can't play games or run certain programs 8800gt

[noxiousCaitSith]

i haven't been able to play games or run a few other programs for a while now on my pc, and i'm not sure if it's the graphics card or what. it started when i was playing world of warcrack and it just shut down. i haven't been able to play a game since that. i can open them, and it might get through the intro or where i need to login, but that's it. I also haven't been able to use the Zune program to put music on my zune...that's why I'm not sure what exactly is wrong here. For some reason I have been able to use Maya (3d modeling program), Zbrush, photoshop, and after effects...I'm not sure if that helps in diagnosing this.

I've already tried uninstalling the drivers, taking out the graphics card, and cleaning/reapplying thermal paste, but it still doesn't work. I put it back in and downloaded drivers from nvidia's website, and it's saying that the device is working properly, but obviously it isn't (it was saying that before i took it out too..).
Today I just did some registry fixes because of another problem i was having with automatic update not working, and that is now resolved. I figured I'd try reinstalling drivers again in case that was the problem, but I'm still having the same issues.
right after i uninstalled the drivers and restarted, the resolution was set pretty low, but after i reinstalled the drivers, the resolution went back to normal. (not sure exactly, but it was much higher than w/out driver) I don't know how graphics intense a higher resolution is...

I was wondering if it is possible that it's a power supply issue or how i would even check that.

off the top of my head, this is what i know i have:

GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Motherboard
Q6600 CPU

as for the power supply, i think it's 450W but i'd have to go home and look through all my papers. i've read that power supplies are pretty important and i know i didn't get a top of the line model, but it's worked fine for a few years.
Is there a recommended program for monitoring the temps or voltage that actually work?

 

[nenforcer]

Those cards tend to get very hot and after 3-4 years now the solder / TIM has fatigued / faded enough to start to cause problems.

I had to RMA my 3 year old EVGA 9800GT late last year due to the inability to run any sort of 3D program which would either cause a TDR or reboot.

Fortunately, there are a couple of things you can do. Take your card out and take off the heatsink / fan assembly and make sure no dust has gathered up after a couple of years of use. If you see that the thermal compound covering the GPU has spread out or deteriorated enough you can clean it all off and apply a thin new spread across the entire GPU.

Last, but not least, you can attempt to bake the video card in your oven at approx ~350F for only 10 minutes at most. Some people say upwards of 370F or 380F but I am very conservative.

There are quite a few videos on YouTube showing you how to do this. I finally did this on my RMA'd 9800GT because the exacty same symptoms started again. It actually fixed the card!

 

[noxiousCaitSith]

that sounds interesting. ok i'll look that up. got nothing to lose i guess.

 

[Fallengod]

Although you will often find people suggesting "baking" cards to fix them(and it does work sometimes), you should also remember, its not like video cards are made out of 100% green materials. Any smart person will tell you not to "bake" a card in the same oven you use for food. You are putting particles of all kinds of stuff into the oven when you do that as well as fumes which might leave residue. Lets see, save $100 fixing the video card and get cancer or buy a new video card and avoid health risks... Just sayin...

 

[noxiousCaitSith]

would you suggest manually soldering each contact? i really don't mind taking the time to do that as i'm currently unemployed and can't afford to buy a new graphics card

or i'll just go to a thrift store and buy some piece of trash toaster oven since my soldering iron is also trash XD

 

[noxiousCaitSith]

i put it in the toaster oven at a little over 350 for about 10 minutes and i am able to play games now. apparently it worked. woohoooo. wonder how long it will last

 

[nenforcer]

Good to hear this. Some people's baking only lasts a week before the problems creep up again and some people's cards are going strong for over a year and counting. It's really a little luck of the draw. This is why I like to leave a little leeway in the temperature. If I had to do it again I would bump it up to 360F or 370F and try it again.

 

[noxiousCaitSith]

I'd be ok with that mainly cause I haven't been playing many PC games lately. Just good to know that it's just the video card that was causing the problem. thanks for the help