Last week, My GTX 580 BSODed (stop D1, nvlddmkm.sys) while playing a game, so I restarted and continued without issues.
2 days later it happened again, restarted, another BSOD, and another one, Then BSODs at Windows login screen. I Logged in safe mode with no problems, uninstalled and cleaned drivers, restarted and logged in normal mode with default VGA driver, Updated NVidia drivers to 335.23 and restarted, still BSODs at login screen (changed to stop 116).
I pulled the card out, there was no visible damage on it, so I searched around and tried all the possible fixes, none worked, so I went on and disassembled the card, and found these slight burn marks around some VRAM blocks.

 
Now I want to know what caused it, as I'm getting a GTX 780 (yes EVGA ) and I wanna make sure that it lasts a lot longer than 3 years!
Some Info:
- I NEVER did any overclocking to the card (never needed to).
- I cleaned the case and components every other month.
- The PC tower is properly ventilated (lots of fans, no water cooling), room is air conditioned, components temps were always appropriate.
- I never stressed the card, rarely played games continuously for more than an hour, and card temps never went above 82C IIRC.
- I have a Corsair HX750 PSU, and as far as I can tell it's in excellent condition, and delivering steady voltages (software monitoring).
- For the past 4 months, I've been using the card on an ASUS P8P67 motherboard (the one with the faulty Intel chip), I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the issue, and I've been running other cards on it with no problems.
 
Any insights are deeply appreciated, thanks...
 

yeeowch!

For me 3 years is OK period.
I don't ask nothing more. Even if die 10 days after 3 years pass it's OK.
We use cards and motherboards every day, intensely. You probably finished lot of nice games on GTX580.
 

J_Slash
So this is perfectly normal, nothing's wrong on my end? I'm just concerned that this happened with light use, so I thought something must've gone wrong, I mean I still have 10 and 15 year old cards that are still functional.
 
My Gtx 580 has a 10 years warranty, but unfortunately RMA isn't an option for me, as I live in Egypt, and because of that I can't RMA the new card if something like this happens again (I've already ordered the 780, but it hasn't arrived yet), and because of currency rates here, these high end cards are EXTREMELY expensive, also why I refrain from overclocking cause I thought it would prolong the card's life...
 
I also forgot to mention that we have frequent power outage here, can it cause this kind of damage? only to the graphics card ?
 
Thanks...

You should get yourself a quality UPS then. Power surges can damage all sorts of electronics including GPU's. I'm not really seeing any indications of anything burned and it's not likely a memory chip would fry. That discoloration looks like out gassing from the thermal pad.

Please read the warranty terms here:
 
http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

Get a 780 or 780 TI from PNY limited lifetime.

J_Slash

HeavyHemi
I'm not really seeing any indications of anything burned and it's not likely a memory chip would fry. That discoloration looks like out gassing from the thermal pad.

The 'slight' burn marks are actually around the chips (the picture is just an indication, it's more clear in reality), it looks like the card might've short circuited, which might be the result of outgassing IF the thermal pads fluid is conductive, and I don't think EVGA would've used them if that was the case, there is no visible damage to the VRAM itself nor to the GPU, a real waste if you ask me .
 

Vlada011
But do you know how much cost quality UPS for 1KW PSU is very expensive.

The 'good stuff' is hard to find here, and it would cost maybe double its actual price if I had it shipped from elsewhere due to shipping weight costs and, again, currency rates.
My PSU and mobo supposedly have surge protection, shouldn't they be enough?
 

rjohnson11
Please read the warranty terms here:
 
 

 
Well, I bought my GTX 580 on Amazon, it has the 'AR' suffix, so, as I understand it, no RMA for this baby, please correct me if I'm wrong?!
 

If you registered the GPU within 30 days of purchase, the -AR indicates a limited lifetime warranty.

J_Slash

HeavyHemi
If you registered the GPU within 30 days of purchase, the -AR indicates a limited lifetime warranty.

I did register, and got a 10 year warranty, but to my understanding, it's only applicable in the United states, Canada and Europe.
 
So anyways, a friend told me that burn marks means higher current than anticipated, or since the burn is further away from power input, it means weaker resistances in that area, which weakens over time until it short circuits.
What do you guys think?

Contact EVGA and see if they can do anything for you regarding warranty.