[SOLVED] Need Help with failing GPU

[newguy242]

I own a gigabyte gtx 660 that i bought in 2012. i have been using it till now but have swapped out the rest of the components in my pc.

Here is my current specs
CPU: i5 600 with coolermaster hyper 212x fan
Ram: 8gb hyperx
motherboard: msi b150 pc mate
PSU: corsair cx600.

this current setup was running without problems till mid 2017 and thats when the problems started.
i was running this on windows 7 ultimate and the display would freeze when starting games or playing video files or even photos for the first time after boot. sometimes it would stay frozen and i would have to restart the pc. other times (about 50%) the display would black out and resume like normal and i was able to play games or movies like normal. in these instances i would get the error message "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered".
somedays it would be worse than usual needing upto 5-6 restarts before it would recover. other times (rarely) it would freeze again even after it had recovered once.

i then changed over to windows 10 in 2020 and everything was fine till now. no crashes no freezes just worked perfectly.
but now these past 3 weeks i am unable to start any game in my pc. some games would just crash without any error message (rocket leaue) and other games gave a directx11 stopped or hung message. " DX11: DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG"
the pc is usable rn to play movies but cant play games.
on using photoshop or illustrator if the load gets a bit high the application freezes with this message "Application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware".
on a side note the gpu fan used to get a bit loud in the past when gaming or at high loads.

Is my GPU failing or is it some other problem? My windows is upto date and so is my graphic drivers. should i reinstall windows
any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Aeacus]

Is my GPU failing

It is. Time to get a new GPU. Also, do note that nothing lasts for forever.

For new GPU, you can look towards GTX 1050 Ti,
comparison with GTX 660: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-660-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/2162vs3649
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=380&sort=price&page=1

Or better, if you have more money.

 

[newguy242]

yeah im thinking about changing it. but i didnt get the usual signs of gpu fails like screen flickerings or the lines that comes. one thing im wondering is if its due to insufficient power or voltage i have only 600W. is the failing due to that or age?

It is. Time to get a new GPU. Also, do note that nothing lasts for forever.

For new GPU, you can look towards GTX 1050 Ti,
comparison with GTX 660: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-660-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1050-Ti/2162vs3649
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/video-card/#c=380&sort=price&page=1

Or better, if you have more money.

 

[newguy242]

also could it be due to bitcoin miners? I ran many antivirus scans and they all came back clean

 

[Aeacus]

but i didnt get the usual signs of gpu fails like screen flickerings or the lines that comes

Getting artifacts and the like are relatively rare since usually, when GPU dies, it's like On/Off switch. So, getting signs of it dying in advance is a nice thing.

one thing im wondering is if its due to insufficient power or voltage i have only 600W. is the failing due to that or age?

Well, your CX600 PSU is low quality PSU and it could be possible that your PSU has feed out of spec voltages to your GPU over the years, damaging it little by little, until GPU completely dies. Of course, your GPU age is another factor which plays a role.

Wattage wise, you're good. GTX 660 is 140W GPU and if you add the rest of your system to it at about 200W, total power consumption would be 340W. Here, good quality 550W PSU would be enough for your PC (e.g Seasonic Focus Plus). Though, if you go with new GPU, i can't tell if you'd be fine with 550W PSU or not. Here, i'd need to know new GPU model to say which wattage PSU is enough for it.

also could it be due to bitcoin miners?

Unless you, personally, doesn't mine bitcoin, i doubt your PC would be hijacked. Since you'd be seeing the high GPU usage when your PC is idling.