6 telltale signs your GPU is about to die

If you have a gaming PC, your graphics card is perhaps one of your most prized possessions. The heart and almost always the priciest component of any gaming rig​, the GPU is the biggest determinant of gaming performance. It’s also the component that can single-handedly crush your spirit if anything even remotely bad happens to it. Sometimes, you can diagnose issues with your GPU and fix them successfully, but other times, you might not be so lucky.

If your GPU is on its last legs and about to depart from this world, you’ll usually see some telltale symptoms. These signs, as long as they aren’t related to some other component, will point to a serious fault or impending demise of your graphics card. Once you learn to identify these signs for what they are, you can begin your journey from denial to acceptance, and decide to buy a new graphics card.

6 No signal on the monitor

It might already be too late

If you’re not receiving any signal from the GPU on your monitor, your graphics card might already be dead. Of course, a lack of video signal could mean anything from a loose or faulty cable to corrupted drivers, but if you’ve ruled out the basics, this might point to a faulty graphics card. If you were already doubtful about the remaining life of your graphics card and facing a variety of issues, this might be the sign that it’s gone for good.

To troubleshoot further, you can remove your graphics card and try testing it on a friend’s PC to see if it powers on the display. You could also try to flash the latest vBIOS for your GPU as a last-ditch effort, but if that doesn’t work, probably nothing would. It might be time to bid goodbye to your trusted gaming sidekick, and cherish the good memories you had together.

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5 Crashes and BSOD

Something might be seriously wrong

If your PC is still working, but you’re experiencing frequent crashes while playing games or running GPU-heavy applications, then your graphics card might be nearing its end of life. These crashes could range from games and programs crashing, to the desktop or the entire system crashing with a blue screen of death (BSOD). You might even be able to spot some GPU-related errors displayed on the BSOD.

Sometimes, your PC might even reboot abruptly with no blue screen. All of these can be symptoms of a failing GPU, especially if they happen after launching or running a GPU-intensive program for some time. You can rule out the CPU in such cases by monitoring the CPU temperature just as you launch the program. If the CPU temps aren’t super-high, then the fault probably lies with the graphics card.

One thing you can do to rule out driver issues is to reset the display driver and see if the crashes disappear. If not, then it’s safe to conclude that the graphics card has a serious hardware problem.

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4 GPU fans running unusually loud or fast

Sudden changes in GPU behavior can be telling

If you notice that your GPU fans have suddenly started emitting strange sounds under load or spinning faster than usual without any input from your end, it might be time to check under the hood. It might be that only the fans are faulty, but often this is due to a graphics card no longer being able to remain under safe operating temperatures. This requires the fans to start spinning faster to try to keep up with cooling, or they could develop issues that manifest in the form of a weird noise.

You can try to get the faulty fans replaced to see if the issue was limited to the fans. But, if that doesn’t make things better, something inside the PC is overheating. There are likely deeper issues with the graphics card hardware. To ensure you’re not just imagining things, use a tool like HWiNFO to keep an eye on the GPU fan speed, so you have actual numbers to refer to.

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3 Graphics card overheating

Unusually high temps would be concerning

MSI Afterburner

Besides fan noise and speed, an overheating GPU is another concerning symptom that could signal a fast-approaching end for your graphics card. Normal GPU temperatures range from 30ºC to 85ºC, depending on the system load. If your graphics card is suddenly showing temperatures in excess of 90ºC outside of the most punishing benchmark tests, then it might be a sign of its failing internals.

You’ll easily be able to notice high GPU temperatures in the form of the GPU fans spinning much faster or GPU performance dropping below the usual numbers. A GPU that’s thermal throttling automatically lowers the performance to bring the temperature down in an attempt to prevent fatal damage to the hardware. You could also see overheating leading to abrupt crashes or shutdowns.

You could try lowering your GPU temperature using a variety of tips, but if everything was going well before, and your GPU started overheating out of the blue, it’s more likely that the GPU is about to die.

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2 Frequent frame drops

More than the usual can be a bad sign

As I mentioned above, a drop in performance is one of the signs of a failing GPU. You can see this more specifically in games in the form of increased frame drops. While frame drops are perfectly normal on GPUs that are working fine, more than the usual number might be concerning. You’d probably notice that a GPU exhibiting smooth gameplay earlier starts dropping frames in almost every gaming session.

Once you rule out outdated drivers, optimization issues with the game itself, or other software issues, you can conclude that it’s the graphics card at fault. You might be able to lower the in-game settings to improve the performance, but that’s just delaying the inevitable. You should consider claiming the warranty (if available) or start thinking about replacing your GPU.

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1 Visual glitches and artifacts

The scariest of ’em all

If you haven’t experienced visual artifacts for yourself, then you can’t begin to comprehend how terrifying they are. You feel helpless seeing your screen morph into something out of The Matrix, as if countless pixels are trying to frantically break free from the display. If your graphics card has reached this stage, there’s very little you can do. Deep driver removal using DDU then reinstalling them might help in rare cases, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

In such cases, you’ll probably encounter the dreaded Code 43 error where your PC is unable to communicate with or detect your graphics card. All there’s left to do is try out a few troubleshooting tips, and if nothing works, prepare an early grave for your graphics card. Artifacts and glitches are possibly the worst way in which a failing GPU can cry for help, but it’s best to avoid GPU repairs, just start saving for a new one.

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GPU failures are uncommon, but not unusual

Your graphics card suddenly up and dying might not be a common occurrence, but it still happens to many users around the world. From intense overclocking to cryptocurrency mining, there are many things that might degrade a GPU earlier than usual. You might have bought a pre-owned GPU with some underlying issues which might lead to the card dying prematurely. Fortunately, now you can detect the signs of a failing GPU and take the next steps confidently.