Everything from photos to video games to animations and video information is rendered by graphics cards. It is an important component of your computer since it allows your central processing unit (CPU) to concentrate on other activities. If yours fails, your PC can become essentially inoperable. Fortunately, there are frequently warning indications before a graphics card fails, giving you plenty of time to locate and install a replacement.
Gpu Failure: 4 Reasons & Solutions
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is often referred to as a graphics card, video card, or display card. Regardless of what it’s called, it can be a huge problem when it stops working. Knowing what to look for and how to troubleshoot your graphics card can help you avoid having an unusable device.
Common Causes of Video Card Failures
Several things can cause your video card to fail. Often, overheating from dust or lint in your computer is to blame. Other factors can include faulty installation to the motherboard, frequent overclocking, or a power surge from an electrical outage.Just like everything else in your computer, your GPU is subject to wear and tear. It may take some troubleshooting to determine if it can be cleaned or reinstalled or if it’s time to purchase a new graphics card.
Symptoms of a Bad Graphics Card
1. Screen Glitches or Artifacts: Are you noticing weird colors or shapes appearing on your screen? If this occurs while your graphics card is under stress, such as playing a video game or streaming a movie, it may be your GPU. Restarting may remedy this issue, but if your video card is nearing failure, expect the problem to pop up again sooner rather than later.
2. Stuttering: If your computer screen is repeatedly freezing up, dropping frames, or stuttering, it may be an indicator of card failure. However, this symptom can also be caused by issues with your hard drive, RAM, or even related to malware. If you’re experiencing other display problems related to video card failure, then it’s likely the culprit.
3. Fan Speed: If your fan is noisier than usual, it could be a sign that your card is overheating. Overheating can quickly damage the internals of your computer, so try idling it to see if it will quiet down. If that doesn’t work, you’ll want to get the device checked and cleaned out to see what’s causing the heat buildup.
4. Black or Blue Screens: Crashes caused by card fails can vary from your PC freezing to a complete reboot where your device powers off or restarts itself. Other things can cause a computer crash, so you’ll want to troubleshoot to determine if your GPU is at fault. It’s more likely to be related to your graphics card if the crash or black screen keeps happening when you’re doing graphics-intensive activities.
Troubleshooting Graphics Card Problems
As with many computer issues, there are many possible issues to blame. Faulty cables or connectors, software issues, or even your CPU or RAM can all be to blame. However, if you’re pretty confident that it’s a GPU issue, you can try the following steps.
1. Update the motherboard drivers for your chipset. On a Windows computer, you can find the manufacturer name (i.e., NVIDIA, Intel, etc.) within Device Manager.
2. Next, check to see if your graphics card needs its display drivers updated.
3. Finally, look inside your computer to clean out any dust and assess any connection issues.\
Overall, taking proper care of your graphics card, including regularly cleaning the dust and maintaining proper temperature, can help extend its lifespan and prevent failure.