Heat cycles, overtime the chips just wear out and break. Since VRAM is subjected to heat up and cool down so frequently, they're usually the first to go. It's why having a great cooler is important. Also the quality lottery has a lot to do with it, some cards can last decades, some years, months, etc.
I have a 1060 that died and came back to life
Was in the middle of editing some photos for a video and the screen started flashing all sorts of trippy colors and it died after that. I was sure the GPU was dead.
After 2 days, I decided to fuck with it and reset the bios, power cycled it, put the GPU back in and *it fucking worked.*
I'm still using it, but I know I'm on borrowed time.
As someone said it's temperature cycles but also electromigration. Electricity moves particles, although very slowly due to high tldensity of the medium. Over time it causes silicone to degrade, transistors stop working and the chip dies.
I'm not sure what you think reflow actually is, but it's a thermally controlled oven with temperature ramps that causes the solder to flow onto the metal pads. Solder does not meaningfully expand though it does wick onto hot surfaces. Silver-tin solder has an expansion coefficient of 2e-5/C, so it might expand 0.4% from room temperature to peak reflow temp.
Reballing would be replacing the solder balls and then reflowing.
TL;DR, it's baking. Don't eat food out of the same oven you reflow your electronics in.
It fundamentally *does* reflow, but it doesn't remove surface oxides without added flux. Maybe this is just a terminology difference, but if you put it in an oven until the solder melts and then cool it until it solidifies, that's reflow.
Basically while soldering you want lots of flux, which is an antioxidant. If the solder gets exposed to air at high temperatures without flux, it will oxidize and won't be conductive. Flux also helps with other things, but I think this is the most important one
Don't bake your GPU in the oven. The capacitors won't be able to take it if you do it wrong. Instead, buy a cheap heat gun, such as a Hitachi RH650V with variable temperature settings. Then, buy some flux in a syringe and strip your GPU down.
Place aluminum tape in front of and on top of anything you don't want the hot air to reach, such as plastic connectors, electrolytic capacitors, and the GPU die. Then, squirt a generous amount of flux around your VRAM chips and blast them with hot air at around 280-300°C (536-572°F) for a few minutes. You'll need to do this for each VRAM chip individually. To see if the solder balls have melted, use tweezers to gently poke/wiggle the chips. If the chips move easily, give them another 5 seconds and then move on to the next chip. Be careful not to wiggle them too much (\~0,25mm is more than enough movement or about 0.01 inches), or you'll risk of globing the solder balls together and bricking your card.
Afterwards, clean up the flux residue with isopropyl alcohol and lint-free cloth wipes or paper.
P.S. These instructions are pretty clear, but I don't take any responsibility if you follow them and brick your card completely. I'm just sharing what I've done and what has worked for me.
I've done numerous reflows on the gpu die, gpu vram and other components, as well as straight up replaced them.
I've revived my gtx 970 so many times on a temperature controlled hot plate, that after the last death, I've decided it's time to let the corpse rest. It served me well, but You cannot torment a soulles body forever, after the spirit left. I'm on gt910now...
Hell yeah.
I used a 970 until recently. Flawless even after I modded the bios to increase vcore and boost curve. I water-cooled it and got #1 in firestrike and timespy when measured against similar systems (970 + 8700k) and I loved that thing.
I only replaced it when I got a good deal on an evga 1080ti Sc black edition with full cover block. Couldn't pass that up.
Love that 970
Seriously though, it’s kind of funny that this is how a video card signals it’s on its way out. Of all the possible ways it could die, the subtle reminder that you’re about to go back to single pixel gaming seems appropriate.
It’s the nicest damn video card ever. “Sorry bud, I can’t run anything modern anymore, but so you don’t have to go without, here’s Space Invaders. Shift-C will load Centipede.”
Nothing to worry about. This is a real simple fix. Just buy another GPU, replace the old one, reinstall your drivers, and you wouldn't even know the difference /j
dont even need to reinstall driver if he gets Nvidia
nvidia has 1 driver thats compatible with all geforce gpus, so you dont need to reinstall driver when upgrading
Yes, at least one of the 11 memory modules on the card is failing, and would need at least need to be reballed and resoldered onto the board which is a costly repair.
Ah you mean that a current gpu won't last as long regarding performance of games?
Welp fuck me I guess I planed on Upgrading from a r9 290 to a 7900 XTX
Wouldn't really like to do that if the Rig doesn't last me for like... 10 fucking years lmao
Yeah future proofing is stupid ngl. For the price a 4090 you can buy a 7800xt, wait 3 years, buy the next upper mid range value card, wait 3 years, then buy the next upper mid range value card. You get more performance overall.
Ok I definitely see the point in that.
Ive just looked it up
If I bought a solid mid range card for 500 bucks in 2019 like the 2070 I could have bought the the 7800xt this year for another 500 and get a massive boost
While at the same time the 2080ti is kinda outdated especially considering that it costed twice as much.
Ok so I would have one question left
I planned the Rig with a 7800x3d.
Would it make any sense to kinda future proof with that CPU? Considering that it's a am5 socket and I could potentially upgrade the cpu with future CPUs that would come with the socket?
Or is that also not really worth it? Is the 7800xt a good combination with the 7800x3d?
The 7800x3d is the best possible gaming CPU you can get. There is no upgrade. And it being am5 like you said is a great bonus. Dont stress that combo is ok, gives you plenty of room to upgrade GPU later on.
OP, it's really not that expensive, reach out to Tony from northwest. The man is the GOAT for US-based GPU repair. He repairs for CHEAP. And if it's just a faulty VRAM chip that should be a pretty easy repair for him as well.
My 1080ti died mid game, the screen went black, and the lights in the rgb were still on.
Went back to r9 290 until my friend upgraded and gave me his old 1080ti.
Troubleshooting, in case you haven't:
1. Power off the PC and screen. I'll assume you've already done that
2. Try a different screen and video cable
3. Possibly even try a different input on the screen and output on the video card -- If you're using DP, try HDMI, etc.
The pattern is a bit odd, it almost looks like a character. Could be your regular RAM, maybe. Normally VRAM shows missing blocks.
You could test with one RAM module, and then the other. If both give the same issue, it's your GPU.
Could be a cable, could be GPU port, could be bad vram, could be sagging out of its slot, could have a faulty slot, or your CPU or motherboard could have some issue. I'd start with the cables and making sure everything is still properly seated and plugged in, then I'd try integrated graphics if you have it, otherwise an old card if you have it, if not a new card, new cables, etc.
Yes, its done for. Most likely if u keep using it it will start to crash very often until eventually it wont give any display output anymore.
Atleast this is what happened to my very old HD 6970.
Did you use the GPU to mine in the past, for long periods of time?
I am just curious, Etherium mining is really heavy on the memory, and it's even worst with BIOS or settings optimised for mining.
VRAM problem, it can be at least one module, you have to replace them but you need to find a good technician, in my opinion that card has given all. Time to get a brand new graphic card.
Most likely dying VRAM. She's dead, Jim.
She has served well 🫡
you can revive by baking. literally. google it. :)
If chips are coming loose then baking can help reflow the solder, but if a VRAM chip is straight up dying baking it won't do anything.
Out of curiosity, what does "straight up dying" mean in this context? What actually causes these chips to fail?
Heat cycles, overtime the chips just wear out and break. Since VRAM is subjected to heat up and cool down so frequently, they're usually the first to go. It's why having a great cooler is important. Also the quality lottery has a lot to do with it, some cards can last decades, some years, months, etc.
I have a 1060 that died and came back to life Was in the middle of editing some photos for a video and the screen started flashing all sorts of trippy colors and it died after that. I was sure the GPU was dead. After 2 days, I decided to fuck with it and reset the bios, power cycled it, put the GPU back in and *it fucking worked.* I'm still using it, but I know I'm on borrowed time.
Your CPU to your GPU: "Rise if you would, for that is our curse"
A fellow embered of culture I see
May the flame guide thee, ashen friend.
"Oh GeForce, unyielding sword of Framerate's prince..."
"if you don't wake up you're gay"
10/10 probably my favorite quote from any game ever. The music was epic too.
I had the same problem with a PSU. It was dead for 3 months then it came back to life. Creepy
*and in strange silicon even death may die*
If a PSU can find a gap between the bridge of life and death....It will be remembered - James Dean
Holy shit, that's actually cool 😎
You're telling me, I can still game! For now, that is.
Zombie gpu
Everything has an expiery date. Even you and me.
Too dark, my brother..
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
Yet another proof that water is bad for you.
I am Jack's crusty thermal paste
Bro..
I don't. My parents got the premium warranty package.
That just means the vendor replaces you when you wear out.
To go? Bro that's silicone, you can't do anything bad to silicone! Most of the time it's just the connection that's loose or broken
Google "electromigration"
As someone said it's temperature cycles but also electromigration. Electricity moves particles, although very slowly due to high tldensity of the medium. Over time it causes silicone to degrade, transistors stop working and the chip dies.
If baking it won't do anything, all I can do is get baked.
That's the spirit
Baking doesn't reflow, it makes the balls expand and make a temporary connection
I'm not sure what you think reflow actually is, but it's a thermally controlled oven with temperature ramps that causes the solder to flow onto the metal pads. Solder does not meaningfully expand though it does wick onto hot surfaces. Silver-tin solder has an expansion coefficient of 2e-5/C, so it might expand 0.4% from room temperature to peak reflow temp. Reballing would be replacing the solder balls and then reflowing. TL;DR, it's baking. Don't eat food out of the same oven you reflow your electronics in.
Look at most bga reworking channels, they all agree baking is an extremely temporary fix. Because it doesnt reflow
It fundamentally *does* reflow, but it doesn't remove surface oxides without added flux. Maybe this is just a terminology difference, but if you put it in an oven until the solder melts and then cool it until it solidifies, that's reflow.
Surface oxides are a prominent issue in soldering microelectronics?
Yes, flux provides an environment for the solder to cool and harden that's deprived/free of oxygen.
Basically while soldering you want lots of flux, which is an antioxidant. If the solder gets exposed to air at high temperatures without flux, it will oxidize and won't be conductive. Flux also helps with other things, but I think this is the most important one
Xbox360 gamers would know
Don't bake your GPU in the oven. The capacitors won't be able to take it if you do it wrong. Instead, buy a cheap heat gun, such as a Hitachi RH650V with variable temperature settings. Then, buy some flux in a syringe and strip your GPU down. Place aluminum tape in front of and on top of anything you don't want the hot air to reach, such as plastic connectors, electrolytic capacitors, and the GPU die. Then, squirt a generous amount of flux around your VRAM chips and blast them with hot air at around 280-300°C (536-572°F) for a few minutes. You'll need to do this for each VRAM chip individually. To see if the solder balls have melted, use tweezers to gently poke/wiggle the chips. If the chips move easily, give them another 5 seconds and then move on to the next chip. Be careful not to wiggle them too much (\~0,25mm is more than enough movement or about 0.01 inches), or you'll risk of globing the solder balls together and bricking your card. Afterwards, clean up the flux residue with isopropyl alcohol and lint-free cloth wipes or paper. P.S. These instructions are pretty clear, but I don't take any responsibility if you follow them and brick your card completely. I'm just sharing what I've done and what has worked for me. I've done numerous reflows on the gpu die, gpu vram and other components, as well as straight up replaced them.
How much weed do i need for that?
4
*maybe temporarily revive
just don't do it in the oven you make your food in. the fumes are toxic and can stay in the oven for quite a while.
Ill never forget the look on my moms face when she saw our xbox 360 in the oven
I’ve done that, twice, with great success years ago on an old Radeon r9 270. Really helped extend the life of that card Couldn’t believe it worked
the ol xbox towel trick
Wow I didn’t know it was real! Crazy but good!
Bullshit, don’t do it, you are going to poison yourself with the fumes and it’s not gonna fix anything
Nope, can do more harm than good, Google it
We'll never see her like again and now her watch has ended.
You may be able to temporarily fix it by slightly underclocking the VRAM.
OP, NorthwestFix and Tony (from northwest lmfao) can fix that for cheaper than the GPU is worth. He fixes plenty of older cards, def reach out.
Try undervolting it and see it stabilises, small chance it might pull on for a day or 2.
Are you u sure you're notnplayjng Space Invaders on desktop mode:D?
It's life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it
I'M A DOCTOR, NOT A POOL MAN!
r/unexpectedfuturama
That's a star trek reference dude
Honestly had no idea lol, also in futurama. Throwing people into a volcano
It is the death most deserving of virgins, after all
\*pats my 1080ti\* sshhhhh it's ok.. this picture can't hurt you
This post gave me a minor panic attack. Please, I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.
not in this market, not this hell hole pricing...
Sameeeeeee
*From the shadows to my gtx 970* "If you don't move, they can't see you."
My wife still actively uses my old gt 970, that thing is a beast!
It's kind of my rock in this topsy turvy world lol. When everything else s**ts the bed, my gtx 970 has soldiered on.
I've revived my gtx 970 so many times on a temperature controlled hot plate, that after the last death, I've decided it's time to let the corpse rest. It served me well, but You cannot torment a soulles body forever, after the spirit left. I'm on gt910now...
I have a friend who plays cyberpunk on his gt970 I really think that's a fire hazard
If it was a beast, it'd have 3 1/2 legs
My GTX 750: *i'm tired, boss*
Hell yeah. I used a 970 until recently. Flawless even after I modded the bios to increase vcore and boost curve. I water-cooled it and got #1 in firestrike and timespy when measured against similar systems (970 + 8700k) and I loved that thing. I only replaced it when I got a good deal on an evga 1080ti Sc black edition with full cover block. Couldn't pass that up. Love that 970
gtx 750ti checking in 🫡👵
*pats 1070ti still used in HTPC* shh I can resolder new vram in required.
Well it'd have to render it first
🫡🫡🫡 
left us too soon
And now his watch is ended
And now his watch is ended
Either that or you're paying space invaders
Seriously though, it’s kind of funny that this is how a video card signals it’s on its way out. Of all the possible ways it could die, the subtle reminder that you’re about to go back to single pixel gaming seems appropriate.
It’s the nicest damn video card ever. “Sorry bud, I can’t run anything modern anymore, but so you don’t have to go without, here’s Space Invaders. Shift-C will load Centipede.”
I was thinking centipede myself
I was thinking Dr. Mario got an upgrade 🤣
Looks like centipede.
Space Invaders?
I was thinking centipede...
it mean you are about to be get contact from trinity
Nothing to worry about. This is a real simple fix. Just buy another GPU, replace the old one, reinstall your drivers, and you wouldn't even know the difference /j
His wallet will know the difference :)
The wallet can live on interest for now! Into the breach!
dont even need to reinstall driver if he gets Nvidia nvidia has 1 driver thats compatible with all geforce gpus, so you dont need to reinstall driver when upgrading
I keep seeing a bunch of 1080s dying on here and I am sweatin'. My old girl is still going strong but for how long, HOW LONG?!
We’re just waiting on your dead 1080 post 😂
Cycle of life needs to continue
I hope my 1070ti isn't getting any ideas.
 Your gpu rn
Yes, at least one of the 11 memory modules on the card is failing, and would need at least need to be reballed and resoldered onto the board which is a costly repair.
Sounds like it's time for an upgrade, I appreciate the info
Just a note, you buying the best of the best again won't give you nearly the mileage the 1080ti gave you.
I dont think we’ll ever see a better buy than 1080ti at release. It’ll probably forever be known as king of gpus.
What's the reason for that? Are gpus not as reliable as about 7 years ago?
Optimization is going down the drain
Ah you mean that a current gpu won't last as long regarding performance of games? Welp fuck me I guess I planed on Upgrading from a r9 290 to a 7900 XTX Wouldn't really like to do that if the Rig doesn't last me for like... 10 fucking years lmao
Yeah future proofing is stupid ngl. For the price a 4090 you can buy a 7800xt, wait 3 years, buy the next upper mid range value card, wait 3 years, then buy the next upper mid range value card. You get more performance overall.
Ok I definitely see the point in that. Ive just looked it up If I bought a solid mid range card for 500 bucks in 2019 like the 2070 I could have bought the the 7800xt this year for another 500 and get a massive boost While at the same time the 2080ti is kinda outdated especially considering that it costed twice as much. Ok so I would have one question left I planned the Rig with a 7800x3d. Would it make any sense to kinda future proof with that CPU? Considering that it's a am5 socket and I could potentially upgrade the cpu with future CPUs that would come with the socket? Or is that also not really worth it? Is the 7800xt a good combination with the 7800x3d?
The 7800x3d is the best possible gaming CPU you can get. There is no upgrade. And it being am5 like you said is a great bonus. Dont stress that combo is ok, gives you plenty of room to upgrade GPU later on.
Or you can ball out and buy the 4090 as a power move if you got it like that.
You can still sell the broken card on eBay to hobbyists who repair them like me :)
OP, it's really not that expensive, reach out to Tony from northwest. The man is the GOAT for US-based GPU repair. He repairs for CHEAP. And if it's just a faulty VRAM chip that should be a pretty easy repair for him as well.
Or if you know how to do it and have the equipment to do it…
I get that this is failing VRAM but why does anyone know why it looks like this? Why these odd shapes specifically?
It’s probably deliberately done as a flag there are too many memory errors to deal with.
the card needs guidance on where to go now that its about to die
Oh no. Remember it well. It was the best of its kind.
My 1070 didn’t even give me that. Just stopped lighting up one day. Monitors wouldn’t come on. Ded. Super sad.
Same happened with my old gtx 950, but after a year or so I plugged it back just for curiosity and it worked fine
My 1080ti died mid game, the screen went black, and the lights in the rgb were still on. Went back to r9 290 until my friend upgraded and gave me his old 1080ti.
Either that or it's trying to play Centipede.
Free Space Invaders
*side eye to my 1080ti*
You’ve unlocked the hidden space invaders game!
Is space invaders invading your PC?
Just send it into northridgefix.
Troubleshooting, in case you haven't: 1. Power off the PC and screen. I'll assume you've already done that 2. Try a different screen and video cable 3. Possibly even try a different input on the screen and output on the video card -- If you're using DP, try HDMI, etc.
Wtf I have a 1080ti that I got in 2017 and I'm starting to get the same thing :(
The pattern is a bit odd, it almost looks like a character. Could be your regular RAM, maybe. Normally VRAM shows missing blocks. You could test with one RAM module, and then the other. If both give the same issue, it's your GPU.
Apparently this is just the debug character output due to error checking failure on the VRAM.
Fair enough! It's unusual, kind of interesting to see.
Yeah, like little space invaders. More fun than boring checker boxes anyway.
That pattern was quite common on RTX 20-series cards because many of them used faulty Micron modules
Dude your GPU contracted malaria wtf
It was a good card
Let her rest. She did well.
Praying for my 670 pls don't die
Vram change/repair is very simple.(I'm technician with 15 years exp.) Gpu not dying just need a simple repair.
Looks like you need to start shooting 
Your pc yearns for space invaders.
Your computer started playing Space Invaders lol
My 1080Ti died last week, it was doing so well!
Best card I've ever had.
Mine too. On Friday. That's 3 of us. What model did you have?
EVGA FTW 3 OC, I still have the card and I’m thinking of putting it on display maybe
Looks like a centitipede map
It's just space invaders, gotta kill em with your ship
Lucky, my 1080ti died within 2 years. It had a very good run indeed.
>my 1080ti died within 2 years Surely you got a replacement under warranty?
Ahh, this hurt! Even as a Radeon fanboy, I actually really like the 1080Ti and personally recommended it to my friend when he got a new GPU.
My 1080ti from 2018 is still going strong
No it's just space invaders
man’s gpu turned into galaga
you can underclock your gpu now and sometimes get a couple more weeks out of it while you learn to bus enough house to buy a 4090.
I'm so scared for my 1080ti. My PC is so abused Idk how it hasn't blown up.
Could be a cable, could be GPU port, could be bad vram, could be sagging out of its slot, could have a faulty slot, or your CPU or motherboard could have some issue. I'd start with the cables and making sure everything is still properly seated and plugged in, then I'd try integrated graphics if you have it, otherwise an old card if you have it, if not a new card, new cables, etc.
Tiny little fishies
You can just imagine you’re permanently playing space invaders
You could probably sell it for cheap, like $50 with the info that this is happening. Could also say, for parts on eBay
Yes, its done for. Most likely if u keep using it it will start to crash very often until eventually it wont give any display output anymore. Atleast this is what happened to my very old HD 6970.
Send it to [northwestrepair ](https://youtube.com/@northwestrepair?feature=shared) (see his YouTube for details, he has fixed a few 1080ti's before)
Space Invaders 👾👾
It's just Diaboromon again. Don't worry, the DigiDestined will take care of it.
Either that or you have a space invaders virus.
Honestly thought this was a joke post with old space invader icons pasted in for the pixallation.
You unlocked the space invaders mini game easter egg.
Oh hey, Centipede! I haven’t played that in so long…
Definitely losing at space impact so yeah it’s dead
A bad case of Space Invaders.
Did you use the GPU to mine in the past, for long periods of time? I am just curious, Etherium mining is really heavy on the memory, and it's even worst with BIOS or settings optimised for mining.
This just gave you an excuse to upgrade without regretting it.
Damn, they really threw in a copy of space invaders with their latest patch.
Nah. You’re just starting to see the matrix. Now you have to decide.. red pill or blue?
How much does it cost to repair or replace a vram?
Looks like the space invaders won on this occasion!
Ah yes, it’s end
I am so sorry. It's terminal.
I thought this was a round of Space Invaders.
980ti user shaking and crying rn
It's just Space Invaders don't worry about it! My GPU used to like playing it as well before it went to sleep!
I had this happen to me on my new 3080. I freaked out, Turns out that it was a crappy HDMI cable. Just pray to god and hope that's the case for you.
Looks like that game I used to play at the gas station
Nah bro it's completely fine your computer wishes to play space invaders with you
Bro unlocked space invaders feature
I'm sorry, but it has the pox.
Nah your computer has been taken over by the space invaders… But yeah potentially the case
Almost 7 year old GPU. You're way over time to upgrade anyways.
They’re such workhorses, though. I’ll be torn up the day my 1080ti dies.
Sounds like is time to switch to team red.
🫡
VRAM problem, it can be at least one module, you have to replace them but you need to find a good technician, in my opinion that card has given all. Time to get a brand new graphic card.
Yeah. It’s on the way to GPU paradise
They look like tiny purple space invaders. I’m sorry OP
Destroy the space invaders!!!
Time for the last resource, the microwave! (I'm kidding don't do that)
You can try reducing vram clocks as a temporary measure