GPU or Motherboard failure?

Hi there,
Over the last two or three weeks, my PC has been crashing quite frequently—usually leaving me staring at a black screen covered in white vertical lines.

Immediately after that happens, the system resets, and I’ll get hit with a blue screen before Windows even has a chance to load.

After those crashes, everything would seem fine for a day or two at a time, but the cycle just kept repeating until today—now it won't boot at all. It’s just a black screen, and I'm getting no signal on the monitor.

Everything inside the case seems to be functioning normally... the fans are spinning and everything looks okay.

Could it be an issue with the processor?

I have a nagging suspicion that my graphics card might be starting to fail.

mistyotter35 said:I have a nagging suspicion that my graphics card might be starting to fail.

A Blue Screen at startup isn't usually a GPU issue, but it could be anything—power supply, motherboard, or RAM.

Run "WhoCrashed" and see if it gives you any clues. Otherwise, unplug everything connected, including USB devices, and see if it still happens. Try testing with just one RAM stick. If that doesn't work, swap it to a different slot. If that fails, try the other stick.

If there's integrated graphics available, try using those instead of the dedicated card.

Whenever I power up my PC, the monitor stays completely blank—it’s like there’s no connection at all, even though it's getting power... I'm not even seeing the motherboard logo or anything.
So, after spending time uninstalling software and running checks, I've got absolutely nothing to show for it.

I've already gone through the trouble of checking the RAM sticks one by one.

mistyotter35 said:I have a nagging suspicion that my graphics card might be starting to fail.

If it’s the GPU, it probably already gave up the ghost.

So, how old is your rig—or even just the parts?

Everything was purchased about five or six years ago.

It would be helpful if we actually knew which components we're talking about...

Graphics card - MSI r9 280
Processor - Intel i5
Motherboard - AsRock Z97 Killer E 2200
RAM - 16GB
Power supply - 700W NVIDIA

That’s pretty much everything I know about it so far...

Also, there's a red light glowing on the motherboard—right next to the graphics card

Which i5 are we talking about? Just try using the integrated graphics first.

Pull the GPU out of the slot and test it directly on the motherboard. Grab a different power supply and give that a shot too... you could even use some junk 400W unit, but don't run that specific combo without the graphics card—just stick to the integrated graphics from the motherboard...

So, the GPU finally bit the dust—I ended up swapping in an old one I had stashed away in my summer house... now I'm officially on the hunt for a proper upgrade.

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

Any Recommendations? ...I know it’s probably not the best time to be shopping for GPUs right now.

Graphics Card - MSI r9 280
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz, 3501 Mhz, 4 Core(s)
Motherboard - Intel i5 Motherboard - ASUS Z97
RAM - 16GB
Power Supply - 700W NVIDIA

Budget up to $667.

jadehawk21 said:Any Recommendations? ...I know it’s probably not the best time to be shopping for GPUs right now.

Graphics Card - MSI r9 280
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz, 3501 Mhz, 4 Core(s)
Motherboard - Intel i5 Motherboard - ASUS Z97
RAM - 16GB
Power Supply - 700W NVIDIA

Budget up to $667.

There's nothing smart left to pick... about a year ago you could have grabbed an NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super for this much, but nowadays all you can find is a GTX 1650 for around $1400...$500...