GPU seems dead with fan 100% on boot... but signs of life?

Hardware Hub GPU
1

Hi guys, (long time lurker here... not sure if this is the correct sub-forum, but please be nice if it's not)

I was playing Rocket League for a very short <5 minute period on my desktop when my computer screen went to black and froze. i had Spotify open... which is usually the case for me and has never caused issues... This was definitely just a normal (if not extremely short/interrupted) session.

I turned it off while noticing a strange smell. My H220x CPU loop seemed fine in terms of temps/fan speed, but my GPU fan was at 100% after I turned it back on. As an open-back headphone user (and at the time I had no music playing), I would have noticed the insane fan speed prior to the computer freezing.

The computer appears to post but no image is displayed... my dac recognizes an input with a light and my keyboard caps lock/mouse scroll wheel light up, but my monitor power button blinks while it anticipates an image.

I left it off for a bit (20 long, long minutes). Same 100% gpu fans and slight smell. Off again...

When I turn it on with the GPU still in the PCI-e slot and no 6+6+2 power, the monitor (with the monitor still plugged directly into the GPU) displays a message with the vBIOS Version/Copyright info (which it wouldn't at all before unplugging the 6+6+2 power).

Does this confirm the GPU is not completely dead?

Having just finished writing up all of this, I pulled off the ACX heatsink on my Titan to see this. Great!

Also, I've got bigger issues than dust and focus right now. I don't want to hear it.

Question 1. What is that component('s purpose), and why did it suddenly burn? I'm noticing it doesn't have any components that touch it (and the heat spreaders on the ACX cooler near this component are discolored).

Question 2. Can I fix it myself? It's not under warranty anymore, I wouldn't think. I bought it on launch day years ago... Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any help/direction offered.

2

What's your power supply?

If I had to guess maybe it regulates fan speed among other things? I doubt it would be an easy fix, maybe your GPU just overheated or you had a freak power issue that fried it.

Otherwise nvidia's warranty lasts less than a year?

3

Corsair AX860i.

Nothing in the computer is new (or really that old) though. It is a different rail though, isn't it? Could this be a PSU-related mishap?

Presumably it [which I'd like a name for, btw] does more than that since the it won't give the monitor information [unless unplugged?!]. Maybe it's a voltage regulator of some sort, which may explain why the GPU thinks it's bursting into flames and needs to be 100% fan speed.

Hopefully you're correct though.

I don't want to have a GPU coaster :(

4

Welp, if nothing else the 390 is pretty solid and of relatively low cost since it seems you'll end up needing a replacement.

You could try contact the manufacturer to see if you can send it in for repairs though. maybe, possibly.

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Upon research, I'm seeing that this is an inductor that's part of the 6+2 power phase design. Hopefully this means the entire card isn't fried.

6

Right on, I was about to post that. It's an R33 Inductor for the power delivery. You can actually buy them from electronics stores online, and they aren't too terribly hard to solder into place so long as the contacts on the board are still visible. (I.E. the solder didn't strip from the PCB.)

I would have concerns about the same thing happening again, even if you get it working. Try for luck and send EVGA a message, I've heard amazing things about their support and they might just be able to help.

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Thanks Fouquin for reinforcing what I've found.

I've been looking online for one, but I'm having a hard time finding the specs of the one on the board. I'm assuming r33 means 0.33 µH... but the other specs escape me. I'm seeing this or that as potential options, but other than physical dimensions and being 0.33 µH, I don't really know what I need. Would it be suggested to have a higher amperage rating [I would assume yes; but does that cause issues with the other R33 that I don't even know the specs of]? Can anyone speak to this?

Also, I've sent EVGA an email. I'm slightly concerned that it won't yield well for me because I had a custom bios... which was only used to have a lower fan speed at idle. I'm not K|NGP|N.

However, I saw this thread [tldr: titan hydrocopper with custom bios blows both R33, replaced under warranty], which gives me some level of hope. I'm seeing that the R33 dies in general, regardless of bios condition. I'm surprised this inductor doesn't have a thermal pad on the back [which I will most definitely do if this is fixed].

edit: I found a UK thread posting a link to this inductor for replacing the R33. I don't know if that's accurate, but I'm not finding a spec-for-spec equivalent in the US.

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I've received an email, and they refuse to do cross-RMA shipping (which is understandable). ["If the video card is not in warranty we have a out of warranty repair that is $65 per hr. But we would have to take of look at your video card to verify if the video card is in warrant or not."] Underwhelming grammar aside, I guess this is good news...

Would it be better to attempt the repair myself, assuming I could find the correct inductor? I'm not sure what the turn around time is.

Also, I'm attempting to boot from the iGPU in the 2600k... the first time, the screen showed a few white lines in the corners/edges of the display. the monitor recognizes an input, but nothing shows now. My Schiit Modi source light no longer turns on, and keyboard/mouse don't turn on. it's not even posting and keeps boot looping. I've tried each bios (and PRAM reset) on the Z77A-GD65 to no avail... What does this mean? Am I uber-boned?

9

Have you run a malware scan? my first thought is maybe you have a cudaminer running.

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I run malwarebytes pro on a bi-daily basis. I don't use cracked/pirated software and have never mined for cryptocurrency. I'm not sure that's a possibility.

I can't even boot at this point though.

11

softwhere to hijack video cards to mine cryptocurrency sadly isent uncommon can you boot in to safe mode to run combo fix?
It's worth checking out before spending money on something you may not need.

12

Could have been a CUDAMiner that popped the inductor, but at this point he's going to have to spend money to get the card fixed.

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I'm just going to send it in. I would consider doing the repairs myself if it didn't have the opportunity of being under warranty still.

I found that I could boot the PC without plugging the monitor into the motherboard. I gave it the normal time for a boot before typing in my password, and I checked on Chrome Remote (like teamviewer) and was able to use my computer at a strange resolution. It seems like it's just the GPU [and maybe the iGPU, which I don't care about]. I thought I could potentially use this to restore the original BIOS, but the GPU requires power from more than the PCI-e slot to boot apparently.

When putting on the reference gpu heatsink, I noticed that the two r33 inductors have thermal pads. Looking back at the ACX thermal pads, there's definitely not one for those inductors. Shame that I thought that was an 'upgrade'.

Fouquin, could you tell me what specific inductor I should purchase? I might just go ahead and buy one just in case.

14

$65 per hour? I would just get a new card. A 390 performs better than a Titan, but you might not want to spend any more than necessary to get things back up and running. Hope it didn't cause a problem with power delivery to anything else though. Would be bad to have a bad mobo on your hands. Then again, I don't know all that much about this sort of thing (can solder, but never worked with dead components).

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It's still potentially free though. Regardless, I doubt the repairs for this single inductor take long. I'm seeing youtube videos of this task completed in real time under a minute. If it takes them 5 hours (which it shouldn't), it's $325. That's half of a brand new 980 ti. Everything else in the computer works. I feel like the PSU is at fault more than anything else (other than the GPU itself).

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Corsair AX series is usually really good though iirc. Wouldn't be the first faulty unit in the world though.

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Exactly. I'm thinking it's very isolated to the GPU. The rest of the computer is fine, it seems

18

You need flux, and a good soldering Iron. Look up the number of the part that burned off, order a new one, and practice soldering on some garbage components

Will it work? 1/10 chance

will you learn a ton of usefull skills on board level repairs? yes

worth it? you decide how far you want to travel down the rabbit hole

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19

I wouldn't recommend doing surface mounting on a Titan... Not when they are still worth $450. There really are better ways.

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20

Idk... if it's dead it's dead, nothing to lose in trying to revive it.

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