My GPU is dying :-/

[TVC15]

Twice in the past day, while playing a game, the screen has instantly cut to black.  Rebooting alleviates the problem, but this doesn't feel so good.  All the cables are plugged in tight and all that, and my monitor is fine.

This vacation has cost me so much money.  Scratched glasses, dead ipod, dead GPU. . .

So, uh, what's the GPU scene looking like now?  I have an Radeon 1950 I can toss in as a backup, if it comes to that, but is there anything on the immediate horizon (1-3 months) worth holding out for?

[Eric P]

man that sounds horrid  :\

[Van Cruncheon]

my brand new maxtor portable drive just died :'(

that plus my missing $450 Windows Mobile phone

your vacation is costing me money, too!

[TVC15]

Hopefully Warcraft 3 won't kill my GPU

[Van Cruncheon]

the fact that there's no artifacting actually points to either bad drivers or a failing psu, btw

[TVC15]

Actually. . .I did install some beta drivers a few days back.

Oh wow, they released new beta drivers already.  Maybe there was just a nasty bug.

[TVC15]

It just did it again

[Van Cruncheon]

did you uninstall the beta drivers?

[demi]

Just play the Xbox version

[TVC15]

did you uninstall the beta drivers?

You just install the nvidia beta drivers over the old ones.  I believe it uninstalls the old during installation.

[Van Cruncheon]

i don't know if that works for rolling back versions?

[TVC15]

i don't know if that works for rolling back versions?

I didn't roll back.  They released new beta drivers again.

[crimsondynamics]

Wait - you're on vacation? And you took your PC along with you?

Is the computer exposed to higher-than-normal temperatures (even 1-2 degrees warmer than usual)?

A buddy's computer would always, without fail, conk out on him whenever we started gaming. Every hour or so, he'd just disappear from the game, only to show up 10 minutes later. GPU overheating. He never did anything to resolve the issue, but his computer otherwise would operate normally when he wasn't playing games.

There is also a known issue with ATI's fan controller and ATITool. You can google it up. It might be unrelated, but since I have no idea what software or hardware you use... Hell, I'm not even sure you are using an ATI card or not.

But if you are sure that you need a new GPU, wait. ATI is about to release their 4 series in May, so they will go on sale in June. You should be able to pick up either one of those, or a 38x0 series on the cheap. Your 1950 will definitely get you by in the meantime.

[TVC15]

I took a week off.  I'm just chilling at my place, though.  I'm not an ATI guy.  Only reason I have a Radeon on the side is that it came with my machine.

[Enl]

I had a similar problem happen to me a couple of months ago. It turned out that my old ATI Radeon card's fan started getting screwy and the card kept conking out after about 10 minutes. Once I replaced the card the problem was fixed. Luckily there was a big sale on AGP cards at Best Buy and I got Radeon HD 2600 XT for only $60.

[crimsondynamics]

I took a week off.  I'm just chilling at my place, though.  I'm not an ATI guy.  Only reason I have a Radeon on the side is that it came with my machine.

Have you run any temperature readout tests on your computer? Depending on your mainboard you may have this option. Your GPU may simply be running too hot.

How long does it take before your computer crashes? Is the timing interval consistent, or does it only happen in certain situations (e.g. while gaming)?

Have you tried, saying, turning your A / C on and leaving the side panel open?

There is another possibility, and that can be your PSU. PSUs lose efficiency through high temperatures (the rating stated for your PSU is generally applicable only when your PSU is operating at 25 degrees C, which needless to say is much lower than its real operating temperature).

PSUs also age with time, so your once "more-than-enough-power" PSU may no longer cut the mustard. Try this out for size:

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/powercalc.jsp

One final recommendation: DXDiag. It's your friend. It's my friend. It's a gamer's friend. It's a troubleshooter's friend. Very helpful at times! 

[Smooth Groove]

Did you register your videocard within 30 days?  Many Nvidia vendors, such as EVGA and BFG, offer at least 3 yrs of warrany if you've registered your card. 

Even if you didn't, you might be able to get it replaced since the 8800 GTS obviously hasn't been around for more than 3 yrs. 

If you need a quick fix, I would suggest the 8800 GTS 512:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337&Tpk=evga%2bgts%2b512

It's not too expensive and it performs quite a bit better than your old GPU.  The 8800 GT is even cheaper but it's probably inadequete for 1920x1200. 

[TVC15]

Did you register your videocard within 30 days?  Many Nvidia vendors, such as EVGA and BFG, offer at least 3 yrs of warrany if you've registered your card. 

Even if you didn't, you might be able to get it replaced since the 8800 GTS obviously hasn't been around for more than 3 yrs. 

If you need a quick fix, I would suggest the 8800 GTS 512:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130337&Tpk=evga%2bgts%2b512

It's not too expensive and it performs quite a bit better than your old GPU.  The 8800 GT is even cheaper but it's probably inadequete for 1920x1200. 

I probably registered it, but really, I'm due for a replacement anyway.  My temperature is fine, too.

[Smooth Groove]

Get a replacement and pawn it on Ebay.  Then you'd only spend a bit more for a pretty good upgrade.

You should see at least 20% improvement in framerates with the 8800 GTS 512.  The newer GTS also is much better at decoding HD video which should come in handy for a HD nut like yourself. 

[Phoenix Dark]

Twice in the past day, while playing a game, the screen has instantly cut to black.  Rebooting alleviates the problem, but this doesn't feel so good.  All the cables are plugged in tight and all that, and my monitor is fine.

This vacation has cost me so much money.  Scratched glasses, dead ipod, dead GPU. . .

So, uh, what's the GPU scene looking like now?  I have an Radeon 1950 I can toss in as a backup, if it comes to that, but is there anything on the immediate horizon (1-3 months) worth holding out for?

That sounds a lot like the problem I had awhile ago, although I couldn't reboot.

[Van Cruncheon]

my brand new maxtor portable drive just died :'(

that plus my missing $450 Windows Mobile phone

your vacation is costing me money, too!

Didn't you also recently have an ipod touch stolen?  I'm so sorry :'(

yeah, out $500 there. i am never carrying anything electronic on my person again.

[Phoenix Dark]

except the psp - it's not like anyone would steal a portable handheld with no games

[Smooth Groove]

Saw this great deal on Nvnews.

$195 for a 8800 GTS 512 and a copy of The Witcher

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

[TVC15]

The latest nVidia signed drivers are from like December.  I probably wouldn't even be able to run Crysis without beta drivers.

Yup, Dec 20, 2007.

[Smooth Groove]

So is your GPU fucked or not? 

If it's working, it might be a wise idea to wait for an upgrade since the Geforce 10 should be a pretty big leap.

But if you can't wait, $200 for the new GTS isn't a bad idea since it'd noticeably run most games faster than your 640mb GTS.  It works well with most games at 1920x1200 as long as you don't go crazy with the AA & AF. 

[TVC15]

So is your GPU fucked or not? 

If it's working, it might be a wise idea to wait for an upgrade since the Geforce 10 should be a pretty big leap.

But if you can't wait, $200 for the new GTS isn't a bad idea since it'd noticeably run most games faster than your 640mb GTS.  It works well with most games at 1920x1200 as long as you don't go crazy with the AA & AF. 

It hasn't crashed since earlier today, and I have played some W3 and WoW.  When are the GeForce 10s supposed to be out?  I can survive on WoW and W3 alone.

[Smooth Groove]

What's W3?  

Unless ATI releases something crazy in the next few months,  Geforce 10 probably won't come out until October or November.  

Nvidia has only released the 9800GTX for about a month so they likely don't want to piss off customers that just bought Geforce 9s.  

Also, it'll make things easier for their vendos that offer 3 months step-up programs.  

[TVC15]

Warcraft 3.  I've heard nVidia's 9xxx cards are more of a temporary fix/holding pattern, so I don't particularly want to jump in.

ATI/AMD is incapable of releasing anything worthwhile.  They just fired 10% of their workforce.  That ship's sunk.

[Smooth Groove]

The newer Geforce 8s and 9s have faster shaders and core speeds than the original Geforce 8s but they're also limited by lower bandwidth and less ram.   

Their main benefits over the older cards are lower power consumption and the advanced video decoding which I mentioned. 

I want to check out if HD videos really look better on the G92s but I don't want to sacrifice the high res performance of my 8800GTXes. 

[Smooth Groove]

I don't even know why they call the new series Geforce 9.  The 9800 GTX basically has the same core as the 8800 GTS 512.

The 8800GTS 512 is a good deal though at $200.  TVC wipes his ass with $200. 

Not only does he have 120 Steam games, he also has a Mac which can support 2 quad-cores. 

[Phoenix Dark]

What's W3? 

smh

[cloudwalking]

nothing to see here