Video cards "blowing" in computer??

[jcarson]

I have a system here at work that is "blowing" video cards. No smoke, no smell, and all electronics on them look fine.

Video cards work for a while, then poof. Nothing, after a reboot. I am on the 3rd card now in this machine.

Any ideas what could cause this?

PCIe card.

 

[f4phantom2500]

sounds like something's wrong with the pcie slot. or it could be the connector from the psu. i would replace the mobo and psu (unless you're getting a card without the need for an additional connector, but the psu could still be the issue).

 

[Modelworks]

Is the card powered with a cable from the power supply or does it draw all its power from the slot ?

If its powered from the power supply I would install a power monitoring program and log the results. Maybe your supply is spiking at times and the video card just happens to be the component catching the damage.

I would also look at the slot itself, blow it out and check the pins, make sure nothing in there is crossed or looks funny.

Otherwise I would probably replace the motherboard. Might be cheaper than replacing multiple video cards.

 

[yuppiejr]

Has this PC got a sister? Kidding.. sorry, the thread title gave me a strange visual of some guy trying to install a "non supported peripheral" in the back of his PC...

Is this an OEM built machine (Dell, HP, etc..)? I'd lean toward a bad mobo or PSU - do you have an identical PC that you can borrow either from? Tough issue to troubleshoot if the cards don't die immediately... Probably time to pull out the multimeter and do some tests of the PCIe slot.