Is my video card broken? Help Please

[SevenStars]

Hi All

Ok Im having a problem that I need some help with.

While playing BF 2142, my computer froze, and so I restarted it. Upon restart, the boot screen had several vertical dashed lines running through it, and the rest of the boot up process screens are garbled and unreadable. When windows booted up, the computer would crash with a "page fault in non paged area" error.

I managed to start it up in safe mode, and uninstalled my video card drivers. Now, the boot screen is still unreadable (artifacts?), but when windows starts, the screen clears up and runs normally (without video card drivers). I tried to install the drivers again, but the computer bsod with "page fault in non paged area" in the middle of the installation process. Drivers are nvidia 93.71

So Im basically wondering what is the cause of this, I dont want to buy a new video card and then find out that the problem is the motherboard or the psu.

My system is

Gforce 6800 ultra agp
1 gig corsair pc 3200
Asus A8V deluxe
Athlon 64 fx 53
Aspire atx 500 watt psu
windows xp media center

Any help at all is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[tifc8lraz]

Welcome SevenStars :wave: ! Welcome to Techspot, a website for PC Enthusiasts and the people who need them . At first thought, typically a Power Supply issue comes to mind, although there could be many explanations. Have you installed new drivers, changed monitore (to fix screen, not page fault), tried another power supply? Also, was there any software that you installed recently, or drivers? Also, what psu do you have, and how many amps on the +12V Rail (if unsure check out my guide in my signature below this writing)?

EDIT:
Also, have you tried taking the video card out of the motherboard and going back to integrated graphics (if you have them)? If you don't, have you tried another video card?

 

[SevenStars]

Hi Thanks for the Welcome

I installed the 93.71 drivers a couple of weeks ago, and no, I haven't changed monitors, installed software or anything like that. It was running fine all day, then after the crash while playing bf, thats when it started to act up.

I believe my +12 volt rail has 34A rating. It is an Aspire 500 watt ATX

And no, sadly I don't have any extra parts (psu, graphics card,etc..) to try and mix and match to find the problem.

I don't think I can plug in my monitor without the video card plugged in. So I don't think I can go back to integrated graphics. Not sure though. After I uninstalled the drivers, does that mean Im running on integrated graphics?

Thanks for the help so far

 

[tifc8lraz]

Integrated graphics are graphic boards integrated or "built-in" to the motherboard. The monitor ports are usually located near the mouse and keyboard ports for these kinds of graphic accelerators. It does sound like it could be a mix of a hardware and software issue; hardware from the vertical lines, and software from the error message, although it could be one triggering the other. Although I don't know the name Aspire, it doesn't seem like the power supply from the specs you gave me, unless it's dying. Are you able to get to your desktop? If so go to the hardware acceleration page, to go there, right click>properties>settings>advanced>troubleshoot. If the bar is set at full, set it to none and vice-versa. At one point I had a video card issue and that solved it, so let's see if it works. Hopefully, some other members who are more experienced than me (most of the members are ) can also help you with this, although being so late or early where most of the members are located, it may take a few hours (late in the U.S., and early in Europe).

 

[SevenStars]

I tried the hardware acceleration thing, but its still messed up. And I dont see any monitor ports on the back of the computer (besides the ones on the video card). Thank you for all your help so far

 

[tifc8lraz]

As I said, it will take a few hours for some of the members to log on due to the current time in the US and some of Europe. I'm sure there will be more helpful replies.

 

[sghiznaneck]

This definitely sounds like a bad card. If you are receiving the "artifacts" on start up, it's a card and not a power issue. Most (but not all) artifact problems usually rear their heads as dashes or bizzare checkerboard displays when they go bad. If a power issue, the problem would have manifested itself as soon as the card was installed, but since the drivers were installed a couple of weeks ago, and if I understand SevenStars correctly, the problem just started, it's a bad card.

 

[vuonggg]

You can try and change it to older drivers or maybe try Omega drivers, but yeah if that doesn't work I think your card has gone bad.

you can get that here

 

[tifc8lraz]

The only problem is what about the page fault error that he/she received? It could have been a coincidence, but it might not have been as well.

 

[SevenStars]

Hi guys

Yes, the problem just started after the crash while playing a game. Ive had these drivers installed for a while now.

I turned off the automatic restart after the blue screen crash, and attempted to reinstall the drivers again, 93.71. During the installation of the drivers, it crashed again, with the "page fault in non paged area" and I also noticed it said "problem caused by the following file nv4_mini.sys" which I believe is a driver file. The computer will keep crashing with this error until I remove the Nvidia drivers

I tried to install older drivers, but after installation, upon a restart, the computer acts like there are no drivers there, I.E. the found new hardware screen pops up. I tried with a couple different drivers.

Thanks for help guys

Im a he btw


*edit
I forgot to mention I also tried a system restore, but that didnt work.

I also tried the Omega drivers, but it crashed during the installation with "page_fault_in_non_paged_area"

 

[vuonggg]

have you tried to reformat your computer? maybe that would help =]

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I think it's a hardware issue, not a software one. The bizarre lines usually mean one of two things: a bad card, or a choked heatsink. I seriously doubt it is the latter since you're having problems installing the drivers, so most likely the card has crapped out on you. I'm really sorry for you though, coz that was an awesome card. I haven't seen too many of them but the ones that I have are superb performers.

 

[SevenStars]

Hey Guys

I got a new video card and the problem appears to be fixed

Yeah, it was an awesome card, and I'm sad to see it go.

Anyway thanks for all the help people.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Anytime. Next time you need help, you know where to ask!