Troubleshooting a PC Crash: Diagnosing a GPU or PSU Failure

Gaming can be a thrilling experience, but it can also lead to unexpected frustrations when hardware issues arise. Recently, while immersed in a 40-man raid in World of Warcraft Classic, my gaming session came to an abrupt halt when my PC unexpectedly powered down, leaving me with a black screen and no response upon trying to reboot. What started as a casual gaming evening transformed into a puzzling troubleshooting session.

Initial Diagnosis

As I confronted my computer’s unexpected demise, my first instinct was to check the power supply unit (PSU). At first, I assumed it had failed due to its age—over six years—so I replaced it with a robust 750W unit. After plugging in the new PSU, I connected just the CPU and motherboard to see if anything would power on. To my relief, the fans whirred to life, prompting me to connect everything else.

However, when I attempted to start the PC, silence greeted me. Nothing seemed to happen—no lights, no sounds, no hint of activity. I proceeded to disconnect the graphics card (GPU) and, upon unplugging and re-plugging the PSU, the fans started up again. It was evident that something might be wrong with my GPU.

Testing the Graphics Card

Curious to see if the problem lay with the GPU, I decided to try an old GT 9800 that I had lying around. To my surprise, my PC was operational again, leading me to believe that the RTX 2070 was likely at fault. This was troubling since it had functioned well just prior to the incident. The rapid transition from normal operation to complete breakdown raised suspicions that perhaps the GPU was preventing any power from flowing through the system when connected.

Further Investigation

With my mind swirling with possibilities, I wondered if the motherboard could be the underlying issue. Testing it further would require more effort, but diagnosing a GPU failure seemed to be the most logical conclusion based on the current evidence.

During my troubleshooting, I also recalled that I had been using MSI Afterburner—not for overclocking, but to adjust the GPU fan settings for better performance. I wondered if applications like this or Geforce Experience log GPU data that could provide insight into what might have gone wrong before the crash.

Testing in Another System

In an effort to confirm my suspicions about the GPU, I took it to my neighbor’s