8800GTS 640MB died...I think.

[EliteRetard]

Gigabyte GA965P-DS3
E6600 Stock Cooler
2GB DDR2 800
Corsair 520W PSU
Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
1600x1200 Resolution

The card in question just seemingly crapped out...worked perfectly fine until one day you start the machine and when it hits the second bios screen things get all weirded out and turned all kinds of funny colors. Shut it down, check cables and connectors made sure the card was clear of dust/debris and that the fan turned without issue. Everything checked out OK so I restarted and nothing...no card detected, no picture.

I took the card out for inspection and noticed it fit really loose in the slot, it just flops around...after futsing around for a while I tried another start up test and got the same first bios screen, and a few seconds after the second screen came up it crapped out again, and again no card detected/no picture after that. So maybe its a heat issue, took the card apart cleaned it and replaced the thermal material. Unfortunately the heatsink doesnt seem to contact all the other chips/RAM as well as it did before (the core is higher?), so I dont know if I still have heat issues...but the card still no worky. I dont know what I can do about the loose slot thing, I tried another 8800GTS in the computer and it works perfect, not loose in the slot either. I think I should repeat that, I have tested another card and they system works...so it is a video card problem.

So anything else I may try, or is this one just dead?

If the card is dead, whats the modern replacement for it or what might be a good match for the system posted above? I figure trying to throw an ub3r card in there is probably a waste since the rest of the system will be the bottleneck (Max 2.7GHz CPU) so going as cheap as possible would be the preferred method (and I actually havent had any issues with the performance of the card). I think I'd like to stick to Nvidia just for driver issues/simplicity, and if possible under 50$? Ive seen the 3850 going for 40$ brand new, that was the competition wasnt it? I dont really see any 8800 cards still around though, so I dont know what to get on their end. Something cooler running wouldnt be bad, absolutely cannot run any hotter though (custom case cant handle much more heat).

Im thinking /maybe/ tossing in an additional 2GB (Vista 32bit) and if I can find a good moderate sized (cant be taller than a video card, 4-4.5"?) CPU cooler for 20$ or so that uses the push pins (MOBO is NOT removable) that can get me a decent speed bump then I might want a slightly faster card...

Thanks for reading all that, and double thanks if you could understand it and help me out

 

[SickBeast]

First of all, the card should by no means be loose in the slot. If you get a new card, you may have the same issue as it me be related to your motherboard.

One thing you could try would be to put your card into another computer if you have access to one. Another thing you could do would be to leave your case open, and point a household fan at your video card.

You know, if your PCI-E bus is running out of spec due to a CPU overclock, that could probably cause issues like this as well. If you have overclocked your CPU, try resetting your BIOS to the default values and see what happens.

Is your card still under warranty?

They say that the best value on a card under $100 these days is the AMD 4770. If you go with NV you will get something that does not perform as well for that price, unfortunately.

 

[EliteRetard]

Like I said, I did try another card in there, and its not loose...so I dunno why this one card is. I just tried it in another PC and same issues, though it got further...to the windows screen before crappin out.

There should be plenty of airflow for the video card, Im thinking the heat issues may be stemming from the fact that the heatsink isnt properly contacting the chips.

The PC runs at stock speed most of the time, the cooler cant handle any decent overclock so its mostly pointless.

And nope, I dont think the card is under warranty, its been years since I bought this thing...even if it was under warranty I dont have any of the original packaging or receipts or anything.

 

[SickBeast]

If the heatsink is not making contact, then yes, that is more than likely the problem. I was under the impression that it was only not making contact with the memory chips; I thought you meant that the GPU was making contact.

It sounds to me as though you may have incorrectly reinstalled the HSF. You could always try getting an aftermarket cooler as well.

 

[SickBeast]

I know that my 8800GTS 320mb can run fanless in Windows 7 running Aero. I set my BIOS so that my fan only spins up if I'm playing a game and the GPU heats up a bit.

 

[cbn]

Originally posted by: EliteRetard
Gigabyte GA965P-DS3
E6600 Stock Cooler
2GB DDR2 800
Corsair 520W PSU
Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB
1600x1200 Resolution

The card in question just seemingly crapped out...worked perfectly fine until one day you start the machine and when it hits the second bios screen things get all weirded out and turned all kinds of funny colors. Shut it down, check cables and connectors made sure the card was clear of dust/debris and that the fan turned without issue. Everything checked out OK so I restarted and nothing...no card detected, no picture.

I took the card out for inspection and noticed it fit really loose in the slot, it just flops around...after futsing around for a while I tried another start up test and got the same first bios screen, and a few seconds after the second screen came up it crapped out again, and again no card detected/no picture after that. So maybe its a heat issue, took the card apart cleaned it and replaced the thermal material. Unfortunately the heatsink doesnt seem to contact all the other chips/RAM as well as it did before (the core is higher?), so I dont know if I still have heat issues...but the card still no worky. I dont know what I can do about the loose slot thing, I tried another 8800GTS in the computer and it works perfect, not loose in the slot either. I think I should repeat that, I have tested another card and they system works...so it is a video card problem.

So anything else I may try, or is this one just dead?

If the card is dead, whats the modern replacement for it or what might be a good match for the system posted above? I figure trying to throw an ub3r card in there is probably a waste since the rest of the system will be the bottleneck (Max 2.7GHz CPU) so going as cheap as possible would be the preferred method (and I actually havent had any issues with the performance of the card). I think I'd like to stick to Nvidia just for driver issues/simplicity, and if possible under 50$? Ive seen the 3850 going for 40$ brand new, that was the competition wasnt it? I dont really see any 8800 cards still around though, so I dont know what to get on their end. Something cooler running wouldnt be bad, absolutely cannot run any hotter though (custom case cant handle much more heat).

Im thinking /maybe/ tossing in an additional 2GB (Vista 32bit) and if I can find a good moderate sized (cant be taller than a video card, 4-4.5"?) CPU cooler for 20$ or so that uses the push pins (MOBO is NOT removable) that can get me a decent speed bump then I might want a slightly faster card...

Thanks for reading all that, and double thanks if you could understand it and help me out

What resolution are you running?

Your CPU isn't necessarily a bottleneck if you are using or plan to use higher resolution/higher detail settings.

Proof is that it seems almost any quasi recent dual core CPU can run even the latest games at good frame rates provided the resolution is turned down to 800x600. Thus it makes sense to me that detail settings and resolution is the main thing to consider as far as GPU selection goes.

 

[MegaWorks]

RMA no? If your card as a lifetime warranty and you would be able to get a free upgrade.