Why My GeForce RTX 3070 GPU Fans are Not Spinning?

If you are not running any graphic intensive tasks or games, then ideally your RTX 3070 GPU fans will not spin.

This is because latest graphics cards, such as RTX 3070, are equipped with passive cooling technology. These card fans won’t spin until they reach a specific temperature.

But, if feel that your RTX 3070 card fans are not spinning when they should, the first thing to do is to restart the GPU. Here’s how to do that:

  • Press Ctrl + Shift + B + Windows Key simultaneously on your computer.

As soon as you press these keys, your screen will go blank for a second and then restores.

You can also manually test or adjust the fan control using MSI Afterburner software.

If even manually adjusting the fan speed, the fans of your RTX are not spinning, there may be some issue either with your card hardware or software bug.

So, update the GPU drivers, restart your PC and check the PCI-e cable.

Update GPU Driver

It is very important to have the correct and latest RTX 3070 drivers installed on your PC.

If you have an outdated driver version or they are incompatible with your current operating systems, such as Windows 10 or Windows 11, then your GPU will run into many issues.

To update graphics card drivers in Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Open Device Manager. You can open it by typing devmgmt.msc command in Windows Run.
  2. Expand the Display adapters section.
  3. Right-click on your display driver and choose Update Driver.
  1. Select Search automatically for the driver option.
  2. Restart your PC after the drivers are updated.

You can also download the latest drivers from Nvidia driver page.

Select GeForce RTX 30 Series in Product Series and your GPU model in Product Field.

For the Download Type option, select Game Ready Driver (GRD).

Click on the Search button and then download the latest available drivers for your GeForce graphics card.

Restart your PC

If your graphics card spinning issue is caused by a memory leak or some random bugs, then restarting your PC is one of the best fixes.

Like most other computer problems, this RTX 3070 spinning issue is also reported to be fixed in many cases by simply restarting the PC.

Before restarting your PC, make sure you have saved data of all the running applications such as Microsoft Word or Notepad, etc.

When the PC first boots, the GPU fans spin up for couple of seconds. So, if you notice that, it means your GPU is perfectly fine. There is nothing to worry about.

Check PCIe Power Cable

If your PC is new, and you have just turned it on for the first time, then chances are that you forgot to plug the PCIe power cable from your system power supply to RTX 3070 graphics card.

Since RTX 3070 card requires a separate power PCIe power cable to spin its fan, and if this connection is not made, the fan won’t spin. Ensure that the PCIe power cable is connected to the GPU.


About the Author

Muhammad Qasim

Muhammad Qasim

Muhammad Qasim is an Electrical Engineer, Solopreneur, and Web Developer who loves troubleshooting gadgets and making cool things for the internet.

You can find him on Twitter.

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