HELP - Faulty graphics card or not?

[solidus392]

so my graphics card has had this really weird issues for the past 8 months. It happened completely out of the blue one day and i have no idea what started it but i really want to avoid dropping 250-300 on a new gpu until im ABSOLUTELY certain that the gpu is the problem.

Basically what happens is whenever my gpu goes under load it artifacts and my pc stays in this state for around 5-10 seconds before restarting. I can still hear audio/talk on discord when the artifacts are on my screen.
https://imgur.com/gallery/v7vua (photo of monitors when artifacting occurs)

My specs are:
i5 6400
gtx 1060 asus nvidia card (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-geforce-gtx-1060-turbo-6144mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-40f-as.html)
16gb ram
recently replaced msi z270a pro motherboard
1tb hdd and 512 gb ssd
i recently replaced my psu with a 650w bronze certified psu by evga (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FYDU8X6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

RECENT FIX:
(note: at 100% power usage the card was averaging at 81 degrees)
about 7 months ago i went on a tirade trying to fix this issue because it was making my computer useless. I ended up stopping the issue by using msi afterburner to lower my power limit to 80% not allowing it to go over 78 degrees. this fixed the issue for the 7 months i used it and it worked great. Then recently last month i had the problem come back and i ended up fixing it again by lowering it from the 80% to 65% which didnt allow it to go over 67 degrees. This worked for around 2 weeks and now it has returned and even if i turn it all the way down the 50% and it only goes up to 1085 mhz it still crashes.

So is it over? do i need to cut my losses and spend the 200 or should i keep trying to revive this card. If so how do i?

 

[jay32267]

I think it's over.

....especially being you had to keep reducing the power and now you still have problems.

It sounds like a component is failing due to heat and it's getting worse.

 

[ElectrO_90]

First off, most 1060's should come with 3 years warranty, so if you have been putting it off for 8 months, you may have been able to change it under warranty.
Now you have to try and underclock it, to see if that will work. Maybe that will stop the problems.
If not, looks like you are going to need a new one.

 

[solidus392]

First off, most 1060's should come with 3 years warranty, so if you have been putting it off for 8 months, you may have been able to change it under warranty.
Now you have to try and underclock it, to see if that will work. Maybe that will stop the problems.
If not, looks like you are going to need a new one.

How do i underclock my gpu?

 

[jay32267]

Use Afterburner

 

[solidus392]

I think it's over.

....especially being you had to keep reducing the power and now you still have problems.

It sounds like a component is failing due to heat and it's getting worse.

ok so update its suddenly working? ive been running it on 60% for awhile and i just decided to bump it up to 100 and test it on furmark and it did it no problem, but it got very hot. I dont know if i should buy a new card now i really want to get a cpu and i have the money but if the card starts failing again i wont have that money for a new gpu, what should i do?

 

[RobCrezz]

Speak to Overclockers, they are really good customer service with this kind of thing. Explain that it works fine when performance is restricted, they should replace it for you.

 

[ElectrO_90]

But a new cpu isn't going to make your games faster.