I bought a computer for a person in which, when delivered, the video card (Gigabyte Nvidia GTX 570) never gave output. The only way the display got basic VESA output was when I moved the card into in the PCIe 8x slot (was on PCIe 16x) but of course blue screen on drivers install.
The warranty was void since they detected burned capacitors and excess of solder.
I've noticed in the pics from warranty that some components were burned and others where some solder was melted. You can see the pics here: https://i.sstatic.net/ZKDaJ.jpg
How can this damage occur? My guesses are:
- Overvoltage: I think I would have noticed any behavior/sound of it; also, the PSU should block this.
- Wrong overclock configuration that led to heating the GPU.
- Video card was defective on arrival in some way.