Fried MSI GTX 970 - faulty GPU or a leak in the water cooling system?

[iz0tope]

Good day!

I fried my MSI GTX 970 this morning, and I'm trying to figure out what happened.

TL;DR at the bottom!

My system has been running stable since I set it up in May 2015.
Relevant hardware:

Mainboard: MSI Z97 GAMING 7
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G
Water cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H100i
PSU: Super Flower Leadex 80Plus Gold 650W

I was playing a game when the power in my apartment went out. I didn't think much of it at the time - since I live in an old building, these things just happen every now and then. I checked the fuse box, and turned the electricity back on. I hit the power button on my PC, and it immediately turned itself off again, accompanied by a brief fizzling sound and a burnt smell coming from inside the case. I unplugged the PC and opened the case to see what happened. The graphics card had a burn mark on it. I removed it from the mainboard, the rest of the PC was unscathed.

After taking a closer look at the GPU's circuit board I noticed some odd "stains" on it. Since I'm using a water cooling system, the thought of a leaking tube immediately shot through my mind. I checked the tubes, but couldn't find any indication of a leak. There was no (dried) liquid on the rest of the hardware.
At this point I'm unsure if those presumed stains on the circuit board are the result of a slightly leaking water cooling system (of which the evidence eludes me), or if I'm just interpreting too much into some random residue on my fried GPU.
I'm going to send the GPU back to the retail store that I ordered it from. They've already told me that they won't be able to replace it, I'd be receiving a credit voucher instead, if it turns out that the card was faulty.
I'm inclined to get a new GPU, but I don't want the new card to meet a similar fate as the old one, so I'd like to rule out any other cause for my old card's untimely death.

TL;DR:

- My graphics card caught fire
- There's a burn mark on the GPU's circuit board, the rest of the PC's components are unharmed (I'm using it to write this post, sans the GPU of course)
- Odd marks/stains on the circuit board leave me unsure whether it's just a faulty GPU or if there may have been a leak in the water cooling system

What do you think? Faulty GPU? A leaking water cooling system? Perhaps it's the PSU? Pictures of the GPU below (sorry for the shoddy quality)!

http://i.imgur.com/LjbpymR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gBCU6dZ.jpg

 

[ravenjedmanicdao]

Yes. Definitely faulty GPU. You may have even permanently damaged it beyond repair. If there was no evidence of leak, then the extreme heats from electricity has melted the silicon, which does appear like liquid.

 

[L0stChild]

well u just had a short in the powerline.
i look at the psu.

if it was caused by a leak u would have .. well yeah a leak. since leaks dont come and go, a system leak will have a trail.
ive worked on cooling systems on cars.. but thats beside the fact that u cant find evidence. so those marks u see those are from shortage or connection failures.


probable cause: psu ran without restrictors.. *not sure what they call it in pc world.. and so when u boot up.. ur gpu took the whole shit load of power at one instant

 

[iz0tope]

well u just had a short in the powerline.
i look at the psu.

if it was caused by a leak u would have .. well yeah a leak. since leaks dont come and go, a system leak will have a trail.
ive worked on cooling systems on cars.. but thats beside the fact that u cant find evidence. so those marks u see those are from shortage or connection failures.


probable cause: psu ran without restrictors.. *not sure what they call it in pc world.. and so when u boot up.. ur gpu took the whole shit load of power at one instant

Thanks for the replies!

Assuming that it could be the PSU, I'd want to make sure that I can rule it out before I install a new GPU.

But how do I know if the PSU needs to be replaced?
I haven't had any issues with a beeping bios, lockups, spontaneous shutdowns (well, aside from the one shortly before the GPU caught fire), etc. The system is still running stable after I've removed the GPU. Wouldn't a faulty PSU affect the entire PC (especially considering that I'm using it right now), not just the GPU?

I've had a PSU die on me before, but it literally went out with a bang.

 

[Nathan Bumgarner]

Well it may have just had a crazy moment with the power killing the breaker then being switched back on. And since it has its own cable to the GPU I would assume it could become faulty somewhere in the psu to where it only goes through that cable

 

[L0stChild]

first off dont buy a new psu and try it.
so right now ur running the system with integrated video out? and everything seems fine?

k well heres the thing.. ur story with the outage.. i mean its gotta have something to do with it.
what im saying isnt guessing i just think thats the most plausible cause for any problems u find when u reboot ur pc after a power out.
btw is this psu modular? maybe u can do a continuity test on the video card wires. thats all i can think of right now

 

[iz0tope]

Well it may have just had a crazy moment with the power killing the breaker then being switched back on. And since it has its own cable to the GPU I would assume it could become faulty somewhere in the psu to where it only goes through that cable

I don't have much knowledge on the mechanical side of things. I would be worried if the PSU was a cheap piece, but it received several raving reviews from hardware enthusiasts, with verdicts like "Class leading PFC, efficiency, ripple suppression and voltage regulation" - would it be crazy to assume that the PSU is prepared to deal with these kind of moments without killing the rest of my hardware?

 

[Nathan Bumgarner]

You gotta hope so. I just replaced a corsair HX850. Just out of the blue started surging. If you get frequent power issues in your house I would suggest a UPS.
https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Compatible-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W/ref=sr_1_14?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1477824370&sr=1-14&keywords=ups

 

[iz0tope]

first off dont buy a new psu and try it.
so right now ur running the system with integrated video out? and everything seems fine?

k well heres the thing.. ur story with the outage.. i mean its gotta have something to do with it.
what im saying isnt guessing i just think thats the most plausible cause for any problems u find when u reboot ur pc after a power out.
btw is this psu modular? maybe u can do a continuity test on the video card wires. thats all i can think of right now

Yes, I'm running the system using the onboard video out. Absolutely no hiccups (just like the last 18 months since I've had the PC, up to the moment when the GPU bit the dust).

I absolutely agree, the dying GPU and the power outage are definitely connected - though for some reason I was sure that the power went out because the card malfunctioned, not the other way around. I assumed that the PSU would have some sort of fail-safe to protect the system by shutting down in case something was amiss.

The PSU is modular, yes. Once I get my hands on the required tools, I can certainly run a continuity test on the video card wires. Good thinking!

 

[iz0tope]

You gotta hope so. I just replaced a corsair HX850. Just out of the blue started surging. If you get frequent power issues in your house I would suggest a UPS.
https://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Compatible-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W/ref=sr_1_14?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1477824370&sr=1-14&keywords=ups

Hm. I wouldn't expect that to happen with a "Corsair HX850" either, so perhaps you have a point.
Thanks for the link, I'll definitely keep tabs on that UPS for future reference!

 

[Nathan Bumgarner]

no problem. Good luck with your card

 

[L0stChild]

ummm pfft shiet ive pretty much hit a point where anything i say would just be speculation lol
but.. i dont think the gpu caused a back surge through ur psu and back to the outlet.. im pretty damn sure that if that was actually the case.. ur computer wouldnt be running period lol
theres no way that much power going backwards would not affect anything else in the whole system..
yes voltage regulator. ive encountered a problem with this on my alternator before.
if u wanna research that up n see if it is plausible.. then maybe it can explain why only ur gpu was affected. after all, the gpu gets fed more than other parts.. cpu comes after that..

if ur psu is modular.. yeah definitely take that gpu harness out.
maybe u can show someone that knows circuit boards and see if he knows what that area of explosion is about