Graphics card problem??

[Josephe]

Hello to everybody
I have a issue with my system and my knowledge is not good enough to be 100% sure to identify the source of this problem.
So my computer was running fine with no issues at all. Since I`m running on Windows 10 OS this was the first time that I wanted to use lightscribe template labeler. So I have installed the system software which went ok. But the template labeler is not supported by this OS anymore so I have downloaded a non install version.(just copy to program files folder).
So this worked fine and I have done my disc. I was very happy..
Next day I have powered up my pc and after the windows logo I only had a blank black screen with a thin blue frame. In safe mode I had an error message that windows could not load the start menu. I have tried to restore windows but it didn't work. So I have downloaded and created a bootable memory stick with windows media creation tool on my wifes laptop which is running the same OS. Installed a fresh copy on my pc and formatted all hard drives. But after the installation I still had the same issue and sometimes my pc just stuck in reboot cycle. I have reinstalled and formated everything again and I did noticed one thing. After the second installation the system was running fine for about 10min until I wanted to install the nvidia graphics driver. The screen resolution just shrinked on a small windows and seconds later just jumped back on how it was(like it was in safe mode). After this my sytem crashed again.
At this point I have started to think that there may be a hardware error somwhere. So I have first started disconnect the hard drives on by one to see if the problem still exist. This did not work so may last option wast the garhics card. Since I have removed it from my system everything is back to normal.
Now my question is how can a graphics card fail( if it is faulty??) so unexpectedly. Normaly there are some previous signs if the card will fail or it is on its last leg no? Because I did not had any issues until now.
My PC config: Intel I7 3770K CPU
MSI Z77 Mpower mobo
8GB CORSAIR Vengeance Pro
ASUS GTX 480
120GB Corsair SSD
500GB WD HDD
750W CORSAIR PSU
I know is a lot but I have tried to explain it in detail. Thanks for reading.

 

[pete.i]

I think that you are giving electronics too much credit for giving you warnings about imminent failure. Having worked with a huge number of electronic devices, including computers, over 40 years very rarely do they give you a warning that they are going to fail. An electrolytic capacitor can run for a long time swelling up and swelling up until, all of a sudden, pop or in really extreme cases BANG. I think that if you have removed the graphics card and everything is okay then it is a fairly safe bet that it is the graphics card that is causing the problem. Your problem now is to decide whether it is actually the graphics card or is the graphics card loading another part of the computer. Welcome to the world of electronic diagnostics. I'm afraid the only way to fault find it is too substitute known good devices unless you have access to thousands of pounds worth of diagnostic equiipment. The other thing to try is to download the actual driver for the graphics card from the Nvidia site. Windows does, sometimes, put a generic driver on which does work but may not be the best driver for your device.