Thanks, great idea. There is 3dMark and 3dMark 11, any preference? Thanks again....Anything is possible when a graphics card goes bad. If you can borrow a known-good card and try it out in your rig, that would be one way to quickly figure out what you are dealing with.
If you can't scare up an extra card then you can run benchmark software like 3dMark or other graphics benchmark software that you can test your current card with. I find 3dMark always helps me find the weakness in a graphics card. The test will end abruptly if something is wrong.