Subject: Running BOINC Project (SETI@home) for 48 Hours Killed My Galax GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU
Good day from Singapore,
I bought my Galax GeForce GTX1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU on 29th September 2019 Sunday.
REFERENCES:
At the time of this writing, it is 5th October 2019 Saturday.
Over the past 48 hours, I have been running BOINC project (SETI@home) on my Windows 10 Home Edition home desktop computer. This morning, my home desktop computer suddenly gave me a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with the error code: "Windows System Exception".
I thought my Windows 10 had become corrupted. ***Every time Windows 10 boots up, it would show me a BLANK SCREEN after a few seconds.***
I have tried the following resolution methods for about 2 hours on a Saturday morning but NOTHING worked.
1. I tried to perform Windows Startup Repair but it would not run.
2. I tried to start Windows in SAFE mode but it would show me a BLANK SCREEN as well.
3. I tried to start Windows in SAFE mode with Networking but it would show me a BLANK SCREEN as well.
4. I tried to start Windows with low video resolution but it would show me a BLANK SCREEN as well.
5. I tried to start Windows with Driver Signature Signing disabled but it would show me a BLANK SCREEN as well.
6. I tried to run "sfc /scannow" on a command prompt but it would not run.
7. I tried to uninstall Windows quality updates but it would still show me a BLANK SCREEN.
8. I tried to uninstall Windows feature update but it would still show me a BLANK SCREEN.
9. I tried to perform System Restore but Windows would still show me a BLANK SCREEN.
In short, none of the resolution methods which I have tried above worked.
Exasperated, I tried to reset Windows 10 while retaining personal data. After resetting Windows 10, I *successfully* booted into Windows with a Basic Microsoft Display Adapter Driver. Then I tried to install NVIDIA drivers. When NVIDIA drivers started to load, my Windows showed me a BLANK SCREEN AGAIN. At this point, I realized that my Galax GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU has been killed/fried by BOINC project (SETI@home).
On 5th October 2019 Saturday afternoon, I took my Galax GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU to the 4th story computer shop in Sim Lim Square in Singapore for a 7-day 1-to-1 exchange, citing that the Galax GPU has malfunctioned. The shop keeper gave me a MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Ventus XS OC 4 GB GDDR5 GPU as replacement but I have to top up SGD$10.
When I brought the replacement MSI GeForce GTX 1650 Ventus XS OC 4 GB GDDR5 GPU home, I plugged it into my home desktop computer and Windows 10 booted up *SUCCESSFULLY*. I proceeded to reinstall NVIDIA drivers again. Everything went well and everything is working fine now.
Conclusion: BOINC project (SETI@home) fried my Galax GeForce GTX1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU after 48 hours. Now I am actually afraid of running SETI@home again for fear of frying my replacement MSI GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB GDDR5 GPU again.
Question: Will BOINC project (SETI@home) be able to work towards ensuring that it will not fry anyone's GPU again? I had my whole Saturday wasted. It was only Saturday evening when I returned home and got everything working again.
Thank you very much.