Question Transported Graphics Card Syndrome

[gamd]

I often travel by airline and I bring a full desktop with me out of stubbornness. I've noticed that, while I can protect against everything else with sufficient padding, 4-5 trips through an airline baggage system produces a fairly predictable set of symptoms in a graphics card. This same issue has happened several times with multiple different cards with different models, different motherboards, etc. It has always been fixed by replacing the card.

It will intermittently have brief black screens, registered in the event log as display driver crashes and recoveries. Then it will begin crashing the entire computer, which will immediately crash again shortly after restart unless I take out the graphics card and reseat it. There's no particular rhyme or reason to any of these crashes, sometimes under load, sometimes not under load, sometimes right after the load stops. As soon as I feel like I've spotted a pattern, it'll change. It will also instantly crash if the PC is nudged at all, for example if I were to hit the table with a fist the computer will immediately crash. These problems get progressively worse over time and especially if I travel with it again until the card becomes unusable.
When it's not crashing it appears to function completely normally. Temps are fine. The problem must be with the graphics card(and not the PSU or motherboard or whatever else) because I've had the same problem before and replacing the graphics card with an identical model always fixes it completely.

The card, like previous cards, displays no external signs of damage except for the contacts. The contacts have black marks on them, which I know other people have reported and been told are nothing to worry about. In this case(and prior cases), however, they're quite pronounced and I think they could possibly explain the issue. Could the vibrations from air travel have caused excessive marking on the contacts, resulting in this problem? If so, is there a way for me to safely demark the contacts?

 

[Lutfij]

for example if I were to hit the table with a fist the computer will immediately crash.
That usually happens when one or more connectors in your build are loose. Check and recheck all connections to and from the PSU. If the PSU is modular, check to see that they are all secure. Transit vibrations can and will often times unhook a connector. Disconnecting and reconnecting a connector multiple can also make it somewhat mailable.

I'd also ask you to do a once over with all components in your build to see if anything might've come slightly undone.

On that note, mind sharing the specs to your build? Please list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Include the age of the PSU as well.

Can you list all the GPU's you've worked with thus far, exhibiting the same transit anomaly? One thing you could try next time out, is after you've experienced the issue, without reseating your GPU, disconnect from the wall(power) and monitor, press and hold down the power button for 10 seconds and then reconnect and see if you regain functionality...? If this works, then the issue is with grounding/static build up in your system and can be possible that some of the places you visit have grounding issues.

 

[gamd]

for example if I were to hit the table with a fist the computer will immediately crash.
That usually happens when one or more connectors in your build are loose. Check and recheck all connections to and from the PSU. If the PSU is modular, check to see that they are all secure. Transit vibrations can and will often times unhook a connector. Disconnecting and reconnecting a connector multiple can also make it somewhat mailable.

Yeah, that's not it. This has happened in, again, multiple different builds and I've torn the whole thing apart and reassembled it on multiple different occasions. Doesn't work, nothing to do with the PSU, nothing to do with the motherboard. I've tried replacing and swapping out every part in the thing at point or another. Tried the whole "unplug and hold down the power button" thing, tried basically everything that anyone has ever suggested for the issue of "my computer displays a bunch of random garbage on the screen and then crashes". Only thing that has ever solved this problem is replacing the graphics card. As soon as I replace the graphics card, the problem immediately goes away completely before coming back after 4 or so more trips(so, a couple of years). You might actually be able to find a thread here where I walked through the whole thing with someone in a previous incarnation.

CPU: currently a Ryzen 5600x, last one was an FX6300, don't remember before that
Motherboard: MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI . Last one was a Pro-VDH wifi, don't remember the one before that it was some ASrock thing from almost a decade ago.
RAM: 16 gigs of ddr4, I bought it second-hand and don't remember anything about it, maybe corsair brand? This problem has occurred with about a million different RAM sticks in place, first time it was on a ddr3 board.
SSD and HDD: bought them ages ago, don't remember. anyway, they're fine
GPU: Currently a GTX 1060 6gb, happened with 2 different 960s and at least one other thing I don't remember. It's a Gigabyte which is why I'm trying to avoid just RMAing the thing this time
PSU: EVGA 750 GQ, like 2 years old. Replacing the power supply with a brand new one has never had even the slightest effect on this problem.
Chassis: an ancient HAF 912 that looks like someone attacked it with a baseball bat. the baggage handlers have not been kind to it.
OS: Windows 10

It is 100% the graphics card, I'm just trying to determine what exactly is wrong with it and whether it's fixable.

 

[USAFRet]

It is 100% the graphics card, I'm just trying to determine what exactly is wrong with it and whether it's fixable.

I would suspect the GPU is vibrating enough to come a little bit loose.

 

[gamd]

I would suspect the GPU is vibrating enough to come a little bit loose.

It can't just be loose, unfortunately. Otherwise taking the thing out and putting it back in securely would fix it. I've done 3 or 4 times in this incarnation, and probably approaching a hundred on all of the combined. It helps for a day at most before the problem returns. I strongly suspected that the issue is that the PCIE connector on the graphics card has gotten corroded/eroded by constantly vibrating against the socket, and that now it's barely capable of making proper contact and even a slight shift(possibly just due to tiny amount of expansion/contraction from changes in temperature) is enough to cause it to lose contact and fail. The very pronounced black markings on the connector support this theory.

Mostly what I want to know is if there's a way for me to fix it because I don't want to have to go through Gigabyte's RMA system, because it is bad. Is there a way for me to get those black marks off of the connectors without damaging it?

 

[USAFRet]

Is there a way for me to get those black marks off of the connectors without damaging it?

Possibly a pencil eraser?
Or, isopropyl alcohol.

 

[Eximo]

Weird thought, riser cable? Would prevent the weight and temperature swings of the GPU from being a factor.

So solution might be a different type of small form factor chassis that has vertical mount GPU or located on the backside of the motherboard.

 

[gamd]

Weird thought, riser cable? Would prevent the weight and temperature swings of the GPU from being a factor.

So solution might be a different type of small form factor chassis that has vertical mount GPU or located on the backside of the motherboard.

There's a thought. Hadn't crossed my mind. I might try using a riser cable for it, see if I can get a better connection that way.

Beyond that, I suppose I'll just try cleaning the corrosion with isopropyl alcohol, yeah. I've heard people try sanding it but I don't have the stomach for that, I'm far too clumsy.