Diagnosing a Sudden GPU Failure: My Troubleshooting Journey

It’s every gamer’s nightmare: suddenly losing power to your PC mid-game. I recently encountered this frustration while playing World of Warcraft Classic. The game, though not overly demanding, had me deep in a 40-man raid during an intense boss fight when my screen went black and my PC became unresponsive. After attempting to restart it without any reaction, I was left baffled.

Initial Assessment

At first, I suspected the power supply unit (PSU) might have failed since it was over six years old. I quickly replaced it with a new 750W unit, hoping this would resolve the issue. After connecting only the CPU and motherboard, the fans whirred to life, leading me to believe the new PSU was functioning properly. However, the moment I connected the graphics card, silence returned—no lights, no fans, nothing.

My current setup includes:
– CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X (recently upgraded)
– GPU: RTX 2070 (Inno3D TwinX2, just 1.5 years old)
– Motherboard: MSI B450 Pro Max (2 years old)
– RAM: 32GB DDR4
– Old PSU: 600W
– New PSU: 750W

Testing Procedure

I decided to run a diagnosis by disconnecting the GPU, and to my surprise, the fans kicked on once again. After completely unplugging the PSU and reconnecting it, the fans started up yet again—indicating that perhaps the problem lay with the GPU.

To confirm my suspicions, I tested the RTX 2070 in my neighbor’s PC—exactly the same specs as mine. Unfortunately, the same issue occurred: no response upon connection. It became increasingly apparent that my graphics card was likely causing the system to short out or block power entirely.

Exploring Possible Solutions

While I hoped the problem could be on the motherboard side—an easier fix—I resorted to an old GT 9800 graphics card lying around. To my relief, the PC powered up and ran smoothly, albeit with reduced performance. My main concern now is whether this situation rules out the GPU completely.

I had been utilizing MSI Afterburner to fine-tune my GPU fan settings and had also installed Geforce Experience. With this context, I wonder if either of these applications might provide insights or