Troubleshooting Guide: Nvidia 3060 GPU Not Recognized in Your Laptop

As an IT professional, I often encounter unexpected challenges, and I recently faced one that left me scratching my head. I recently purchased a used laptop equipped with an Nvidia 3060 GPU from my previous workplace, and for the first two weeks, it was functioning flawlessly. However, just a few days ago, it suddenly stopped working.

I’ve tried multiple troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue, but so far, none have yielded results. Here’s a summary of what I’ve done:

1. Driver Reinstallation: I started by reinstalling the graphics drivers to ensure they were up to date.
2. BIOS Updates: I checked for any available BIOS updates and applied them, hoping a fresh BIOS could resolve the detection issue.
3. Windows Updates: After that, I attempted to revert both BIOS and Windows to previous states to see if the problem was linked to any recent updates.
4. Uninstall and Rollback: I uninstalled the drivers entirely, then reverted back to older versions, but to no avail.
5. Windows Reinstallation: Lastly, I even went as far as reinstalling Windows completely and trying out an older version again.

Interestingly, the device manager still recognizes the GPU without any issues, but unfortunately, it is not being detected by any other applications.

If you’ve encountered a similar situation or have insights into resolving GPU recognition problems, I’d greatly appreciate your input. Your expertise might just shine a light on this perplexing situation!