Hey everyone, I've been experiencing some serious issues with my old PC after playing Red Dead Redemption 2 recently, and I'm starting to think it might have damaged my dedicated graphics card. Here are the specs of my machine: it's running an Intel i3-7100 processor, with 8 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 graphics card.
I did have a low-quality power supply that burned out while playing a heavy game, but I took it to a technician who replaced it with a better one, and things were fine for a bit. However, my case lacks proper airflow, which I've been pushing my PC hard with the basic fans it has.
Lately, my PC has been freezing up, displaying blue screens, restarting on its own, and the graphics card fans are going wild with loud noises—sometimes even the CPU fan is acting up too. I tried reinstalling some drivers, which helped temporarily, but the issues came back.
To troubleshoot, I removed the graphics card and switched to integrated graphics, and everything ran smoothly—only one minor fan ramp-up without crashes. I haven't overclocked my card, but I noticed it reaching temperatures around 81 degrees during intensive gaming.
While the card still powers on and shows video, it's causing a lot of problems. Could this mean it's on its last legs? Is there anything else I can do? I keep my PC clean, so I'm sure it's not dust. Appreciate any advice!
1 Answer
It sounds like your GTX 760 might really be showing its age. A graphics card like that is about 12 years old, which is considered pretty ancient in tech years. They're generally designed for about 4 years of use, and while they can last longer, they often start having issues just like you’re experiencing. The blue screens could also be related to the graphics card, especially if they're caused by a driver file like 'dxgkrnl.sys'. If your integrated graphics work fine without any issues, it's a strong indicator that the dedicated card might be failing.
Yeah, I agree! It's crucial to check those dump files for better insights. If it's driver-related and you're using a driver that's not updated anymore, it could definitely be contributing to the crashes. It's worth investigating!