4 common GPU problems and how to fix them

The GPU is probably the most expensive part of your PC. As such, you need to take good care of it. After all, that's what determines how your game will run on PC. However, the GPU can have problems at some point. That's what electronic devices often have to deal with, because they have a finite lifespan. You'll need to learn how to troubleshoot problems in your GPU.

Here are the most common problems with your GPU and how you can fix them.

1. Overheating and Thermal Throttling

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An issue that will sooner or later affect all GPU owners and one of the most common GPU problems is overheating and its immediate consequence, which is Thermal Throttling.

GPU overheating occurs when a hardware component, such as your GPU, operates at temperatures significantly higher than its designed or safe operating range. It can happen to any hardware component, but GPUs and CPUs are especially susceptible. The problem is caused by improper ventilation - basically, if your GPU doesn't dissipate heat properly for one reason or another, it will overheat. When a GPU becomes overheated, it can lead to a variety of problems, including reduced performance, instability, and in extreme cases, permanent hardware damage.

To mitigate this, your GPU will implement a self-protection measure known as Thermal Throttling, which is when the GPU will drastically reduce performance and clock speed so it won't be permanently damaged by heat. Finally, if there is too much for the chip to handle on its own, it will shut down to protect itself. You certainly don't want things to get worse, so if your GPU is experiencing Thermal Throttling, then you should deal with it immediately.

To fix the causes of Thermal Throttling, you need to look at the ventilation going in and out of your GPU. Firstly, the fan may be damaged or you may need to remove it and replace the thermal paste. If you're not sure why your GPU is suffering from Thermal Throttling, you may want to take it to a technician to have it checked before permanent damage occurs.

2. Drop frames and reduce performance

One of the worst GPU problems is a drop in performance for no apparent reason. Imagine you just went to Steam and opened a game, then found it didn't run at normal speed. The game may have severe frame drops or not work according to specifications. In that case, you will need to find out why this is happening and take appropriate measures.

There's a big difference between a GPU that runs poorly and a GPU that isn't powerful enough to run something. You might be trying out a new game and find that it slows down when, in fact, it's just that particular game that's too "heavy" for your existing GPU. A good way to know if your GPU is performing according to spec is to run a benchmark like PassMark or AIDA64 Extreme. If you haven't run benchmarks on your PC before, you should Google it to see what your average GPU score is. If the score you received is less than necessary, you should probably take steps to fix the problem.

If it's not running well, the first thing to do is to check the GPU's operating temperature. If the GPU runs too hot, you should return to the section that explains how to handle Thermal Throttling. You can also monitor GPU usage instead of just monitoring temperature. GPU bottlenecks can occur if it is used too much.

You can also try updating your GPU driver. Finally, if none of that works, you can take the GPU out, put it back in, and reconnect the power cable to see if that helps.

3. Black screen

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This can be especially annoying. You fire up a game and see a black screen appear instead of the actual game. A black screen can even appear mid-game or even in other apps, ruining your experience and causing problems. Fortunately, the culprit here is not difficult to find.

For a change, this is probably unrelated to the heat issue. However, you will need to check a few things. First, you can check if your driver can be updated, because that means the driver is outdated or corrupted. Reinstalling them or installing the latest version can do wonders. You can also uninstall any recently installed hardware, checking the physical connection between your monitor and your computer. Also, check that your GPU is properly connected to the PCI Express slot and is receiving the proper power.

It may not even be GPU related, could also be a RAM issue so run your RAM test.

If you haven't found the culprit yet, try putting your PC in Safe Mode. This will eliminate all software related problems. If the problem persists, there may be physical damage to the GPU that you need to replace.

4. Graphics and artifact errors

This is still a problem that many people face relatively often. You keep playing your game and get annoying glitches or weird artifact errors being displayed.

First, check the game files to see if there are any corrupted files, this happens more often than you think. Your game or launcher (such as Steam) may have a file integrity verification tool, so if you do, use that. TipsMake has covered how to fix and verify files on almost every launcher - you should do so before uninstalling and reinstalling the game.

If the problem persists, you should check the steps and tips in parts two and three, as this could be one of the causes of this problem.

Marvin Fry

Update 18 August 2023