Is my graphics card dead?

[Ancell]

My pc keeps doing random freezes when im on pc games... It has also BSOD.. No one on windows os topic really new what my minidumps errors was.. As there was loads different errors all time... It always BSOD.. While im PLAYIN games... Pc is fine and fast and smooth on desktop.. Entertainment etc.. It use to play games fine.. Crysis, Bioshock, Mirrors Edge, Cod2, Cod4, Cod5, Racegrid, Now just freezes or graphics fall apart.. Or crashes and the sound loops... Strange stuff.. I provided few screenshots.


Erm PC Specs of top my head are:

8600gtx XFX
Artic cool 600w or 700w
Ram is 4gb..
250Gb HDD
Deathadder Mouse
Saitek 2 Keyboard
Onboud Sound (P35 Neo Mobo)
CPU Is Intel Pentium 3ghz

Also the games run fine sometimes for like 2-3 hours... Or sometimes just it could happen with the first 5-10 mins... Hope someone can help .. Isit graphics card dead? Or something else wrong in my pc..

I have posted in many forums.. Asked loads people.. No one seems 2 know whats exactly wrong

 

[Ancell]

Here is another...

 

[BlindObject]

Maybe over heating? Latest Drivers? Latest game patch?

 

[Ancell]

Checked heat its normally 50-70 ... 50 idle and 70 like after a long stress out...

Latest drivers yes.. Have also recently reinstalled windows to try fix the random freezes etc....

Everything softwarer wise is ok.. Not 100% sure about temps but cpu and gpu all 50-70

 

[orondf]

how much VRAM does your graphics card have?
maybe the games aren't compatible with OS/graphics/audio/other thing?
audio/graphics card compatibility errors cause BSODs(I might have expirienced that)
EDIT: if you get BSOD, attach the minidumps and specify during which game you recived each one

 

[Ancell]

Thanks for ya help..

256ddr3 8600gt XFX gfx card

If thats the memory ur on about .. .. I use 2 play many games when I built my machine.. I had it for about 2-3 years nearly 3 I would say...

I use play stuff like crysis.. bioshock... race grid.. cod5 .. cod2. cod4...mirrors edge etc..

Was always fine loved my pc.. Would handly anythin I played smooth and nice.. Till a few months back BSOD's while playin call of duty 2.. I posted a topic on windows os.. With loads minidumps they said it was memory errors then sound errors.. and all diff errors they couldent pin point wot was wrong.. I did mem test all nite etc etc.. Reinstalled windows etc etc.. Den they stopped for while and would get random crashes .. now in cod4 my graphics go all wierd as the screenshots show.. Il see if the minidumps are still around if I have erm il attach..

(My mate lent me his 7300 gs I think it is.. Im usein that and so far everything seems ok.. It did freeze once but think my game pinged out.. So far no crashes or bsod after few hours testing.. I will run it all tomorrow if it works fine.. Then I no for sure it was my card..

 

[orondf]

it could be the sound -- i had BSODs from that while playing a game

 

[Ancell]

Ive just played cod4 since I did dat last post and still working fine and gfx card temp is at 50.. Where as my old one would be around 60-70 after a long play.. Strange.. Well if no more problems happen by tomorrow then im 100% sure we found problem...

Hmm my sound is onboard.. Its never had BSODS for like few years when I built machine? I have reinstalled mobo drivers and windows while back so must been gfx card.. Well I hope it is.. cuz the problem has done my head in..

If it is hopefully I can get replacement or buy a new cheap card as im building new machine christmas...

Does a pci express 2.0 card work in pci express 16x slot? I looked it all up said it does but want to double check ..

 

[orondf]

256ddr3 8600gt XFX gfx card
...
My mate lent me his 7300 gs I think it is. Im usein that and so far everything seems ok
...
So far no crashes or bsod after few hours testing.

your card - 8600gt XFX - is a PCI Express x16 card
for more info on your card click here
(there are several models of your card with the properties you mentioned. this one is the first one that came up in yahoo.)

in short, i am almost completely sure the card is the problem.

Note: PCI Express x16 and PCI Express 2.0 might be the same thing

 

[Ritwik7]

Note: PCI Express x16 and PCI Express 2.0 might be the same thing

It's not really related ...
A port PCI-E x16 is wired (or powered, if we want to popularize a bit) in x16, meaning it will provide maximum bandwidth that the standard can offer. The standard PCI-E 2.0 provides just two times more bandwidth than the standard 1.0.

 

[orondf]

i found the following:

PCI Express comes in different speeds, 1x, 4x, 8x, 16x for example, so does PCI Express 2.0. The difference is that the PCI Express 2.0 is a upgraded version of PCI Express and doubles the data rate.
PCI Express 2.0 is backcompatible with 1.1

does this answer your question?

 

[Ancell]

Not sure really.. Because I no pci express 2.0 is backward compatibilty.. But ... ( Is it also compat for a 16x Pci Express slot... ? )

Yh everything seems better now with my mates graphics card.. Still get one or two crashes :S But nothing wrong with graphics and stuff.

 

[Ritwik7]

PCI-E 2.0 x16 is backwards compatible with a PCI-E 1.0 x16.

That's what I said then 1.0/2.0 has nothing to do with 16x. Most graphics cards work on the x16 slots whether PCI-E 1.0 or 2.0.

**Try Googling around a little bit when you're confused.

 

[Ancell]

Oh right so they do work ... Cause when I googled it last nite.. I was lookin for maby a replacement and found a cheap 9600.. and it said pci express 2.0 not pci express 2.0 16 x

So I was wonderin is der a pci express 2.0 and a pci express 2.0 16x..

This is where I got confused hence the reason I wanted to make sure on here..

So if it all works den thats cool

All I need fix now is random freezes :S Mite buy some cooling paste for cpu see if thats help in any way.