My pc just gets worse and worse

[Regs]

I installed my 8800GTS last week.

For some reason ever since trying to install Total war Kingdoms it's like my computer got smacked by a moving truck.

I noticed lock ups and cold reboots. My first thought was overheating.

I was correct. My chipset was burning at around 72-74c+ when loaded. This was because my 88000GTS was sitting right on top of my chipset HSF.

So I decided a quick fix was to move my PCI slots around to make room for the 8800 on the bottom PCI-E 16x slot. This left some breathing room for the chipset HSF. So instead of 74c for the chipset, it's now hovering around 62-64c. Which is still kind of hot but runs windows perfectly stable and this has likely been the temp since I built my computer 6-8 months ago.

Now more problems come. Now that I have the chipset stable, my 3D games now have artifacts. Horizontal lines across the screen. The lines are always horizontal.


I look at my video card temp logs and the hottest it got was around 75c in bioshock. I know 8800's usually run hot and I thought this was with-in its threshold.

Anybody want to point me in a direction to fix this? Should I RMA the video card now?
Because I don't know how a chipset could only have an effect on 3D games.

Could it be some kind of video corruption in the drivers?

 

[Creig]

I doubt video driver problems would cause horizontal bands on the screen. You could always uninstall your drivers, run drivercleaner and then install the latest driver if you want to eliminate that as a possible suspect. You could also try removing your card, blowing out the PCI-E slot and reinserting the card again. It's possible that it's not making good contact. Otherwise, it sounds like a video card issue.

 

[manimal]

When in doubt do a complete format and install one driver at a time and test for stability. We don't have to tell you check your psu. Are you using the newest beta drivers that were released for bioshock? Someone in the another post mentioned that the beta drivers were causing crashes in total war kingdoms so it could definitely be a driver issue.

Run the pc with the case open for a night and see if you get crashes as well.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: manimal
When in doubt do a complete format and install one driver at a time and test for stability. We don't have to tell you check your psu. Are you using the newest beta drivers that were released for bioshock? Someone in the another post mentioned that the beta drivers were causing crashes in total war kingdoms so it could definitely be a driver issue.

Run the pc with the case open for a night and see if you get crashes as well.

Yeah, I think i was the one who posted that.

I don't have any crashes now that I moved the GTS away from the chipset HSF. I'm starting to think my other 16x PCI-Express port is causing the problem because that's when I started getting artifacts. And of course everytime I move the graphics card I have to reinstall the drivers. So im thinking somewhere around the transfer part I screwed something up or even my chipset is causing video problems.

Luckily I still have my 7800GT to test it out.


I did a system restore last night and now I don't get any artifacts but now 3D games run super slow.

I'm thinking I was do for a complete reformat anyway since I never did it after installing a new mobo.

 

[Regs]

Ok, command and conquer tiberium wars which had artifacts before now doesn't but is slow after using driver cleaner and re-install of Nvidia drivers.


I tried Doom 3 just craps and giggles. The game ran perfectly normal.


This is odd because I don't think I ever had a driver conflict like this before.


I will likely have to reformat. All ready tried but for some damn reason can't get my PC too boot from CD. Likely because when it says "press any key to boot from CD" my USB keyboard does not work.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Is your PSU up to the task, for one thing?

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante
Is your PSU up to the task, for one thing?

500 watt seasonic dual 12v rails. 17amp +16 amp. 396 watt total. I played Bioshock for a good week with it perfectly stable. It was only until my chipset started overheating.

 

[Regs]

Artifacting a lot in Medieval 2 and command and conquer Tiberium Wars. Time to RMA.


I'm thinkin it was the card all along.