Fixing my GPU

Recently I noticed my desktop was struggling to run games that it should have no trouble with. My partner was getting severe frame drops playing Overcooked 2; Tactical Breach Wizards was running like a slideshow for me. What gives?

I checked Task Manager to see if there was a secret background process hogging all my GPU compute, to mine crypto or something. Nothing materialized. I did notice my GPU was at 96 degrees Celsius. That is too many degrees Celsius, especially for running Tactical Breach Wizards, at 1080p, on its lowest graphics setting. It explained the poor performance; the GPU was throttling to avoid generating more heat. My discovery also raised the question: “why the hell is my GPU getting so hot?”

A friend suggested I run the computer with the case opened up, to see if the fans were running. Reluctantly, I did just that. Due to my desk setup and my computer’s internal layout, I sort of had to lie on the floor and look up into the case with a flashlight. It was pretty annoying. I could see that the fans did not spin, even as GPU temperature spiked. I Googled around, and was forced to admit what everyone else on the planet has been saying for a year and a half: Google might suck now? I found it very hard to find useful information about GPU fans and their defects.

I considered giving up. My GPU is not new or powerful (it’s an NVIDIA 1050 Ti), and getting a replacement unit wouldn’t be that expensive. Honestly the only things that stopped me were e-waste guilt and worrying that the issue was with the motherboard (so a new GPU would have the same problem).

One online resource did suggest touching the center of the fan to see if it was hot. In that case the motor could be going, and generating waste heat instead of spinning the fan. With a metaphorical shrug I went ahead and tapped the fan’s center. It felt like normal, cool plastic. But it almost felt like… it was moving? I got back down on the floor and shined the flashlight at the GPU. Sure enough, it was spinning.

It’s been a couple days and my GPU is back to normal. I’m having no trouble running the demo for Metaphor: ReFantazio, let alone Tactical Breach Wizards. Maybe tapping the fan moved something that had been unseated back into place? I couldn’t say for sure, but at least it works now.

Moral of the story: try a little percussive maintenance before you give up on your hardware.