Video card problem...

[Teslacoiled]

Hi everyone,

I'll try to give as many details as I can, so please bear with me.

First, this is my system:

WinXP Pro
Epox 9npa+ Ultra (NForce4) (Latest drivers)
Athlon 64 3200+ Venice (with a Zalman CNPS7700 AlCu cooler)
RAM: Samsung 1GB DDR400, 1 stick
Video Card: Inno3d nvidia 6600GT (Latest drivers)
PSU: Fortron Blue Storm 400W
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (Latest drivers)
HDD Seagate 250GB 7200.10
DVD-RW BenQ 1650DW

Is there any way, besides swapping video cards in my system, to know if the problem I am having is because of a video card or north bridge failure? Like some sort of program or something? I won't be able to try another card in my system until monday, and this probllem is killing me!

I started having problems when I was playing 3D games (any 3D game) and the computer would crash. I uninstalled my video card and MB drivers and reinstalled them, to no avail. I tried running "Rthdribl" (Real-Time High-Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting), the 3D test program, and the thing crashes within a second or 2 after it launches, while the temperature of the video card chipset is still 56-57 degrees C. (134 F), so this rules out the temperature I guess.

When it crashes, the monitor shuts off and then turns back on after a while. Windows seems not to respond if I look at the monitor, and the mouse's cursor doesn't move, but in fact it is responding, just the display does not "refresh". I restart windows by pressing {Windows Key} --> {U} --> {R}... Sometimes it does not respond at all though, then I have to press the Reset button. When I get to POST, there are vertical thin lines on the screen, which go away if I go to BIOS, but come back again if I restart the PC or if I go to Windows. The lines are across the whole screen and look like this:

|||| |||| |||| ||||
..... ..... ..... .....
|||| |||| |||| ||||

Something like that, with spaces between them...

If the PC hangs and I press the reset button, windows starts loading (4 or 16 color mode) and then for a millisecond I see a BSOD (of course I can't say what it's about, since it's that fast ) and the PC resets itself over and over again, until I go into safe mode then restart. WinXP then loads normally, with no vertical lines or anything...

I thought at first that maybe it's the PSU, the memory or the CPU, but I ran memtest and prime95 torture test for the CPU, which needs more power than the video card when running at 100%. All the tests come fine, except the video test. I have a second HDD with a fresh install of WinXP which I don't use except for testing purposes, and I tried testing there, with the same results. So I guess it's not a software issue.

I tried to UNDERclock my video card thru nvidia's control panel to 250/500 MHz (half of what it should be, 500/1000). The test runs longer (about 1-2 minutes) before hanging.

All the fans are working, and all the temps are normal: GPU at 52 idle, about 55-57 when it hangs; CPU at about 37; System temp at about 35-37...

I would be very grateful for any help or tips!

Tony.

PS: It just happened (the monitor turned off) while I was creating this post. I waited for a while (2 minutes) and it turned back on by itself. I'm confused!

 

[Lord Evermore]

Well that vertical lines on the screen thing seems to be what is often indicative of heat issues with the video card. Your card may not like even the temperatures it's running at which seem pretty low, or the thermistor might not be accurately reporting the core temperature.

You can disable the automatic restart after a bluescreen. Go to the system properties dialog, on the Advanced tab and the Settings button under Startup and Recovery. That at least will let you see what the BSOD says.

Try running the system with the side of the case removed, and a household fan blowing directly into it. That should eliminate any possibility of it being due to heat.

This could also possibly be an issue with the monitor itself, although it sounds more like a video card issue. It's unlikely to be a system chipset problem.

 

[Adam8281]

run directx diagnostic tool (dxdiag in the run dialogue). Click on the tab "display" and then the button "test direct 3d". Do you pass it? I had a similar situation to you, and I didn't pass the diagnostic test, and it ended up that the problem was my video card.

 

[daveybrat]

Anytime you start getting lines or artifacts while in the bios or at post, it's almost always a bad video card. Either the memory chips are going bad or overheating, but i'd guess memory chips on yours. I had the same thing happen with me on my Geforce FX5900 back in the day.

 

[Teslacoiled]

Thanks for the replies!

Funny. I never had to uncheck that thing before and I always got to see those BSOD and the PC never restarted... Anyway since I unchecked that I haven't gotten the BSOD anymore, although the problem is still here.

I always open the case in the summerand the temps are good now. The video card's heatsink is not even that hot to the touch. And if the monitor was the culprit, why would the entire system be unstable?

Anyway I have already run dxdiag and I passed the tests, and I just ran it once more and no problems were found.

I really hope the video card is dying, because it is still under warranty!

Oh and the weird (maybe not) thing is that I tried underclocking the card yesterday to 125/250 (stock is 500/1000) and it said that I didn't pass the test.

If u have any more tips, please let me know!

Tony.

 

[Teslacoiled]

I tested the video card on another system today, and the same thing happened. So since it's under warranty, I'll go tomorrow to the store I bought it from and see what they'll recommend.

Thanks for the help,

Tony.