Troubleshooting a Sudden GPU Failure: Insights from an IT Professional

As an IT professional, I often find myself delving into complex technical challenges. Recently, I encountered a puzzling situation involving a used laptop equipped with an Nvidia 3060 graphics card. After purchasing the device from my company, everything functioned smoothly for about two weeks. However, out of the blue, the GPU ceased to work, leaving me scratching my head.

In my quest to diagnose the issue, I implemented several troubleshooting steps. Firstly, I reinstalled the graphics drivers to ensure there were no conflicts. I also checked for BIOS updates—installing the latest version, as well as reverting to a previous one. Even after taking these measures, I uninstalled the drivers entirely and attempted to roll back to older versions in hopes of restoring functionality.

Furthermore, I decided to reinstall Windows, including attempts to revert to a prior build, but unfortunately, none of these strategies yielded a positive outcome.

Interestingly, the graphics card is detected in the Device Manager; however, it is not recognized by any other applications I attempted to use. This discrepancy raises a few questions and prompts me to seek advice from the broader tech community.

Have any of you experienced a similar predicament, or do you have suggestions on additional steps I could explore? Your insights could be instrumental in resolving this baffling issue. Thank you in advance!