Question Nvidia GPU no longer detected by motherboard

[infinitefreshness]

After waking up to black screens on both of my monitors, I decided to assume that they were correctly plugged in and jumped straight into screwing up my PC. I could sign into Windows using my pin code and new that it was working because I could hear the login sound. I adjusted cables to my GTX 970 and tried the HDMI slot on my motherboard with no luck. Instead of checking the cables' connections to my monitors I jumped straight into resetting the CMOS by clicking the cycle button on the motherboard. The system cycled four times and started without error, but the screens remained black. I then found out that the HDMI cable connected to my primary monitor was loose and after resetting that and connecting it to my motherboard's HDMI slot, the display worked. This was progress, but still concerned me because only one display port was improperly seated, so if I was able to log in, the other screen should have turned on. The issue I'm having now is that the motherboard cannot identify the GTX 970 at all. My knee jerk reaction was to uninstall the NVIDIA drivers using DDU and now I can't reinstall any NVIDIA drivers because the motherboard can't identify the card. I updated the bios to the most recent F10 version without any errors, but still no success with the graphics card. Both fans will spin for just a second, stop, and then spin again in a cycle. I've tried resetting the CMOS with a display cable connected to the GPU, and this will make the fans spin at 100% until I turn off the computer and remove the cable for another restart. I've tried the first two PCI Express ports (grounded while switching) with no luck in identifying the card in either slot. In the bios settings, PCIe slot 1 (currently seats the graphics card) is selected as the primary graphics source. This is an older card, but it hasn't had any issues in the past aside and the only carelessness it was subject to was with me leaving the computer on overnight. No error codes are shown from the bios either. If the card is dying, I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm more concerned with whether or not I may have messed up the motherboard with my impulsive cycling of the CMOS, updating the bios, or incorrectly uninstalling the Nvidia drivers. I understand that I was careless with how I jumped into "fixing the issue", but any thoughts or support in troubleshooting would be much appreciated.

CPU: Intel Core i7-9700k, 4700MHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX (2 x 16GB)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 2.0

 

[Darkbreeze]

Jebus criminy, slow down. What is the EXACT model of your power supply and how long has it been in service?

Have you tried the graphics card in another, totally different machine?

 

[infinitefreshness]

Haha my apologies, I just wanted to be thorough with what I'd already done. The PSU is a Corsair RM 750x. It's been running without error for about a month and a half. It was also purchased brand new. I have not had an opportunity to test the card in another machine yet.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Considering everything you've tried already and the age of the rest of the hardware by comparison, I can't see this being anything other than a faulty/failing card. Testing it in another machine would verify that one way or another.

Obviously, it COULD be a motherboard problem, but given the age of the graphics card, it's a lot more likely to be a dying graphics card.

 

[infinitefreshness]

I'll try to have it tested as soon as I can and will get back to you with the results. Thank you very much for your response.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Also, test the monitors themselves, and the cables, by trying different cables and verify that it's not a monitor issue by using the integrated graphics from the CPU through the motherboard individually with each of those displays. Also, if those monitors are plugged into power strips, try plugging them directly into the wall. Power strips are notorious for causing all kinds of issues. Same with your PC. If it is plugged into a power strip, plug it directly into the wall socket.

 

[infinitefreshness]

Also, test the monitors themselves, and the cables, by trying different cables and verify that it's not a monitor issue by using the integrated graphics from the CPU through the motherboard individually with each of those displays. Also, if those monitors are plugged into power strips, try plugging them directly into the wall. Power strips are notorious for causing all kinds of issues. Same with your PC. If it is plugged into a power strip, plug it directly into the wall socket.

I was just able to test the graphics card on the previous build that it was used in. I'm certain that there haven't been any driver changes to that computer. Luckily enough, the motherboard was also unable to identify the card, so I'm fairly certain that it isn't a motherboard issue. As you suggested, I tested both monitors and found no issues with them whether they were plugged into the wall or the power strip that they're currently reconnected to. Would you say it's safe to assume that the card is dead at this point? And is there a method you could recommend for identifying what's wrong with the GPU and if the issue is fixable or not?

 

[Darkbreeze]

There's nothing that could be fixed, not by any regular user, on a completely non-functional graphics card. Not much else to say really. I know there are people who try to repair these themselves, but I think it's a waste of time without a room full of dedicated equipment or a life of experience with heavy electronics repairs.

If it were me, I'd just write it off and move on. Sucks, but hardware doesn't last forever. Especially graphics cards, power supplies and motherboards.