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So I boot up Fallout 4 and to my horror...

Shinobi026

Shinobi026

Shinobi026

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Joined
4 Dec 2012
Posts
122
Location
Bournemouth
Sparks come flying out from 1 of my 2 980s and my system shuts down. I jump under the desk and hit the power on my surge strip and then stare at my PC for a few mins. What the hell just happened??

Out of stupidity I turn the system back on with both cards sat in the same place to find (to my amazement) that they both are still working and reporting in device manager, even though the problem card makes a pop noise when I press the power on.

I don't want to try the card again as the sparks and popping noise sounded fatal last time and I have since removed it and put GPU 2 in the primary slot. It seems quite happy running Fallout so I think the PC itself is ok.

Have I been really unlucky here and got a very dodgy 980? Is this more common than I once thought? Have any of you ever experienced anything like this? I'm so disappointed as I put so much love and care into building this rig and I don't think I could have done a better job, yet i'm running into an issue like this, and on Fallout day. Sigh. I will add that it is a GIGABYTE Wind-force model.

Would like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

EDIT: I built the rig almost 6 months ago and have had no issues up to now. The case has not even been opened since then.
 
If sparks have come out, it is clearly a fault, so take the card out, check it over thoroughly and send it off for an RMA, it could be a power lead not in properly but untill you check, we will have to keep guessing.
 
As Gregster says, check your cabling but it sounds like you will need to send it back. At least you still have one that you can use in the mean time and look on the bright side, if it was an AMD card you'd probably have lost enough electricity to send you back to 1955 ;)
 
Where did the sparks come from? Can you see any scorching on the pci power connectors or pcie interface? failing that there's an off chance that something conductive bridged a circuit somewhere.

You could bench and stress the suspect card but I'd maybe be slightly cautious of doing so, maybe if you have an older system you don't mind goosing?

If you send it back and they can't find anything you will only get charged for it from what I understand.
 
ive never seen sparks coming out of a pc....i cant be trying hard enough
id check that cooler too make sure there is no leak
u dont want the other one to go the same way
...i guess it could be the power supply too >.<
 
No scorch marks or any sign of damage anywhere, i'll add there was no burning smell either, just some fireworks and an abrupt end to my Fallout session :(

I think the cabling was fine, card number 2 seems fine using the same connectors after some stress testing.

It was hard to tell where the sparks came from exactly as it was all over so fast, roughly in the middle of the GPU facing the case window, maybe more towards the back where the external outputs are.

I do have a Corsair H80i running above the cards but I have thoroughly checked for any sign of a leak and it all seems ok.

Really appreciate all the replies, thanks.

.. and yes I've began the RMA process.
 
RMA time. I had 2 x GTX 980 Ti burn out recently. Both burnt out under the backplate & smelt of burning for days after. Nvidia QA does not seem as good as it once was I think due to them building so many GPUs to help AMD out of business ;)
 
Sounds like a cap blep. At a guess When you started the game both cards prob went straight to 100% usage and it just let go.

Rma should be a quick turn around with gigabyte.
 
Shinobi026 said:
Sparks come flying out from 1 of my 2 980s and my system shuts down.
Click to expand...

Sparks and blue smoke are the two most expensive and essential components of computers, and most of the physical circuitry is an advanced magnetic containment system to keep them inside. Alas, once the forcefield is breached, these vital ingredients cannot be put back into the equipment and a replacement must be purchased.

:)

(More seriously, I'd hazard a guess at a capacitor or resistor having bitten the dust, i.e. something that might not get used until the gpu is in full swing.)
 
u guys are making me scared of pc's!
ive had one running with no case for months, now im worried its going to start a fire :o
 
don't be scared, i've been building systems for years, its easier than ever now, this is honestly the first major issue i've ever had.

yup, the cards have only had rocket league to worry about the last few months (i've been playing a lot of Destiny on console) I think when the cards are near max load is when the issue happens.

really appreciate all the responses, feel a little better about the situation now.
 
Yeah, get it RMAed. With Gigabyte having UK returns, you should get it sorted pretty fast. Sparks are not good and I would concur that something has spectacularly failed.

At least you still have a card because you were running 2 in SLI.
 
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