Troubleshooting a Sudden GPU Failure: A Gamer’s Experience

Experiencing a sudden PC shutdown during gameplay can be a nightmare, especially when you’re deeply engaged in an intense raid in World of Warcraft Classic. Recently, I encountered such an issue that left me scrambling to diagnose the problem with my setup.

The Situation

Just as I was in the heat of a 40-man raid, the screen went black, and my PC showed no signs of life. Initially, I suspected the power supply unit (PSU) might be at fault, particularly since it was over six years old. I quickly switched out for a new 750W PSU, but to my dismay, the system remained unresponsive even after connecting the CPU and motherboard, which initially powered the fans.

Here are my specs for reference:

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

Diagnosis Journey

After a series of troubleshooting steps — including checking the electrical outlet, swapping cables, and disconnecting the GPU — I popped in my old GT 9800, and voilà, my system sprang back to life. This led me to the conclusion that the RTX 2070 might be malfunctioning. However, it struck me as odd that it could go from functioning normally to completely blocking power to the system when connected.

In my eagerness to confirm my suspicions, I decided to test the GPU in a neighbor’s PC, which boasts nearly identical specifications. Unfortunately, the same result occurred: no signs of life from the GPU. This reinforced the belief that my graphics card was the main culprit behind the failure.

Seeking Help and Recommendations

I’m reaching out to the community for fresh perspectives. Is there any additional testing I could conduct to further investigate this issue? Also, I’d like to know if anyone has information about whether MSI Afterburner or GeForce Experience logs GPU data that I could examine to check for irregularities prior to the crash.

Update on the Situation

In an effort to keep my gaming experience alive, a friend offered to lend me two older GPUs: a Radeon HD