PC components like graphics cards can die. You can plan accordingly if you know what to look for.
There’s nothing more irritating than hardware failure, especially if it’s your GPU. Graphics cards are the most expensive part of a gaming PC, yet under the wrong thermal conditions or if they get too much abuse, they can also fail. Your GPU will show several signs when it’s close to dying. These are the biggest signs your GPU is about to die and how to tell if it’s about to fail.
1. The graphics are getting worse.
A graphics card reaching the end of its life is one of the most obvious signs. The graphics card may be dying if you have graphical glitches on the screen, as it’s having trouble rendering things correctly. Games are the most common places to encounter graphics glitches, which can manifest as poorly-loaded textures, screen glitches, or screen tearing. However, you might also see those glitches in your operating system menus or other apps, where you might see pixelated text or other graphic defects.
It’s probable your GPU is about to fail if glitching starts suddenly, without any evidence that software is causing the issue.
2. Fans make weird noises.
GPUs also die when their fans stop working properly, but that’s less obvious. Dying fans aren’t necessarily a symptom, but if left unchecked, they can lead to hot, uncomfortable problems for your GPU. If one or more of your GPU’s fans (most GPUs have two or three fans) stops working, it’s likely the GPU’s fans are dying. Now you want to check your GPU’s temperature. Afterward, you should check its fans to see if they are exceeding their usual limits.
If you don’t pay attention to those fans, they’ll probably wear out all of the other fans on your graphics card by making them spin faster to compensate. This will cause more wear and tear and possibly permanent damage.
3. Crash after crash.
Your PC might crash and reboot more frequently than usual if your GPU’s about to die. It’s time to check into it if your game keeps crashing and hanging up. This might mean you need to troubleshoot and see if your GPU is the culprit.
The evidence isn’t conclusive, as crashes can happen for any reason. It’s also why we recommend troubleshooting your PC yourself before proceeding, to make sure none of the components is the problem.
You never know, right? Maybe you don’t need a new GPU because your SSD failed or your RAM was damaged.
4. Dropped frames a lot.
If your games suddenly feel choppier, your GPU might be dying.
Your GPU’s health could be at risk if it runs at 10 FPS instead of the usual 60 FPS when you’re playing a game. To make sure it’s the GPU, you’ve got to rule out everything else. The GPU might be thermally throttled, but you should rule that out. You might need to check your GPU fans if they’re not working properly if your graphics card’s temps are too high. You may be in trouble if the temperatures seem fine, but the performance isn’t.
Blue screens of death can happen when your whole OS crashes. Sometimes you won’t even be able to boot it up.
5. BSOD.
The blue screen of death is also the ultimate sign that something’s wrong with your computer: the ultimate sign of GPU failure. On Windows, at least. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t show up, and yes, your GPU can malfunction too. Windows doesn’t give you critical errors like other operating systems do.
You should look into it if your whole OS crashes. It might even start throwing errors during boot up if the crashes become frequent. It’s critical to rule out other problematic components and troubleshoot before concluding that your GPU is broken, as we said in section three.
If my GPU’s damaged, what do I do?
Even if your GPUs are still working, it’s advisable to get a new one when they start to fail. However, there are steps you can take depending on the GPU issue. It’s possible to fix a temporary faulty GPU before it dies, for example.
You can fix damaged fans, for instance. If one of them isn’t spinning after taking out all the dust, you can try fixing it, but make sure they’re all clean. A GPU fan can be a time-consuming and expensive process to replace, depending on the GPU.
Generally, you can fix a dead graphics card by removing its heatsink, cleaning the leftover thermal compound, placing it on a baking sheet, and cooking it in the oven. Attempting to revive a dead graphics card isn’t a joke. Many have tried it successfully. If you have a heat gun, you can do this too. Re-flowing is supposed to fix damaged solder joints by letting them bond back together.
If your graphics card isn’t dead, don’t do that. You might not even get it to work, because it’s mostly a temporary fix. You’ll also have a high chance of breaking a working card if you do it. Also, here’s how you might go about it. Every GPU is different and may have a completely different issue, so MUO can’t guarantee how successful this process is.
What’s wrong with my graphics card?
Crypto miners sold their GPUs as the crypto market crashed, leading to an exponential increase in dead GPUs. You’ll be able to plan what you’re going to do if your GPU dies if you learn how to spot the signs. When you have a chance, buy a new GPU to fix things.
