Gpu Dying?

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when you cleaned the pc did you remove the gpu heatsink and give it a really good clean?, during this stage did you look at the thermal paste on the core, if it looks like its dried up then the core may be overheating even at idle speeds the 780's boost algorithm works diffently to newer gen cards.
check the ram thermal pads as if they have dried up that will cause the ram to overheat, (but if the pads are dry then the damage may already have been done)
causing wierd glitching even at idle speeds.

failing all of the above try rolling back your drives i know nvidia does relase drivers that work for current gen gpu's but getting them to work on older cards can be very hard and can lead to all sorts of problems, which may make you think oh crap my card is dying when its just the updated driver.

In the event that the older driver roll back doesnt work then you card may very well be on the way out so look at a replacment soon before it does die

I cleaned it using a air duster, it was very dusty so i just sprayed the contained air to remove dust all over the GPU/Motherboard and in the case. I didn't actually remove any parts, just opened the case up and air dusted it as much as i could. I am not familiar with GPU heatsink or RAM/Core Thermal paste, i'm assuming you mean the processor when you say "core"? wasn't aware the processor had thermal paste on it. I will tomorrow open up my pc and look at some videos today to see how i can disconnect/remove the GPU and see if i'm able to locate and find out if the thermal paste on the core is dried up, same for the ram thermal pads. Will be difficult as i'm not familiar with custom builds or how to remove/add them but i can learn quickly and see if the drying up is true or not. If the ram thermal pads are dried up, that's fine i suppose as i will then have located the issue and can replace it and move. Ram is much cheaper than GPU's so that's why i guess better than nothing. As for the drivers, i was having this issue while having an old stable driver version installed that i've been using for quite some time. I even installed new version and the issue continued and then uninstalling it, somehow an older version 399 was installed when i checked device manager, it must have reverted back to that i think when the installation didn't install/uninstall correctly when i rebooted as i got the black screen because i didn't uninstall in safe mode and did it manually instead of DDU. You can only go a certain amount of back for drivers, i've installed some that were released months ago and no difference. Before i make arrangements to get an ew GPU, i want to make sure it's actually the GPU and not my ram/core actually failing aswell. There may even be power issues as none of the parts have been replaced since i bought them 5 years ago. Thanks for your advice, i will open it up and try see the things you listed tomorrow after youtube videos. I have a brand new evga 1080ti that i can use but first need to confirm the issue and i'm not even sure if the 1080ti fits in my case or is compatible with my parts.
 
Soldato
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dissasembily of the 780 acx card is very simple for looking at the gpu core all you have to do is remove the 4 screws that surrond the core on the back you'll notice that the 4 screws should be bigger and look a sligtly diffrent color to the rest, once the 4 are romoved gently wiggle the cooler and it should come clear, once this happens disconnect the fans and any other cables you see, once you've done that the cooler will be free allowing a really good look at the core.

to check the ram thermal pads will be more tricky as that requires you to remove the backpalte and front plate of the card where the ram and mosfets are, you'll have a good amount of screws to remove but they should be unervesal in size (the same) after all screws are removed again wiggle the backplate first and remove it, look out for any cables as they may break.
repear the process for the front plate but take care as this part holds all the thermal pads for the ram and the mossfet part of the card, gently widggle it until it comes apart, dont worry if any pads stick to the card and not the plate you can re aplly them back to the plate if needed be just be careful not to tear them.

once this is done you should have the bare pcb of your card and be able to see if anything bad has happened to the pads or if the core theral materal has dried, if anything looks dry replace the pads or thermal paste and rebuild the card.

re apply the face plate first making sure the thermal pads are in the correct places and if alls good place the back plate as well and screw the 2 parts together, once all screws are in place you can re attach the main cooler for the core (dont forget to apply thermal paste, if you dont your card will hit 90 degrees very fast) using the 4 larger screws you remmoved earlier.

once all of the above is done install in your pc and update the drivers, if the card works then hey presto, but if you have the same issues it could be the 780 is dying or a possible psu issue.

Edit: is your psu you have 5 years old?, if so i'd look at upgrading that before you install the 1080 ti as that card uses a tonne more power than a 780, hell a new psu is all you may need so dont bin the card yet, purchase a gold rated 750 watt unit and see what happens first
 
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Soldato
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If you’re not comfortable I wouldn’t do anything more than remove the four core screws, don’t disassemble the GPU fully.

Removing a gpu is particularly easy, just remember to undo the latch on the motherboard!

It sounds like a GPU issue to me, but it could be software; did you try the Linux bootable media as someone else suggested? It’s very easy to do, just follow the steps online. This along with switching to onboard would be the best indicator of a dud card.

Ask your savvy relative if they can lend you a PSU for a day or so, and try that too. I wouldn’t buy a new one just because the GPU doesn’t work; could be a complete waste of money.
 
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Yes i agree that my 780 after constant usage of 5 years has gotten to the stage of needing to be replaced. Luckily for me i have a brand new evga gtx 1080ti that i have in my closet for over a year, just sitting there. Now before i install this card, i was wondering if it will bottleneck any of my other components and if not then which would you recommend i upgrade to get the most out of the 1080ti. Not sure if i want to keep the 1080ti or sell it and get a cheaper £200 GPU since i'm not a hardcore gamer, do sometimes play games on the odd occassion but my screen is 4k 32inches and at 4k resolution the 1080ti will help a lot, not just with gaming. I don't do video processing or anything cpu/gpu intensive, just browsing/movies and the occasional gaming. Also the issue that if i sell the 1080ti, i'll be forced to upgrade sooner rather than later if i buy a cheaper gpu to replace my 780, was looking at 1060 6gb. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!
 
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