself, you might be able to save it? That goes into hardware, and I'm not at all versed in that world.

If your display is turning off, I'd otherwise suggest that you remove the card and don't risk your system further. I regret pushing mine. Thankfully, the shroud on my mobo protected my system, or else the sparking would have taken out way more stuff on my PC. I have a burn mark now on my mobo's shroud to remember my mistake by.

Thanks for the advice.
I'm definitely not testing the card on the friend's PC then, since I don't wanna screw the entire PC.
I'll check the card tonight for anything burnt or failed connections. Will do few tests, nothing "heavy" in words.
Now I'm kind of afraid to buy a new used 980ti because most of them are EVGA too.