Troubleshooting a Non-Responsive Nvidia 3060 GPU: A Guide for IT Professionals

As an IT professional, it can be incredibly frustrating when you encounter hardware issues that you can’t seem to resolve. I recently faced a perplexing situation with a used laptop that I purchased from my company, featuring a Nvidia 3060 notebook GPU. Initially, everything worked smoothly for about two weeks, but then, out of the blue, the GPU stopped functioning.

In an effort to diagnose and fix the problem, I undertook several troubleshooting steps:

1. Reinstalling Drivers: I started with the basics by reinstalling the graphics drivers. After ensuring they were fully up to date, I hoped this would rectify the issue.

2. BIOS Updates: I proceeded to check for any available BIOS updates, as these can often resolve compatibility issues that may arise after a change in hardware.

3. Reverting Updates: At one point, I tried reverting both Windows and BIOS updates, hoping the issue might be related to a recent change.

4. Driver Management: Additionally, I uninstalled the graphics drivers completely and reverted to older versions that had previously worked without issue.

5. Reinstalling Windows: As a last resort, I opted to reinstall Windows, including reverting to an earlier version of the OS in case the latest update conflicted with the GPU’s performance.

Despite all these efforts, the Nvidia 3060 is still visible in the Device Manager but is not recognized by any other programs, leaving me stumped.

If you have any insights or suggestions that could help troubleshoot this frustrating situation, I would greatly appreciate your input. It’s always useful to collaborate and share knowledge in our IT community, and who knows? Your advice might just be the key to solving this mystery!