Dying video card?

[random betrayal]

Not sure if this should be here or in the video card section but...
I have a Radeon 4850 that just started to crash recently. The error bubble that pops up indicates that the display driver stopped working but that it recovered. I close out of the web browser and everything works again. This is usually happening when I watch twitch, I have never had it crash during a game at least yet...

I updated the driver and to the most recent catalyst version last week once the problems started.

The driver crashing has only gotten worse since the driver update, every other time it crashes it now crashes the computer and forces a restart.

Is this a symptom of a video card that is dying? Any other thoughts?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[cubby1223]

At a minimum, check the video card for any bulging capacitors.

 

[nightspydk]

Check your temps with speedfan.
Also just to be on the sure side, have as little software running background as possible when you test the card. It is possible like that to determine if the card is at fault by running a burn-in test with eg furmark, but it is not entirely without risk. The card will be pushed to the limit depending on settings.
I had that problem with software also tho so yes drivers etc. Old drivers?
Like cubby indicates it is not nessasarily just the drivers the card could be fubared or similar.

edit
I once returned a 470 Nvidia for that excact problem you are describing, but in the back mirror the card was fine, so no it does not need to be going dead. Just a hindsight remark.

 

[meeshu]

Driver conflict?

Thoroughly uninstall current video drivers.

Many uninstallations do not remove all files, and they still leave behind traces of previous files and registry entries. It is these remaining files and registry entries that may cause conflict with newer driver installations.

To be sure of thorough video driver removal, follow the procedure here.

After that (re)install the drivers.

 

[mfenn]

If its happening while watching Internet video and not while gaming, my mind goes to two possibilities:

- Driver bug with the video decode block. Try disabling hardware acceleration in Flash.
- The video decode block actually going bad. This is certainly possible, but it seems like an oddly specific problem.

 

[sandorski]

It could be Flash itself. Make sure to update it.

 

[random betrayal]

If its happening while watching Internet video and not while gaming, my mind goes to two possibilities:

- Driver bug with the video decode block. Try disabling hardware acceleration in Flash.
- The video decode block actually going bad. This is certainly possible, but it seems like an oddly specific problem.

I am not seeing where I disable this. I have turned off hardware acceleration in the catalyst software. I will try to un-install and reinstall the drivers.

I uninstalled the entire catlayst software and deleted all the folders as outlined in Meeshu's link.
Though it would not allow me to delete the registry keys.

Device manager shows that the current driver is up to date from amd dated 7/30/12( I assume this is windows doing) so we will see if this fixes the issue. It may be that I have found an excuse to upgrade.

I have been looking at a 7850 for the release of Heart of the swarm

 

[sm625]

I have a HD4850 sitting on my desk right now that I wont trust because it crashes intermittently while playing youtube. But it doesnt crash while gaming... (Where is that tinfoil hat smiley???) Yes this may very well be yet one more piece of the Bloat Conspiracy. You might want to try getting your hands on either an older driver, or even an older version of flash. I havent been brave enough to try to debug this problem. I'm still in the "its complete bull@#+" phase.

 

[random betrayal]

Well, it is still crashing so it is looking more and more like a new card is the answer...

 

[mfenn]

I am not seeing where I disable this. I have turned off hardware acceleration in the catalyst software. I will try to un-install and reinstall the drivers.

It is a setting in Flash itself, so it is easy to miss. Right click on a Flash video, choose Settings. Then on the leftmost tab, uncheck the "Enable Hardware Acceleration". You might need to restart your browser for the change to fully take effect.