Video Card dying?

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PuNK45S

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I've recently started having some problems playing games on my PC.

Some of them last for a few minutes and then start having graphic freak-outs before freezing (sometimes causing my entire computer to reboot)

Other times it's there from the very start of the game and freezes very quickly. I didn't have this problem a few weeks ago playing the exact same games.

Does this seem to fit any of the typical death-acts of a video card? Or does it seem like it could be something else?

I already ordered a new video card cause I wanted to upgrade anyway...but I want to make sure its the problem first, just in case I have to fix something else before it gets here.
 
[quote name='PuNK45S']I've recently started having some problems playing games on my PC.

Some of them last for a few minutes and then start having graphic freak-outs before freezing (sometimes causing my entire computer to reboot)

Other times it's there from the very start of the game and freezes very quickly. I didn't have this problem a few weeks ago playing the exact same games.

Does this seem to fit any of the typical death-acts of a video card? Or does it seem like it could be something else?

I already ordered a new video card cause I wanted to upgrade anyway...but I want to make sure its the problem first, just in case I have to fix something else before it gets here.[/quote]

A few questions

-What make/model is this card?

-How long ago did you buy it?

-Do you meet the Power requirements for it?

-Check your card's tempature to see if it's over heating... if it is you might need to pop that sucker out and use compressed air to get rid of any dust bunnies.
 
[quote name='Pajama_Man']Looks like you might have an inefficient power supply (to power everything in the case + video card)[/quote]Yep that sounds right. Unless you tried to overclock it might be running bad. Also of course check for new drivers.
 
As I said this just started happening a few weeks ago, so it's not an issue with the power supply as I've had this computer for almost 2 years now and everything has run perfect up until now.

It is an Nvidia GeForce 7900GT/GTO.

And the last time I checked the temp (about a week after it started) it was fine.
 
[quote name='Bazz'][quote name='Pajama_Man']Looks like you might have an inefficient power supply (to power everything in the case + video card)[/QUOTE]
Yep that sounds right. Unless you tried to overclock it might be running bad. Also of course check for new drivers.[/QUOTE]

That's incorrect; as the OP had mentioned, nothing was changed in his configuration, so all of a sudden you cannot have an insufficient power supply.

I would've said very likely the problem lies on the video card's heat issue; maybe the fan no longer function or too much dust build up as someone mentioned. But you did say you checked the temperature after the problems started occurring and you see no drastic change. So I'm going to say if you have a factory overclocked version of the 7900GT, the GPU itself might be fried due to shortened life span caused by OC'ing.
 
OP was was the temp read out on your card? I'd used RivaTuner to check this. Although I did not experience the same problems you did last year I did notice my card was running at around 77-80c IDLE and jacked up to around 9xc while playing games. The cause? Dust bunnies. You would never expect that those little things could cause a 20c difference in temperature. Even if that's not the problem, I still would take it out for a cleaning with compressed air as that might be your problem later on.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']OP was was the temp read out on your card? I'd used RivaTuner to check this. Although I did not experience the same problems you did last year I did notice my card was running at around 77-80c IDLE and jacked up to around 9xc while playing games. The cause? Dust bunnies. You would never expect that those little things could cause a 20c difference in temperature. Even if that's not the problem, I still would take it out for a cleaning with compressed air as that might be your problem later on.[/quote]


I just ran rivatuner while playing a game to watch the temp.
It was around 65-68idle and when I was playing it only went up to 75c before freezing and causing another reboot.

But this time I got a blue screen instead of the typical reboot I usually get.
It said something about the problem being caused by nv4_disp.

Not sure exactly what that means.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='PuNK45S']I just ran rivatuner while playing a game to watch the temp.
It was around 65-68idle and when I was playing it only went up to 75c before freezing and causing another reboot.

But this time I got a blue screen instead of the typical reboot I usually get.
It said something about the problem being caused by nv4_disp.

Not sure exactly what that means.[/quote]

I am not too sure about your card, but with my 6800gt, around 5xc is a good idle temp and 7xc is a good load temp(after cleaning it). You should take out the card and clean it anyways. Did you download the latest Nvidia drivers? They came out a few weeks ago.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']I am not too sure about your card, but with my 6800gt, around 5xc is a good idle temp and 7xc is a good load temp(after cleaning it). You should take out the card and clean it anyways. Did you download the latest Nvidia drivers? They came out a few weeks ago.[/quote]

I've downloaded the newer drivers twice now, and both times they have caused my computer to not recognize the drivers and they reverted back to the windows display driver.

After searching for the nv4_disp problem I found hundreds of results dating back to atleast 2005 of the same exact problem I have and no one has found a clear universal solution.

So I'm just going to hope that after installing the new card everything will work again.
 
[quote name='PuNK45S']But this time I got a blue screen instead of the typical reboot I usually get.
It said something about the problem being caused by nv4_disp.

Not sure exactly what that means.[/QUOTE]

This is a driver error. It happens all the time at work. Since you are running the lastest drivers, roll back to an older driver. If you are lucky enough to have a motherboard with two PCI-E slots then you can also try switching the card to the other slot.
 
[quote name='daphatty']This is a driver error. It happens all the time at work. Since you are running the lastest drivers, roll back to an older driver. If you are lucky enough to have a motherboard with two PCI-E slots then you can also try switching the card to the other slot.[/quote]


I have rolled back to an older driver (its a 2007 driver, so I know it has worked for me) and it is still not working.

I will try switching pci-e slots when I have the time to do so.
Thanks for the suggestion.
 
I cleaned and switched my video card around and it did indeed decrease the idle temp. by about 10c.

Its now at around 53-56c idle, but then when I open a game it jumps up to 75c and then proceeds to once again freeze.
 
[quote name='PuNK45S']I cleaned and switched my video card around and it did indeed decrease the idle temp. by about 10c.

Its now at around 53-56c idle, but then when I open a game it jumps up to 75c and then proceeds to once again freeze.[/quote]


Ok so there was defiantly starting to be a dust build up inside. Is it every game you run it freezes? Have you tried an older 2-d based game? Have you also tried decreasing the resolution you have it set by 1 or two levels?
 
OK try this, as a nearly last resort (because I'm seriously suspecting that your GPU is cooked). While gaming, gently and carefully press on different arees of the cooler/haetsink. Press inward toward the chip at various spots. If you see graphical corruption or a freezeup, the chip is smoked. You can try removing, cleaning, re-pasting, and remounting the cooler but in my experience your symptoms indicate failed GPU silicon.
 
[quote name='Richard Longfellow']OK try this, as a nearly last resort (because I'm seriously suspecting that your GPU is cooked). While gaming, gently and carefully press on different arees of the cooler/haetsink. Press inward toward the chip at various spots. If you see graphical corruption or a freezeup, the chip is smoked. You can try removing, cleaning, re-pasting, and remounting the cooler but in my experience your symptoms indicate failed GPU silicon.[/quote]


As I stated, I already ordered a new video card, so I'm not too worried if it is indeed dying. I just wanted to be sure that was the problem and now something else I have to fix.
 
[quote name='Richard Longfellow']OK try this, as a nearly last resort (because I'm seriously suspecting that your GPU is cooked). While gaming, gently and carefully press on different arees of the cooler/haetsink. Press inward toward the chip at various spots. If you see graphical corruption or a freezeup, the chip is smoked. You can try removing, cleaning, re-pasting, and remounting the cooler but in my experience your symptoms indicate failed GPU silicon.[/quote]

WHAT?

Are you nuts?

Please tell me your joking?
 
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