GTX 780 Smoking?

Newbix

Reputable
Jan 3, 2015
1
0
4,510
I have an MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr, and I've had it for a half a month over a year. A few months ago my computer began randomly BSODing and shutting off. The bluescreen viewer always gave a leading suspicion to something nvidia related. So I would roll back drivers and download an older one. It worked for a while, then it happened again, except this time the computer would not turn on. If I unplugged my GPU and HDD/SSD the computer would turn on but the PSU would be abnormally loud. I went with the idea that my EVGA PSU is on it's dying days, so I replaced it with a Corsair equivalent, 750W. I did this December 5th, installed new PSU and would decide to later RMA the EVGA if possible. The computer worked, no issues at all, until now. Yesterday night I was playing a video game and the computer just shut off, no lights on inside nothing at all. I flipped the PSU switch twice and pressed the power button. The lights turned on and fans spun up for about half a second, then back to darkness. There was an electrical burning smells so I removed the GPU and tried to power up the computer and it worked. When replacing the GPU after a quick dusting with compressed air canister, I powered up the computer to see a white and red flash of light from the GPU and smoke. I turned it off right away and took out the GPU. It left a small burn mark on my MOBO in what seems to be some sort of plastic or material that cases something important. The GPU smells like electrical burning and I've packed it up for RMA.

tl;dr
780 started smoking and burning.

Can anyone think of something that might cause this besides my GPU?
All replies appreciated, not having a GPU will be tough for a bit..

Specs:
i5 4670k
GTX 780
MSI Z87-G43 Gaming
1TB Seagate HD
240GB PNY SSD
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Sorry to hear it. Good that it is still in warranty. RMA it ASAP and play dumb, it was the card unless they can prove otherwise.

Also could be a short somewhere in the motherboard or PSU perhaps, but I hate it when I smell burning bakelite. I would do a bench build with a nonconductive surface like cardboard to rule out any case shorts. I'd also test the PSU with a multimeter and examine the motherboard video slot very carefully.

Hopefully, you will get some other posters with personal experience on burnt cards, I've been lucky on those so far.
 

aim001

Distinguished
Dec 27, 2009
67
0
18,630
Just happened to me few days ago. Really sad that it happened. But in one way I´m glad that I was not the only one with this problem. It´s not a common issue but I´ve seen some few people with same problem. Packed my GPU aswell for RMA and sent it 4 days ago. Waitign for replacement, so I can use my computer again.

EDIT: It´s the same card.