So I had a GPU just up and die on me for the first time...

[brandonkick]

My current machine is a Ryzen 7 1700X on a MSI X370 SLI PRO with 16GB of ram and had featured my 8 year old (I think) Radeon HD 5870 1GB which is pretty terrible for all but the lightest 1080P gaming these days but I don't really game any more or if I do very far and few between (last game I really played regularly was Hearthstone).

So anyways, I got an upgrade to a used ASUS GTX 1060 3GB. The main reason I even bothered to upgrade was the fan on my old 5870 was LOUD. Like diesel truck loud and it vibrated. This was probably 3 to maybe 4 weeks ago. Fast forward to last night and in the midst of a late night coding session... the screens on my monitors just go solid colors... one red and one white. Reboot and after the motherboard splash screen only one screen was on (only one came on during the motherboard post as well, which is normal) and it went solid white in a few seconds. I remove and reseat the card, and now the machine will not show anything on the screen! Luckily I didn't sell, give away or throw away that old 5870... swapped it back in and all seems to be well...

I even tested that 1060 in my old 1st gen core i7 build, and it's dead as dead can be. What a strange thing to have happen.... I've never had one die on me, let alone one that new and in that way. Never over clocked, wasn't gaming, wasn't pushing it... just up and poof. Heck my old PCI based Radeon 9200 from back in 2002 or 2003 is still working!

 

[mikeroq]

Everything fails eventually. Some sooner than others.

 

[Diggs]

I've had a few GPUs fail over the years. One was a GeForce 7950 GT. It was the last stop on the AGP bus for graphics cards and must have been pushed too hard. I lost a few of those. I know the GTX 1060s had driver problems at one time but didn't think that was an issue any more.

 

[mr m]

All electronic components start to die from the first time they are switched on. ESD and over voltage kill and weaken components but It is usually the thermal cycling that eventually does them in. A relatively cool (room temperature) component gets hot as soon as it is powered on because of the inefficiencies and resistance of the conductors used to manufacture the various parts. Resistance causes heat, heat causes expansion and those heating/cooling cycles slowly kills our electronics.

Think of an incandescent lamp. I think Edison's original filament lasted for 10 hours. Then he experimented with various materials and a vacuum and extended their life greatly but still those filaments eventually wore out. Today they can last for tens of thousands of hours. Rarely did a bulb burn out when it is already on. It was usually the second you powered it on that inrush of electricity caused a lot of heat and those relentless thermal expansion cycles eventually weakened and destroyed the filament.

If your electronic devices survive its first week of service it will usually last for years or reliable service but like us, all components are doomed from birth.

 

[mikeroq]

Think of an incandescent lamp. I think Edison's original filament lasted for 10 hours. Then he experimented with various materials and a vacuum and extended their life greatly but still those filaments eventually wore out. Today they can last for tens of thousands of hours.

Modern incandescent bulbs I think maybe up to 2,000 hours. In the 1920s light bulbs were rated around 1,500-2,500 hours.Then came the Phoebus cartel.

The cartel conveniently lowered operational costs and worked to standardize the life expectancy of light bulbs at 1,000 hours[6] (down from 2,500 hours),[6] and raised prices without fear of competition. The cartel tested their bulbs and fined manufacturers for bulbs that lasted more than 1,000 hours. A 1929 table listed the amount of Swiss francs paid that depended on the exceeding hours of lifetime.[7] The cartel operated without the knowledge of the public, and the cartel could point to standardization of light bulbs as an alternative rationale for the organization.

At least now we have LED bulbs that are rated for 50,000 hours.

But yea thermal cycling will do you in. Pretty much every time I had a light bulb fail was when turning it on. Did have a couple that died on duty though.

I replaced all my light bulbs in my apartment with LED. Amazingly the one inside my front door looked like it was around 20-30 years old. I can't vouch for how long it was there but I lived here 6 years before I replaced it. It still worked but I just wanted to get all the bulbs the same.

 

[mr m]

Modern incandescent bulbs I think maybe up to 2,000 hours. In the 1920s light bulbs were rated around 1,500-2,500 hours.Then came the Phoebus cartel.

I just replaced a high pressure sodium driveway lamp for my Dad that was rated at 24,000 hours but you are right about the lifespans of incandescents.

 

[PcTestCard.com]

Have we tried a higher PSU to test the ASUS 1060?

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Fast forward to last night and in the midst of a late night coding session

Thats it? just sitting there with a text program or IDE doing coding and your video card died?

 

[GreyWolf]

Possible the fan died happened to me on my HP system with a hdmi port fan stop and well nothing beats the smell of burning plastic in the morning =)

 

[brandonkick]

Thats it? just sitting there with a text program or IDE doing coding and your video card died?

Basically.

I might have had youtube open. I often have a video playing in the background just for fun... but I don't know if I had one going at that point in time or not. She just released her magic smoke and that was that