A user reports that his sister is passionate about playing Fortnite. But now her graphics card has burned out. The cause is not entirely clear, but there are indications of what might have gone wrong. Presumably, the graphics card was not properly mounted in the case.
What happened to the graphics card? A player reports on Reddit that his sister loves to play Fortnite. Recently, she had “worked so hard in Fortnite that her 3060ti caught fire.”
As proof, he posts not only a picture of the broken graphics card but also of the damaged motherboard. He himself explained that the other components survived the fire well: The M.2 SSD with the data still works, and the processor remained undamaged as well.
The graphics card was probably too heavy in the case without support
What could be the cause of the fire? When looking closely at the burned or charred graphics card, it is apparent that especially the PCIe connection of the graphics card has suffered. This is the area where the graphics card was plugged into the motherboard.
Some speculate that the graphics card was installed incorrectly or at least poorly in the computer. If the graphics card lacks support during installation, then the graphics card “sags.” In English, this is referred to as “GPU sag.”
If the graphics card is not supported, then the entire weight of the graphics card rests on the PCIe connection, which is subjected to heavy stress over time. In the long run, this can also lead to damage and connection errors over a prolonged period.
Some damages, such as micro-cracks, cannot be seen with the naked eye but damage the interior of your graphics card. A user explains in the thread:
This stress caused a micro-crack at the PCB locking tab. This crack slowly spreads into the power supply copper areas of the circuit board. This specific area of the circuit board was traversed by a large amount of current during the stress.
As the micro-fracture spread, the copper power supply area became smaller and smaller. And since the card is still drawing as much current as it can, the now much smaller copper area begins to glow and smolder.
In the end, it’s only a matter of moments before the graphics card starts to burn. Other users add: Such a fire can develop within seconds and it can happen very quickly. The player’s sister was ultimately very lucky that only the graphics card was affected. It could have gone very badly.
A gamer is having problems with his graphics card, and the purchase of a new GPU is on the table. However, some speculate that it is not the graphics card at all. Another check could potentially save him a lot of money: Gamer fears that his Nvidia graphics card is dying and he needs to replace it – Shows why in some cases you can save a lot of money
