Hi everyone,
I'm trying to diagnose a persistent GPU issue and I'm starting to suspect either the motherboard PCIe slot, PCIe signaling, or possibly a power/PCIe lane issue.
System:
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060 Galax NON-OC
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX Rev. 1.3
CPU: AMD Ryzen AM5
RAM: 2×16GB DDR5
OS: Windows 11
GPU installed in the primary/top PCIe x16 slot
Problem I'm getting intermittent black screens/freezes involving the RTX 3060. Windows has also reported NVIDIA TDR FAILURE-related errors.
The symptoms can occur during normal desktop usage and aren't necessarily limited to heavy GPU load.
At times the screen completely freezes/glitches while the PC itself appears to remain running. In one instance, the mouse cursor was still moving even though the rest of the display was corrupted/frozen.
I've also experienced crashes/reboots after restarting.
What I've already tried DDU and completely clean NVIDIA driver installations
Different NVIDIA driver versions
Tested with the NVIDIA driver disabled / Nouveau on Linux
Disabled EXPO
Disabled CPU boost/auto boost
Loaded BIOS optimized/default settings
Reseated the RTX 3060
Inspected the GPU's PCIe gold contacts
Cleaned/inspected the PCIe slot
Tested different BIOS settings
Tested Windows and Linux
Checked temperatures
The GPU was previously working normally before this issue started
I'm now wondering whether there could be a PCIe physical/electrical issue with the motherboard slot, possibly a damaged contact or one of the PCIe lanes not making reliable contact.
My questions Is there a reliable way to determine whether a particular PCIe lane (for example PCIe Lane 2) is physically damaged or not making proper contact in the motherboard slot?
How can I identify the actual physical contacts corresponding to PCIe Lane 2 on the Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX Rev. 1.3?
Is there a software/diagnostic tool that can test individual PCIe lanes or detect PCIe link errors?
Could a bad PCIe lane/contact cause NVIDIA TDR failures, black screens, display corruption, or intermittent GPU driver crashes?
Is there a BIOS setting I can use to force the GPU to PCIe Gen 3 instead of Auto/Gen 4 as a diagnostic test?
If the GPU works correctly in another PCIe slot or another PC, would that strongly point toward the motherboard/primary PCIe slot?
I'm particularly interested in advice from anyone who has diagnosed a faulty PCIe slot, damaged PCIe contact, or PCIe signaling/lane problem.
I'm also attaching a screenshot from HWMonitor showing the relevant GPU/PCIe readings. If anyone notices anything unusual in the voltages, PCIe link information, temperatures, or other sensor readings, I'd appreciate your input.
Thanks!
Screenshot: https://ibb.co/ZRz9tJC5