[SOLVED] I think my GTX 1060 suddenly died, but I'm not sure.

Jun 12, 2022
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I'll start with my PC specs, then the story of the problem.

Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-Plus
GPU: EVGA Nvidia Geforce GTX 1060
PSU: Corsair CX 600 W
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: DDR4 Geil EVO X II RGB Sync, 16GB, 3000MHz

So, yesterday my PC was working fine, and recently there was not a single issue relating any performance or crashes.
Today, when I tried to turn it on by morning, it didn't boot. Then the DRAM Q-LED lightened up. I tried to boot several times, and the result was the same, the DRAM Q-LED lighting up.

I updated the BIOS with flashback usb, and then the DRAM Q-LED did not lightened up, but instead the VGA Q-LED lightened up, and the mobo speaker beeped 1 long and 3 shorts, indicating a GPU issue. I tried to boot several times again, and the result was still the VGA Q-LED lighting up, and the same beeps.

Then I tried to reseat the GPU, unplugging the 8-pin PSU and plugging again. After that, and now on, when I try to boot, there is not a single signal from the Q-LED or the mobo speaker, and the system does not boot. The fans from GPU does not start, but it sometimes gives very light bumps.

Someone can help with this issue? There's something that explain the change of behavior after I reseated the GPU?

I'm totally in the dark here. I'll be really grateful for any help and tip anyone can give me =)
 
Solution
I thought "well, 600W is more than enough, and Corsair is a top line brand."

Wattage wise - Yes.
Brand wise - Not so much. Corsair even doesn't make any of the PSUs they sell. Instead, they buy PSUs from OEMs, slap their brand name on, and sell them.

Corsair may be the most well known PSU brand. But their portfolio is wide, starting from crap quality PSUs (e.g VS series) - all they way to great quality PSUs (e.g AXi series, which is made by Flextronics). With this, the cheapest PSUs they offer, are the ones to avoid.

There are many PSU OEMs out there, including the good ones: Seasonic, Super Flower and Flextronics.
The mediocre ones: CWT (Channel Well Technology), FSP, Enhance, Delta Electronics, Great Wall.
And the poor...

Aeacus

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To rule out GPU issue:
  • test your GPU in 2nd PC.
  • test 2nd, known to work GPU, in your PC.

But as far as symptoms go, any of the following, or all of them could be dead: CPU, RAM, MoBo, GPU.

PSU: Corsair CX 600 W

At best, mediocre quality PSU. Decent enough for office PC without dedicated GPU. But for gaming PC, with dedicated GPU, that PSU is nowhere near of a required build quality. So, it could've very well been the PSU, which caused the issue(s) you're having.

Life lesson: never cheap out on a PSU. Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.
 
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What might have changed since all was well?

When you updated the bios, you reset it to default.
Look in the bios menus to see if there is a graphics related setting that is not correct.
Perhaps the default is integrated graphics.
Perhaps the default is csm which does not recognize your graphics card.
 
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Jun 12, 2022
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At best, mediocre quality PSU. Decent enough for office PC without dedicated GPU. But for gaming PC, with dedicated GPU, that PSU is nowhere near of a required build quality. So, it could've very well been the PSU, which caused the issue(s) you're having.

Life lesson: never cheap out on a PSU. Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.

Wow, that's new to me! When I bought the PSU I thought "well, 600W is more than enough, and Corsair is a top line brand."

Now that you pointed that to me, I searched more about it and got to know that the CX is a bad series =(

Always when I tought about PSU, until now, was only to meet the power needs, and a good brand. Thanks for pointing that! I think I'll buy a XPG Core Reactor 850W now.

I'll try to do the test you suggest, but It will not be easy, since I know very few people around here who have a desktop. I hope the MoBo is fine, I bought it less than a year ago, same for the CPU.

Thanks for your reply and help!
 
Jun 12, 2022
5
1
15
What might have changed since all was well?

When you updated the bios, you reset it to default.
Look in the bios menus to see if there is a graphics related setting that is not correct.
Perhaps the default is integrated graphics.
Perhaps the default is csm which does not recognize your graphics card.

I see, but unfortunetly the PC won't boot and I have no option to acess the boot menu. I update the BIOS trough USB bios FlashBack, which don't require to boot the PC.

But thanks for your reply!
 

Aeacus

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I thought "well, 600W is more than enough, and Corsair is a top line brand."

Wattage wise - Yes.
Brand wise - Not so much. Corsair even doesn't make any of the PSUs they sell. Instead, they buy PSUs from OEMs, slap their brand name on, and sell them.

Corsair may be the most well known PSU brand. But their portfolio is wide, starting from crap quality PSUs (e.g VS series) - all they way to great quality PSUs (e.g AXi series, which is made by Flextronics). With this, the cheapest PSUs they offer, are the ones to avoid.

There are many PSU OEMs out there, including the good ones: Seasonic, Super Flower and Flextronics.
The mediocre ones: CWT (Channel Well Technology), FSP, Enhance, Delta Electronics, Great Wall.
And the poor ones: HEC/Compucase, High Power/Sirfa/Sirtec.
Of course, there are the no-name ones as well, that produce crap quality PSUs and who only care about your money.

(All 3 of my PCs are powered by Seasonic, full specs with pics in my sig.)

I think I'll buy a XPG Core Reactor 850W now.

A good PSU. Though, a bit overkill wattage wise. That is, if you keep using GTX 1060.
Review 1: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/xpg-core-reactor-850w-power-supply-review
Review 2: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/xpg-core-reactor-850-w/

I hope the MoBo is fine

Sadly, when PSU acts up, MoBo is usually the 1st one to go. MoBos are very sensitive to power fluctuations. Heck, even a tiny bit of ESD is enough to brick a MoBo. But without testing, it is impossible to tell which of the components are toast. It could even be your Corsair CX-600. Meaning that PSU replacement could be all that would be needed to fix the PC.
 
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Solution
Jun 12, 2022
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Great explanation about the PSU brands, thanks for that!

A good PSU. Though, a bit overkill wattage wise. That is, if you keep using GTX 1060.

Yeah, it's overkilling for now, but I found a good online store from my country that is giving a great discount on the 850W model, making it practically the same price as the 650W market price. And having this power margin will be good, I'm thinking about an upgrade by the end of this year or start of the next. Also, since the warranty is 10 years, I think this option will let me without have to think about PSUs for a long time.

Sadly, when PSU acts up, MoBo is usually the 1st one to go. MoBos are very sensitive to power fluctuations. Heck, even a tiny bit of ESD is enough to brick a MoBo. But without testing, it is impossible to tell which of the components are toast. It could even be your Corsair CX-600. Meaning that PSU replacement could be all that would be needed to fix the PC.

I see. Apparently I'll have to be lucky to get my MoBo fine! What I'll do now is get the PSU (which I'll have to buy anyway, since mine is inappropriate), and test if, for miracle, the only problem here is my PSU, and no other damage was done by it. If that not solves the problem, I'll try to test the GPU (mine in other PC, and a working GPU in my build). If my GPU works on the other PC, and the working GPU not works in mine, I think the best bet will be the MoBo, right? There's something else I can do to certify that really is the MoBo, or just by the excluding possibilities I can get to that conclusion?

Thanks again for being so helpful!
 

Aeacus

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There's something else I can do to certify that really is the MoBo, or just by the excluding possibilities I can get to that conclusion?

Since MoBo is the sole component that connects all other components together and has to make sure they all get along well, you need several, other, known to work components, to test if MoBo is toast.

Because you have AMD B550 chipset MoBo, bare minimum, to test MoBo, are, known to work: RAM and APU (since APU has iGPU in it, whereby you don't need dedicated GPU and can plug monitor to MoBo). Or conventional way, known to work: RAM, CPU and dedicated GPU.

Oh, for testing, it is easier when your breadboard your MoBo. Meaning that you pull it out of PC case and put it on any cardboard box. <- This way, it's far easier to switch out components.

It should look similar to this:
(my Skylake build breadboarded, just after i bought it)

IzNDS0s.jpg
 
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Jun 12, 2022
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Because you have AMD B550 chipset MoBo, bare minimum, to test MoBo, are, known to work: RAM and APU (since APU has iGPU in it, whereby you don't need dedicated GPU and can plug monitor to MoBo). Or conventional way, known to work: RAM, CPU and dedicated GPU.

Nice, very clear! I'll get the working RAM and APU for testing the MoBo. The IT guys from the company I work for are very nice, probably they have some spare parts not in use.

Thanks for all your help!! =)
 
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