Is my graphics card dying?

[metalronin]

Hello everyone. A couple of days ago I installed the newest nvidia drivers 275.33. Nothing odd happened after the install and I proceeded to play all my usual games without issues for about a day and a half for hours at a time. Then all of a sudden yesterday whenever I try to play a 3d game the nvlddmkm constantly crashes and restarts causing the game I am playing to either stutter constantly or crash. I think the card may be dying but im not sure ( I also hope not as im inbetween jobs at the moment). I have tried a clean uninstall and re-install of the current drivers as well as a clean install of an older version that was stable for me. Thanks in advance for any replies and I will gladly give any extra info you may need. Please excuse my bad grammar etc.

Ian

(my card is a nvidia geforce 8800 gts alpha dog edition)

 

[Mark56]

Run this test on it.


http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/


FurMark Setup:
- If you have more than one GPU, select Multi-GPU during setup
- In the Run mode box, select "Stability Test" and "Log GPU Temperature"
Click "Go" to start the test
- Run the test until the GPU temperature maxes out - or until you start having problems (whichever comes first).
NOTE: Set the alarm to go off at 90ºC. Then watch the system from that point on. If the system doesn't display a temperature, watch it constantly and turn it off at the first sign of video problems. DO NOT leave it it unmonitored, it can DAMAGE your video card!!!
- Click "Quit" to exit

 

[Route44]

This sounds more like your Nvidia drivers (we see the Nvidia driver nvlddmkm.sys here a lot). Before commencing here is a rule to keep in mind: If current drivers are stable there is absolutely no need to update to the latest and greatest. In other words, if it isn't broke don't fix it.


I suggest doing the following...

1. Download Driver Sweeper free version to your desktop screen and install.

2. Download the latest diver(s) for your video card but don't install them.

3. Uninstall your video card drivers and reboot your PC into Safe Mode. Run Driver Sweeper and remove ONLY the video card drivers. I had someone use it on their chipset drivers! If it doesn't find any video card drivers that is quite okay; just leave all other drivers alone.

4. Reboot and install new video card drivers.

Oops! Mark56 beat me by a minute!

 

[Mark56]

No problem Route44, I would have gone for drivers next if the card is OK.

 

[metalronin]

As soon as I run furmark with the settings you suggested the screen flashes and I get a repeated error message telling me that nvlddmkm. has stopped responding and has recovered. If i let the screen flash for a few mins it will crash furmark this is exactly what happens to me when I try to play any 3d game. Should I try the drivers again? Also thank you guys for the replies!

 

[Mark56]

I think that confirms your card is fried. Final confirmation could be acheived by trying the card in another working PC. You could try the drivers again but I doubt that will make any difference.

 

[metalronin]

Yeah I went ahead and tried the drivers again and that made no improvement. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Mark56]

Your welcome.