Troubleshooting a Non-Functional Nvidia 3060 GPU: Seeking Solutions

As an IT professional, encountering technical challenges is part of the job. However, sometimes even seasoned veterans find themselves stumped. This week, I faced such a predicament with a used laptop I acquired from my previous company, equipped with an Nvidia 3060 GPU.

For the first two weeks, everything functioned smoothly. Then, just a couple of days ago, the GPU seemingly stopped working altogether. In an effort to resolve this issue, I embarked on a comprehensive troubleshooting journey:

1. Driver Reinstallation: I started by uninstalling and then reinstalling the graphics drivers, hoping to refresh the connection.

2. BIOS Updates: I checked for BIOS updates to ensure compatibility and support for the GPU.

3. Reverting Updates: After the problem persisted, I reverted both the BIOS and Windows updates to previous versions that had worked fine before.

4. Windows Reinstallation: Finally, I went to the extent of reinstalling Windows entirely, even rolling back to an older version to see if that made any difference.

Despite these extensive efforts, the device manager recognizes the Nvidia GPU without any issue. However, it appears that no other programs can see or utilize it effectively.

At this point, I’m reaching out to the community. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? What potential solutions or insights could you offer? Your expertise could help pull me out of this technical quagmire. Let’s see if we can get this GPU back to functioning as intended!